In Praise of Pipe Nails

mso489 · Mar 24, 2014

For any newcomers, a pipe nail is the most basic pipe tool, a scoop on one end, a tamper on the

other. It is even more simple than the classic Czech pipe tool with the scoop, pick, and tamper

that unfold from a common hinge. The glory of the pipe nail is that it is extremely low-priced,

sometimes thrown in with a pipe for nothing, usually costing less than a dollar. My only complaint

is that, put in a pocket with keys and loose change, you may have to empty your pocket to find it.

I have a custom made wood tamper/scoop, several Czech tools one or two of which go back at least

70 years, and a handful of pipe nails, and I always grab a pipe nail for its simplicity. I keep flirting with

one of those excellent stainless steel pipe tools, like a pocket knife with several tools folded into a

tapered handle, but so far, the pipe nails have won. Sometimes efficient simplicity is exquisite.

grouchydog · Mar 24, 2014

I need to pick up a couple of nails, but I have a bag of about a million 3 1/4-inch golf tees that serve me well, so I never seem to remember them... Should last me about forever since I don't golf any more.
As you say, many times simpler is better.

mso489 · Mar 24, 2014

Golf tees are nearly perfect, but I do like the scoop on the pipe nail a little better than the

point on the golf tee. For a make-do in the car or the garage, a strategically placed golf

tee here and there is a great convenience.

fadingdaylight · Mar 24, 2014

I love these things. Cheap as dirt, you never have to worry about messing one up or losing it. I keep one on a stump on my back porch and one in the console of my car. Always there when I need it. Hell, I took a pair of pliers to one a few weeks back and made a crochet hook type thing out of the spade end for my kids to use in jewellery making.

foggymountain · Apr 27, 2014

I agree they are great pipe tools. But also consider what great design was used in coming up with the pipe nail. I find it to be in a class with the 1954 Studebaker for design. Actually better. I keep one at every location where I sit down and smoke. A pipe nail, not a Studebaker.

sallow · Apr 27, 2014

These are invaluable. I have about 20 at home.

ejames · Apr 27, 2014

I agree they are great pipe tools. But also consider what great design was used in coming up with the pipe nail. I find it to be in a class with the 1954 Studebaker for design. Actually better.

I agree,except for the last statement. There are few things I consider as beautifully designed as the 53-54 Studebaker coupes and hardtops. Sure wish I'd kept the ones I've had.

allan · Apr 27, 2014

I just love a classy pipe tool, but invariably I lose them somewhere.
The pipe nail is genius in its simplicity. And they are always somewhere handy.

ssjones · Apr 27, 2014

I have a couple of semi-nice pipe tools and Czech tools. But, I rarely smoke without a Brebbia pipe nail close by. The fit nicely between your ring and middle finger (sort of like a cigarette), so I don't lose them. You might also occasionally spot one stuck in my glasses ear piece by my ear, sometimes I forget I've placed one there...

weezell · Apr 27, 2014

There are few things I consider as beautifully designed as the 53-54 Studebaker coupes and hardtops.

:worship:

foggymountain · Apr 28, 2014

ejames: I agree with you about the Studebaker's design. I am a Raymond Loewey* fan. Was disappointed when I found out recently that a lot of the design work on that car was subcontracted to Virgil Exner, later the Chrysler head of design. The only reason I find the pipenail to be better design is that it is all function. Appearance was not important. Whereas in car design there is usually somethings added to help make the sale. In 1954 it was tailfins, then the new thing.

*I originally intended to become a car stylist, but switched to sculpture later. I was such a fan of Raymond Loewey, the Studebaker designer, that I made a trip to his office in midtown Manhattan when I was 12 years old. Was disappointed to see that it looked like any law or accounting office. We were not the only fans. Someone set up shop to install Cadillac engines in them. He called it the Studillac.

aristokles · Apr 28, 2014

'63 Studebaker Avanti for me.
If I had one now it would have a pipe nail somewhere, just as my Jeep does now (and my porch table, deck table, dop bag, briefcase, pocket, desk).

ejames · Apr 28, 2014

'63 Studebaker Avanti for me.

Yeah! An R-3 or R-4 with a 4-speed !!

instymp · Apr 28, 2014

+1 al & mso's nails.

whiterabbit · Jun 22, 2014

That Brebbia pipe nail is interesting! Can't say I've seen one before. I'd imagine that heavy head does most if not all of the tamping for you.

fnord · Jun 22, 2014

MSO:
This subject is near and dear to my heart and we talked about it a half year ago:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/stupid
What bothers me is that some some really astute, entertaining guys who responded seem to have folded their collective tents and vaporized in the last few months.
Man, I really miss Kashmir.
He always mentioned that Star of the East was his daily smoke and, when I asked him for a sample bowl, the guy sent me enough for a week. (I'd sent him some Pembroke and Gaslight as a thank you gesture.)
I know that forums have a high churn rate but I do miss his witty and knowledgeable comments and Kash was a walking, talking two legged encyclopedia on all things Comoy's.
Fnord

puffdoggie · Jun 22, 2014

The Brebbia tool is da' bomb! I use one exclusively. I have a pile of pipe nails and Czech tools that while their time away in a drawer. The Brebbia is much better looking than the pipe nail and has no moving parts to fumble with like a Czech tool. It really is the only pipe tool you ever really need! :clap:

brudnod · Jun 22, 2014

4Noggins.com sells the Brebbia pipe nail. Love the simplicity.

mso489 · Jun 22, 2014

Yes to Studebaker. It sardonically illustrates the principle that when something reaches a sufficient

level of perfection, it is removed from the market. I too like the Czech tool, but to the hilarity of

nearly everyone, I do find the pick an eye hazard, since I tend to unfold it using other parts of the

tool close to my face, when the pipe is lit and I am clenching, and trying to do some other task in

front of me, like a magic trick where you don't quite see what's going on. But it does make me sound

like a real fumbler, I admit. The charm of pipe nails is they do so much with a basic design. Everything

you need and nothing else. The pipe nail is both a practical pleasure and an intellectual delight, if I

may stretch things just a bit. I love the heft of the Brebbia pipe nail, but I admit, when they are arranged

in a row, I grab the round-headed tamper first.

phil67 · Jun 22, 2014

No, no, no, you must have a Dunhill tamper you cheap sots! The Senior is of course the way to go at a measly $120.00, which is probably only worth about $10.00, but hey... it has the Dunhill name on it so that makes it worth every penny. Of course if you’re too cheap to get that one I suppose you could lower yourself and go for the Junior at a paltry $110.00, but if you’re really going to be that cheap you probably should not even be smoking a pipe in the first place.
Senior:

Junior:

In Praise of Pipe Nails

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