Every Time You Buy A Pipe

[mso489]

Every time you buy a pipe, you curate and shape your collection. Some do this deliberately, emphasizing certain brands, shapes, materials, artisans, sizes, etc. Others of us go for what we like and create our pipe stable before we exactly conceive what it will be. I have six or eight higher end pipes I treasure, but I think my racks have been "designed" by more traditional shapes and materials, with the definite target of attaining a first rate smoking experience at distinctly moderate prices. Rather than feeling cheap-o or bargain basement, this has become good sport. How do you shape your collection, or how does your collection shape itself?

 

[alaskanpiper]

Mine is an eclectic mix that has grown organically. Lots of Savinelli and Peterson shapes from early on, when I was finding out which shapes I preferred. After that I invested in a few higher end pipes in the shapes I loved, a couple Castellos, an Ashton, a few artisans in Randy Wiley, Boswell, etc. After this to save money I began buying and restoring REALLY shitty looking estates, and acquired many a kaywoodie and grabow to practice restoration, and have since restored many a stanwell, dunhill, larsen, upshall, charatan, comoys, pipe-dan, etc. I still buy new pipes on occasion, mostly Savinellis in shapes I love but new renditions with the odd neerup or nording kicking around as well, but most of my acquisitions these days are old fugly estates that I polish up and smoke.

I will likely eventually sell many of them, I just have to decide which ones and actually do it. I also need to smoke each of them at least a few times in order to make that decision, haha.

 

[litup]

Every time I've thought about focusing my collection on a brand, shape, or finish, I encounter a pipe that doesn't fit that focus that I must have. So my pipe collection is mostly pipes that at one time I thought were too good to let someone else grab. I still plan to focus my collection some day, some how, but right now I'm in the "collect them all" phase.

 

[cigrmaster]

Back in 2012 I decided to collect No American artist made pipes. Except for a few pipes from different regions I am still using that same criteria. I also collected some older British wood like pre transition Barlings, Wilmer AAA straight grains and a couple of 1960’s Dunhills. The last two pipes bought were a Rad Davis and a Scott Thile. Both fantastic smoking American artisan pipes. I always look for the American makers first as I like to try and support our guys or girls.

 

[cshubhra]

Step 1: I started with reasonably good smokers fairly randomly. My Meerschaums were purchased new; all but one of my briars were purchased as estates

I don’t need any more pipes in my rotation at this point (I have 23 or 24 pipes now)

Step 2: This is the current phase. I am no longer buying pipes in random. I have a theme in my mind. So the pipes are still coming in my mail regularly but they have a theme. Per pipe budget has also increased, and aesthetics are getting more and more important.

I may reach a stage three where it becomes very infrequent purchases but each pipe will be stellar. Or may not reach this stage at all!

 

[hawky454]

I just buy what I like when I can afford it. Once I get it, that’s when things get weird. I keep track of when I purchased it and I also keep track of the first 100 smokes, the date I smoke it, what I smoked in it and the time. I just use the notepad in my iPhone for this so it’s pretty easy and has just become a weird sort of habit. If I really like the pipe, I keep track indefinitely.

Yeah, I’m a weirdo.

I never got into brand loyalty but the two pipe brands I have the most of in my collection are, Stanwell & Neerup.

 

[gamzultovah]

I started out as a collector of large freehand pipes along the line of Preben Holm, Ben Wade, Soren etc... But as my tastes changed, so did my preferences. I now collect very...light pipes, of all shapes and styles. I like to clench my pipe almost exclusively and this dictates, to a large degree, what I purchase. But make no mistake, style is king in my quiver.

 

[hauntedmyst]

Mines mostly shaping with a little chance thrown in. Specifically, I collect Dunhill 6103's, 6101's and ODA billiards and apples in the different finishes. Then every now and again, something unusual will cross my path that will call to me and I get it just for fun like this Caminetto as an out and about pipe. They smoke as well as the Dunhill but I don't care if I drop it.

 

[renfield]

No disciplined process but there’s always room for another Willmer or old GBD in good shape. I have been building a fleet of meer figurals when I see one that is especially nicely sculpted. Then there are the old amber stemmed meers. I don’t have a particular scheme in mind. At some point I may step back and see a pattern but it won’t have been intentional.

 

[burleyboy]

I try to stick to certain brands as a kind of self protection and it gives me an idea of order in such an irrational thing as a pipe collection. Currently I'm focused on Dunhill and Castello and I find myself loosing interest in newer Dunhills and tend to like the older ones much more. I have some other pipes, but somehow I do not consider them a part of my "collection" and I feel, that time has come to let them go. On the other hand, I can barely imagine to resist the urge of getting an old Sasieni any longer.....

Also I always thought, that I'll never need a bent pipe and currently I find myself admiring some of them. And I recently felt the need of a meerschaum. In fact I'm probably about to enter the next stage of PAD.

