Big Dollar Pipes vs Lower Priced Pipes

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Cap

Might Stick Around
Oct 8, 2022
77
115
S.W Michigan (For Now)
Greetings,
For the most part you get what you paid for but is it always going to be that way with a pipe ?

Examples:
Would i truly experience a much greater smoke with say

Peterson 68 Donegal Rocky 100.00

Savinelli 606KS Flambe 135.00

Savinelli Trevi Rustic 626
100.00

VS Say something like

LaRocca 35.00
Mr Blogs 55.00
and so on.

I have not ever bought a pipe of 100 pluss dollars and i sure do not want to regret doing so.

Thank You
 
Jul 26, 2021
2,176
8,943
Metro-Detroit
Rarely hear complaints about Savinelli (I have a 606KS that is a great smoker and bought a 616KS that hasn't been christened yet) and I recently became a Peterson fan.

Others have good things to say about Morgan Bones and Rossi, but I don't own any.

I will say my cobs are likely my best smokers, but I'm not currently in the market for another.
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
YES

The performance of a pipe in every possible measure---appearance, taste, durability, etc---is exponentially better the more expensive it is, in fact.

It's a cube function. Meaning not raised to the power of two for each doubling in price, but to the power of three.

This fact has been known since the first pipe was cobbled together in the year 722,164 BC, and never disputed by anyone at any time for any reason. Indeed, there has never been an exception to the rule so much as suggested, never mind documented.
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,889
31,595
34
Burlington WI
So far my experience is that the price means very little. I had a commission made by a very popular and reputable carver which was by far past disappointing. The more I looked at it the more I saw wrong. This was still my most expensive pipe. Traded it in and don't miss it a bit. Live and learn.
 

Indygrap

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 18, 2022
243
594
New Orleans, LA
Rarely hear complaints about Savinelli (I have a 606KS that is a great smoker and bought a 616KS that hasn't been christened yet) and I recently became a Peterson fan.

Others have good things to say about Morgan Bones and Rossi, but I don't own any.

I will say my cobs are likely my best smokers, but I'm not currently in the market for another.

Rarely hear complaints about Savinelli (I have a 606KS that is a great smoker and bought a 616KS that hasn't been christened yet) and I recently became a Peterson fan.

Others have good things to say about Morgan Bones and Rossi, but I don't own any.

I will say my cobs are likely my best smokers, but I'm not currently in the market for another.
I can vouch for Rossi. I have an Antico bent billiard (my first pipe) that handles everything I throw at it. Looks pretty sharp too. I picked up a cob a while back for aeros to avoid ghosting. It smokes like a champ. Altogether they were ~$90. But I’m always lurking on eBay for a good deal.
 

K.E. Powell

Can't Leave
Aug 20, 2022
493
1,781
37
West Virginia
I'm a firm believer in what I call the "medium pimpin" approach to consumer goods. I usually aim for an intermediate grade item that is usually priced higher than entry-level goods, but not at the upper price tier. All other things being equal, this usually means I get the biggest bang for my buck: I get an item that performs fairly well and can even impress the uninitiated, but not put me at risk of being the object of either jealousy or ridicule for those are initiated. There are also diminishing returns the higher the price goes up. The difference between a $30 pipe and a $120 in terms of quality is noticeable. But is the $1000 artisan pipe ten times better to justify the ten times price over a $100 Peterson? Not to me, not typically. Sometimes I can get something high-end as a treat or when a bargain opens up. Sometimes I will get something cheap if it punches above its weight or I got extra money to burn.

I also find that if I'm willing to invest a little more into something, I'm more likely to attach value to it. In other words, if I'm serious about, say, learning to play a musical instrument, I look up intermediate quality instruments and go from there. I'm more likely to stick with it because I invested into it, and if I do bail out, it is easier to sell, trade, or gift these items than it would be something that is cheaply made and substandard.

Of course, price is rarely itself a guarantee of quality. There are cheap pipes that are not cheaply made. And there are very expensive ones that are not worth the price of admission. YMMV.
 

PipeIT

Lifer
Nov 14, 2020
4,376
26,150
Hawaii
@Cap read these if you haven’t.

The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking
By Dr. Fred Hanna, Ph.D


Article about Dr. Hanna.


