Who Has A Set Of Criteria When Buying A Pipe?

[sablebrush52]

I'm EXTREMELY particular when it comes to pipes. Here are my criteria:
1. The pipe must have a chamber for tobacco.

2. The chamber must be round around its circumference. No square chambers.

3. The chamber must connect to an airway, and the airway must connect to an external opening other than the tobacco chamber.

4. The briar must be made of wood. Candy pipes are cool, but they don't smoke well.
That's about it.

 

[phred]

Still enough of a beginner to not yet have set criteria - and the criteria that I do have are subject to change as I get more data (straight billiards, for example - I initially thought of them as stodgy and boring, and now they're on my list of "I could use another____").

 

[cortezattic]

Most of my pipes naively found their way into my collection because they appealed to me in some aesthetic way: shape and bend, grain, finish, wall thickness, etc. But in recent years my criteria tightened up a bit. I found that rusticated and blasted pipes, which I always found attractive, were easier to grasp and manipulate securely as I developed arthritis.
I still employ the old pipes for particular tobacco cuts based on their bowl diameter and depth; but lately I have found that something around 13/16" (~21mm) x 1½ deep works best overall. Also, I tend to lose patience with pipes whose draft diameter is less than 4mm., and all of my recent purchases reflect these changes.

 

[brass]

I have to fall in love with the pipe. I look at weight and stem material and finish. I try to stay away from exotic or extrem shapes. They may be charming at first but the appeal often fades.
But after looking at the practical aspects, I go back to the one requirment that I fall in love with the pipe. I'll usually try to sleep on it for a while to make sure I'm not just infatuated.
Price isn't a big determinent - except for pipes that are entirely out of reach. One of my favorite recent purchases was a $49.00 Stanewll poker. Looks good and smokes greate - from the first bowl.
Pax

 

[jkrug]

My criteria for buying a pipe is not very strict and much resembles daimyo's.

First the pipe must catch my eye and second I must have the funds available. After that pretty much anything goes. I hardly ever clench so weight and size aren't a deciding factor.

The only other real criteria would be Canadian's are favoured over other shapes and I like the classic shapes.

That's about it really. ::

 

[cigrmaster]

cortez, I hear you about the shank dimensions being 4.00 or greater as I also got tired of pipes that were too retricted. I found that when I was on my English pipe buying kick almost 3 years ago, that most if not all were less than the 4.00 and I did not enjoy smoking them. One pipe I kept was my Willmer and I had zack open it up for me and it smokes fine now.
brass,

I go back to the one requirment that I fall in love with the pipe

I used to feel the exact same way as you do, but that changed for me not that long ago. I have bought pipes in the last couple of years that I honestly did not love the looks of but purchased them anyway because I just knew they were going to be awesome flake pipes. Now I did not think they were hideaous but a couple did not have great blasts, one was a red color, but as it turned out I was right in that they smoked my flakes incredibly well. When I see a really great deal on a pipe that I just know is going to smoke great, I take looks( too a degree) out of the equation so I can get a great smoker.

 

[ssjones]

My specs are much like Glouchesterman's (and nearly 100% estates):
- British made, first line (i.e.: no seconds)

- Vulcanite stem

- Under 50 grams (I will make exceptions for the right shape)

- Bulldog, Rhodesian (bent or straights) and the occasional Bent Billiard

- Original stem

- Crisp nomenclature

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I don't buy pipes much anymore. Kind of got enough for myself and what I like, but I did pick up my first pipe of the year a couple days ago.

Been wanting a meer so I finally got one ... not one of those carved artistic monstrosities. No offense to those into the crazy carved pipes.
I have bent pipes, Petes, Savs, straight Dublins, a calabash, cobs and sitters. I'd rather accumulate tobacco.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

It has to catch my eye, I like bents except got Hackertt

It has to have a large bowl. No 10 minute smokers. I love to have the extra space, to me it smokes better.

Nothing too old. I don't want a pipe from the 1930's. Usually 70's to current.

Has to be a good brand/carver, (one that I like).

And last the price. Usually under $150.

 

[saltedplug]

50g or less; especially like 30-40g

Classic shape or recognizable variation thereof

Established maker or strong recommendations

Group 4 or 3; I prefer small pipes but their production is limited; most cobs work here

Cobs - they smoke well and it's getting harder and harder to justify a $300 splurge; but of course briar pipes are exquisite. I know there are a lot of perfectly serviceable estates out there for much less money, but for whatever reason they don't appeal.

