Briar Pipe price vs quality
- Thread starter music4cash
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Same coin, different sides. Sable is correct in saying no one can assure that any given pipe is going to be a good smoker. Walt's view of a guarantee is protecting the buyer from the consequences of that reality. I didn't understand Walt as saying it couldn't happen but rather that if it does the customer won't suffer the consequences. In that sense he has guaranteed his work to be acceptable quality or he will refund the price. That very position by default acknowledges a bad pipe, however unlikely, is possible.
@Cosmic
You've deeply offended me with your alacritous insults!
Bulldogs vs. Roll Tide = Yellow Jackets
I am the absolute embodiment of the rambling wreck!
You've deeply offended me with your alacritous insults!
Bulldogs vs. Roll Tide = Yellow Jackets
I am the absolute embodiment of the rambling wreck!
MLC, didn't mean to interrupt your train of thought. Your post came while I was composing. I pressed post unaware of the direction the thread had taken. My humble apology.
haha
"train of thought" is stretching it a bit!
No probbo.
I've been drinking too much tonight...
To the op music4cash,
my advice:
get yerself a Vox Starstream!!!!
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWC1uzg-Yr0
"train of thought" is stretching it a bit!
No probbo.
I've been drinking too much tonight...
To the op music4cash,
my advice:
get yerself a Vox Starstream!!!!
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWC1uzg-Yr0
You guys are having too much fun.
The word guarantee has a number of definitions. The basic one is:
Anything that assures a certain outcome.
Works for me.
The word guarantee has a number of definitions. The basic one is:
Anything that assures a certain outcome.
Works for me.
Good morning.
I can't handle the hard liquor,
I mostly just drink beer,
last night was alotta brown ale,
which I recently resupplied with,
this stuff, actually:
Getting back with the o.p....
The "good smoker" aspect was addressed earlier, I'd just like to offer my perspective of pipes at that price point.
Way back when I first started smoking a pipe,
like almost five years now, :P
it was all alien to me, and altogether very confusing.
I ended up starting out with a $75 Stanwell estate pipe off of eBay, it was a 9mm filter pipe with an adapter, I had not known anything about filter pipes and just bought it because it looked cool, kind of like a Sherlock pipe, and a substantially sized hunk with massive thick walls --- it was my only pipe for about 2 months, I had trouble finding a good baccy to suit me, I suffered numerous instances of tongue bite which in the really bad cases would take a full week to "heal".
That was all back before the internet,
because I had no idea that forums like this existed and I had no idea there was such a large number of people very much into "the hobby" and discussing all the involved minutia.
This place helped me tremendously and I've learned a lot.
At some point I found Tobacco Reviews and was able to discover strong baccy that fit my preferences better, up until that point the best thing I had found was Mac Baren Golden Extra, which is quite good but not really an epiphany-producing smoke, I stumbled around with sampling many diverse poor choices up until then, but TR pointed me in the right direction - I found GLP's JackKnife Plug and experienced
"the moment", that's when I knew that I'd remain a dedicated pipeman, it really flipped my lid!
From my personal experience, I'd say that finding the right tobacco for yourself takes priority over the actual pipe, as r says, just about every pipe can deliver a "good smoke" and I believe that to be true in large part, it's only later when one has developed intense preferences that one starts notating all the nuances between the pipes, and each of us follows a different path to arrive there.
Since I had such great luck with my first Stanwell, I continued buying that brand.
I especially liked how they put out cool shapes, the 19 and 63 were particular favorites.
Out of around 45 Stanwell pipes that I once owned, not one ever let me down and they were all very moderately priced.
Then I discovered the old classic British pipes, which I had earlier avoided because they often sold for more money than I thought they were worth, I didn't understand why people would often pay so much for them, but after I got one, a humble old Comoy's, I understood why, and then proceeded to become a "collector" of the earliest British sandblasted pipes that I could find. (except for the very early Dunhill Shells which command mucho money, and they're probably worth it too!)
Then I discovered the luxuries of a handmade pipe, in my case it was a humble Randy Wiley pipe, from the first time I held it in my hand I could tell an immediate difference between it and a factory-made pipe, it was wonderful and I still own it, it has a wonderful conical bowl and is an extremely sweet smoker.
My mentors were members on this forum and they helped shepherd me to a fuller and brighter understanding of what's what --- some people are lucky enough to have a real life mentor, like a father, uncle, or pastor, but I never had actually known anyone who smoked a pipe, and it was a lifesaver for me to find this digital fellowship with my brothers of the briar.
