Are You Maker Loyal?

[jaygreen55]

I have 78 briars in my collection. 38 of them are from Ed Burak's Connoisseur pipe shop in NYC. I had many more but gave away several when I quit the hobby in 1994 and unfortunately lost a few over the years. When I came back to pipe smoking after my 20 year hiatus I was very disappointed to see that Ed had closed his shop and retired but his pipes do come up on ebay for reasonable prices
I first walked into Ed's store as a 19 year old pipe smoking novice in 1974and he took me under his wing and became my mentor and for the next 20 years I bought virtually all my pipes and tobacco in his store.
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Burak

 

[deathmetal]

I am loyal only to George Smiley.

 

[tschiraldi]

Castello, Jesse Jones, & Ashton are tops for me, though if this new Regina Scarlatta is any example of Christian's work, they will certainly join the ranks of favorites! I still like old Comoys,Caminrttos,& GBDs, but the others are a step above.

 

[deathmetal]

I only buy pipes from the makers on this forum. Sorry, but unless you are cool enough to post here, your pipes are just.... meh.

 

[Loomungus]

No.

 

[didimauw]

Only when it comes to my cobs.

 

[fnord]

Death:
Are you one of Smiley's people?
Fnord

 

[shaintiques]

Peterson pipes were my first love when I started smoking a pipe. I have bought and sold many, but still have 5 or so. But I'm open to try anything if it smokes good. And mainly only buy freehands now.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

I guess my pre-2007 Castello's all need to be sent somewhere to have the airways butchered. Funny Scotti and Coppo didn't know how to make a pipe until 2007. Maybe Coppo just got tired of having his products dumped on by a certain West Coast collector and his acolytes.
I just got a current production Castello from an Italian seller and there is no difference in the draft hole diameter, so maybe he only puts the Holland Tunnel draw on pipes for the American market.

 

[tarheel1]

My collection is still quite small consisting of only 13 pipes. In that collection i have 9 Ferndowns, 2 Ashton, 1 Upshall, and one Askwith.

 

[tarheel1]

delete

 

[jefff]

I am all over the map. Somedays I think i'd like to be loyal to a single maker and then I see anothers pipes.

I have

A Tinsky

A Becker

A Dunhill

A Bjarne Nielsen Sig.

An Eltang

A Heeschen

A Castello

A Scottie Peirsal

A Randy Wiley

A Bjarne Churchwarden

A BST

A Post Trans Barling

And 2 Aldens

And 4-5 Cobs,
I have gone through somewhere between 60 -100 briars to get to these. They all smoke wonderfully but the Hesschen and the Wiley may be on their way out.
Just not my style.

 

[indianafrank]

Mostly Cobs and Grabows for me.

 

[conlejm]

Northern Briars, Ferndowns, and Pertersons make up 95% of the pipes I smoke for relaxation. I have a few Ehrlichs and Perettis for yardwork duty.

 

[owen]

Jefff you have all good stuff tell us there's something better than the rest please.

 

[jefff]

Nope, I have had better luck with more expensive pipes, but not a perfect score.The Barling, and Bjarne Nielsen are 30 years old and I am pretty sure neither cost me more than 30.00 because I know I couldn't afford more back then.
As for the rest, half were estate purchases and that saved me money
I have had perfectly drilled pipes that smoked horribly and off drilled pipes that smoked pretty damn good. I am just at a point in life where I want a few really nice things.
But just a few.

 

[huntertrw]

"Are You Maker Loyal?"
The 82 pipes currently in my collection represent 48 different makers, so my answer would be no.

 

[clickklick]

11 Rads

7 Downies

6 My Own

4 McCarters

2 Aldens

1 Sabina Santos

1 Thorpe

1 Reum
2 Castellos

2 Stanwells

2 Savinelli

1 Velani

1 Dunhill

1 Barling

(Some other odds and ends)
I am loyal to handmade pipes it seems.

 

[markus]

Peterson and Savinelli comprise the majority of my collection. I have other pipes in my collection (Stanwells, Kaywoodies, Falcons, Big Ben, etc.), but for some reason I gravitate towards Pete's or Sav's. If I'm shopping for new pipes, they are usually the first 2 makers that I start with, and usually end with.

 

[sparrowhawk]

Most definitely Peterson. But believe it or not, I have just about ever Pete I want or need, mostly billiards. I'd like to get a Dunhill shell with a spiral Grain, but that would be almost impossible to get affordable.