What’s Happening To Me?

[Pipeski]

Tongue & cheek title, nonetheless I’m finding major shifts in my affections for a certain pipe shape. I picked up the pipe in 2014. An interesting year in the pipe community with the explosion of garage artisans popping up and selling their first pipes made for $500+. It felt crazy then, even crazier now with hindsight.

When I started buying and collecting shapes I had a very strong opinion on poker shaped pipes… not a fan by any stretch of imagination. I found them to be an “entry” level shape for an artisan or just to simple. In 2014-16 it seemed like any joe shmo who wanted to be a pipe maker crafted an unbalanced overly large poker with wacked proportions and listed it for triple what a new artisan carver should be charging for a rusticated or sand blasted poker lol.

Fast forward to present day and my misplaced judgment on the shape has completely vanished. I adore well made pokers now. The simplicity makes it incredibly appealing to me. Decent sized chamber, thick walls, flat bottom, decent shank length, thick saddle stems, and a perfect canvas to highlight straight and cross grains. They might be the ultimate smoking machines in my pipe arsenal.

Sure, after 10+ years smoking and collecting my tastes have undoubtedly changed over time, but this drastic change in something I light heartedly despised was unforeseen.

 

[kgs]

I ended up working in a profession that I despised. My favorite guitar is a telecaster, a model I hated for years. As far as pipes go, I never imagined myself liking bent shapes so much. Tastes change drastically. Sometimes we do a 180.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Tongue & cheek title, nonetheless I’m finding major shifts in my affections for a certain pipe shape. I picked up the pipe in 2014. An interesting year in the pipe community with the explosion of garage artisans popping up and selling their first pipes made for $500+. It felt crazy then, even crazier now with hindsight.

When I started buying and collecting shapes I had a very strong opinion on poker shaped pipes… not a fan by any stretch of imagination. I found them to be an “entry” level shape for an artisan or just to simple. In 2014-16 it seemed like any joe shmo who wanted to be a pipe maker crafted an unbalanced overly large poker with wacked proportions and listed it for triple what a new artisan carver should be charging for a rusticated or sand blasted poker lol.

Fast forward to present day and my misplaced judgment on the shape has completely vanished. I adore well made pokers now. The simplicity makes it incredibly appealing to me. Decent sized chamber, thick walls, flat bottom, decent shank length, thick saddle stems, and a perfect canvas to highlight straight and cross grains. They might be the ultimate smoking machines in my pipe arsenal.

Sure, after 10+ years smoking and collecting my tastes have undoubtedly changed over time, but this drastic change in something I light heartedly despised was unforeseen.

Your initial opinions about the poker shape (and its place in the pipe industry) were correct.

 

[sablebrush52]

Tongue & cheek title, nonetheless I’m finding major shifts in my affections for a certain pipe shape. I picked up the pipe in 2014. An interesting year in the pipe community with the explosion of garage artisans popping up and selling their first pipes made for $500+. It felt crazy then, even crazier now with hindsight.

When I started buying and collecting shapes I had a very strong opinion on poker shaped pipes… not a fan by any stretch of imagination. I found them to be an “entry” level shape for an artisan or just to simple. In 2014-16 it seemed like any joe shmo who wanted to be a pipe maker crafted an unbalanced overly large poker with wacked proportions and listed it for triple what a new artisan carver should be charging for a rusticated or sand blasted poker lol.

Fast forward to present day and my misplaced judgment on the shape has completely vanished. I adore well made pokers now. The simplicity makes it incredibly appealing to me. Decent sized chamber, thick walls, flat bottom, decent shank length, thick saddle stems, and a perfect canvas to highlight straight and cross grains. They might be the ultimate smoking machines in my pipe arsenal.

Sure, after 10+ years smoking and collecting my tastes have undoubtedly changed over time, but this drastic change in something I light heartedly despised was unforeseen.

I have a few pokers in the pile and they are comfortable good smokers.

That period around 2014 thru 2016 was definitely the period of newby intricately carved pipe turds being offered at $$$ to the public. Although a few made some impressive sales, most of it fell flat and oh was it obnoxious.

 

[WVOldFart]

I like a lot of different pipe styles, but I must confess that the poker never found a place on my pipe racks.

