Do Expensive Pipes Really Smoke Better?

My take on it is this... No one knows!!
I for one am in the mind set that my "cheaper" pipes smoke great, so I don't want to smoke a super high grade and find out my pipes suck :lol: I am happy with what I have! Now if I had the means I would be buying up as many american made high grades I could, not because they are better smokers but because I want to support the few great pipe makers we have left!!

I think Missouri Meerschaum has already answered this question ages ago.. a few bucks and one of the best smokers ever created.

I love that whistling comment!
Seriously though, what it ultimately depends on isn't between us. It's between you and the pipe. I know that doesn't sound helpful, or even sounds counter intuitive, but bear with me here. The first pipe I ever smoked was...well... I don't know what it is. The the name has long ago faded off. It wasn't some fancy schmancy Dunhill. It was likely a cheap, drugstore pipe that my buddy's dad picked up somewhere. Since then, I have amassed a pretty good collection for a very-soon-to-be 22 year old of around 10 pipes. My most expensive is a meerschaum I got for around $350. I absolutely adore this pipe. My other two "big spenders" are Petersons that I picked up for around $100-150. I love the two of them to death too.
Conversely, I have several pipes that I acquired for less than $50 via e-bay. The fanciest was a meerschaum lined Comoy's from God only knows when. I also frequently (sometimes mostly or exclusively) smoke some weird little sandblasted piece that I bought for literally $5 used and had to clean up.I adore each one individually as if it were a child of mine. I know. Kind of weird. Still, to move on to my point.
I would be devastated were I to be without any of them precisely because of the time I took to pick them out and get them. With that fancy meerschaum I spent so much on, I was in the store ogling at pipes debating which I liked most for well over an hour. With every pipe I have ever gotten, I have spent much time asking questions like: "How do I like the draw on this?", "Do I like the system on this one?", "What do I think of the size/finish/grain/design/aesthetic of this?", and most importantly "Is this a pipe I will want to pick up again and again, labor with to maintain, keep in my jacket pocket more than a rack or table, and spend money not just for the pipe, but for the tobacco I use in it?"
I guess what I'm getting at is that a pipe isn't just an implement. It's a friend. You develop a relationship with it. Just as with people, you can't put a price tag on true friendship. Call me weird for taking my relationships with my pipes to that sort of level, but if the selection of a pipe is a reflection of your tastes and appreciations, then your comfort level with it is indicative of that with self.

My best smoker is a $58 Peterson 312. I have some pipes that, if they were made today, would cost $600+ that are great smokers too. My worst smoker was a $24 MM General until I cut it down to a more managable size.

This is a subjective question that can be applied to any product. Does a Rolex tell time better than a Timex? Does a Mont Blanc write better than a Bic? Does a Porsche drive better than a Ford?
The answer to each question must be that many people think the answer is yes or the high end product would not be successful.
The same is true for pipes. Many smokers and pipe collectors are willing to pay more for a new Dunhill, for example, than for a basket pipe. Upon resale, as an estate pipe, the same holds true. Since Dunhill, for example again, has been selling pipes for over 100 years, and continues to make and sell pipes at prices that are higher than the average price of a briar pipe, many people all over the world have and continue to pay more than the average price of a pipe to buy a Dunhill.
After 40 years of pipe smoking and collecting, my suggestion is that a new smoker/collector should buy the pipes he likes and thinks that he will want to keep for a very long time. This will probably result in having more pipes that can be sold or traded at or near purchase price, and fewer pipes that can not. I have some basket pipes that I purchased 30 to 40 years ago and which I still smoke, but along the way I have sold or traded many more (hundreds) of low end pipes to get a few high end pipes. So you must decide, do you want 1 Rolex or 100 Timex watches? Do you want 1 Dunhill or 50 basket pipes?

You know that is a question only you will be able to answer over time. The reason I say that is that I have many a pipe and some that are anything but cheap, and I mean anything but, and then I have some $29 (back then) Garbow's that are what I call on the very cheap side. Now I have smoked all of my Garbows and I have maybe one that does not smoke well, and I have smoked all of my "not cheap" pipes and found that I have a few that I do not like the way they smoke. So all in all it will depend on you if the expensive pipe smokes better or the cheap one does. It may be that the expensive one "has" to smoke better due to the price, but that is again up to the smoker, I still have my Garbows between my teeth more than the ones I paid dearly for.

