1 Grabow for 1 Year (8/2/19)

[didimauw]

Picked up this Dr. Grabow Grand Duke brand new in box. It arrived today. Planning on smoking only this pipe, for an entire year. Similar to my cob thread. I'm interested to see how these inexpensive pipes will hold up. I'm not going to baby it, it will get treated like all my other pipes.
This pipe is larger than I'm used to, so the bowls will be fewer I believe.
It's actually not a badly made pipe. The drilling of the draft hole is spot on. There are some fills, and the bowl walls aren't exactly center. And of course I had to sand and micro mesh the stem, to my liking.
The first bowl actually smoked very good for me. No gurgle, burned nicely but at times slightly warm, but not hot.
Here we go.

Edit. Added date in title.

 

[mso489]

I'd have gone with a Royalton just because I prefer the stems acrylic, but all of the Grabow stems seem to hold up pretty well. I'd scoop it and wipe it out with a paper towel/napkin, just keeping the thin carbon layer but no real cake, but that's what I do with all my pipes. Anyway, it's a cool experiment. I admire your resolve.

 

[weezell]

Just smoking Carter Hall again???...

 

[didimauw]

Nope, I'll smoke whatever I feel like this time around. Which instead of one tobacco, will be like 4. First bowl was Briar Fox, and this second bowl happens to be Carter Hall.
And MSO, I am actually ok with the Grabow stems. After I mess with them a small bit they are actually quite comfortable.

 

[weezell]

You make a year with this and I'll send you a Meer for the next round! :wink: ...

 

[upnorth1]

O Boy here you go again! I gotta say I love your resolve. Many an old codger/coot does this as a matter of course, and often it's with a Grabow. The doctor is in! Good luck with it!

 

[verporchting]

I'm going to bet that you won't have any bad experiences and the pipe will hold up just fine. That type of use is precisely what this type of pipe was made for, and there are literally thousands of old codgers who have done what you're doing for years at a time until the pipe died of exhaustion and was binned and replaced with the same brand, over and over and over again.
Good luck. I enjoyed your 1 cob for 1 year (or thereabouts) thread immensely. Smoke on!

 

[didimauw]

Thanks guys! I get bored sometimes, and just need to have something to do, or strive for.
And weezell, I'm going to hold you to your word! Haha

 

[michiganlover]

In my experience the weakest point on a modern/ current production Dr. Grabow is the abs stem. I find that I can chew them up quite well. I have three current production Grabows, and I believe 3 vintage ones. The vintage ones are simply vastly superior to the currently produced ones.
In their price range, I feel there are likely better options; although, of course, not as easily acquired.

 

[didimauw]

Michiganlover,
That's another goal, to see if the newer productions can hold up like their ancestors.

 

[shayde]

I am curious to know what the other blends you’re smoking will be

 

[hawky454]

I look forward to these kinds of threads! Good stuff! Smoke that bad boy in the name of science!

 

[skydog]

I enjoyed reading your cob thread and will follow along with this one as well. I have an old Dr. Grabow bulldog that gets used almost every day. It's a good budget pipe and I hope your enjoy your Grabow as much as I have enjoyed mine.

 

[oldtoby]

Sharp looking Dr.G.
Should serve it's purpose nicely.

 

[downsouth]

Grabow is my go-to pipe; my house in NC is only about 3 miles outside Sparta on the Blue Ridge Parkway where they are made. Long tradition in those parts. Not only do I feel good about supporting the local economy up there by buying them, they are great pipes, and you don't feel bad if you scratch 'em all up/lose them. The Grand Duke like you have is all I buy as well...it's a good solid, nice smoking pipe, I have about a dozen of them in various states of use/abuse. By the way, I use rubber bits on the stem (referring to a conversation someone was having above).

 

[chilllucky]

downsouth : Long tradition in those parts.

Not so long as you might think.

 

[downsouth]

Not so long as you might think.

If I'm not mistaken, they've been making pipes in Sparta since the 40's. I bought my horse farm there in the 80's and it was running strong then for sure. Maybe you know more than I do, though.

 

[chilllucky]

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow
"Long" is squishy word. Most of the southerners I've dealt with (family) mean plus or minus 1776-1859 when they refer to a tradition as having long roots.
The company started in Chicago.

 

[downsouth]

I never said Grabow started there, I said pipes have been made in Sparta since the 40's. And I guess you aren't from them hills, but any industry other than farming that lasts continuously for 50+ years in those parts, we would consider a long time.

 

[chilllucky]

Fair enough.