Ever Heard of SANMOUTAIN Pipes?

[gentlytamped]

I've come across a couple of pipes on ebay called SANMOUTAIN. Seems to be some kind of fake italian briar pipes. They say they are hand made in Italy, have some pretty nice shapes but they come from China. The price is quite good, but I wonder how toxic they would smoke. Any of you have any experience with this "brand"?
EBAY LINK

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Seems to be some kind of fake italian briar pipes.

This looks like real briar to me. However if you're that concerned about it there are plenty of pipes from more reputable makers on sites such as pipesmagazine.com or smokingpipes.com that you can find in those price ranges.

 

[denholrl]

Scrolling through eBay I am often attracted to Sanmoutin pipes because of their designs. They LOOK like good pipes but

I've never tried one.
Rob D

 

[seanv]

They look nice. I would consider the fact they are all shipping from China to be a red flag for sure

 

[eggrollpiper]

I have been buying stuff from China for many years now and can tell you that some things are fine to get direcly from China and others not. Some things are only made in Asia like HDMI cables and Xmas lights. However pipes are one of the things you should avoid. Anything you put in your mouth you don't want. The stains and laquers they use are surely more toxic than those allowed in the states and even more so EU/UK. And the pipes may be real briar but doubtful from Italy. Even Gucci now has China make them stuff and stamp Italy on them and those are not even the knock offs.

If you really want an inexpensive chinese pipe from eBay check out the road town and hs studio shipped from the states. I have a few of their bamboo stemmed ones and a poker and they're terrific.

Lastly you could wind up with a gem in San Mountain but imo it's not work the risk and there's too many other options even in that price range..

 

[eggrollpiper]

I should add that one of road town pipes doesn't pass the pipe cleaner test. The draft hole and inside of shank don't line up quite right, it drops down a bit before entering the bowl. Even so it smokes well, cool, and looks like a $100+ pipe..