Advice for a Decent Pipe

[Wolf357]

So I bought a cheap pipe off Amazon about a year ago for about $25.. didn’t want to spend anything major in case I didn’t enjoy the smoke... turns out I do...and quite a lot... I work a really stressful job in Corrections up in Canada and I tell ya. Having a pipe out on the deck by the lake or ice fishing or by the fire... well I could go on and on... having a pipe smoke really does relax me from the gong show of work...
I’m ready to take the next step and put down some decent cash for a nice pipe... and looking for some recommendations... Peterson’s seems to be the Standard but some guys for some reason don’t like?
For pure looks they sure look nice? Some of the Silver Caped or Sherlock Holmes ones sure look nice...but how do they preform?
I like lots of smoke and a good large bowl that can hold a decent amount of Tabacco and something that looks nice...
I would be in the $250 range?
thanks

 

[tschiraldi]

For new pipes, go with Stanwell (non filter). IMO much better quality control than Peterson and no balsa garbage to mess with like Savinelli. If you are okay with estate pipes, try a Comoy's (pre-transition). They are great old Brit Wood at very reasonable prices. Others here will tell you to buy a vegetable. I strongly disagree ! Lol.

 

[Wolf357]

For new pipes, go with Stanwell (non filter). IMO much better quality control than Peterson and no balsa garbage to mess with like Savinelli. If you are okay with estate pipes, try a Comoy's (pre-transition). They are great old Brit Wood at very reasonable prices. Others here will tell you to buy a vegetable. I strongly disagree ! Lol.

Estate pipes... never thought of that... I’m a massive history nut... do you have a link to a site that deals in estate piles such as these?

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Estate pipes... never thought of that... I’m a massive history nut... do you have a link to a site that deals in estate piles such as these?

Here is an excellent pipe resource including historical information.
Pipedia

 

[ben88]

really stressful job in Corrections up in Canada

I hear you. My buddy was CO at Kingston.... Man, was he.... well, he is a farmer now. Away from crowds.

 

[coming to_falling too]

Site sponsor Blue Room Briars has nice estate pipes already cleaned up and ready to go

 

[ben88]

Estate pipes... never thought of that... I’m a massive history nut... do you have a link to a site that deals in estate piles such as these?

Kijijji )))

 

[ben88]

$250 range

You can have a pipe made for you for that much $$

 

[STP]

I’ve had good experiences with Savinelli and Peterson pipes. Go to Smoking Pipes and/or Smoking Pipes EU, and look around. They post actual pictures of pipes that many sites do not. You will certainly find a very good pipe for $250… actually, two… maybe three. You can get a Rossi or Gigi for around $45 ?

 

[bayareabriar]

Canada eh? Why not an older Brigham or Blatter Bros. I think you can call Blatter and chat with them with what you’re looking for. I’ve seen some nice ones go for $100-$300 on EBay.

I went from 1 quality pipe to almost 1,000 back to 3 and back to about 50 in a matter of 10 years or so.

I have never settled on English, Italian, etc. you just have to find what you like and stick with it and give it time to dry between smokes.

 

[Wolf357]

I’ve had good experiences with Savinelli and Peterson pipes. Go to Smoking Pipes and/or Smoking Pipes EU, and look around. They post actual pictures of pipes that many sites do not. You will certainly find a very good pipe for $250… actually, two… maybe three. You can get a Rossi or Gigi for around $45 ?

Yes I know $250 a lot I’m kinda in the mindset of...it will be on my kids mantel one day and my grandkids mantel one day...

 

[OzPiper]

Estate pipes... never thought of that... I’m a massive history nut... do you have a link to a site that deals in estate piles such as these?

Blue Room Briars and Mkelaw Pipes. You won't go wrong with either as far as estates go. And SmokingPipes also.

If you're thinking of Britwood centenarians, then you've got a fight on your hands with @ashdigger

I have the Squire, Hudson and Lestrade from the Pete SH line and love them. The Lestrade is a sandblast, and the blast is phenomenal. One caveat - the Pete bents seldom pass a cleaner, if that is a problem for you. They also come with a bowl coating - not a problem for me, as the coating is easily gotten rid of.

