When properly attached, a bamboo shank is very likely stronger than a briar one of the same size.
When improperly attached, they fall apart.
Good:
Bad:
When improperly attached, they fall apart.
Good:
Bad:
Bamboo Pipes Seem To Be All the Rage
- Thread starter Mike N
- Start date
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Not when Tom Eltang, J. Alan and Nate King do it. They are (arguably) three of the greatest living pipe makers of our generation.
Yes, I agree. The only other artisan I have seen who uses the brass pins to secure the bowl to the bamboo shank like a Dunhill is Julius Vesz.
I think why they're popular with high grade pipe makers is that it allows them to use stunning pieces of briar that otherwise couldn't be used due to ugly or even defective areas that would be in the shank. I don't love the look myself but I find them often tastefully done.
I've had a couple over the past several decades. Honestly, I can't identify any special smoking properties of bamboo vs regular shank briar pipes.
I once had this Bari Pearl. I rather liked it but obviously not enough to keep me from parting with it.
This is the bell ringer for me:
It's the Nording Hunting Pipe from 1998; a shape called "The Beaver." This one punches my buttons. A great stem/bit combination, a shape that fits the hand like a glove with a normal sized bowl good for a quick smoke or a moderate one. The packaging of Hunting series pipes is pretty awesome: a printed pasteboard tube with plastic ends, stuffed with a poster showing design sketches of the pipe and the critter that inspired the shape. Then, of course, the pipe in a leather sock.
I once had quite a few of the series, but I've given up all but this and the '99 Quail.
I once had this Bari Pearl. I rather liked it but obviously not enough to keep me from parting with it.
This is the bell ringer for me:
It's the Nording Hunting Pipe from 1998; a shape called "The Beaver." This one punches my buttons. A great stem/bit combination, a shape that fits the hand like a glove with a normal sized bowl good for a quick smoke or a moderate one. The packaging of Hunting series pipes is pretty awesome: a printed pasteboard tube with plastic ends, stuffed with a poster showing design sketches of the pipe and the critter that inspired the shape. Then, of course, the pipe in a leather sock.
I once had quite a few of the series, but I've given up all but this and the '99 Quail.
Wow! That Nording hunting pipe makes we want to go hunting and enjoy a bowl afterwards back on the pickup tailgate.
Bamboo is highly water absorbent, able to take up three times its weight in water. In bamboo fabric, this translates to an excellent wicking ability that will pull moisture away from the skin so that it can evaporate. For this reason, clothing made of bamboo fiber is often worn next to the skin.
Bamboo is a VERY lightweight material and it is often surprising how much weight is removed from a pipe by having the briar shank very short, and then a bamboo extension. If you are a fan of clenching a pipe in your teeth, I think you would become a fan of bamboo after you find out how light bamboo pipes can be.
Bamboo is a VERY lightweight material and it is often surprising how much weight is removed from a pipe by having the briar shank very short, and then a bamboo extension. If you are a fan of clenching a pipe in your teeth, I think you would become a fan of bamboo after you find out how light bamboo pipes can be.