One Favorite Pipe?

  • Thread starter mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast
  • Start date

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast

Guest
I have a pipe that I enjoy smoking more than any of my other pipes. The shape, craftsmanship, dimensions, button, weight, etc. all just work for me in ways no other pipe does. I often think about selling all of my other pipes, and commission more pipes just like this 'one' to be made by it's maker. Do you have one pipe that you wish all your pipes was like?

 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,097
Generally my favorite pipe is there one I'm smoking. I often take time to appreciate the shape, finish and details of the pipe I'm smoking. Longevity or history with the pipe plays a part. It is as if I'm with an old friend. Of least importance, oddly enough, is how much I paid for a pipe and whether my expectations for smoking it are satisfied. I love to admire a pipe that I deem has a better finish or take on a shape.
I am in the minority here, but I will restate that my $10.00 cobs smoke as well as my $270.00 Ashton or $275.00 Castello. But certainly the fit and finish of the latter pipes, but only by those properties, which have nothing to do with the act of smoking itself, that is the quality of drawing smoke into my mouth, enhance my subjective enjoyment of the smoke.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I have "too many" pipes, and I really enjoy nearly all of them when I'm smoking them. The ones that disappoint me eventually get traded off, and some actually come around after a time, and are fully enjoyable. I realize how well I like most of my pipes when I consider culling them and selling them or exchanging them for store credit toward something I might like better. All of my gift pipes happen to be good ones, I'm pleased to say. But I'd have to think long and hard before trading any of them. My enjoyment of pipes does not seem to be in proportion to price paid.

 

thomasw

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 5, 2016
862
24
...but I will restate that my $10.00 cobs smoke as well as my $270.00 Ashton or $275.00 Castello. But certainly the fit and finish of the latter pipes, but only by those properties, which have nothing to do with the act of smoking itself, that is the quality of drawing smoke into my mouth, enhance my subjective enjoyment of the smoke.
Fiscally you are fortunate then if all your cob purchases have been great! I've smoked ill-formed cobs more than I have ill-formed $200+ pipes; but I don't think the cost of a pipe is a guarantee that a pipe is well engineered -- but I do think it is an indicator of its quality to a point. Further, I don't agree that the fit/finish have 'nothing to do with the act of smoking itself'. If the draw in a pipe is engineered well, that fact contributes a huge part into the act of smoking and to the level of enjoyment.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I've yet to find a cob that can give me a great smoking experience! But, I've found many cobs which smoke adequately and properly deliver taste and nicotine. Cobs are very utilitarian for me. I consider them to be disables used primarily when in the field, camping or fishing. Very practical but, aesthetically wanting. My opinion only of course.
A pipe has to fit my fist and my eye or else, no matter how well it delivers smoke, it will not provide a great smoking experience. It's akin to dining at a 5 star where the meal has been plated poorly. For me, if the eye is not pleased or, if the pipe is awkward in the mouth and hand, I will not get a good smoking experience no matter how well the smoke is delivered.
Most of my pipes during the day are purely for the nicotine. My evening pipes? Then, they are making a substantial contribution to my pre-bed routine with a good book and beverage. The pipe makes the book and the wine better. Just as the book makes the pipe better. Or, the wine makes the pipe tastier. It all has to come together for a nice evening smoke, the aesthetics, the blend, the book, etc. Meerschaums make up the vast majority of evening smokes. Any of my briars would suffice though. A cob? Rarely, only while camping, accompanied by a spectacular storm or sunset.
But, again it all boils down to what the smoker expects and requires. Purely a subjective matter.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,570
27,081
Carmel Valley, CA
Just the opposite. Have a number of pipes I really enjoy, and I like the diversity and change. Also have a few dozen so-so pipes that I smoke regularly, and a few dozen more that get bypassed most of the time.

 

akfilm

Can't Leave
Mar 2, 2016
309
1
I love all my pipes. Depending on my mood, the situation, the tobacco, my activity, it all changes what pipe I grab. That being said, I do have a favorite pipe, when I travel, it's the first one I pack, it's an almost daily smoker (with several others), but I don't want my other pipes to be like it, that's the beauty of artisan pipes, they each have an inherent beauty and uniqueness to each one.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,863
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Just the opposite. Have a number of pipes I really enjoy, and I like the diversity and change. Also have a few dozen so-so pipes that I smoke regularly, and a few dozen more that get bypassed most of the time.
I'm definitely in this camp. Not all blends smoke equally well in all pipes. My current favorite is a 1906 Barling bent billiard. It's a large pipe with a very large chamber and wide open airway, much like contemporary "open" pipes. Dunbar, Dorchester, and Tilbury really sing like a chorus of angels in that pipe.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
I have way too many great smoking pipes to ever be able to just pick one. I have a rule, if I get a pipe that doesn't smoke great for me, I get rid of it. I no longer sit on pipes that I don't smoke. The only pipes I do own that I really don't smoke is my first pipe I ever bought( a Savinelli acrylic stem ) and an old Peretti straight grain that reminds me of my dad taking me to Peretti's when I was a kid. I do have a Castello that smokes great but the stem is acrylic and I don't smoke it that often. I have come to the conclusion that I need to get a vulcanite stem made for it. It is a gorgeous Collection Occhio Di Pernice and I stole it on Ebay.
I just had an epiphany, I am going to ask Zack to make a stem for it. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before. He is making me a Meer and when he delivers it I am going to ask him take the Castello. He is a great guy and won't deny me.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
cigrmaster, by all means get your preferred stem on that pipe. I was gifted with a pipe that had a stem that oxidized every time I smoked it, and I got a new stem, and it made it primo, not expensive and worth every dime. Zack would do it right. Don't wait!

 
Status
Not open for further replies.