American pipes

There is a new company out of Tennessee, Icarus or something like that. But, the things just look stubby and ugly to me. A rep brought some to our pipe club meeting and no one looked impressed, and no one bought one. This was a first for vendors that have visited with us. But, they are cheap. Also, Dr. Grabow is out of North Carolina.

Kaywoodie, Dr. Grabow, Yello-Bole and Medico all produce good new pipes, but not all their pipes

are equally good, in my opinion. Buy only briar pipes, for starters, unless you know and specifically

want Brylon (a synthetic bowl material) for some kind of hard duty or a travel or car pipe. Most don't

like Bylon. I'm not very happy about the Kaywoodie Drinkless line with the screw-mount stems, not

only because I don't prefer the built-in stinger, but also because many of the screw on mounts don't

end up with the bit perpendicular to the bowl, so you have a bit that is angled. It can be repaired, but

why are they selling a pipe that arrives new needing repair? My preference is for the Kaywoodie push-bit

pipes like their Saxon; not easy to find but worth looking for. Dr. Grabow makes a good pipe, but you either

have to smoke it filtered, and buy the filters regularly, or smoke it without the filter open drawed; many

find this fine, others might not like it as well. I especially like the Royalton line for its quality stems and

superior finish, for just a little more money. Talking American pipes, you have to acknowledge the many

excellent artisan pipes. Some are quite expensive, but there are other accomplished artisans who sell for

the same or less than good factor pipes, so be sure to look at those. And of course Missouri Meerschaum

and Old Dominion cobs, which dollar for dollar are probably some of the best pipes in the world.

Which company produced the best American-made pipes?

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Produced or produces? Are you wanting the best American-made pipes of all time, or the best currently being made in America? Also, are you interested only in factory pipes, or would you also consider artisan pipes?

The company is Briar Works International and they make the Icaurs and Neptune lines. It's the brainchild of carver Todd Johnson. He wanted to make artisan like pipes on a bigger scale and more affordable for the average pipe smoker. Pete Provost has jumped on board along with some other Nashville area carvers. I met them at the West Coast Pipe Show and hung out with them for a while before the show. Stopped by their booth during the show and I enjoyed a lot of the shapes they had. I know he's tinkered with the engineering of the pipes a bit. All of the mortise and tenons are a uniformed size so no matter what pipe you have if you bite through the stem or what not you can just order another one and not have to send the pipe back and have the stem fitted for it. I'd definitely recommend checking them out. It's a great line if you're looking for artisan shapes on a budget.

Icarus and Neptune, those are made by that company in Tennessee. This was started by Todd Johnson, who got his start at The briary with Skip also. Although, I gave them a less than enthusiastic review on this thread. All of us that hang at the Briary respect Todd bunches, and we hope that he eventually gets some designs that are more appealing.

I could be wrong, but I think they unveiled these at the West Coast Show. It's a true calabash made of briar. The bowl is removable and there is an expansion chamber underneath. I got to handle them and give them an up close look. Very well made. I'm hoping to eventually pick one up. They do start at $300 though.
Briar Calabash

Although some here look at their products with disdain, I believe "Missouri Meerschaum" has a track-record much envied by most other American producers of smoking tools. Sales numbers, product reliability, and longevity certainly speak to customer satisfaction and loyalty.

lordofthepiperings gave a great review of the American made line by Johnson and Prevost. They also attended a trunk show for the Austin, Texas Pipe Club a few months back that I attended. They had an enthusiastic response from that group and sold 12 of their pipes at that meeting. I bought one (a horn shaped pipe from the Neptune line) and it is one of my favorite smoking pipes. They are very well constructed as you might imagine with Todd and Pete involved, and are being carried by a lot of online vendors. I think they are a sort of crossover between handmade and factory made.
Another American pipe company, E.A. Carey, has pipes made for them from other countries and then have them modified in order to accommodate their Papyrate filters. Carey sells a bunch of pipes and I know some folks who swear by their filter system. And the price is quite low.
There is a third company that makes smooth pipes only that seem to get some attention, but old age is preventing me from remembering the name... guess its time to move on.
Pipestud

Warren and I agree, Missouri Meerschaums are a great American pipe. Wide variety of styles and reasonably priced.
I also buy older (nothing newer than 1960's) Kaywoodies, Yello Bole, and now a few Dr. Grabows. I prefer my Kaywoodies and Yello Boles to be in the 1930 - 1940's range. Lots of good info out there on these pipes.

No mention of J.M. Boswell? There's also an up and comer from Dayton Ohio, Split Beard Pipes, they are cranking out some mid-price range pieces directed at the average pipe smoker and has a decent inventory on hand.

I thought this was for factory-mades? Missouri Meerschaums! Good call on those. Probably the best pipe company in the States.

Oh, and aren't Mr. Brogs out of NY? It seems like I read this.

Funny how American factory-mades just don't have the same pizazz as our European factory-mades. With as long as Grabow has been making pipes, they never really made the jump from drug store to pipe shop.
If Italian pipes have sexy lines, Danish pipes have more rough and bulky aesthetics, English pipes shoot for proportions, American pipes all seem to have a short squatty pipes, similar to the Peterson aesthetic, IMO, except even cheaper looking.

American grown! American made! No stinking foreign briar :clap: used. Can't get much more "American made" than that.
Of course this totally unsolicited endorsement comes from a guy who primarily smokes Peterson. Which to some would indicate a very low level of discernment, taste and class. I do have class though! It's all third but, it's still class.

Benton makes some good factory pipes. They make (or made?) a line of house pipes for Iwan Ries. I've enjoyed

several of these pipes that I think have smoking performance far above their very modest prices. Right now, none

of these pipes is in inventory at IR, but they are still pictured. I'm curious if Iwan Ries is changing its source of

house pipes, or if there is some delay in production, or if IR has simply ceased to offer them online for some reason.

I have an excellent Group 3 compact bent billiard, a full size straight billiard, and a Canadian, all in this line, and

they smoke and age very well.
I think there are several other, smaller American factory pipe makers, but the brands escape me. There used to be

several pipe shops that produced their own house pipes; these are available as estates today.
As mentioned in my earlier post, I am a strong proponent of Missouri Meerschaum and Old Dominion cob pipes,

and I hear the MM hardwood pipes are also work horses; several Forums members list them in the "What Are You

Smoking" thread.

Benton makes some good factory pipes - mso489

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That's the third brand I couldn't think of! Thanks for jogging the old memory, mso. Yes, those were/are? well made factory pipes, too.
Pipestud