Pipe Shapes You Love, Visually, But Don't Like to Smoke

Perique · Feb 23, 2013

Maybe it's just me, but there's a big gap between the shapes I like, aesthetically, and the shapes I prefer to smoke.
For example, I love Dublins and Zulus. But I tend to smoke hot, so the shape is in-ideal. To smoke, I like authors, tomatoes/balls, large brandies, apples, pots, etc. Especially thick-walled pipes. But whenever I look at pipe porn (Rad's site, for a recent example) I'm still attracted to those thin-walled Dublin and Zulu shapes. Anyone else have this problem?

foggymountain · Feb 23, 2013

I am attracted to the big nosewarmers, but try not to smoke short pipes because the smoke does not have space to mellow out.

hugodrax · Feb 23, 2013

Forward canted bowls are beautiful but don't work for me. Don't like to smoke free hands, either, although they are very artistic.

hugodrax · Feb 24, 2013

Forward canted bowls are beautiful but don't work for me. Don't like to smoke free hands, either, although they are very artistic.

lestrout · Feb 24, 2013

I love the look of horns, but I believe in pipes where the smoke gets to go straight up. I'm told, however, that horns work well if you are lying in a hammock.
hp

les

mso489 · Feb 24, 2013

I really like the look of pots, straight and at least medium size. But finally, I like a little more depth, and something with a little more shape in the bowl, or height.

I find I like brandies, billiards, author, diplomat, ball, bulldog, Rhodesian. I owned an L.L. Bean pot and loved its looks, but seldom chose it for a smoke. It

had a stinger (metal filter). It never quite delivered the flavor. But it looked great on the rack.

yadan · Feb 24, 2013

For me it's Danish freehands. I love their looks, but the couple I've smoked were clumsy and cumbersome.

peckinpahhombre · Feb 24, 2013

I owned an L.L. Bean pot and loved its looks, but seldom chose it for a smoke.

Are you bullshitting us? L.L. Bean makes pipes? I thought they made sweaters and slippers

jgriff · Feb 24, 2013

Apparently, LL Bean licensed Dr Grabows or something and they had a line of tobacco. My how things have changed....
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/ll-beene-pipe

smokedragon · Feb 24, 2013

I honestly love some of the crazy shapes that come out of Italy. (Mario Grandi shapes come to mind). I just don't see myself ever buying one as I feel it would be impractical and a little silly.

Perique · Feb 24, 2013

lestrout, yes some of those near-horizontal Danish horns look beautiful, but look like they would be challenging to smoke.

durham270 · Feb 24, 2013

I do love the shape and look of Zulus & Horns but I tend to smoke mostly bulldogs and straight billiards. If indoors relaxing I'll smoke straight pipes. When outdoors doing yard work, etc I'll go with a bent billiard or bent fishtail calabash.

mso489 · Feb 25, 2013

I think jgriff is right about my L.L. Bean pot pipe. It had a red diamond on the stem and I believe it was a Grabow, but couldn't get

a response when I wrote L.L. Bean to ask. I traded it after keeping it for 25 years or more, hoping it would find a home with someone

into Americana. Iwan Ries brand pipes are mostly made by Benton, I believe, but one of their recent pipes came with the stem

stamped with Italy, and no Iwan Ries on the shank (as is usual). I've always been curious about the provenance of a Tinder Box pipe

I have called a St. Ives. It's a nifty sitter, light, and durable, one of the first, maybe the first pipe I bought, maybe 38 years ago.

It's difficult to find the institutional memory on pipes. The old guys who know are retired or gone, I guess, or too busy to write

back. The St. Ives has a saddle stem that goes from vertical to horizontal, unique and unusual for an inexpensive pipe. Surprising

how difficult it is to get the history on anything. Our culture is so eagerly grabbing at next year it plows under everything that happened

more than two weeks ago.

uberam3rica · Feb 25, 2013

Are you bullshitting us? L.L. Bean makes pipes? I thought they made sweaters and slippers

I have an LL Bean Billiard that a member gave me

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mso489 · Feb 25, 2013

Nice pipe, Uberam3rica. My L.L. Bean pot had the same inscription, L.L. Bean, Freeport Maine, with the red diamond on the stem. I think they

featured these in their catalogs at least several years (maybe much longer, I didn't always get their catalogs). They were nicely made pipes,

but as I mentioned before, mine had a metal filter/moisture trap, also called a stinger by some, and I don't think it enhanced the flavor

or the smoking characteristics. It was't unpleasant, just not as good as other pipes I had. The balance was good, the bowl good and thick,

and it breathed well and didn't overheat. It was nearly a good pipe.

wayneteipen · Feb 25, 2013

Some of my favorite pipes from an aesthetic standpoint are Japanese and brandys but I don't smoke either. Japanese pipes are too pretty to smoke and brandy chambers are too deep for my preference.

peckinpahhombre · Feb 25, 2013

I have an LL Bean Billiard that a member gave me

well slap my ass and call me Shirley ... had no idea LL Bean ever made pipes

foggymountain · Feb 27, 2013

How about the other way: love to smoke them but think they are ugly? For that I suggest the bulldog.

Pipe Shapes You Love, Visually, But Don't Like to Smoke

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