Culture Shock

puffinbilly · Jul 31, 2013

Hey Guys,
I’m on company time so I’ll try to be brief. I posted in a thread yesterday regarding is the best rag to use to polish one’s pipe?? I am immensely impressed by the way the members treat their hobby here but it does raise a fundamental question that has been at the back of my mind for a while.
Why is the pipe you smoke so important to you? Surely the tobacco is key to that wonderful moment we all chase when your mouth explodes with the taste of hot rum and warm fresh bread. Is the pipe itself not, (excuse the slip into military jargon) just the delivery system?
Sure, I know the aesthetics of smoking a cool, rare or famous pipe contribute to that moment and avid collectors will happily pay a fortune for a Don Corleone (Joke) but….
I buy a briar that is robust, costs somewhere around $100 and as my wife says suits my face. I only possess three (for work and the garden, for evenings and at home, and a swanky one for when we go out) Mind you I do tend to sit on them, leave them on tables in cafés, run them over with the lawnmower etc
Bill

captainsousie · Jul 31, 2013

I liken it to a 1987 Mercury station wagon. For most it's just a car. A way to get you or your family from point a to point b. Again, a delivery system so to speak. But to one college kid, it's freedom, it's the most comfortable, spacious, and powerful thing he's driven. He keeps it absolutely spotless to the point of polishing the wheels on a regular basis. It's the car he used to take his fiancé out for their first date. It's his baby.
Now few "car guys" in their right minds would treat such a cheap, common car with such reverence and most would just use it as a "beater". It would ride around with McDonalds wrappers perpetually littering the floorboards. Is either type of person wrong? No. Pride of ownership or lack thereof is just a function of personal investment in an item of property. No more.
I apply this logic to pipes and it seems to transfer rather well. From the guy who labels each pipe with the date of the last smoke, the blend smoked, and a numerical rating of the quality of the experience to the one who runs a pipe cleaner through once a week at most. Both get their intended use from the pipe and neither remotely understands why the other would act the way they do.
Sorry for a bit of a rambling answer but it's the only one I have for now. By the way, the kid with the Mercury? He was me.

metalheadycigarguy · Jul 31, 2013

For me each pipe is significant in one way or another. Whether it be the first one I ever purchased, or one that was a gift from a friend and they all have their own story. Each time I enjoy a bowl of baccy from one of my pipes I'm adding to the history of the pipe. Be it that I just enjoyed a smoke in my man-cave or one that was with friends at a gathering or what have you; each smoke is another chapter in the story of said pipe. Now I have some old estate pipes that I have no idea what kind of history they have, but sometimes I find myself wondering where the pipe has been, who smoked it and what kind of tobacco has ashed up the bowl. Though I will never know the past history of some of my pipes the story goes on with each smoke.
Besides that... some of them are just cool as hell and look darn good in my hand/mouth.

barleynbaccy · Jul 31, 2013

I buy pipes that are aesthetically pleasing to me. I think this is why I like to keep them clean, but maybe not highly polished. I do a deep cleaning and polishing about twice a year. I try to stay around a hundred bucks or less also because of finances more than anything.

tarak · Jul 31, 2013

The pipe is a huge part of the hobby to me. Maybe I'm not a "real" pipe smoker, you wouldn't fine me smoking much if a bunch if beat up cobs was all I had. For me, its all part of the package. The pipe, the baccy, the ritual, the relaxation.

ghost · Jul 31, 2013

Cleaning a pipe, whether one of my own or an estate acquisition, is just as relaxing to me as smoking. It gives me the same ability to disconnect from the world for an hour or two.

daytonsean · Jul 31, 2013

I've enjoyed reading the responses.
I'm more like Billy when it comes to this topic. The pipe for me is highly utilitarian; it serves one purpose. I hate cleaning my pipes, but I do it. I hate taking care of them, but I do it. I don't go to any extremes with those parts. My selection of briars have all become dedicated to certain blends though, so I guess that counts as some kind of extremism.

puffinbilly · Jul 31, 2013

Thanks for the posts gents,
I do understand that; you buy what you like, what you can afford, it’s yours, it gives you pleasure and you look after it. Sure I do that with my possessions.
All of the pipe smokers I have known have their favourite pipe, of course I do too, in fact I have had a few over the years lol. As metalheadycigar said some have a certain sentimental value for him, tarak mentioned a classy pipe as being an essential part of his smoking ritual, this is all understandable but don’t get me wrong, not the issue.
The pipe polish thread caught my eye mostly because I have never considered polishing my pipe I thought it would be a post from someone who is renovating pipes or making his own and was looking for a spot of technical advice about finishing the wood.
The thread just jogged me along I thought some of these guys take this simple pleasure far to seriously, my main point is does piss-poor tobacco taste any better in a $500 pipe.
Bill

daytonsean · Jul 31, 2013

I don't think terrible blends will taste good in anything.

irwinmetro · Jul 31, 2013

my main point is does piss-poor tobacco taste any better in a $500 pipe.

