Chacom Hate?

[Mantis_Shankman]

I meet a lot of pipers that really don’t like Chacom, or assume that they have issues.
I have purchased a few Chacoms, I have a couple of 297 Canadians that are incredible smokers and I also own some smaller prince and billiard shapes that I love for quick smokes. I like their pipe proportions and respect the company’s heritage.

My question is, what’s the reason for the hate? Was there a point in time when Chacom couldn’t get it right? Is it anti French Bigotry ? They seem to be fine now.

 

[rmbittner]

Although I think they fly under the radar among pipe brands, I’ve never heard anything disparaging about Chacom pipes.

 

[Zero]

I've never read or heard anything negative about the brand. I own 3 and they smoke great.

 

[yanoJL]

I had one for about four months. A bent brandy shape that didn't smoke very well for me, despite multiple attempts. And the mortise/tenon joint was poorly fit. So I turned it over to SP's estate department for store credit.

 

[SBC]

Until now, I hadn't heard a negative report.

I have a meer lined Chacom lovat which I adore.

I adore it not least because Chacom is literally the original briar pipe. Ok sure, entities change hands over the centuries so you can question on one level whether a current Chacom is really made by "the original inventors of briar pipes," but so far as I reckon things, Theseus's Ship is still Theseus's Ship after all the planks have been changed out. There is a deep identity which persists through time, and Chacom was the first maker of briar pipes. I love that.

If I were starting over again with my first pipe, and had to limit myself to collecting only one make of pipe, I might set out to get old Chacoms, for just this reason. They're special, by definition.

(I'm not quite sure why the English twin, Comoy's, has always gotten so much more attention.)

I guess that every maker is going to turn out a lemon every once in awhile, but I hadn't heard of it before now.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

We have to take your word on it that someone hated this brand. I have no idea who or what type of people... so it's really hard to tell why.

Maybe it is someone racists against the French?

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Never heard a negative (until a few posts up) and never anything approaching "hate".

Probably the same people who don't like adjustable choke devices!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have three chacoms. Two of them are constantly in and out of my rotation. The third, is only occasionally smoked, because it is just too odd of a chamber size, that I just save it for when I smoke a certain tobacco. But, all three smoke great.

 

[Kingsley]

I love my Chacom “The French Pipe”.
Great Birdseye, .75 x 39mm, 6mm filter, and only weighs a hair over an ounce, light and satisfying. Thinner walls, but I’ve never ever disliked that, better hand warmer through these bitter, windy days. $47 bucks in total, lovely little things. Never disliked a Chacom.

 

[mortonbriar]

I smoked mine this week, it is a great pipe.

Where are you meeting these haters?

 

[Zero]

My Chacom:Eltang Oscar smooth and sandblast, and my Maigret smooth. Very happy with them.

 

[captpat]

I have one Chacom that's routinely in the rotation, it's fine. Never heard anything bad about the brand. I'd buy another if one struck my fancy.

 

[SBC]

Mr. Shankman, I doubt that you'll find a more experienced and informed consensus on most things pipe related than at this forum. So if whatever pipe club you're part of sees things differently than the consensus here, I feel safe in suggesting that your pipe club has simply developed a sub-cultural prejudice on this point, and they're too inbred to have a fair opinion.

So enjoy your Chacoms (as we do) and tell your friends where they can put theirs.
(Wait, I take that back, they should send them to me...)

 

[mso489]

I've been on Forums since February 2013 and I can't recall ever seeing any negativity about Chacom pipes. I haven't read every last thread, and I've missed a few famous brawls on here, but I think I would have picked up on anything that resembled a theme. Perhaps this was on a different site.

As I have often reminded fellow members, French pipe makers were the first to commercialize use of briar as pipe material and originated many of the traditional classic shapes often credited to English pipes. The French have a long-established pipe making industry, highly competitive and consistently above the price levels in quality.

With some brands, the chambers run a little smaller, but many are ample or more than ample. Their design is artistic and snappy even with the most traditional shapes.

Some people just don't like French pipes, or specific French brands, and that's everyone's prerogative, but I've never heard any general negative clamor at all, and criticism is rare to nonexistent.

 

[kcghost]

Never heard them actively disparaged.

 

[Elric]

I have a Chacom Volute apple in my rotation and love it. If I was in the market for more pipes, they would be one brand I would seriously look to.

 

[Chasing Embers]

More of is hate being called piper more than hating Chacom pipes.

 

[simong]

I too, would like to know where you’re meeting these Chacom haters.
I’m an Englishman & will have a crack at the French, every chance I get. Nothing whatsoever wrong with their pipes though, of which ‘Chacom’ is probably the most respected brand.

 

[Zero]

I too, would like to know where you’re meeting these Chacom haters.
I’m an Englishman & will have a crack at the French, every chance I get. Nothing whatsoever wrong with their pipes though, of which ‘Chacom’ is probably the most respected brand.

I can understand, I find them annoying as well.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Like Savinelli, Chacom makes a LOT of pipes and they have lines all over the spectrum of price and finish quality. And a lot of their pipes fall into lower price point categories, pipes that fall into lower price categories tend have less QC than ones at higher price points. That means statistically they put out a few clunkers.

Pipe smokers are hyperbolic bunch, somebody gets an $80 Chacom that doesn't meet Charatan Coronation or Dunhill standards they will tell the whole world that Chacom is garbage. I've had a few Chacom's that need a little tune up to be good smokers but most of them have been great.

You don't get to be one of the oldest pipe houses in the world by putting out junk.