Anyone going to Triangle Area Pipe Show NC?

I hope to spend an hour or two, though I'd like to spend a half day. My wife's limited mobility limits my time away. A few highlights for you. I would check out the smokingpipes.com exhibit for a great array of pipes, tobacco, and also a chance to meet a few of their staff -- I think Chris is the senior staff guy, with others assisting. In the past, they have had an exhibit at the far end from the entry. You might want to look for Bob Hayes, a superb carver from N.C., higher end pipes in nicely advanced traditional shapes. My favorite carver, Jerry Perry, has been against the wall where you enter. He only sells at this pipe show and the N.C. State Fair, and is one of the few carvers who works in Mountain Laurel. He doesn't sell online, so if you like his work, better pick one up. Distinctive work at excellent prices. I'd pick up business cards for anything that attracts your eye that you don't plan to buy this week. Last year Russ O. from PC was there. You might want to put your posting name below your name on your name sticker, like mso489/Forums, to meet other Forums members. Jiminks was there two years ago -- not sure about last year. There's a smoking area with picnic tables at the entrance, where you can smoke samples or your own tobacco, so bring a pipe or two and needed accessories. Hope to see you there tarheel; enjoy the show!

I was there the last two years and I'll be there this year, too.

Pouring some coffee in me now and getting ready to load up the car. Going up a day early so I can take in the tobacco tour TAPS is doing this year. Anyone here going, be sure to stop by my table and say "Hi!". Hope to see ya'll at the show!

I've been a few times and it's always worth checking out if you are in town. I may stop by if the schedule allows. Hope to see some of you gentlemen there.

Humbling that tarheel is getting up at 5 a.m. and others are traveling some distance too. I'm always impressed when I go to Asheville just how wide the state is, and impressed again when I go from Asheville to the furthest west of the state on those mountain roads -- N.C. is one wide state! If I fall headlong out my back door, I'm about there at the pipe show. Well, it's right up the road, anyway. Wish I could spend more time, but I hope to see a few Forums people.

The wife and I will be there - really looking forward to it. Hope to meet some of you fellows in person.
Basil, I will be there at your table bright and early - champing at the bit to get my hands on number 3 in the 7-day Bing set :worship:
FYI, The Aromatic Farts (Charlotte area pipe club) are using this show for our April "meeting", so come find us Tarheel!

I will be there. I am bringing my wife with, but she ain't going to stay there for long.

Great show, expanded from last year so it's in a new venue, a larger round building up the hill from the old venue. Boy, it was temptation alley. Bought a great cocobolo pipe from Jerry Perry, orange stem and dark stain, asymmetrical freehand. Visited Bob Hayes, another N.C. carver who is usually a little out of my reach on price, who made me an offer I couldn't refuse on a beautiful bamboo stem Dublin. Picked up some Lanes samples, got a tin of their Medal of Valor blend, and sampled a bowl of smokingpipes.com's Low Lands blend Cooper and chatted with people in the smoking area. Also bought regular and churchwarden pipe cleaners and a stainless steal pipe tool, and got a free Missouri Meerschaum hat (it looked like the last one they had). So I am one happy (if slightly poorer) camper. Got too entranced to hunt down any Forums members -- no name tags for Forums handles, or none that I saw, so no way to catch you. Hope you all did as "well," or came home as happy, anyway, as I did.

Home from the Raleigh Pipe Show sponsored by TAPS. Picked up lots of samples to review and bought twenty tins of D&R's VIP, which is a very under rated VaPer. Also bought three tins of Peterson's 3Ps. A friend gave me a 100 gram tin of Edgeworth Slices. Smoked Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend in a 2014 Basil Meadows smooth slight bend squashed tomato with an aluminum band and a black pearl acrylic stem. Then, a 1995 sample of Ringlow Syrian Reserve in a 1990s smooth Peterson Captain Pete XL80 bulldog. Now, I'm half way through this bowl of D&R VIP in my trusty 1970s smooth three quarter bend Peterson System Standard 305. Saw a bunch of old friends and made a few new ones, and just had a great time.

Back home from the show. Picked up a couple of estates and a bunch of samples. I had fun and didn't cost too much, which is surprising.
Mso489, you should have hanged more around Basil's (reddog pipes) table, Jim was there a lot and he could have pointed me and Bob (rblood) to you. Maybe next year.

Thanks jake. I had to hustle a little because of home responsibilities, but the pipe purchases, accessories (pipe cleaners, regular and churchwarden, and a nifty pipe tool), Missouri Meerschaum hat (I think the last one left) and generous free samples, plus some good if hurried conversations in the smoking area made it seem like an exciting show. It would have been great to meet some Forums people and put faces and personalities with names. Maybe we could touch base at the reddog table next year. I went to the old venue, the little square (Martin) bldg down the hill, with few cars, and thought the show had lost momentum, but it was a furniture auction, and I soon found my way to the pipes. This show was definitely bigger and better than previous years, more exhibitors, better pipes, lavish samples from Lanes, an impressive range of prices. I was glad to see there were some good pipes even in the $10-$20 range for college students or young people starting out, to go with the tobacco samples. Also, there was more elbow room -- last year the place got so crowded it was a little hard to view the exhibited pipes, etc. When I got home, my wife essentially bought me the more expensive of my two pipes. The magazine in the goody bag had super articles about my old friend George Hoffman of the local independent Pipes by George shop, a much deserved tribute to a devoted and deeply knowledgeable pipe man, as well as a fine article about Bob and Bill Savage of Old Dominion corn cob pipes; I met Bob at the show two years ago and bought two of his pipes I still enjoy. So this was a very satisfying day.

I had a wonderful time at the TAPS show! Got to meet a lot of new friends and see a lot of old friends again. To me, that's what going to these events are about. The new location was a BIG improvement. More room and the closed in breeze way for smoking was very nice! Still had plenty of room to expand. Like every show, it had it's busy times and it had it's slow times. Those work great for a chance to step into the breeze way for a quick smoke.

I want to thank everyone that stopped by my table and chatted. And the TAPS folks for putting on a wonderful event. Just 12 more months and we get to do it again!!!

This is a close enough show that there were folks from PA, Va, W.Va, and Maryland that showed up!

I feel like I should thank the carvers again. My long-time go-to pipe carver, Jerry Perry, came up with a really pleasing and distinctive small pipe in cocobolo, which was a unique addition to my rather wide-ranging stable of pipes, my first cocobolo, and gave me a tobacco pouch before I bought anything. And when I stopped by the Bob Hayes table for the second time, and he had sold many of his own pipes (he also offered some estates) he was more than generous in pricing one of his pipes for me. As I told him, "You have made me an offer I cannot refuse." I've admired his pipes for several years and Google from time to time to see what he has, and was dumfounded when he made an offer I could afford -- which my wife later covered as a gift! Piper's bliss.

Great show...had a great time. Just wish it was bigger and wish we could smoke in the show hall. Always love talking with new and old friends. I was able to drag along a longtime friend and pipe smoker. He'd never been to a pipe show and he was impressed and had a great time. Left at 6am and arrived home a bit after 11pm. Makes a great road trip! I encourage all pipers to attend if they can and spend a bit to support the venders.

Sally, The Pipe Tart, posted pix on FB https://www.facebook.com/terry.carpenter.5201/media_set?set=a.10208145515266859.1073741850.1570280805&type=3 Couldn't find them on her website http://www.thepipetart.com/
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