Elder fire blow pipes, handmade in Dorset

Hand crafted from our Dorset hedgerows, these hollowed Elder stems make beautiful pipes for blowing embers into a hot fire.

All blowpipes are uniquely crooked & curved, with their own patina of bark & knots. You can know that whether yours is thick, thin, crooked or curved, it is unique to you!

Elder blowpipes whittled from their branches have been used by our ancestors for millennia: the name Elder is even said to come from the Anglo-Saxon ‘aeld’, meaning fire. Renowned for being very poor firewood, Elder still has a useful role in firemaking – as well as a host of other uses and folklore.

Crafting the blow pipes

We select straight lengths of elder, 2-3 years of age. The bark is stripped, and an auger is used to remove the spongey pith from the centre. The stem is left to season slowly, to avoid cracking and is then sanded and treated with a light coating of oil. Finally we round the ends and add a leather hanging loop. As the pipes season they darken a little and gain extra character.

The fire pipes are approximately 42cm (16 1/2″) long, and 1.5 to 2cm diameter. The bore size of all the pipes is the same.