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madox07

madox07

Lifer
Dec 12, 2016
1,823
1,690
Hey guys, so I am browsing the internet for some new pipes and I keep getting across some very nice looking pipes, wooden pipes, but not briar pipes. Some of them are made out of pear tree wood, or some other less known woods. Have any of you had experience with such pipes? I mean, they are pretty cheap, so there wouldn't be a loss if they are unsmokable, but my pipe space is getting pretty tight, so figured I might ask before buying a piece of decoration.

 
F

framitz

Can't Leave
Oct 25, 2013
314
0
The other woods are not as permanent as briar some are passable but burn out or taste funny. If you. Search you can see reviews of pear. Morta is oak and is hard to carve but good. Shel

 
pagan

pagan

Lifer
May 6, 2016
5,963
28
West Texas
I've seen Mr Brog pipes, mostly Pear wood but they make Briar too, I have a few and they smoke great, and the MM hard wood pipes are pretty good, but I don't know what the life span of one would be, If your looking for inexpensive pipes Id recommend Dr Grabow, inexpensive and great smokers or the Brog Briars, then ther's always Cob's

 
anthonyrosenthal74

anthonyrosenthal74

Lifer
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
If you're talking about the pear wood pipes made in the Ukraine like this one.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Handmade-Smoking-Pipe-Pear-Tree-Wood-Durable-Mouthpiece-Brass-Carved-Dragon-/172470928861?hash=item28281185dd:g:SDEAAOSw9GhYa4eM ...personally, I'd stay away unless you're very careful with it. I've had two, and the shank cracked on them both. They certainly look nice, and I'll admit the two I had smoked very well. But the shanks cracked quite easily on mine. You could, however, also take into account that it could have been user error on my part as they were my first pipes.
Another maker of pear wood pipes is Mr. Brog. I don't believe I've heard any bad reviews on his pipes. Might be worth looking into.

 
theloniousmonkfish

theloniousmonkfish

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 1, 2017
943
497
Those Pear ones you're talking might be the Ukrainian/Czech ones, watch out as I've heard of some having holes bored but with tin? inserts for the actual chamber. Brog makes a lot of pipes in other woods. Get a MM cob and some hardwoods, old Ropp Cherry pipes show up for auction, sometimes unsmoked. Old Buescher's Hickory pipes show up unsmoked too, or you can clean them up.
Alternative woods work fine but don't expect them to behave like Briar, closest thing is Cherry and that's not really the same. Fruit and nut woods are generally fine but get educated on toxicology or buy some made out of wood that has been used in production pipes before or currently is. (All off my head) Stanwell? used Beech during WWII when there was no Briar available, US companies used rhododendron(mountain laurel?) and manzanita(mission Briar?). Cherry, Pear, Mulberry, Plum, Maple, Beech, Hickory, and more recently Bog Oak are all fine. There are others but these are generally considered safe.
Here's one I made in White Oak some years back and stumbled over in a drawer recently, smoked it the other day. Definitely a different flavor. Looking for a piece of Mesquite still.
img_3939-600x450.jpg


 
crashthegrey

crashthegrey

Lifer
Dec 18, 2015
3,818
3,612
41
Cobleskill, NY
www.greywoodie.com
I stick to briar except for special pipes. I have an olive wood from Alexa Pipes, because it is carved to emulate a leather wrapped pipe and a thing of absolute beauty. Otherwise, I tend to steer clear. Morta being the obvious exception, I don't have one but will as soon as I find the right one.

 
A

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
Monkfish- I tried making a pipe out of mesquite. The flavor while smoking was great, but only went with VERY plain tobaccos. It clashed with everything else for me. I've never seen a pipe crack so quickly or thoroughly; leads me to believe mesquite is a poor choice for pipe wood. (There's a shitload of mesquite here in southern AZ, so it's kind of a shame.)

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
I've seen rosewood and maple, but don't own those. From my go-to home state carver, I have Mountain Laurel and Cocobolo, both of which smoke well; I've bought several Mountain Laurel over the years, and it seems as durable and dependable as briar. He also does maple, so I may try one of those eventually. I've heard both positive and negative about olive wood and pear; they're light weight and good smokers, but seem a little more prone to burnouts than briar. If I could have only one material, I'd stick with briar since it is most tested and often has great grain.

 
mortonbriar

mortonbriar

Lifer
Oct 25, 2013
2,678
5,726
New Zealand
personally, I'd stay away unless you're very careful with it. I've had two, and the shank cracked on them both. They certainly look nice, and I'll admit the two I had smoked very well. But the shanks cracked quite easily on mine. You could, however, also take into account that it could have been user error on my part as they were my first pipes.
Click to expand...
I had the same experience as Anthony. My first pipe I purchased was an ebay ukranian pear wood, smoked fine and the slight taste it imparted was not a bad thing but the shank cracked and I got a briar and never looked back...I looked sideways though, and ended up liking cobs, clays and meerschaum too.
Isaac.

 
mawnansmiff

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,421
7,365
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Madox, I would personally suggest you steer well clear of pearwood pipes as they tend to get very hot very quickly.
I've had two, both with pretty thick walls but a quarter of the way into the smoke I found the bowls far too hot to hold!
If funds are tight then I would suggest getting an estate pipe (or two) and take things from there.
Regards,
Jay.

 
P

papapauly

Lurker
Jan 2, 2017
21
0
I have a Mr. Brog that I use for nightcap at the end of the evening. I end just about every night with a pipe of dunhill nightcap and so far the brog is working well. I have never noticed it getting too hot, it is comparable to a cob as far as temperature. One other idea though is p&c has Mitchell/Thomas briar pipes for 14 bucks right now. It is a blind buy though, you don't know what is coming but I bought 3 and got two bent billiards rusticated and one straight billiard also rusticated. My only complaint is that the two bent pipes were on the same order and are identical so unless you want matching pipes maybe order one and then wait a few weeks before ordering another.

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
Briar is such a perfect wood for tobacco pipes, and if I do say so, you can get many briars for extremely reasonable prices, so I'd stick with those, and MM cobs, until you have a rotation and then some. A good briar pipe is likely to last for many decades. I have pipes I owned about forty years ago. Just go with established brands -- Savenelli and its sub-brand Rossi, Stanwell, Chacom, Butz-Choquin, Big Ben, Dr. Grabow, etc. Dr. Grabow and Rossi Vittoria series have pipes for under $40.

 
Bulldog

Bulldog

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 29, 2012
118
1
Mid-Atlantic, USA
I have never smoked a pear-wood pipe. I did however have a bog-wood (morta) pipe. Mine was inexpensive, I think I bought it on sale a few years ago. I can't say that I would recommend it - although I am open to learning more about mortal pipes. McQueen also makes Ash-wood churchwardens which smoke pretty well, although there are limitations there too. Ultimately I have to agree with mso, briar really is the perfect wood for pipe.

 
Perique

Perique

Lifer
Sep 20, 2011
4,098
3,884
www.tobaccoreviews.com
My own experience with pear wood has been extremely positive and I smoke them regularly. Those Eastern European carved pear woods I've found to be excellent smokers, though with weak tenons.

 
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