 

[Mortar0341]

I ended up working in a profession that I despised. My favorite guitar is a telecaster, a model I hated for years. As far as pipes go, I never imagined myself liking bent shapes so much. Tastes change drastically. Sometimes we do a 180.

I agree with this, it does taste better with a bent pipe I've found. But the convenience of the straight pipe eases my smoking ritual to the point I prefer a straight pipe. I like to be able to hit with the pipe cleaner real quick if I need to, you know. I do think bent pipes taste better though.

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

We are supposed to use a pipe??!! Wish I would have known this before my fingerprints have been seared off completely.

 

[kane]

….My favorite guitar is a telecaster, a model I hated for years…..

The poker is the Telecaster of the pipe world!

 

[Puff nstuff]

I only started with pipe smoking a few years ago, but ever since then I've been drawn to the poker shape. I have three in my collection, which numbers only around 30 pipes in total. For me there's something about pokers (and devil anses) that aligns with the Americana nostalgia part of the pipe smoking thing. And I'm not sure why that appeals to me, but it does.

 

[LeafErikson]

I’ve actually never owned a poker but I think a well-shaped meer poker looks awesome.

Thanks for your entertaining post. I agree that tastes in pipes and tobacco change with time. I am VERY selective nowadays with pipes that I purchase, especially in regard to chamber size.

The 2014-2016 artisan pipe craze was before my time, but no doubt it would have given me a chuckle. I switched from cigarettes to the pipe 5 years back.

 

[Waning Embers]

I've only ever owned one but it's a great one.

 

[cynyr]

In the first picture I was all "That looks like..." and by the second picture I was all like "Ohhhh..."

Seriously, though, that's a beauty!

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

The poker is the Telecaster of the pipe world!

I have to agree with this. However, just as I find some teles equipped with humbuckers and perhaps a Floyd Rose to be pretty darn cool, so do I occasionally see a poker that's also pretty darn cool.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

As someone that was part of the YouTube Pipe Community for a long time, 2011-2019 or so, I saw many pipe smokers turn pipe carvers. While some were naturally gifted, others not so much. I saw many pokers being made and not all were made equally. The poker was a popular pipe at the time, and thus pretty much all those garage pipe carvers made at least one if not more.

Now I don't mind the poker shape, but certain pokers catch my eye and others don't do anything for me. I've owned two pokers over the years. One I moved on, not because it was a bad pipe, but because I was adding to my meerschaum collection and used the money from that pipe as well as other briars to add new meerschaum's to my collection.

The only poker I currently have is my Prince of Darkness Poker (Ozzy Osbourne themed pipe) I had commissioned. It was made by one of those so-called garage makers, but I will say this, Sparky's Pipes was not your average garage pipe carver. He was very talented and made amazing pipes. My Prince of Darkness Poker is still my best smoking pipe. It's my best pipe for smoking flake tobacco's as well. It's also a great looking pipe.

 

[fireground_piper]

The poker is the Telecaster of the pipe world!

Don't do the telecaster dirty like that!

 

[Waning Embers]

In the first picture I was all "That looks like..." and by the second picture I was all like "Ohhhh..."

Seriously, though, that's a beauty!

That one is a Frank Johnson. He calls them 357 pokers.

 

[elvishrunes]

I’ve never owned one, always on the edge of the radar, but not quite there…. More attractive options. But I must say I really like my standup pipes, just one less concern while smoking, so I should get one!

 

[BriaronBoerum]

My only poker is a totally utilitarian Nording MacArthur, and in my brief experience it works just fine with Va's and Vapers, and I'm thinking of getting a more upscale model, so I can make like Popeye in a tux. There's nothing wrong with a good Poker, imho!

The poker craze was before my time, so can't comment.

 

[InWithBothFeet]

Different styles appeal to me. I have a Rossi poker. My first pipe was a long churchwarden, then came a bent dublin... they grew shorter till my lollo appeared. I'm all over the place. I'm eyeballing a Lovat now, but all my pipes have about the same bowl diameter and they generally all smoke about the same to this novice. I'm wondering how a wider shorter pot bowl would be different. I would love to have a wild pipe like Eldritch's green/black acorn, but the 7 month lead time and me bleeding money this spring has ruled that out.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

For those that haven't seen my Sparky's Pipes - Prince of Darkness Poker, behold...