Bamboo Pipes Seem To Be All the Rage

[Mike N]

Not too long ago, my perception of bamboo was that it was used to fix a defect a maker found in a briar stem. Now it seems to be all the rage by top artisan pipe makers on instagram. It’s a bit tricky to master. Here are 6 handmade bamboo pipes. Please post any in your collection.

Clockwise from top left in photo below:
1. Adam Davidson-US
2. Tom Eltang-Denmark
3. Dirk Heinemann- Germany
4. Jason Patrick-US
5. Dirk Heinemann-Germany
6. Henri Soerensen - Denmark

(Tamper made by T. Beaumont- US)

 

[Waning Embers]

Andrey Kharitonov gave me a really good deal on these but I'll not add any more.

 

[Mike N]

Wow!

 

[OzPiper]

A morta egg from Dotter Pipes (Domagoj Telisman)

 

[newbroom]

Broken Pipe Brother in Briar, Banjo used to show off some beautiful bamboo.
I have a factory made MM cob with a bamboo shank. I think of it as my Banjo cob.

 

[Sigmund]

I like them a lot but I just haven’t gotten one yet. Radice fake bamboo would be just fine with me.

 

[Mike N]

Not too long ago, my perception of bamboo was that it was used to fix a defect a maker found in a briar stem. Now it seems to be all the rage by top artisan pipe makers on instagram. It’s a bit tricky to master. Here are 6 handmade bamboo pipes. Please post any in your collection.

Clockwise from top left in photo below:
1. Adam Davidson-US
2. Tom Eltang-Denmark
3. Dirk Heinemann- Germany
4. Jason Patrick-US
5. Dirk Heinemann-Germany
6. Henri Soerensen - Denmark

(Tamper made by T. Beaumont- US)

lol that should obviously read “counter -clockwise” from top left for names. Oops.

 

[trouttimes]

I like bamboo stems. I have about 6 or 7 all from different makers. All good smokers .

 

[warren99]

Julius Vesz


Frank Axmacher


Tsuge Ikebana


Peter Heeschen

 

[mingc]

I assume Dunhill started the trend with its Whangee pipes, supposedly introduced during WWII to save briar, but I don't didn't really see how it does;

My own collection, a Stanwell and a KJ Pipe:

Also a Kai Neilsen and a Tsuge churchwarden:

 

[didimauw]

You are right, they really are very popular. I've turned down many a beautiful pipe because of the bamboo.

I don't like pipe accents. At all. Any kind.

I dont care for the look, and I think of it as one more place the pipe could break.

 

[georged]

 

[hilbertastronaut]

Bamboo colors nicely with use. I also like the variety of textures. Thanks to all the people above for posting great examples!

 

[kcghost]

I don't really care for bamboo pipes. Something about the bamboo itself that seems wrong to me.

Two guesses as to who made the truly wonderful pipe two pictures above mine.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I can appreciate the aesthetic, but not my cup ‘o tea.

 

[Elric]

I had a Tsuge stack with bamboo but my son chose to keep it prior to sending it off to SP.com during a herd thinning exercise.

 

[Uguccione]

my perception of bamboo was that it was used to fix a defect a maker found in a briar stem

It certainly happened that way.
I never liked them, but after seeing them I got used to their appearance and now I wouldn't disdain one (no more).

 

[Mike N]

Here is a second group of nine bamboo pipes from my collection of various artisans.

(L-R) J. Alan (US); Jason Patrick (US); Nate King (US); Jason Patrick (US) ; J.Alan (US); Adam Davidson (US); Adam Davidson (US); Mike Sebastian Bay (Denmark); and Nathan Armentrout (US).

(click on image to enlarge)

 

[BrightDarkEyes]

I assume Dunhill started the trend with its Whangee pipes, supposedly introduced during WWII to save briar, but I don't didn't really see how it does;

I don’t think Dunhill was the first to use bamboo shanks but my understanding as well is that they were used due to the scarcity of briar. It turned a little bowl into a proper length billiard or lovat, etc. I would assume from the look of some old Dunhill W60 Whangees that this is true. I like those ones because it is almost only the bowl being briar with the tiniest bit sticking out for the bamboo shank to fit into.

I dont care for the look, and I think of it as one more place the pipe could break.

I would be more worried about the briar or stem breaking than the bamboo.

Tomorrow I’ll post a picture of my bamboo shanked pipes.

 

[Waning Embers]

Something about the bamboo itself that seems wrong to me.

Looks like a cheap repair job.