Straight

 

[sparrowhawk]

Like Brass, the appeal often fades with exotic pipes, and I often end up donating or selling such pipes. I had some preconceptions of the kind of pipe I would prefer when I started three years ago; I thought I would like long, slender, straight pipes. However, i eventually discovered I like short, thick straight billiards, hence my love of Peterson pipes. I also like sandblasts slightly more than smooth, but I own a few Irish Harps. Very few freehands; mostly traditional billiards. I'm careful about buying exotic shapes now, because it may be just a temporary attraction, like my enthusiasm for the volcano; I discovered it was hard to hold and too heavy.

 

[brass]

Thanks to SparrowHawk for his comment on the volcano. Every time I've purchased an exotic or exaggerated shape, I've found that it in someway impacted performance deleteriously. For example, I have a dublin with an aggressive forward cant. It looks like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun. But you can't see bowl when lighting it or smoking it. May sound like a small thing and may be to some, but I'm ready to trade it.
I like the look of fat tomatoes or apples but when you check the specs they are usually heavy - exceeding 70 grams - at least the ones I've looked at.
Same with the Freehands. Heavy and often unbalanced. I've long been interested in a volcano but hesitated because of my experience with other not-so-traditional shapes.
Note that many of these might be ok for arm chair smoking when you don't have to be concerned as much with weight for the occasional clench.
Pax

 

[cigrmaster]

Brass, I am with you about the forward cant on a pipe. I own one Zulu that is barley canted and I have a little trouble seeing while lighting so I am very careful to not buy something with a forward cant. I love my Zulu and would never trade it, but I have to be a little careful when lighting it. It sounds like yours is a serious forward cant and that would also drive me crazy.

 

[brass]

It may be stating the obvious but the classics evolved over time. And just as in nature, poor design was discarded in favor of better performing shapes, sizes, and materials.
Look at the pipe art thread started by claypipesarcheologist and you will see that pipes were originally much longer and made of fragile clay. As technique and materials became available, shapes were re-engineered. I don't think it accidental that tjhe first art portraying smaller, clencher type pipes pictured cavalrymen with full bent billiards.
I'm arguing that today's classic shape's are classic because they are the best functioning pipe shapes and sizes. And as often is true in engineering, when function dictates form, beauty emerges, just as it does in nature. Or are our brains wired to equate function with beauty? But, that is for another thread.
So, while the exotic shapes may arouse our interest and even admiration, and even if you own some of these innovative pieces, I bet your best smokers are billiards, pokers, bulldogs, pots, authors, and the like.
Pax

 

[brudnod]

Over the past 45+ years I have purchased probably more than 100 pipes. As I get older my criteria are pretty much simplified down to: 1) I have to like the aesthetics of the pipe (how it feels in the hand and how it looks to the eye) and 2) how well does it smokes. At this point I have a rather large basket in the basement that has more than 50 pipes in it. The problem has always been that no matter how lovely a pipe is it still has to smoke well. There are some expensive (by my definition) pipes in there so it is not that I just have purchased crappy pipes. You just cannot smoke 5 bowls of tobacco in a new/used pipe and expect the dealer, or worse, the estate seller to take it back. So my only REAL criterium for a pipe is that I have to be willing to throw it into the basket. Kind of reduces the amount of money I am willing to spend...

 

[maxx]

I discovered when I got my Poker that I would probably dislike a stubby, nose warmer. This Poker is as short as I'd want to go.

 

[mso489]

If I don't hear choirs of tobacco angels when I first behold a pipe, I look elsewhere.

 

[wyfbane]

I entered November, 2013 with 1 pipe... a Grabow from my 2006 deployment... Now:

I love pipes. I like them big and small, short and tall, meer and briar, cobb, and even al-u-mineeum (British pronunciation, lol).
Moving into the future, I shall focus primarily on hand-made pipes. Artisan, Castello, Duca, Don Carlos, and any other producer of handmades.
I DO still succumb to the stray odd older pipe that piques my historical interest.
Based on this really good thread, I am going to do some thinking about shapes and whatnot, but I have enough pipes of various shapes that I can always smoke something in ONE of my pipes... lol.