If you stick with it,
it will all eventually come together.
It did for me!
:
:Maudro Brown, eh? That's a new one to me. Have you tried Dogfish Head's Indian Brown? One of my favorites and it too has oat's in the grist bill.
Edit: I'm beginning to come to the notion that New Guys should set a budget and have the old farts pick them a pipe. No reflection on the op who seems gracious and wise.
Edit: I'm beginning to come to the notion that New Guys should set a budget and have the old farts pick them a pipe. No reflection on the op who seems gracious and wise.
Ha ha, that's like picking out some shoes for someone or eye frames. Too much to take into account. There is a great guy, super stand up guy, but he is a huge man, who sets in the Briary occasionally smoking this tiny Peterson. His hands are like gigantic, with this little tiny (or so it seems in proportion) pipe, puffin' away. It looks like he could finish the bowl with one inhale. Then, I have seen this skeleton guy walk about with a gigantic gourd calabash. It looks like the pipe will make him topple over. Both I think had someone else pick the pipe out for them. So many things to take in, straight, bent, size, bore, stem material, color... as much as we don't admit it on here, how we look with the pipe, or how we feel about the way the pipe "looks" is vastly important, IMO. Sure, there is much more to it, but... I wouldn't want someone picking out shoes for me.
I've yet to try it, but you make Indian Brown sound good so I may have to try it --- one of my pet peeves with Brown Ale though, is that some of the smaller boutique brewers insist on adding an inordinate amount of hops, which I dislike greatly, because a proper Brown Ale ain't s'pposed to be hoppy!
I really dig stouts, and this time of year they're in full swing,
later this evening I'm gonna try this stuff for the first time:
:I did have success with their Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout, but availability is limited and it's hard to find and i don't go driving around searching for stuff unless I'm on a quest to find all the Bell's Special Double Cream Stout that I can find because that's my absolute favorite.
The Oatmeal Imperial Stout gets good ratings, so I'm excited to try it and hope it hits the proper spot!
So true,
we each have our own little idiosyncrasies and preferences,
and on top of that our perspectives often radically shift!
When I was growing up, besides wearing ToughSkins, I would often get to pick out Garanimals!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garanimals
...it was really fun!
:D
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXceQWHxcpo
:
Does anyone make anything similar for pipes?
LOL
Match the tags and all will be well!
8)
Ha ha, I'm just glad some makers put the logo on top of the stem, so I don't smoke the thing upside down.
No doubt!
I love stem logos.
I wish more artisan makers would put something on their stems.
If I were a pipemaker,
I'd swipe Premal Chheda's old technique of using something like a bb,
I think it's really cool how it protrudes and would actually help with grip too when removing the stem.
I'd find some sort of small ceramic balls or beads, maybe a light blue color, or use differing colors according to grade.
I thought it was a great idea when I first saw it,
I dunno why he stopped doing it...
:?:
By now the OP must be totally confused. As much as we all share the love of the pipe, each does so in an intensely personal way. Those biases are betrayed in our posts and often contradict each other but there are several common elements in becoming a pipe smoker that seem in one way of another to be experience by all no matter the final preferences chosen.
1) A pipe from a reputable company (like Stanwell or Savinelli) will likely be a solid smoker. At your early stages it's hard to recognize what a good smoker really is given the subjective nature of that experience.
2) Tobacco is an important component in the equation and it is likely that discovering which ones work best for you will be a process of trial and error.
3) Smoking technique is every bit as important as the pipe. The best pipe made will not be a pleasant smoking experience if smoked improperly.
4) Becoming a pipe smoker is not a destination, it's a journey, a slow evolutionary process that is intensely personal. In the end it's what combination of the variables works best for you and that is anything but universal.
1) A pipe from a reputable company (like Stanwell or Savinelli) will likely be a solid smoker. At your early stages it's hard to recognize what a good smoker really is given the subjective nature of that experience.
2) Tobacco is an important component in the equation and it is likely that discovering which ones work best for you will be a process of trial and error.
3) Smoking technique is every bit as important as the pipe. The best pipe made will not be a pleasant smoking experience if smoked improperly.
4) Becoming a pipe smoker is not a destination, it's a journey, a slow evolutionary process that is intensely personal. In the end it's what combination of the variables works best for you and that is anything but universal.
+1 on stem logos. I like Larry Roush's, if I could only find a reasonably priced estate that I liked I'd grab one. My least favorite is the Lanatra duck, I don't like stuff protruding from my stem.
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