Not for everyone, I appreciate, but I am a big fan of bamboo stems and I recently grabbed two new bamboo pipes.
The first is a pot by Smio Satou, with his very unusual tsuishu in law and a very gnarly bamboo stem. This is my third Satou pipe, and he is now my favourite Japanese carver. My other two Satou pipes were posted here: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/smio-satou-smooth-bent-pot-with-tsuishu and http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pecks-epic-churchwarden
The second pipe is a very pugnacious nosewarmer apple by Roman Kovalev, which uses buddha bamboo. Kovalev is well known for his use of polymers in the construction and accenting of pipes. My general understanding is that buddha bamboo is actually weaker in strength than regular bamboo. Kovalev deals with this by sheathing the bamboo over a polymer core to provide rigidity and strength.
The first is a pot by Smio Satou, with his very unusual tsuishu in law and a very gnarly bamboo stem. This is my third Satou pipe, and he is now my favourite Japanese carver. My other two Satou pipes were posted here: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/smio-satou-smooth-bent-pot-with-tsuishu and http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pecks-epic-churchwarden
The second pipe is a very pugnacious nosewarmer apple by Roman Kovalev, which uses buddha bamboo. Kovalev is well known for his use of polymers in the construction and accenting of pipes. My general understanding is that buddha bamboo is actually weaker in strength than regular bamboo. Kovalev deals with this by sheathing the bamboo over a polymer core to provide rigidity and strength.