This came my nose just as I was making another pipe purchase at eBay; it's made out of pear wood in the Ukraine, shorter than a regular churchwarden, ( so cheap that I thought I was a date. The maker of the pipe is "Smoke Arch." Thoughts?
I had two Ukranian made pear wood pipes and cracked the shank on both of them and the stems were a bit on the bulky side. That being said, they were quite light, and they practically smoked themselves. My advise would be to be very careful with it if you get one. Pear wood isn't quite as forgiving as briar, but it might be a good smoker.
I've gone to several forum postings and they seem to agree with what you say, Anthony: a light, good smoking pipe, but fragile and probably not for the long haul. Fortunately, this pipe was only about $22, so no great financial loss if it breaks. The unfortunate thing is, this is probably the best looking churchwarden I've ever seen, and it is a short one as well (less than eight inches), a real advantage in aomw circumstances. I'll just have to treat this pipe gingerly.
It is indeed a cool looking pipe, Fred. I've been very tempted lately to get another one myself, simply because mine had some really cool carvings (one a dragon, the other a tiger)and at such a low cost I wouldn't be afraid to take it to work to enjoy on my lunch break. Enjoy the heck out of it!
Mr. Brog makes some good pear root pipes. I have four and they smoke great but tend to get hot if you huff and puff. Smoking slow and easy and they don't get any hotter than a less expensive briar.
I don't think he has a Churchwarden that looks like that though.