Sometimes I have several desires at the same time, like the idea of needing a plateau-rim-pipe and needing a Dublin. Then I try finding a pipe that meets both criteria.

 

[luigi]

I've shaped my collection mainly by blend types the pipes are dedicated to and some by shapes or brands.
2 for Virginias, 2 for Latakias, 2 for Burleys, 2 for aromatics, 1 churchwarden and the magical Savinelli 320.
I often catch myself rethinking over and over what is missing to have a perfect combo and trying to find a square peg in a round hole. My homemade rack can hold exactly 10 pipes and it's already full.

 

[Guppy]

My first pipes were Peterson's, mostly bents. This was an artifact of being a college student primarily smoking while studying or writing. I got introduced to estate pipes and developed an affinity for brands like Charatan, Theydon, and Stanwell which provided a lot of "bang for the buck" in my early working days. Today, when I can afford pretty much whatever I want, I am actually drawn to mid century, mid range "codger" pipes. As I smoke almost exclusively outside for entertainment these days, they are mostly straight pipes. I am very much enjoying Custombilts, Edward's, Lorenzo's, Barrics, and even growing a collection of Kaywoodies and Arlington's. Modifying cobs and restoring estate pipes has become a significant portion of my hobby. Times change and tastes change.

 

[mikefu]

At first I thought this was going to be a thread for philosophical matters, like “Every time you buy a pipe, an angel gets it’s wings”, or the like. I am in the fence about that personally, but lean towards it being true.

As far as my pipe purchases go, I tend to stick with what I like, being Lovats, Billards and Bulldog/Rhodesians, mostly in blasted finish. The others kind of run the gamut on finish, with some great straight grain and birdseye specimens in there, but I try and stick to those shapes, And really prefer the tactile nature of a sandblast over a smooth, even if the grain is stunning.

 

[shanez]

It's funny to see such similarities between myself and others here. Of course maybe that's why we're here.

I guess I should start at the beginning. Other than a basket pipe and a Bjarne churchwarden I received as a gift, I started with Savinelli. This start was a combination of pure randomness, seeing probably one particular pipe that caught my eye, and reading good things about Savinelli pipes. This and pure sentiment are the reasons I heavily favor Sav's. Had a Peterson (or any other brand in this quality/price range) caught my eye I would favor that brand.

I had been focused on collecting Sav's when they were a good deal and trying to collect a broad range of brands just so I could say I had at least one in my collection. Pipes were like lost puppies that kept following me home.

Lately I've been thinking of selling of some of my non-Savinelli pipes and focus on some artisan pipes. At this price level I've noticed I'm much more discriminatory in my possible selections. Things like this (if the WCPS was coming up in less than 2 months I would probably order it):

I also am looking to expand my collection of Dunhills and Larsens but these depend on price and availability of estates. There are cheaper Larsens but I'm looking for just a bit nicer. In fact I just picked up this Larsen:





I've seen some nice Dunhill & Larsen estates for really good prices but they are in Europe. Shipping is available to the US so I may pick up a few more as time goes by.

Only time will tell what will happen with my collection I guess, which, to me, is half the fun of it.

 

[odobenus]

My rack (drawer) has definitely been influenced--with notable exceptions and anomalies-- by my preference for Britwood, the Dublin shape, and bog oak.

 

[warren]

Individual pipes catch my eye. Therefore, the pipes shape my collection. I don't go looking for pipes to buy. I usually scan a display in a shop, if a pipe catches my eye ... it has a chance. The only aspect I'm sure of is, any new acquisition will be bent to some degree or another.

 

[writingraav]

I buy mostly , straight, non-smooth pipes. Generally in the billiard extended family, that is Canadians, Liverpools, etc. But I just bought the Peterson history book and thought I should have a Peterson pipe to go with it. (I'd sold some off years ago.) So I bought a shape 317, small bent billiard system pipe with a p-lip. You just never know what is going to move you.

 

[writingraav]

 

[tobefrank]

My collection mainly consists of Stanwells and pipes from North American makers. The Stanwells are mostly smooth, the North American pipes are all sandblasted. I’ve got a Moonshine Pipes natural sandblast poker, a Briarworks light sandblasted bent egg and a Bruce Weaver sandblasted lovat.

My taste has slowly shifted to higher end pipes, but because I only smoke infrequently I find it hard to justify buying new pipes.

One pipe I have been perving on is Tom Eltang’s bamboo shanked rusticated poker. This would be my most expensive pipe by far, so would need reaching a significant goal or milestone to justify. I think it is only a matter of time before I cave in and make the purchase...

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Harris got me into Artisan pipes and I'm happy that he did. I've found a few Artisans I like to work with and they have served me well. Larrysson, Martin Cermak, Ryan Alden, Alexander and Jose Rubio make pipes that hit my sweet spot. And I've acquired a number of Rad Davis Estates I really like.