The armchair psychologist in me says, I'll bet it does if you're the one who dropped $500 on it. The frontal lobe is a pretty powerful thing.
That said, I don't even own a pipe that's $100. I do wish I did, but for me $100 on a pipe is just as much a financial burden as a $500 pipe. So, in due course, I try to treat my basket pipes with all the reverence of a birth year Dunhill, since it may as well be.
And of course, let's not forget, it's Pipe Acquisition Disorder. "We're all made here."

phred · Jul 31, 2013

In "Still Searching For Pipe Dreams", Rick Newcombe talks about how pipe smoking engages all of the senses - taste and smell, to be sure, but also touch (the feel of the pipe, the tobacco as it's packed, etc.), hearing (one's own breath, the exhale, gurgling or whistling), and sight - the grain of the briar, the coloration of meerschaum, the texture of a cob, the forms that the smoke makes.
The pipe may be simply a "delivery system", but then again, a guitar is only a mechanism for producing sound. Any woodworker can tell you about the joy of observing a wonderful grain pattern, and if there's a fingerprint obscuring the bird's eye even on my sub-$75 Viking Classic, I'll certainly go ahead and wipe it off. There's a balance between aesthetics and utilitarianism that different people will come down on different sides of - but it's all good.

numbersix · Jul 31, 2013

my main point is does piss-poor tobacco taste any better in a $500 pipe.

If you ask me, piss-poor tobacco will taste piss-poor in any pipe.
But is a more expensive pipe better than a cheap pipe?
The short answer is, often, yes.

The long answer is, not always.
I will give you an example. I own a Dunhill 2001 ODB billiard. This pipe remains my finest pipe, both in construction and smoking qualities. The stem clicks on and off with absolute precision. Firm and snug, but always easy to remove. The briar is exceptionally lightweight, and smokes as if it were a meerschaum, but with the positive qualities one expects from a briar.
As well, I own a 1970s Grabow. A $16 drug store pipe that smokes almost as well as my Dunhill and better than many of my $150 pipes. I attribute this mainly to the fact that the pipe was unsmoked for 40 plus years. As well, the briar is exceptionally lightweight and was probably aged when it was manufactured, meaning it could be a 60-70 year old piece of briar.
Still, there is of course a big difference in overall quality in construction between the two.
All in all, from my limited experience, I believe a lot comes down to the briar. It's age and curing methods. And while a more expensive pipe doesn't guarantee it will perform better than a cheaper pipe, I think the odds do increase.

lostandfound · Jul 31, 2013

Oh boy, here we go again...

numbersix · Jul 31, 2013

Oh boy, here we go again...

:rofl:

hfearly · Jul 31, 2013

Most pipes I own are restored Estates. They are not "only" pipes that are to be used. Every piece is 50+ years old, and I have fond memories of many, many hours of work put into them to get them to a "like new out of the box" state. These pipes have stories. For example, I have a Peterson that was made during the war years of WW II, was picked up by a young man, who fled with his family to Canada, and over the next 60 years was one of his main connections to his young adulthood in a war-torn Europe. That's not "just a pipe". It's a piece of history. ;-)

tbradsim1 · Jul 31, 2013

Shit will taste like Shit no matter what kind of plate you put it in. Nuff said.

irwinmetro · Jul 31, 2013

In addition to my last post I offer this:

…In 2008 a study of 6,000 blind tastings by Robin Goldstein in the Journal of Wine Economics found a positive link between the price of wine and the amount people enjoyed it. But the link only existed for people trained to detect the elements of wine that make them expensive.

Wine Tasting Experts/Fools
I know wine isn't tobacco, but the two are certainly similar, as pointed out on the front page. But in essence, your brain is able to convince itself that something more expensive tastes better.
I wonder if anyone can explain the difference between "goodness" and the experience of "goodness"? I have yet to meet someone who can.

calumet · Jul 31, 2013

I focus mostly on the tobacco. I like all varieties and my tastes run from an OTC like Sir Walter Raleigh, which is my regular smoke, to high-end aromatics, Virginia blends, Latakia blends, you name it. My most expensive pipe is an ornately-carved meerschaum, and my better pipes are Brigham's and mid-grade Peterson's. I am by nature a skin-flint, and I can't imagine myself shelling out hundreds of dollars for a pipe. I'm not criticizing those who do, but it just isn't me. Having said that, I think the pipes I have are doing fine as delivery systems. When I buy a new pipe, I focus mostly on something that is aesthetically pleasing to me -- the shape, the color, the weight and balance, overall craftsmanship and sturdiness -- things that all factor in for me in the smoking experience. All of my pipes provide me with satisfying smoking experiences, including my cobs and a nice, sturdy Czech no-name pot I picked up for 20 bucks years ago. I had a particularly delightful smoke while driving around today with my cob and some burley. And as I cleaned the Czech the other day, I was pleased with the way it darkened and how nicely it polishes up.

numbersix · Jul 31, 2013

But the link only existed for people trained to detect the elements of wine that make them expensive.

Interesting. I've always believed that we can fool ourselves when it comes to luxury brands. But as in all things, it depends on the person.

rigmedic1 · Jul 31, 2013

My philosophy about pipes goes a little beyond nicotine delivery. I enjoy the craftsmanship, the feel in my teeth, the weight and breadth and draw and all around aesthetics of the pipe. I enjoy searching for the tobacco that sings in the pipe I use. Then I match them together. Some pipes smoke anything well, some are very particular, in my experience.

Of course, I have a few knock-arounds, and a few really nice pieces. But I smoke them all. There is nothing better than the times when the pipe, the smoke, and the experience all come together with sharp clarity.

Culture Shock

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