I'm with you. Sure my less expensive pipes smoke well, but my Castello and Larrysson's make my tobacco's sing!
YOUR BEST PIPE? NOT ALWAYS THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONE
- Thread starter jorgesoler
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The OP does not show an inexpensive pipe that smokes well, it shows a marvelous pipe that was acquired at low cost.
Straight grain in plateau wood doesn't look like a basket pipe to me. I'm not surprised it smokes well.
Straight grain in plateau wood doesn't look like a basket pipe to me. I'm not surprised it smokes well.
A very subjective post, as it's not a quality of the pipe, but the pipe matching a smoker's style of smoking that determines the quality of the experience. Its a block of wood with two holes. That said I am very pleased with all of my pipes, yet some I am still learning to smoke the way it wants to be smoked. The smoke that came easiest to me is an antique long and lanky Hilson stacked dublin. It goes everywhere with me.
The wording on the OP wreaks of an agenda, as if this proves that expensive pipes are lesser quality than a cheaper pipe. I think that spending more on a pipe, hoping that it will overcome poor smoking technique is a falsehood. For whatever reason one wants to buy an expensive pipe, for art-sake, brand recognition, or the more expensive pipes just match the smoker's technique best, then more power to them. However, if you puff too fast or pack too poorly because you just have no clue what you're doing, then all of the money in the world isn't going to overcome poor technique.
That said, I have to wonder if having a stem that won't go all of the way in, means that you beat your wife, ha ha!! :
: I'm just messing with you from your previous post.
The wording on the OP wreaks of an agenda, as if this proves that expensive pipes are lesser quality than a cheaper pipe. I think that spending more on a pipe, hoping that it will overcome poor smoking technique is a falsehood. For whatever reason one wants to buy an expensive pipe, for art-sake, brand recognition, or the more expensive pipes just match the smoker's technique best, then more power to them. However, if you puff too fast or pack too poorly because you just have no clue what you're doing, then all of the money in the world isn't going to overcome poor technique.
That said, I have to wonder if having a stem that won't go all of the way in, means that you beat your wife, ha ha!! :
: I'm just messing with you from your previous post.
There's always a satisfaction in getting an e-bay pipe that's slipped through the net. One of my best Charatan's was mislabeled and came to me for £7.50 - it's become one of my best smokers, once I got rid off all the cake. I picked up a really great 1940/50s rusticated Hardcastle for the same price. Last week I got a pre-transition Barling's quaint that cost £20 (and came with a lot of four other pipes and a walnut pipe rack): I'm smoking it right now and it's gunning for the top spot in my pipe affections.
I think the most under priced pipes today have to be Charatan Belvederes though. The same workers made these pipes to the same standards as their ultra-pricey straight-grains, but they fetch bargain basement prices at auction, despite their excellent smoking characteristics: I am proud and lucky to own four of them (and counting)!
I think the most under priced pipes today have to be Charatan Belvederes though. The same workers made these pipes to the same standards as their ultra-pricey straight-grains, but they fetch bargain basement prices at auction, despite their excellent smoking characteristics: I am proud and lucky to own four of them (and counting)!
My best Virginia pipe is a Colossal (French Made, Algerian briar) bulldog I got dirt cheap, smokes any Virginia or VaPer flake like a champ. My best Latakia pipes are Ashton, Dunhill, Castello and Comoy. They range from $25-350.
You can get a cheap pipe that smokes better than a high grade, and a high grade that smokes like crap. It still just comes down to the qualities of the briar and the engineering....and sometimes one can take up slack for the other.
All that said, I have a Castello I got for $25 that is a good middle of the road smoker, but when I think of the price it makes the smoke taste that much sweeter.
You can get a cheap pipe that smokes better than a high grade, and a high grade that smokes like crap. It still just comes down to the qualities of the briar and the engineering....and sometimes one can take up slack for the other.
All that said, I have a Castello I got for $25 that is a good middle of the road smoker, but when I think of the price it makes the smoke taste that much sweeter.
I'm always on the lookout for a fix-r-up-er on eBay. My very favorite smoker is a Cellini by Brebbia straight grain Dublin that smokes so sweet and cool you have to sometimes remind yourself that it is lighted! Cost $8 new (about 35 year ago and obviously not on eBay). My current eBay find is a Peterson spigot for $50 that needed serious cleaning before it smoked even half decently; now it is wonderful. AND, my most expensive pipe, a Dunhill is a rather unimpressive smoke in comparison. All are cleaned meticulously and stored in appropriate conditions. That being said, the sweet spot for my pipes is $50-70. This is all very general of course...
I don't own any pipes that cost more than $200 (new), so maybe I don't have the proper context, but my three best smokers are a Savinelli (bought new, $90), a Hardcastle (Ebay estate, $22, fills all over the place), and a Brigham (bought new, $60).
I have a Lord Davenport pot estate that was gifted to me in a trade nearly a year ago. It's easily one of my best pipes. Smokes easy, easy to clench for a straight, passes a pipe cleaner easily. When I first got it, it had a super loose stem and since it was an estate, I risked it by using the heating the tenon method to fix the loose stem and it worked.
My best deal smokers are cristiano pot and pear I paid $38 and $45 or so dollars for. Do they smoke better than my Duca Morta? Ya, right. No. But there is much truth to cosmic's post. Most pipes smoke well if not excellently if you take the time to learn them. Cheaper pipes just may have a higher learning curve and a lower performance ceiling.
I don't really have an "expensive" pipe. Most of mine hit about the $100 mark. I'd have to say that my best smoker is probably my Phillip Trypis bent Dublin. I bought it off of pruss for $35 on the buy/sell/trade page. It's definitely on the lower end of what I've paid for a pipe, but I find myself reaching for it quite a bit. Those Canadians can sure make a pipe. Gotta love the United States' hat.
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