Still Have Your First Pipe? Why or Why Not?

[bwhiteside]

My first pipe was a 3/4 billiard shape house brand from the Sherlock Holmes Pipe Shoppe in Garden Grove, CA. If I recall, it cost about $15. Bought it on a high school "ditch day" in 1976. Still have it, but haven't smoked it in years. I'll always keep it though, as it brings back a lot of memories. Moved on to better pipes since then.

 

[mityahicks]

First pipe was a Cob, long since gone, and next few were glass, also gone. Bought an Amazon wood pipe that was Chinese trash also gone.
I don't miss any of them. I have my first Briar still, a Brigham Voyageur that smokes great.

 

[jaytex1969]

I bought some small, cheap cigars on a whim from Pipes & Cigars not quite 2 years ago. Soon thereafter, P&C sent everyone a $50 gift card and apologized for some admin mess they had.
I had no idea what to do with it, so I decided to try a pipe.

The bottom two were my first purchases. The middle one, called a Study Break pipe, was a royal POS, a rough carved Falcon style bowl screwed into a body made of plastic similar to the chromed parts of old model cars. It got tossed after it began melting and deforming.
The bottom one, a Baraccini "Pocket" pipe, along with a tin of John Cotton's #1, is what made me a pipe smoker. It gave a 20 minute smoke and, due to size, forced me to pay attention to heat and cadence right out the gate.
The top one, a Stanwell 185, was purchased a few weeks later. It was christened with Viprati and has since become my prized VaPer pipe. It always smokes well and clenches deceptively better that you would think based on size.
The Stanwell sees regular use and the Baraccini occasionally goes on road trips where a quick "pit stop" smoke would be my choice.

 

[JimInks]

Bill: you're right, man.

 

[derhammer]

My first pipe was a BigBen straight billiard. I think it was made out of rosewood. Cracked the shank and tossed it. Then did the research, tried cobs and now with briars. Def looking for a meerschaum experience in the future.

 

[daniel7]

My first pipe was a decoration pipe, "native american"-themed, wood stem, clay head. I bought it at the age of 14 I think and it broke after some months. After that I bought a cheap (~3€) pear wood pipe and I smoked the hell out of it. It is still somewhere, I have some ideas, but I won't spend time to look after it. The oldest I have in the house is my third pipe, an Albanian-made "Toscana" brand, B (or C) brand of Lorenzo. I never liked it, even though it is a briar, it's still worse than the pear wood was. I don't miss those times...Borkum Riff, yuck.

 

[gatorlope]

I remember going into a pipe shop in the Palm Beach Mall back in the early ‘70’s and admiring the eBekler meerschaums that he had in the case.

“Admiring” may be an understatement because they might have had to wipe the drool off their case when I left. 8O

They were in the $250 plus price range even back then, so I absolutely could not afford them! The closest I could get was an unsigned, uncased meerschaum Bacchus for about $15, so that was my first pipe.

I still have it and I’m still using it!

 

[disinformatique]

My first ever pipe was a cheap chinese cob which died after a week of smoking Captain Black in it.
My first ever briar pipe was a set of 2 French Jeantet Reputation Jubilee Centenary pipes. oil cured and made in 1951 and a Gr.1 size Nording.
The Jeantet Gr. 1 sized bent billiard, excellent for smoking Quiet Nights. The pipe makes the blend super intense, everything else feels muddled afterwards. This is an exclusive GL Pease Quiet Nights pipe.

The second pipe, a straight Gr. 1 size Dublin with just a hint of a bend in the stem. Quite Bing-eque in proportions. Good for a short flake smoke.

The third pipe, Nording 1/8 bent, squat/squished? tomato. Thich silver shank extension and extremely good for short and strong smokes.

My first ever brand new briar pipe was a Rick Black Cherrywood, which I sold after 2 years to one of the forum friends here. Mimmo briar, featherweight and smokes like a dream. Smoked exclusively SG FVF 5 Year Aged Pipe Club of London Edition to break the pipe and then only Six Pence till I sold it off.

So yeah I've had many 1st ever pipes, but technically my first ever pipe was a cheap chinese cob which died in a week, so it doesnt count :rofl:
Cheers,

Chris :puffpipe:

 

[elbert]

Peterson Donegal Rocky bent billiard. Smokes wet; I seldom use it. Bought it at Eastwold Smokes in Sioux Falls in '12 or '13? Those years were a low-ebb of happiness for me. Nice to see how far I've come!

 

[nunnster]

Nope. I dont have it. I'm sad that I dont, becuase I'm curious to know what kinda pipe it was and I would love to smoke it again to see what kind of smoker it was, since I had no idea what that ment. It was a cheap basket pipe that I picked up in Savannah GA, well over 15 years ago, along with a house blend aromatic vanilla and cherry. I actually dont quite remember what happened to it, but I vaguely remember having to leave quite a few of my possessions behind coming back home from a deployment (customs is a cruel mistress sometimes) and I believe that may have been one of them

 

[ssjones]

Missed this thread - very interesting comments. I chose poorly 10 years ago, a no-name ebay pipe with plastic stem. Pretty quickly discarded.
To me, the most impressive comments are those who have their first pipes and held onto them for the longest time.
I think Pepesdad is the current winner for a pipe he bought in 1961? (my birth year, btw) A couple of other 60's era pipes in here as well (oldcajun - '69).

 

[tenton]

First pipe was a Hilson Fantasia, green and white swirl bakelite with a meerschaum lined bowl. Don't remember what happened to it.
Second pipe was a Ropp cherry wood, made from 2 tree branches with the bark attached. I later added a screen and it became a weed pipe. Don't remember what happened to it.

 

[cohibajoe]

Yes..EA Carey's bent..in fact I have All my pipes since 1980.

 

[mso489]

I'm lucky to have my first pipe. Even in pipe-smoking hiatus, I've kept the pipes. However, I do wish I'd inherited a pipe from my grandfather or dad. I think my dad probably inherited his dad's pipes, and then smoked them up one at a time, the way he did, Granger all the way. After both men were gone, my sister discovered my grandfather's ten-pipe stand with round amber tobacco jar and wrapped it with care and shipped it to me, used by my dad after gramps was gone. So I'm pleased to have that. When I took up a pipe in my thirties, all the moves were programmed in from watching my dad. There was a learning curve, but much less than starting from scratch. I still mimic the gestures and rituals without thinking about it or really much knowing. He always loaded his pipe from a Granger foil pouch, mostly one-handed, shoveling with his thumb. I still find myself doing a similar thing, when it's appropriate.

 

[logs]

I wish I still had my mine, a generic billiard from Jansen's Ye Olde Pipe Shoppe in New Orleans. I lost it a few years later in the French Quarter, although I prefer to think of it as releasing it back into the wild. (With any luck some old jazz guy is using it).

 

[pinchoftobacco]

Yup sure do! It’s a kaywoodie. I don’t smoke it anymore because it tends to gurgle due to the design but regardless it will stay in my collection.