Are unbranded pipes automatically crap?

[lawdawg]

I'm glad to see that the members are helping you find a decent pipe. I think you'll find members of this forum can be very generous and helpful in your pipe smoking journey.
Cheapo basket pipes can be good finds. One pipe which I really like and smoke regularly is a no-name pipe stamped "Made in England." It has cheesy rustication, and it's significantly out of round from being over reamed by a previous owner, so by all rights it should not smoke well, but it does. I bought another similar pipe from a well-known ebay seller for about $10.00 and he accidentally sent me the one I just described above. After contacting him about the mistake, I ended up just keeping the one he sent me. It's a great pipe, and I would have no concerns taking it into the field on a wilderness trip, unlike some of my nicer pipes, which rarely leave the house.

 

[judcasper]

I'm glad to see that the members are helping you find a decent pipe. I think you'll find members of this forum can be very generous and helpful in your pipe smoking journey.

Indeed. One of the most helpful forum communities I've ever encountered.

One pipe which I really like and smoke regularly is a no-name pipe stamped "Made in England."

This strikes a vague memory. It was sometime over the last day or so, but I've done that much pipe browsing all the interesting finds are jumbled. But I was definitely looking at a pipe somewhere recently (I'm sure ebay) with this 'Made in England' stamp on it. I think it was during an 'estate pipes' search.

 

[olkofri]

Way I see it, basket pipes are a crapshoot. Especially for the beginner who mostly has no idea what to look for in a pipe besides price and aesthetics, because he hasn't smoked one and is not familiar with the aspects of smoking.
When considering only cost and looks when purchasing, it's easy to ignore or overlook other more important aspects such as proper drilling, thickness of walls, bowl geometry, the presence of pits/cracks which can lead to burnout, among others. An experienced piper would zone in on these automatically, and thus have a higher chance of walking out with a decent basket smoker than someone who is not trained to look for these things.

 

[panamacharlie]

Many basket pipes can be very good brands, just relegated to the "seconds" pile because of minor imperfections of blemishes.

 

[panamacharlie]

Many basket pipes can be very good brands, just relegated to the "seconds" pile because of minor imperfections of blemishes.

 

[lawdawg]

Way I see it, basket pipes are a crapshoot. Especially for the beginner who mostly has no idea what to look for in a pipe besides price and aesthetics, because he hasn't smoked one and is not familiar with the aspects of smoking.

When considering only cost and looks when purchasing, it's easy to ignore or overlook other more important aspects such as proper drilling, thickness of walls, bowl geometry, the presence of pits/cracks which can lead to burnout, among others. An experienced piper would zone in on these automatically, and thus have a higher chance of walking out with a decent basket smoker than someone who is not trained to look for these things.

Agreed. I wouldn't recommend a beginner to go looking at basket pipes. I'd say buy a Savinelli, even a Sav estate pipe. In my experience, they are usually drilled very well and offer a great value for the money. I have seen what I consider to be poor drillings in many of the other big name factory pipe makers.

 

[hawky454]

That's a very kind and warm gesture, hawky. Thank you. I need to stress, though, that I don't make these threads in the hope of such offers. I'm not suggesting for one minute anyone thinks this, but I am conscious of how much I talk about having a tiny budget.

We pipe smokers have to help each other out in times of need. Anyway, if you change your mind, feel free to PM me. I would suggest just being patient and sticking with what you have and saving up for a couple of months so that you can buy yourself a decent pipe. You don't need a dozen of them to enjoy the hobby, just one will do

Way I see it, basket pipes are a crapshoot. Especially for the beginner who mostly has no idea what to look for in a pipe besides price and aesthetics, because he hasn't smoked one and is not familiar with the aspects of smoking.
When considering only cost and looks when purchasing, it's easy to ignore or overlook other more important aspects such as proper drilling, thickness of walls, bowl geometry, the presence of pits/cracks which can lead to burnout, among others. An experienced piper would zone in on these automatically, and thus have a higher chance of walking out with a decent basket smoker than someone who is not trained to look for these things.

Exactly. Well said.

 

[judcasper]

I would suggest just being patient and sticking with what you have and saving up for a couple of months so that you can buy yourself a decent pipe. You don't need a dozen of them to enjoy the hobby, just one will do

I'm planning a trip out to a nearby town on Saturday, to a place called Ammaeus, which according to my source who's been there a few times is a warehouse-sized junk shop. I'm hoping he'll have a few lighters, at least, if not pipes too.

 

[hawky454]

Well good luck to ya! Let us know what you end up finding there.