I know mikethompson and maybe others don't favor bamboo as a pipe material. I certainly respect others' taste, and if it's unappealing to you, it just is. I never owned a bamboo shank pipe, and might never have gotten one, but fishnbanjo posted so many beauties featuring bamboo that I relented somewhat, such that I bought a bamboo shank pipe from the late great Bob Hayes at the TAPS pipe show in the last hours of sales. He made me an offer I couldn't possibly refuse, and the pipe is excellent. No, I haven't bought any other bamboo shank pipes, but between fish' and the late Bob Hayes, they now have a special place, one place, on my rack.
