Are Windcaps Over?

[nick24601]

Title edited for caps. Please see Rule 9

I really want a good quality pipe with a sterling silver wind cap, preferably domed. However it seems like there are none on the market anymore. Is this just a lull in the market or did they stop making them for the most part in 17 or so?

 

[OzPiper]

Estates is the way to go.
They come up from time-to-time on EBay.

3 Barlings


Silverware LOOKS nice.
But require maintenance

 

[nick24601]

I know! I got a christiano from pauls pipes with ones and have to polish the cap frequently! Totally fine with it.

The top Barling in the first picture is exactly what I'm looking for. Jelous

 

[OzPiper]

The top Barling in the first picture is exactly what I'm looking for. Jelous

Post #1 of the “Show Off Your Barlings” thread was @sablebrush52 ‘s bent motor dome.

That sent me down the long slippery slope of old Britwoods

Best of luck in your quest

 

[anotherbob]

they show up every once in a while and some brands have their versions not as nifty as the older ones.not quite the same but a windcap
also these plus a few other things.

 

[anotherbob]

also that's part of what custom jobs are for.
There also should be craftsmen that can convert pipes to have a windcap. No idea if I am right but seems way possible.

 

[anotherbob]

oh fun fact windcaps like that were more popular because of old tyme cars the kind that people wore goggles while driving and driving gloves.

 

[trouttimes]

I love wind caps because they keep me from burning holes in every single shirt I own.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I really want a good quality pipe with a sterling silver wind cap, preferably domed. However it seems like there are none on the market anymore. Is this just a lull in the market or did they stop making them for the most part in 17 or so?

They do pop up from time to time but often cost over $1000. I'd use the aftermarket ones myself but they fit too small and just fall into the chamber of my pipes.

 

[didimauw]

@cosmicfolklore

???

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I can make them, but it isn’t cheap. They have to be made from scratch, like a mechanical piece of jewelry.

 

[BingBong]

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I can make them, but it isn’t cheap. They have to be made from scratch, like a mechanical piece of jewelry.

Pic 1, after a woman's used it, Pics 2 and 3, after a man...

 

[DotAndBang’sPipes]

View attachment 345594
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I can make them, but it isn’t cheap. They have to be made from scratch, like a mechanical piece of jewelry.

Wow, these are amazing man! Incredible.

 

[bullet08]

Personally feel that wind caps are overrated and unnecessary. However, when I see those domed Barling pipes, I involuntary whisper "shut up, and take my money.."

 

[Sgetz]

Personally feel that wind caps are overrated and unnecessary. However, when I see those domed Barling pipes, I involuntary whisper "shut up, and take my money.."

My position exactly!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I would agree. I have never had a need for a windcap. Even while out hiking the AT with wind bearing down on me, or driving in a car with an open window. I seem to obviously have some super human ability to detect the wind and tilt my pipe out of the wind that no one else seems to have. But, yeh, I think they look cool. I've made several for Mark Tinsky's pipes. But, I don't really have a need for one myself.

 

[First Sealord]

I would tend to think that skill is being progressively lost....because it is not being passed on, by lack of interest for this craft/trade.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I would tend to think that skill is being progressively lost....because it is not being passed on, by lack of interest for this craft/trade.

In every craft a trade. I've noticed over the years that instead of developing skills at anything, people look for gimmicks and tool designs to make it so that someone with no skills can make something that sort of looks like they had skills.

At one time, a craftsman could make a set of Chippendale chairs merely using five or six hand tools that could all fit in a small box. Now, men have to have a garage full of specialized electric equipment with thousands of gadget to be able to make the same thing.
People don't want to take the effort to practice and learn and develop tool skills.

Pipesmoking is also one of those things men go into with a preexisting notion of what they should be able to do right away. However, those that stick with it, have a special quality not found in cigar or cigarette smokers. They practice every day, building skills, and developing good habits.

 

[BayouGhost]

I use the cheap spring-loaded wind caps, mostly to hold a pre-loaded bowl in when I am carrying the pipe in my pocket, walking the trail or through town to get to my secret fallen log in the woods. Some of the examples shown here are true art!

 

[telescopes]

In every craft a trade. I've noticed over the years that instead of developing skills at anything, people look for gimmicks and tool designs to make it so that someone with no skills can make something that sort of looks like they had skills.
View attachment 345807
At one time, a craftsman could make a set of Chippendale chairs merely using five or six hand tools that could all fit in a small box. Now, men have to have a garage full of specialized electric equipment with thousands of gadget to be able to make the same thing.
People don't want to take the effort to practice and learn and develop tool skills.

Pipesmoking is also one of those things men go into with a preexisting notion of what they should be able to do right away. However, those that stick with it, have a special quality not found in cigar or cigarette smokers. They practice every day, building skills, and developing good habits.

Well said.