Thinking of buying 1st pipe

Ah the first seed planted in the fertile ground of thought will lead only to more seeds planted but one day a harvest of the fruit of action will result in all the frustration and satisfaction of acting with heart rather than knowledge.

Tis so true Necron! If aesthetics are not of concern just pick a sampler from P&C with an Cob and some decent drugstore blends PA, CH, SWR. Pear wood is nice for pipe racks and stands but not pipe bowls! :evil:

It may be too far from the "Rings" pipe, but I really like the Savenelli 601 churchwarden--no filter and

a fully arched stem which is the authentic churchwarden design. I believe a churchwarden was a non-clergy

employee who managed the church building and property.

I've found churchwarden's to require a special technique to smoke properly and might be difficult to learn with. Nonetheless, congratulations on your new purchases. Remember to come back and tell us what you think.

4noggins.com makes a sampler pack of tobaccos inspired by and named after Lord of the Rings, I believe. It may interest you.

If you're mind is made up on the LotR style of Churchwarden pipes then so be it. Might I suggest you take it a bit further and smoke the blend of tobacco that the actors actually smoked while filming the scenes. There's a forum member here(can't recall the forum member off hand) that mentioned he either knew, or read of the individual that had the responsibility of acquiring the tobacco that would be used for pipe smoking scenes. Turns out the Fellowship's tobacco of choice was Peter Stokkobye's Nougat.
I'm not sure of the validity of that claim, but the OP of the thread I'm recalling was a LotR fan as well.
Anyway...have fun with your new pipe and whatever you decide to smoke in it.

You need a Stanwell Hans Christen Anderson it comes with two stems or you can wait forever for the LOTR pipe .I know it is over your budget but in the end it is the better choice.

Yep what igloo said, get one of those next.

For your consideration, I suggest a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe paired with a custom stem from Briar Walker Works. You can order a nice long churchwarden stem in whatever length, bend, and color combination that pleases you. This is, in my opinion, not only a great and comfortable pipe combination - but also likely the best experience you will find without spending some significant money. The cob and custom stem should only set you back maybe thirty bucks.
You can also use the stem on other corn cob pipes - so long as you match a filtered stem to a filtered pipe, or no filter stem to non filter pipe.
I have some pretty high end hand made pipes, and I still find this option aesthetically pleasing, sufficiently LotR for me (also a fan), and extremely comfortable.
You could even further customize the cob to match the stem - maybe a grey/pearl swirl churchwarden stem, and make the cob grey to match. Now you have a badass Gandalf the Grey pipe. Or do white and white. Or get creative and Dwarf it up - the customization will make it unique and you will have a greater personal attachment to it.

+1 to ravenwolf's suggestion. A MM cob paired with a Walker Briar Works Forever Stem (churchwarden style) would be a great combination. You can use the regular stem that comes with the cob for your yard work/general use smoking, and switch out to the churchwarden Forever Stem when you want to delve into Middle Earth or relax after a long session of dwarf tossing or whatever.

If you're looking for an inexpensive churchwarden I would go for the rusticated Savinelli churchwardens first (usually $76). I've bought cheaper Churchwardens (Czech made BPK pipes) and the fit and finish definitely matches the price (not that they don't smoke well, just the stems weren't symmetrical and the tenon wasn't as snug).
For the full LOTR piping experience I would get one of the Vauen Auenland (translated "Shire") models. They had the "official" license for a while but I guess someone else offered more and Vauen stopped making those. The official LOTR models usually go for about $1,000, but the unlicensed Auenland models are still just over $200.
My interest in pipes basically started the same. As long as your hands are free I haven't found anything negative about a churchwarden over any other style.

On the other hand I have grown not to like short stem pipes since it's hard to keep smoke out of your eyes. Straight stems aren't as bad, but with a heavily bent pipe I pretty much have to hold it in my hand and only put the pipe in my mouth to take a puff.

I guess sitting with the wind moving in the right direction you could keep the smoke away from your face, but somehow I never seem to manage that very well.

Pear wood is nice for pipe racks and stands but not pipe bowls

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While it goes without saying that everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just wanted to point out that many would disagree with the quoted statement. There are number of woods that make fine smoking pipes, and briar is just one of them - though certainly the most popular.

Thanks Perique, I should have recanted that quote but I'm sure there are some folks on the forums that find they smoke quite well, just a bad experience with Pear wood.