So if new to smoking find a pipe that you can afford find out if you like it and move up from there.

Just my two cents....

I feel any attempt on my part to offer an educated opinion on the matter would be hampered by the fact that my collection of pipes consists entirely of crappers.

One of my great disappointments in this life was coming to the realization that the pipe I spent $300 for was not a better smoker than my $50 pipes.....Live and learn... :?

i don`t have any real high end pipes. i do have boswells,hackerts,nordings,petersons and many noname pipes.they all smoke great. i think the pipes that cost 300 and up is manly because of the high grade briar and the finsh and the artwork and time into making them. one of my favorates is a 25 dollar kit pipe i made. great draw and smokes cool. i looks good if i do say so myself.

I know that price does not insure a pipe will be a good smoker and I’ve not gained the skills to determine if a pipe will smoke well or not by looking at it. I can only tell after smoking it.

I do know that some pipes are made better than others (materials, design, and craftsmanship) and this, more often than not, increases the price. However, even quality does not guarantee a pipe will smoke well but I do think it increases the chances of it being a better smoker.
This thread makes me want to ask three more questions:
1. What makes a pipe a good smoker?

2. What percentage of the pipes have you bought turned out to be bad smokers?

3. If you carefully selected 100 expensive pipes and randomly selected 100 inexpensive pipes, do you think there would be a larger percentage of good smoking pipes in the expensive batch?

I feel any attempt on my part to offer an educated opinion on the matter would be hampered by the fact that my collection of pipes consists entirely of crappers.

Click to expand...

This is absolutely perfect.

Great questions William.
I'm very much a novice, but I think as to the first Q, 1. What makes a pipe a good smoker?, it would be pretty much universally agreed that a cool smoke that allows the flavor of the tobacco to come through and not deep fry your tongue is the criteria. Aside from that, I think, it's all look and feel, which is very subjective--ask 10 people and you'll get 25 opinions.

2--I've bought so many pipes lately, and I smoke rather infrequently, so I'll have to come back on this one

3--This is an excellent question, and there's probably only a handful of folks on this forum that have a collection large enough to test the theory. My guess is that there would in fact be a larger, albeit perhaps only slightly, percentage of good smokers from the pricey lot, owing to the fact that much more care and selection goes into them. That being said, it seems there are cherries and lemons in either category, and a perfect smoke is an elusive goal that we'll all happily chase!

1. What makes a pipe a good smoker? Quality materials and workmanship (meaning internal geometry.) What else is there, magic?

2. % of bad smokers encountered? I guess less than 10%. (I used to buy lots of cheap, no-name, varnished basket pipes.)

3. I'm pretty sure a batch of carefully selected high grades would have more good smokers than that of randomly selected el-cheapos. Not sure about the converse, though.
Romeowood's comment re the elusive quest is so true; for both pipes and tobacco.
BTW, Pipes2Smoke.com's Castello Collection describes all the different grades, and prices vary accordingly; but they add:

"The smoking quality of the briar is the same whatever the finish or grade."

well stated Cortezattic!

cortez, you made question #3 more interesting (if it was to begin with :D ) and so I should have asked:
If you randomly selected 100 expensive pipes and carefully selected 100 inexpensive pipes, do you think there would be a larger percentage of good smoking pipes in the expensive batch?

1. What makes a pipe a good smoker? One that I like how it draws and puffs while I relax. The longer I can make it last the better is my perception of the value of that pipe. artistry and price do not make it a good smoker and Craftsmanship does.

ie. messed up hole and air hole placement in the stem is bad craftsmanship and will not necessarily ever become a good smoker with "a bit of reworked time".
2. What percentage of the pipes have you bought turned out to be bad smokers?

actually I've only bought one bad smoker. It was a no name French briar. I don't buy anything with "French briar" on it anymore. LOL.
3. If you carefully selected 100 expensive pipes and randomly selected 100 inexpensive pipes, do you think there would be a larger percentage of good smoking pipes in the expensive batch? ummm
3.a. If you randomly selected 100 expensive pipes and carefully selected 100 inexpensive pipes, do you think there would be a larger percentage of good smoking pipes in the expensive batch? well I can honestly say I don't really have any expensive pipes ... but I'm closing in on the 100 inexpensive ones. and I've only gotten rid of one of them so I could obtain another.

Well gee wizz Bob, why don't you just simplify the fun out of it! :lol: