"Though he marks his pipes Tarok his name is Christian Wolfsteiner from Germany who sadly passed away a few years ago. The pipe is called the Wild Rose with three knuckle bamboo shank and black ebonite stem,one of the most comfortable bits on any of my pipe stems, keeping it smokey with some more of the 23 y/o Grey Havens from McClelland."
"My latest bout with PAD started when a member on a forum showed the most beautiful Apple Bowl with the craziest bamboo shank I’ve ever seen, the pipe is by Roman Kovalev of Doctor’s Pipes. I found Doc, as he refers to himself, on Facebook and there were 5 of the most unusual bamboo shank pipes I’ve seen, not so much the bowl but the bamboo used is incredibly insane. Needless to say I made an inquiry to Doc if any of the pipes were available and he replied that 3 were and sent photos. Never in my wildest dreams would I expected that the third pipe was what I was looking for, it was meant to be."
"After putting away yesterday’s bamboo shank lineup I chose what today’s bamboo shank lineup would and that included this Saucer by German Pipemaker Jürgen Moritz. The pipe has a 3 knuckle bamboo shank and a very comfortable black ebonite stem, and as already stated I’m keeping it smokey with the last of the 10 y/o Wessex Brigade, cheers."
"The second bamboo shank pipe I chose is from the bench of the late Danish Pipemaker Peter Heeschen. The pipe was much lighter when I first got it being that it was natural Vergin Dublin, the coloration began quickly and as you can see there is some grain beginning to poke out to be seen on the lightly blasted bowl, the bamboo shank is Chocolate colored and the black stem is ebonite. Keeping it smokey with the 23 y/o Grey Havens from McClelland."
"The third bamboo shank pipe I am currently smoking comes from the bench of Taiwan’s Pipemaker Jerry Zenn. Jerry chooses his own bamboo for the shanks and other uses on his pipes, his preference is for what is referred to as Human Face Bamboo, once you’ve seen it there’s no mistaking it being a different type. The Flame Grain of the pipe he calls a Smooth Freehand is coupled with a 5 knuckle bamboo shank and ebonite stem with Briar accent. Still keeping it smokey with the 23 y/o Grey Havens from McClelland, I’m going to miss this tobacco a lot once it’s gone, it has given me much smoking pleasure."
"Belgian Pipemaker Dirk Claessen works in Spain where he makes pipes he guarantees to smoke effortlessly and mine certainly does that. I'm having some Mac Baren Virginia no. 1 in the pipe Dirk calls the Leprechaun, a beautiful straight grained bowl with shades of plateau on top. The shank comes off the bowl made to look like a tree branch as it transfers over to the 2 knuckle black bamboo, keeping it smokey."
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Kai Nielsen of Denmark is no stranger to pipe making being the eldest son of the late Viggo Nielsen it was in his veins. Kai worked for pocket money at the Bari Pipe Factory his dad had half share in. He would later apprentice under his father and venture off on his own when he was 21 y/o. Kai used a different grading system for pipes that took a filter and non filter pipe. Filter pipes were marked A, B, C and D with D being the lowest grade. Non filter pipes were marked V, VV, VVV and VVVV, VVVV signifies Old Briar Straight Grain so it’s his highest grade.
My pipe is a VVV Grade, Kai Nielsen pinched Panel Dublin with 2 knuckle bamboo shank and Maroon Cumberland Stem, having more of that tasty Virginia no. 1 from Mac Baren."
"I’d like to apologize for mistakenly posting Grey Havens as a Mac Baren product, someone on one of the forums nicely told me my error and of course it a McClelland Tobacco and not by Mac Baren, sorry for this faux pas, I do not like passing off erroneous information and am more than willing to point out the error. Keep it smokey."
"...I loaded up the 4 knuckle bamboo shank Danish style flame grained bowl with plateau on the top and an ebonite stem with a tapered brass tenon. I’ve seen many materials used as tenons with bamboo shank pipes but this tapered one was new to me. I own 2 bamboo shank pipes by this Pipemaker the other is a Pickaxe and will be shown at a later time. I wasted no time loading the Todd M. Johnson pipe with Virginia no. 1 by Mac Baren and kept it smokey."
"A shape that originally took me a bit of getting used to but once I did several variations of it reside in my racks. This one come from Swedish Pipemaker Jonas Rosengren, a three knuckle bamboo shank Cutty with serious Flame Grain on the bowl and some plateau on top. Keeping it smokey with the 23 y/o Grey Havens from McClelland."
"I’ve had folks write and ask what do I look at standing at that big pine tree. I’m looking at the tidal millpond off the York River which obviously is fed by the Atlantic Ocean. Being a mere 15’ above sea level may be a problem during storms having that millpond there has made all the difference in the world.
So now that I’ve given you a change of scenery I’ll change to a non bamboo shank pipe, in this case it’s a vintage Missouri Meerschaum Corn Dawg ( sorry the silly person that lives inside my brain just loves making me type it that way!) These are no longer available and haven’t been for years. This old timer is of a time when the plastic used for the stem was a very hard plastic that would last forever, this one has a diamond shape to match the transition from the corn cob diamond shank...Oh yeah, 23 y/o McClelland Grey Havens keeping it smokey."