First review here. Please be kind. 
Choosing a new pipe can be, for me and I am sure for much of the membership, both a joy and a trial. We all have experienced an "enamourment moment"- that wonderful but at times annoying connection a grown man can feel with a piece of carved wood weighing a few ounces. There are some pipes we just have to have, that seem to express in their shape and form something fundamental about our character. Buying a pipe as an aspirational purchase is rarely a good idea. It must be something which is quintessentialy correct, about which there is no doubt, whether this be about shape, size, weight, maker/manufacturer or a host of other criteria. Money should not come into it, but unfortunately often does. In many ways, the enamourment pipes are easy. We have to have them, so we buy or put behind the counter or do something else and it is done. But what about when one needs to fill a hole in one's rotation and one just goes out go get a pipe which will do the job?
This was the situation I found myself in on Wednesday. After finishing my last class of the day I went into my local pipe store 'to have a look', to see if there was anything there which piqued my interest enough to make a decision. As is my haibt, I immediately went to the 'drawers of envy", the cabinet in which my pipe guy keeps his handmade pipes. On Wednesday there were close to a hundred marvellous pipes in beautifully stained briar and around ten Dunhills, which have become about twice as expensive in China as they are in The U.S. Nothing appealed. So, onto the shelves of standard factory-made pipes, which I am sure I have looked at about 15 times. Was there a gem I had missed? Starting at the left and working my way around, I finally came across the pipe under review.
The word I feel that is most appropriate for this pipe is "honest". The grain is unspectacular, but very present. I suspect it is made from an off-cut of a good burl. It is very light and the shape is very pleasing, elegant but not weak, small but with an ample bowl. The sidewalls are 3mm thick with a total bowl diamter of 30 by 30mm. tapering nicely and quickly to a square shank starting at 15mm. The bowl is straight. There is no lacquer over the stain and the whole pipe has a waxy finish which I find pleasing as it should prove easy to get down to the wood proper. I do this with all of my pipes, rub rub rubbing off the lacquer if possible. I had to dunk my Savinelli poker in hot soapy water in my bathroom sink then scrub with a pot scrubber to get the heavy plastic lacquer off it- this transformed the smoke...after three days of drying out that is!
The square stem of the Chacom fits very nicely, smooth but with a nice fit and none of that "popping off" one gets when the stem has too short a flange. The flange is 13mm long, non-filter and leaves not an iota of a gap with the shank. I consider it perfect. Looking at the surface of the wood with a loupe I can see several very small and if I may say, conscientious fills. The carving of the brand has been done after the staining, curiously, leaving some flaking which is unsightly, but is only visible at 15 times magnification. The stain is a mid mahogany brown. The thing which confirmed my purchase is the drilling, which is done very competently. All in all this pipe is about as decently made as one could ask for $90 and feels a lot more special than all the others I had the option of buying.
To smoke, this pipe is absolutely hassle-free. I must admit I have only smoked two half bowls at this point, so there is still a chance of a hidden flaw coming through, but so far, the Chacom is dry, cool and has a medium-tight draw which I really like. In the Age of The Artisans, it is very nice to see an honestly made factory pipe of elegant and unassuming proportions, within which the fundamentals which make a pipe a pleasure to smoke have been paid atention to. Talking to some Chinese pipemen I showed them the drilling of the bottom of the bowl of the Chacom and then they had a look at the rather messy drilling in a handmade pipe costing five times as much. They just shook their heads and laughed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95376272@N05/12848498084/
Choosing a new pipe can be, for me and I am sure for much of the membership, both a joy and a trial. We all have experienced an "enamourment moment"- that wonderful but at times annoying connection a grown man can feel with a piece of carved wood weighing a few ounces. There are some pipes we just have to have, that seem to express in their shape and form something fundamental about our character. Buying a pipe as an aspirational purchase is rarely a good idea. It must be something which is quintessentialy correct, about which there is no doubt, whether this be about shape, size, weight, maker/manufacturer or a host of other criteria. Money should not come into it, but unfortunately often does. In many ways, the enamourment pipes are easy. We have to have them, so we buy or put behind the counter or do something else and it is done. But what about when one needs to fill a hole in one's rotation and one just goes out go get a pipe which will do the job?
This was the situation I found myself in on Wednesday. After finishing my last class of the day I went into my local pipe store 'to have a look', to see if there was anything there which piqued my interest enough to make a decision. As is my haibt, I immediately went to the 'drawers of envy", the cabinet in which my pipe guy keeps his handmade pipes. On Wednesday there were close to a hundred marvellous pipes in beautifully stained briar and around ten Dunhills, which have become about twice as expensive in China as they are in The U.S. Nothing appealed. So, onto the shelves of standard factory-made pipes, which I am sure I have looked at about 15 times. Was there a gem I had missed? Starting at the left and working my way around, I finally came across the pipe under review.
The word I feel that is most appropriate for this pipe is "honest". The grain is unspectacular, but very present. I suspect it is made from an off-cut of a good burl. It is very light and the shape is very pleasing, elegant but not weak, small but with an ample bowl. The sidewalls are 3mm thick with a total bowl diamter of 30 by 30mm. tapering nicely and quickly to a square shank starting at 15mm. The bowl is straight. There is no lacquer over the stain and the whole pipe has a waxy finish which I find pleasing as it should prove easy to get down to the wood proper. I do this with all of my pipes, rub rub rubbing off the lacquer if possible. I had to dunk my Savinelli poker in hot soapy water in my bathroom sink then scrub with a pot scrubber to get the heavy plastic lacquer off it- this transformed the smoke...after three days of drying out that is!
The square stem of the Chacom fits very nicely, smooth but with a nice fit and none of that "popping off" one gets when the stem has too short a flange. The flange is 13mm long, non-filter and leaves not an iota of a gap with the shank. I consider it perfect. Looking at the surface of the wood with a loupe I can see several very small and if I may say, conscientious fills. The carving of the brand has been done after the staining, curiously, leaving some flaking which is unsightly, but is only visible at 15 times magnification. The stain is a mid mahogany brown. The thing which confirmed my purchase is the drilling, which is done very competently. All in all this pipe is about as decently made as one could ask for $90 and feels a lot more special than all the others I had the option of buying.
To smoke, this pipe is absolutely hassle-free. I must admit I have only smoked two half bowls at this point, so there is still a chance of a hidden flaw coming through, but so far, the Chacom is dry, cool and has a medium-tight draw which I really like. In the Age of The Artisans, it is very nice to see an honestly made factory pipe of elegant and unassuming proportions, within which the fundamentals which make a pipe a pleasure to smoke have been paid atention to. Talking to some Chinese pipemen I showed them the drilling of the bottom of the bowl of the Chacom and then they had a look at the rather messy drilling in a handmade pipe costing five times as much. They just shook their heads and laughed.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95376272@N05/12848498084/
