pipemakersforum.com

I have a buddy here in the US that has some bamboo that he would like to give me to use. I notice that most of the stuff that VT Freehand sells is all Chinese. Therefore, I have a few questions that hopefully you guys can answer.

Is there a considerable difference in the bamboo from China, or the bamboo that we find in the US?
Is it possible to use the stuff that my friend has here?
Is there a process to sterilize or kill bacteria that may be present in the bamboo that I will need to do?

Do you guys have any links to other articles or info from the forum on how to use bamboo? Ive been searching for a while, and still searching to try and figure the whole thing out, as I'd like to attempt it.

Cheers,

I think that you can use any appropriate sized bamboo cane if you want just one knuckle. If you want two or more knuckles, you will probably need to use the root. I haven't dug up any local bamboo root to check out the spacing between nodes. It can split while drying, so take some care.
I wouldn't worry about bacteria etc.
Everything has bacteria on it, and it depends on where it came from. In medicine, we talk about 'barnyard and butcher shop' wounds because those can be sources of really bad bacteria. If you find bamboo growing out of a pile of horse poop, avoid it.
An infectious disease expert used to start his lectures with " The world is covered by a thin layer of feces"

DocAitch

There are a number of high grade pipe makers in the U.S. that grow and process their own bamboo here in the states. Most notable is Steve Liskey, the master of bamboo pipes, IMHO. Doc is right; it's the rhizome that grows underground that you want, typically.

I have dug up bamboo from the mountain where I live in China. Wasn't sure how to dry it or any thing, and honestly I forget what I did to it. It is dry and usable, but it is really wrinkly.