We hope, expect, wish, etc., that higher priced will smoke better, but price doesn’t always equate to a great, or better smoker sometimes unfortunately.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,832
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Greetings,
For the most part you get what you paid for but is it always going to be that way with a pipe ?

Examples:
Would i truly experience a much greater smoke with say

Peterson 68 Donegal Rocky 100.00

Savinelli 606KS Flambe 135.00

Savinelli Trevi Rustic 626
100.00

VS Say something like

LaRocca 35.00
Mr Blogs 55.00
and so on.

I have not ever bought a pipe of 100 pluss dollars and i sure do not want to regret doing so.

Thank You
It sorta depends on what matters to you with regard to pipes and tobaccos. At a basic price point the mechanics of most pipes is pretty much the same. Decent briar that might not have a lot in the way of grain, might have a few fills, or sandblasted to hide flaws. Stems are molded Vulcanite. There's little handwork because there's little margin in the price to allow for it. These can provide good performance from the standpoint of basic mechanics. They're tools.

Move up a bit and you get nicer looking wood, better fit and finish, more selection of materials, but not necessarily a noticeable difference in smoking properties.

Move up some more and you get higher quality, more durable materials, a hand cut and shaped stem, which can be more comfortable, or better at spreading out the smoke, some more individual style in shaping and some differences in performance, such as the engineering of the airway into the slot, that results in a silkier feel to the smoke.

Move up more and you get into more artistry in the design, impeccable fit and finish and high grade internals, polished surfaces, etc, etc.

If you are interested in vintage pipes of the finest quality in excellent condition, those will generally cost more, as they're are rarer.

If you appreciate the way pipes that are made by a particularly popular carver perform, you're going to be paying more for them.

People are motivated differently. Is a $20,000 Bo Nordh going to smoke 200 times better than a $100 dollar Savinelli, the answer obviously is no, unless you're a Nordh fanatic. But it will likely smoke somewhat better, will be less likely to impart flavors from the wood into the smoke, and will likely outlast the cheaper pipe, just not 200 times as much. That won't matter to someone who drops that kind of money on a pipe. They appreciate the beauty and perfection of Nordh's execution as well as the quality of the wood he chose and seasoned.

I own pipes from a wide variety of price points. One of my favorites, a Brebbia, cost me a whole $2 on eBay. That pipe practically smokes itself. And, I own pipes that cost several hundred times that amount that give me a wonderful smoke as well as a level of pleasure in owning a finely made smoking implement. Pipes are more than just tools to me.
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
What drives the whole price thing (once component materials quality is taken care of) is quite simple in concept ---

Every halving the distance to the goal doubles the effort to get there.

Like so: Imagine a scale where anything below 50 is junk, and between 50 and 80 improves to good. Meaning solid quality in both shaping and materials.

Well, getting to 90 takes DOUBLE that effort, getting to 95 doubles it again, getting to 97.5 doubles it still again, and so on.

Above a certain point improvement becomes hard to detect without specialized knowledge and effort (it's meaningless to most people), in fact.

But to those people who do see, understand, and appreciate the differences, the vastly higher price is worth it.

Combine that thermodynamic reality with the "star power" of the maker---a human behavior thing---and you have a big piece of why the NEW PRICE of pipes is so broad. (Why estate pipe prices don't necessarily reflect new prices is best discussed as a separate subject.)
 
Jul 17, 2017
1,691
6,283
NV
pencilandpipe.home.blog
I predict this will go one of 3 ways.

1.You're going to buy the low cost pipes and love them. You'll see all sorts of other people smoking the big dollar pipes and you'll just smile and think to yourself that you're having a wonderful time for far less money and you'll be content.

2. You'll buy the low dollar pipes. You'll enjoy them. You'll begin to wonder if you're actually having the best experience possible. You'll start to window shop the $100 Petersons and Savinelli's. You'll eventually buy one and decide it was worth it, or it wasn't.

3. You'll buy the low dollar pipes. You'll then buy the $100 Pete's and Savs. Then you'll wonder if the $200, $300, $500+ artisan pipes deliver an even better experience. You'll buy one and then decide it was worth it, or it wasn't.

Moral of the story is, only experience will actually answer your questions. Buy some pipes and smoke them.

I'd even go so far as to venture a guess that your post is actually an indication that you're not far away from purchasing your first "big dollar pipe".
 

Cap

Might Stick Around
Oct 8, 2022
77
115
S.W Michigan (For Now)
I predict this will go one of 3 ways.

