What pipes should you have and why?

austinxpipe · Oct 26, 2012

What's a good pipe lineup to have? I'm buying a handful of corn cobs today so I can sample lots of tobaccos and get a feel for what I will like. I also ordered one from eBay made of Pear Root wood Hopefully as the months go on I can start to make a nice little collection.
Wondering if any of you have different pipes for different tobaccos, or like multiple pipes more one tobacco and multiple for another. What's your rotation/collection like? E.G. a briar wood pipe for one tobacco, and a calabash pipe for another? And what are the "must-haves" in any collection?

hawk60ce · Oct 26, 2012

All of them
I like big bowls for aromatics, tall slender bowls for flakes, and small bowls for english and high nic blends. YMMV

lordofthepiperings · Oct 26, 2012

You should absolutely only buy... pipes that appeal to you lol. Starting out some good manufacture pipe brand names to go by would be Peterson, Stanwell, and Savinelli. I'm sure some people have had problems with each brand at some point, but overall they're good quality brands with a good range of prices.
As mentioned, bigger bowls with thick walls are good for aros, conical shapes work well for flakes. I don't smoke English blends so I wouldn't know which shapes better fit them, but I'd take hawk's advice.

dnietosi · Oct 26, 2012

You will need to experiment to find the right combination. General "rules" work in general but sometimes a particular pipe will ring a bell with a particular tobacco with no explanation for it. Don't be too afraid of ghosthing your pipes as it will fade away in a few smokes... at least with "normal" stuff.
Enjoy!

cigrmaster · Oct 26, 2012

One of the great parts of this hobby is the journey in finding what works for you. What works for me is quality briar pipes that are broken in and have a good cake. I prefer certain shapes like Dublins, Apples, Billiards in group 4-5 sizes. They smoke my flakes very nicely so I buy those kinds of pipes. You can find many examples of a quality briar for as little as 10 bucks if you know what you are doing on the estate market. For a new smoker like yourself, I would stick to quality brands either new or estate from many of our great sponsors.The names mentioned above are all quality, I would also add Tsuge to the list as smokingpipes.com has a bunch for great prices. Pick pipes that appeal to your eye, think about size and weight, do you want pipes you can easily clench, or do you hold them in your hand? Lord made a good suggestion in terms of blends paired with pipes, I do pretty much the same as he does. I think English blends do well in all different types of pipes.

judcole · Oct 26, 2012

Cigrmaster is right; you need to experiment.

I do maintain different rotations for Virginias and for latakia based blends. I personally like larger bowls for lat based blends. But the important thing is to find what works for you. When you acquire a pipe, try different blends in it, and see what seems to work best.

austinxpipe · Oct 26, 2012

I grabbed some cobs on my lunch break and picked up an Aldo Velani. An umplanned purchase but a client of mine manages the local shop and gave me a very nice deal on it and I couldn't say no - he's very helpful like all of you! So I can't wait to smoke it tonight and the cobs and try all of my various tobaccos he threw in with the deal. I'm finally wrapping my heads around the idea that the rules aren't terribly strict and I can experiment and get a good feel. Thanks again.
EDIT:
Here's a pic of one that looks most like it.

papipeguy · Oct 26, 2012

Good start with the Valani. I have one and it's a good smoker. Just enjoy the journey.

hawk60ce · Oct 26, 2012

I was about to sell my peterson 2010 st pete until i smoked MacB HH ODF in it. was awesome! will now keep the pipe.

baronsamedi · Oct 26, 2012

Look at TopD, foggymountain and BigVan's collections. Pretty much those.

jah76 · Oct 26, 2012

Congrats on the Velani! I have one and enjoy it.

thesmokindragon · Oct 27, 2012

Some cobs, meers and good quality/engineered briars
You may want to dedicate to certain blends; some for just English,

Pure Vs, Aros...that is how I handle it
Really a personal pref but these are IMHO the nice/classic shapes to have

In your collection
1. Billiards...straight & bents

2. Pots

3. Pokers

4. Apples

mb1mb · Oct 27, 2012

As many as your budget allows.

johnnyxpipe · Oct 27, 2012

My favorite pipes I have are the ones that are not a huge name don't have perfect grain but provide the most flavorful smokes I have ever experienced. I like the "underdog". I don't have any high end pipes perhaps they provide a smoke equal to or better than the best smoking pipes I have, or they provide it on a more consistent pipe to pipe basis. The high end pipes sure are beautiful and I am sure I will own one some day but if its just a good smoke your looking for there are a lot of options.

nightmarejones · Oct 27, 2012

My personal favs are old estates, granted I do restores on them but, on the bay, if you're patient and look for ones that have been "Fully restored" you can get A Kaywoodie,Dr.Grabow,Willard or Edwards for under $20.Like everyone here has said and will say again just experiment and find what works for you. Every tobacco is different and every pipe is different and every tobacco will taste and smoke different in every pipe.

austinxpipe · Oct 27, 2012

Thank you all for such good info. I'm gonna build my collection slow and let the art lead the way. The Velani smokes great by the way! I also got a stand!

topd · Oct 28, 2012

I almost agree with everything said: I have lots of cobs for outside, and meerschaums for

indoors. Get a clay or two for smoking near the fire or out in your lawn-lounge on a cool

evening.

One thing I can't recommend enough though... Save a few bucks a week/payday and get a real

nice pipe that you'll look forward to smoking a couple times a week... like a calabash. The only

place I smoke mine is in my lounge chair, and there is nothing more satisfying!

cigrmaster · Oct 28, 2012

That Aldo is a great looking pipe,congrats. That should be a fine smoker for you.

austinxpipe · Oct 29, 2012

Yea it's been smoking nice.
Would definitely like to try out a 'legit' calabash sometime.

What pipes should you have and why?

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