If you're looking to buy estate pipes on Ebay, do your research on cleaning up old pipes. They come in all conditions - very few in a ready-to-smoke state, no matter what the vendor states. I have received pipes which has never seen a pipe cleaner and where I have spent 2-3 days cleaning out the crud that has accumulated in the airways. The end result is often worth the elbow grease.

 

[bullet08]

Higher end Peterson rarely have an issue now days. All my Sherlock Holmes series smoke just fine, all 14 of them. All Spigot and System pipes also smoke great. It's personal preference as to which brand members enjoy. I only smoke Peterson and enjoy every pipe I have. Smokingpipes.com is a site sponsor and they take pictures of individual pipes for customers to see. And their customer support is great.

 

[bayareabriar]

If you go the estate pipe route, just send it to Walker Pipe Repair in Michigan right away. It’s definitely worth the added cost if it’s something you’re going to keep.

 

[bayareabriar]

For new pipes, go with Stanwell (non filter). IMO much better quality control than Peterson and no balsa garbage to mess with like Savinelli. If you are okay with estate pipes, try a Comoy's (pre-transition). They are great old Brit Wood at very reasonable prices. Others here will tell you to buy a vegetable. I strongly disagree ! Lol.

Big fan of Stanwell Squat Tomatoes. Very forgiving pipe.

 

[bayareabriar]

Yes I know $250 a lot I’m kinda in the mindset of...it will be on my kids mantel one day and my grandkids mantel one day...

It’ll only be on the kids mantle if his wife allows. lol

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Blue Room Briars is indeed a good place to shop. $250 is in the middle zone, more than good quality pipes like Savinelli but not enough for Castello or most Artisans. You can get a great pipe made for you by Martin Cermak for around $275 to $300. Jack Howell is a member here and makes great pipes for around $325 to $350, one of the best values for Artisans. Perhaps you could but two Savinelli pipes or similar for your $250.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Right now my top recommendation for a well engineered pipe is the Tsuge "The Tasting" series.

Tsuge The Tasting (23) | Buy Tsuge Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes.com

Smokingpipes.com is your one stop shop for Tsuge The Tasting (23) Tobacco Pipes and all your tobacco smoking needs. From new tobacco pipes and estate tobacco pipes to tin pipe tobacco and bulk pipe tobacco, we have everything you need

www.smokingpipes.com

Tsuge The Tasting (21) | Buy Tsuge Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes.com

Smokingpipes.com is your one stop shop for Tsuge The Tasting (21) Tobacco Pipes and all your tobacco smoking needs. From new tobacco pipes and estate tobacco pipes to tin pipe tobacco and bulk pipe tobacco, we have everything you need

www.smokingpipes.com

Tsuge The Tasting (16) | Buy Tsuge Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes.com

Smokingpipes.com is your one stop shop for Tsuge The Tasting (16) Tobacco Pipes and all your tobacco smoking needs. From new tobacco pipes and estate tobacco pipes to tin pipe tobacco and bulk pipe tobacco, we have everything you need

www.smokingpipes.com

Quite frankly you'd have to spend at least 10x more to see any meaningful improvement in the quality of engineering, and even then it would be incredibly slight.
(And yes, there are many pipes costing 10x more that will still be constructed much worse than these.)

What you're not getting with a mass produced factory pipe is "special briar", but I would argue 99% of the claims around the effects of Briar are bogus.
Then again I've never smoked five bowls a day and I never will, maybe there is something I'm missing by not smoking every day, but if you're not smoking every day either then you should practically never care about the age of the Briar beyond the industry standard curing.

The main problem someone might find with these Tsuge pipes is that they only come in one finish and three shapes, but if you're just after a good smoke then I'd say the only way to do better than this is a Missouri Meerschaum Cob (which costs even less! But Cobs can come with some peculiarities that really rub some people the wrong way).

If you're looking for the most exaggerated large Briar pipe that's still a quality product and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, get the Molina Giant: Molina Giant Gray Tobacco Pipe - https://www.tobaccopipes.com/molina-giant-gray-tobacco-pipe/

 

[tobefrank]

It's kinda a big step to take from a $25 pipe to a $250 pipe. I would recommend buying something around the $100-$150 or a few estate pipes first to get a feel for what you like. Your tastes will change and it may be better to leave a more expensive purchase for when you know better what you like.

 

[tschiraldi]

Estate pipes... never thought of that... I’m a massive history nut... do you have a link to a site that deals in estate piles such as these?

Ebay