1.You're going to buy the low cost pipes and love them. You'll see all sorts of other people smoking the big dollar pipes and you'll just smile and think to yourself that you're having a wonderful time for far less money and you'll be content.

2. You'll buy the low dollar pipes. You'll enjoy them. You'll begin to wonder if you're actually having the best experience possible. You'll start to window shop the $100 Petersons and Savinelli's. You'll eventually buy one and decide it was worth it, or it wasn't.

3. You'll buy the low dollar pipes. You'll then buy the $100 Pete's and Savs. Then you'll wonder if the $200, $300, $500+ artisan pipes deliver an even better experience. You'll buy one and then decide it was worth it, or it wasn't.

Moral of the story is, only experience will actually answer your questions. Buy some pipes and smoke them.

I'd even go so far as to venture a guess that your post is actually an indication that you're not far away from purchasing your first "big dollar pipe".
Nailed it !!
I was once happy and content living as #1.

I have been dwelling as the 2nd one for some time so much so my better half has been researching them.

Not sure i want to enter into the third stage -
And yes the example pipes for the higher priced ones are definitely yelling way to loud these days.
Lol - the reason for the post.

Thanks
 

LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
1,856
15,798
Oregon
I think K. E. Powell said it best. I started off with a cob and had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t have a rotation or anything like that and just smoked the same pipe every day. One day my cob pipe started to taste sour to me so I searched online about my problem only to discover that you’re generally supposed to have more than one pipe to ‘rotate’. I shopped around and got a couple of basket pipes and a few more cobs. I couldn’t figure out why these cheap briar pipes weren’t smoking as well as my cob pipes. It was to the point where I couldn’t understand why on God’s green earth someone would even want to smoke one of these crappy wooden pipes over a cob. Eventually I got a bones pipe (still cheap but better than the other briars) and finally, a Savinelli. Once I bought a Savinelli I understood why people enjoy briar pipes so much. Do yourself a favor and buy a Savinelli.
 

Cap

Might Stick Around
Oct 8, 2022
77
115
S.W Michigan (For Now)
I think K. E. Powell said it best. I started off with a cob and had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t have a rotation or anything like that and just smoked the same pipe every day. One day my cob pipe started to taste sour to me so I searched online about my problem only to discover that you’re generally supposed to have more than one pipe to ‘rotate’. I shopped around and got a couple of basket pipes and a few more cobs. I couldn’t figure out why these cheap briar pipes weren’t smoking as well as my cob pipes. It was to the point where I couldn’t understand why on God’s green earth someone would even want to smoke one of these crappy wooden pipes over a cob. Eventually I got a bones pipe (still cheap but better than the other briars) and finally, a Savinelli. Once I bought a Savinelli I understood why people enjoy briar pipes so much. Do yourself a favor and buy a Savinelli.
Totally understand.
That was my experience years ago - through the pipe away and smoked those nasty 1.49 a pack of cigar/cigarette things.

Many years later i could shake the desire to smoke a pipe again.

This time around i am being educated so much that i am a Real Pipe smoker these days.

Hardest one to learn was crappy cheap tobacco will make even a 200 dollar pipe smoke like crap.

Thanks !!
 

Cap

Might Stick Around
Oct 8, 2022
77
115
S.W Michigan (For Now)
@Cap read these if you haven’t.

The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking
By Dr. Fred Hanna, Ph.D


Article about Dr. Hanna.


We hope, expect, wish, etc., that higher priced will smoke better, but price doesn’t always equate to a great, or better smoker sometimes unfortunately.
Thank you and i definitely will.
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,343
For the most part you get what you paid for but is it always going to be that way with a pipe ?
Not at all. As long as a pipe has a clear airway, you'll have a good smoking one. It's like comparing drinking straws.


crappy cheap tobacco
Define crappy cheap tobacco.


smoked those nasty 1.49 a pack of cigar/cigarette things.
Sales of tobacco to the cigarette market are what's keeping the industry alive enough to keep pipe tobacco production rolling. Even 90% of pipe tobacco sells are flavored blends.


This time around i am being educated so much that i am a Real Pipe smoker these days.
Anyone that regularly smokes a pipe is a "real" pipe smoker. You'll eventually get to a point of doing things so much your own way that most of what you've been educated will be tossed aside especially if learned mostly from Youtubers.
 
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