Why are estate pipes ok?

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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
18,335
33,310
47
Central PA a.k.a. State College
I would never judge someone for smoking an estate pipe, nor for digging their neighbors toothbrush out of the trash, giving it a good clean, and putting it right back into service!

Also, I would not patronize a restaurant that reuses porous material utensils. That would be the reddest of all the red flags in the whole red flag universe!
when toothbrushes take on the level of artistry and history that pipes have then the comparison will make more sense.
 
Jun 9, 2015
4,198
26,476
43
Mission, Ks
thehawsepipe.wordpress.com
Well having worked in quality and safety in the food manufacturing industry for many years, I can tell you there's a reason the USDA requires that I use stainless steel processing surfaces and not vulcanite or acrylic.
I’m an engineer for a company that builds very large scale automated food processing equipment. Plastics and acrylics all used in USDA controlled areas. Cutting boards are often delrin, nylon, or other plastics. Stainless steel is not by any stretch of the imagination the only material used in food processing or prep. But fwiw, I can make you a stainless stem for any estate pipe.
 

Steddy

Lifer
Sep 18, 2021
1,911
32,843
Western North Carolina
Good thing i didn't just take a sip of coffee. Thanks for the morning chuckle! :P

Many of my pipes are estates. For me, it's mostly about value by miserdom rather than necessity. Either way, even when i buy a new pipe i sanitize the stem well with Everclear. Still no telling where that bit's been and i'm sure many a maker gives the pipe a few "whistles" during the finishing touches before sending it off to market. No biggie.
Happy to oblige. The subject of estate pipes always brings out my sense of humor. I might not be funny but I do have a sense of humor.

I also have purchased several estate pipes.
 
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Alejo R.

Lifer
Oct 13, 2020
1,338
2,924
50
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Serious question and something I've never understood about the pipe community. And I understand the whole "90% of everything is crap" idea behind estate pipes being more reliable.

That said, when I purchase something I'm going to be regularly placing in my mouth, someone else having already regularly placed it in their mouth immediately ends that deal.

I'm sure a good toothbrush can be rebristled and sold for 70% of the original price, but who in their right mind would buy such a thing?

That said, I just never understood it, but many pipe smokers much wiser and more experienced than me certainly have a different opinion, so just curious why estate pipes are popular.
In the summers when I was a kid, we'd go out in the morning and come home just to eat. We'd do things and go to places our parents had no idea about. When we were thirsty, we'd drink from a tap in someone else's yard, which was located 15 centimeters off the ground, where more than one dog would have gotten water, or directly from a hose if we saw someone watering. When we had a few coins, we'd buy a large Coke and share it, drinking from the spout. I have no problem with a state pipe.
 

Duke of Erinmore

Can't Leave
Jul 5, 2020
339
1,457
47
Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany
As I do some Estate trading, I get to see both sides. People that come to my stand at a pipe show, check a couple of pipes with admiring eyes and THEN give me the "other people's mouth" talk. Others are grateful for getting to buy pipes that are out of production (Stanwells Made in Denmark, just to name one example) at reasonable prices. And some even compliment me that they are surprised that there is no ghosting at all (Spoiler: it's the shank, baby). So to each their own!
 

Tn Steve

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 2, 2024
103
234
57
Cookeville Tn
Having shared many drinks, and food , with no ill effects, I would imagine a decades old chunk of wood and plastic that has been scrubbed with alcohol, then lit on fire, will never bother me . But people are different . I have a dozen ebay pipes instead of one new one . I do also have about 4 new ones.Some of the old ones are better
 

stoopidbaits

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 20, 2025
107
621
California, USA
That’s a clinically insane thing to say.

If I buy a new pipe, and I’m the only individual who smokes said pipe, you’re postulating that’s not individual.

Good grief.

I guess that’s why they call them phobias.
Google the phrase "individual surface" and see what you come up with. I think I know what you're trying to say, but the word's you're using aren't saying it.