My first (and so far only) briar is a Bjarne Viking Classic Red Polished Apple. It came with pre-carb coating, no filter and no stinger. It also claims to have a vulcanite stem (but I am still too new to know for sure what vulcanite feels like vs acrylic). I did a cleaning to remove any excess stain and ended up dissolving part of the pre-carb coating. So I removed the rest of the coating, let it rest for 2 days and just smoked my first bowl out of it last night. The drilling is spot on and the draw seems about perfect. Other have complained about restricted draw and I will agree after a cob it feels restricted, but it seemed to smoke quite well for a first bowl and has me excited to get more briars. Mine is a bent shape, so it does not want to pass a pipe cleaner for me, but it also seems to stay relatively dry so I am not sure that is a detraction. One thing I will mention is that my stem seems very tight, but I plan to try a little graphite on there and am sure it will be fine once it has been taken apart a few times. Mine is also a pretty standard 3/4" x 1-1/2" chamber, but some of the Bjarnes and Tsuges have smallish bowls, so check the sizing in the specs.