Sideways Bent Pipe

[curl]

https://www.alpascia.com/pipes/d/Dunhill-C208-i39774.html
I was looking at army mount pipes on this website and found 2 Dunhill pipes with the bit bent sideways.

Huh?

I guess such a pipe had to be made and I'm not meaning to be critical, but who would it appeal to? Why does it appeal to someone? BTW I would like someone to bring it to a meeting to show it off.

 

[mikefu]

My guess that they were marketing to shooters to keep it away from your gun stock, or hobbyists who wanted to keep the pipe in their mouth but out of the line of sight? They'd be great for tying flies, once you got used to the weird angle and weight distribution.

 

[npod]

@Curl,
I have seen that Dunhill shape come up online at Al Pascia before. I once spent a fair amount of time trying to figure it out myself, but didn't get very far. I do know that the one I saw prior was also an "08", but that confuses me because the 08 should be a bent rhodesian based on the Dunhill shape chart and these pipes or like a pot shape. The C stamp generally denotes Complimentary or free of charge, the old Dunhill's had this stamp if it was a direct gift from the factory, but I've seen it also used to denote odd shapes as well. The curved stem baffles me too. I would love to learn the story and await a nugget or pearl from a wise sage if possible.

 

[mso489]

The line-of-sight issue makes sense for the rare few pipe smokers who attempt to smoke and tie flies, or whatever. Really devoted shooters, it seems to me, would focus on that, or if they were compelled to smoke, settle for short cigars. But when it comes to individual preferences, there's no end of variation. Perhaps some notable eccentric rich old Lord in England has this requirement, and it struck a wider fancy, as an affectation. Something for everyone. I'm surprised Dunhill ( I mean the pipe sector) bought into this, but the classy rich guy might have brought it along, "hear-hearing" at the gents' club.

 

[warren]

I suspect, back in the day, in England when shooting was a popular recreation, the style was very popular. I think "makefu" has nailed it. I doubt anyone with a pair of custom Purdy guns would blink at the Dunhill price and would esteem the marque. I can visualize one now in his custom shooting jacket, boots and pants, brown trilby, invited guests suitably awed, watching the house staff beating the bushes, chasing the game into the master's sights.

 

[saltedplug]

What if Dunhill is just f'in with you?

 

[tnfan]

Well that sure is different!

 

[oldmansmoking]

Looks ridiculous, silly idea if you ask me.

 

[agnosticpipe]

Ser Jacopo makes a few like that in their "Insanus" series. Somehow I feel that their name fits the idea better. :lol:

 

[mso489]

Maybe especially amusing is the fact that Dunhill makes no effort to name or explain to make all this clear. It goes with their kiss-my-rear pricing policy. If it were an MM cob or a Savinelli, there would be a brisk sentence or two that would rationalize the stem design that would be circulated with offerings of the pipe. Nording might impart a whole paragraph.

 

[warren]

The people the pipe was designed for know who they are.

 

[mso489]

I bet somewhere there is a Dunhill explanation or an interview with some one of the carvers or marketing people that would reveal what their thinking was, never mind the Ser Jacopo version and explanation. Trying to place it in the English context, I guess shooting may be the context, since they brought along a staff and various amenities for their game bird hunts. A bent pipe with the usual stem, shifted to the side, is well out of the way, but isn't as much of a statement.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Makes perfect sense for grouse, pheasant, etc., shooting.

 

[lochinvar]

I remember seeing an old (I believe) GBD ad from the '70s with a similar idea. From memory, it had a long deep stem, that then jutted out in a 90 and down again fit normally into standard bent billiard shape. I think it was called a Telephone Briar and the ad showed a businessman with an old rotary phone to his ear, typing while smoking this odd duck.
In the last century, English companies put a lot of thought into modifying their products for various situations or handicaps for the benefit of their customers. For example, Westley Richards gunmakers were presented with the problem after WWI of shooters returning from the war who were right handed, but who had lost their right eyes in action. Their solution was to carve and steam their shotgun stocks into nearly an S shape, so the shooter could mount the stock to their right shoulder, but have the receiver in front of their left eye, so they could aim properly. Ingenuity creates some odd looking specimens, but what dedication to the customer experience.