My new pipe - first briar.

It was a $19.95 with 6 ounces of tobacco special from pipesandcigars.com. It is my first briar pipe and my second ever. I have a MM corn cob. I had to poke the wood out from the end of the hole they drilled since it wasn't all the way through. The tennon wasn't attached to the stem. I'm not sure if it was intended to be, but I get the feeling that it was. Do I need to superglue it in there or something? It is marked CP Germany on the shank. The wood seems ok but overall the pipe seems kind of cheap. I am going to be getting a nicer one soon, but I figured with the tobacco that I was basically get a free pipe. I intended to order just different basic tobaccos but I got 10 types of tobacco and a briar for something like $34 shipped.


I think that is glue in there that didn't hold.

It looks like the hole is off center. To the left.


The wood seems OK. The bowl seems poorly finished at the top but ok inside. There are a couple small dark places that look like a stain in the wood maybe. I don't like the color of it. I will likely change that. I do a lot of woodworking on rifles and I think I might enjoy refinishing pipes in the same way.

Apparently I did something wrong.

Don't mind my dirty and mutilated fingers. I couldn't find CP Germany searching on google. Pipesandcigars.com calls it a Castillero pipe in the description.

The $19.99 I paid for it was for the pipe, 6 ounces of tobacco(captain black sampler) a tool, a bag of cleaners, and a pipe pouch. I mostly bought it for the tobacco. This is what I got: Bulkhead Captain Black Starter Kit
The heel isn't flat.
I'm not sure it is worth sending back. I think I would like to try to salvage it if at all possible. Or at least practice restraining them. I don't like like colored wood usually.