New member from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in the heart—or asshole?—of North America.
Started pipe smoking in 2017. I've owned about 30-35 pipes in that period. Now I've pared down to a dozen or so briars, a handful of cobs and one meer. I've gravitated to smaller briars, under an ounce, mainly because I started experiencing temporomandibular joint disfunction, which is probably hereditary and not related to pipe smoking. Anyway, I prefer featherweight pipes that don't aggravate my jaw when my hands are occupied and I have to clench; for example while doing poop pickup on dog walks!
My current best smoker is a Musico deep sandblasted pot with bamboo. 0.8 ounces with a 0.85 by 1.34 inch chamber. Love that pipe. It's an effortless smoker. I'm really itching to buy another Musico.
I've got a super light sandblasted Eltang billiard, also with bamboo. I'm still deciding whether or not that one is a crappy smoker.
My other high(ish) end pipe is a David Huber sandblasted mini razor bent egg. That's the first expensive pipe I ever bought. Oh, and I have a Mikhail Garmash Dublin-ish poker with a domed rim (also with bamboo). That's a very well balanced pipe that seems to float in my hand. Super conical chamber. Good smoker. The Huber pipe has awesome engineering, but I had to alter the button to take the edge off of it, which I was very nervous to do. But a few shots of Jim Beam helped me overcome my trepidation and the results made a great pipe nearly perfect, for me, and you'd never know to look at it that the button's been altered.
I love French pipes for their value, design, proportions, history. I have several Ropps, one Genod. I had a Chacom smooth 2016 POY bent egg that fit beautifully in the hand, but I put it on the the roof as I was loading the dogs into the car and somehow got distracted and drove away from the dog park without retrieving it. Oops! That's the only pipe I've outright lost and never had it turn up again. It's somewhere along route 90 between Little Mountain Park and Portage Ave.
I learned early on I can't abide acrylic stems. Vulcanite or Horn for me. My only acrylic-stemmed pipe which I've kept is an SRV cutty (or anse? (I think they called it a tulip)) meer. I'd love to get a Baki with one of those nice Cumberland stems one day. Probably never will.
The best tobaccos IMHO tend to be Va/Bur/Pers. Love DFK too. All GH&Co. products. Love McConnell Sottish Flake, Peterson Irish Flake, 1792, Coniston Cut Plug, Kendal Kentucky, Dark Birdseye. C&D has ultimately won me over with Pegasus, Three Friars, OJK, Big 'N' Burley, Poplar Camp etc...all better with a couple years in a jar though. Best English/Balkans for me: London Mixture, White Knight, Magnum Opus, Nightcap...I smoke them rarely. Also aros: once or twice a year around the time of the first snowfall. Rattrays Buckingham is a gem. I'm also a fan of Amphora Original and Full Aroma. My dad smoked Amphora once in a blue moon back in the day.
This may be too much information. The reason I finally joined the forum here is because I'm considering buying (or trading for) a particular 1963 Dunhill and want y'all's opinion on it. I'll post that in another thread. Thanks for reading! Cheers!
Started pipe smoking in 2017. I've owned about 30-35 pipes in that period. Now I've pared down to a dozen or so briars, a handful of cobs and one meer. I've gravitated to smaller briars, under an ounce, mainly because I started experiencing temporomandibular joint disfunction, which is probably hereditary and not related to pipe smoking. Anyway, I prefer featherweight pipes that don't aggravate my jaw when my hands are occupied and I have to clench; for example while doing poop pickup on dog walks!
My current best smoker is a Musico deep sandblasted pot with bamboo. 0.8 ounces with a 0.85 by 1.34 inch chamber. Love that pipe. It's an effortless smoker. I'm really itching to buy another Musico.
I've got a super light sandblasted Eltang billiard, also with bamboo. I'm still deciding whether or not that one is a crappy smoker.
My other high(ish) end pipe is a David Huber sandblasted mini razor bent egg. That's the first expensive pipe I ever bought. Oh, and I have a Mikhail Garmash Dublin-ish poker with a domed rim (also with bamboo). That's a very well balanced pipe that seems to float in my hand. Super conical chamber. Good smoker. The Huber pipe has awesome engineering, but I had to alter the button to take the edge off of it, which I was very nervous to do. But a few shots of Jim Beam helped me overcome my trepidation and the results made a great pipe nearly perfect, for me, and you'd never know to look at it that the button's been altered.
I love French pipes for their value, design, proportions, history. I have several Ropps, one Genod. I had a Chacom smooth 2016 POY bent egg that fit beautifully in the hand, but I put it on the the roof as I was loading the dogs into the car and somehow got distracted and drove away from the dog park without retrieving it. Oops! That's the only pipe I've outright lost and never had it turn up again. It's somewhere along route 90 between Little Mountain Park and Portage Ave.
I learned early on I can't abide acrylic stems. Vulcanite or Horn for me. My only acrylic-stemmed pipe which I've kept is an SRV cutty (or anse? (I think they called it a tulip)) meer. I'd love to get a Baki with one of those nice Cumberland stems one day. Probably never will.
The best tobaccos IMHO tend to be Va/Bur/Pers. Love DFK too. All GH&Co. products. Love McConnell Sottish Flake, Peterson Irish Flake, 1792, Coniston Cut Plug, Kendal Kentucky, Dark Birdseye. C&D has ultimately won me over with Pegasus, Three Friars, OJK, Big 'N' Burley, Poplar Camp etc...all better with a couple years in a jar though. Best English/Balkans for me: London Mixture, White Knight, Magnum Opus, Nightcap...I smoke them rarely. Also aros: once or twice a year around the time of the first snowfall. Rattrays Buckingham is a gem. I'm also a fan of Amphora Original and Full Aroma. My dad smoked Amphora once in a blue moon back in the day.
This may be too much information. The reason I finally joined the forum here is because I'm considering buying (or trading for) a particular 1963 Dunhill and want y'all's opinion on it. I'll post that in another thread. Thanks for reading! Cheers!
