Cheaper Wooden Pipes

[davek]

In a lot of your garden variety smoke shops the have wooden pipes, made in China I believe. They cost more than a cob but nowhere near what a briar costs. This type of shop may have a couple Dr. Grabow briars, or no briars at all.
Does anyone know what wood these are made off? Are they any good at all? I'm a bit scared of them.
Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization.

 

[jitterbugdude]

I believe I read somewhere that they are made from the bones of capitalist pigs that would not tow the communist party line. Not sure of it's true or not but makes sense to me.

 

[wasnsfisher]

Buy the MM Cobs. Leave the baskets alone

 

[aquadoc]

If it is a pipe and it says made in China, leave it alone. Even if free. The Chinese make some fine products, pipes are not one of them. There are too many readily available estate briar pipes of superior quality/value for a similar cost.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"If it is a pipe and it says made in China, leave it alone. Even if free."
I would rephrase that to read 'anything made in China' bar tea.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[davek]

Whoo. I forgot about the reaction I might get to "made in China". Still, I tend to agree. Not being %100 sure of the material means a lot when it is something which goes in your body, even indirectly.
Point well taken.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I wouldn't completely write off China.
SAM CUI

PING ZHAN

 

[aldecaker]

"Hand crafted in China" and "manufactured in China" have two totally different rings to me, Duane. I have already written off any garbage that is factory-made in China, be it dog food, drywall, or smoking pipes. Somehow they manage to get extra lead in their lead, extra asbestos in their asbestos, and extra arsenic in their arsenic. And QC? They follow the Russian model of "we don't need good, we need many".
So, in response to the OP, stay away from wood head shop pipes. Missouri Meerschaum and Mr. Brog both make good-quality wood pipes for a low price (as do many others).

 

[Chasing Embers]

"we don't need good, we need many"

I've actually heard that in most factories I've worked in sadly.

 

[Chasing Embers]

So, in response to the OP, stay away from wood head shop pipes. Missouri Meerschaum and Mr. Brog both make good-quality wood pipes for a low price (as do many others).

MM's hardwoods are great.

 

[davek]

Well, I didn't really mean head shops. Just the garden variety tobacco stores which are all over now. "Cheap tobacco" in the name maybe, or they concentrate on vaping. Often they have a fair to middling cigar selection, maybe a couple kinds of cobs. Not much of a pipe tobacco selection except for the RYO tobacco sold as if for pipes.
Real tobaccionists are getting more rare.

 

[aldecaker]

So, do you mean "basket pipes"? Usually basket pipes are briar, not hardwood. I think we may be talking about two different things. One of my locals sells basket pipes from the Czech Republic and Italy, and they are both pretty good. I have four or five of the Czech pipes.

 

[ryeguy]

I'm a bit scared of them.

You should be.
In the middle of a move, I found myself overnight at a friend's house. He offered me some Sixpence, which had been on my must-try list for months. As I was in the middle of a move and visiting, I didn't have a pipe with me. So I drove out to a cigarette shop to get grab a basket pipe--how bad can it be? (Just to give you a sense of the place, the proprietor mentioned that they carried meerschaum pipes, just before proudly displaying some cobs. *facepalm*)
Ended up with one of these wooden monstrosities. I have nothing good to say about it. It's ugly. Badly made. Smokes terribly. Essentially everything that can be wrong with a pipe--even things I didn't know could be wrong--was. I didn't finish my first bowl. It was a total loss. I really don't know what the market for these is.
These places always have cobs, and often have Dr. Grabows. Stick with either those if you must get a pipe quick.

 

[mso489]

In "real" pipe shops, basket pipes are often a mixed bag, and you can find some great inexpensive but well-produced pipes, some name brand, in the baskets. In the kind of shops you are describing, they are unlikely to have any good briar pipes, so just look elsewhere. Even with cobs, only buy the MM and Old Dominion brands, since there are poorly made cobs on the market, and you don't want them.

 

[olkofri]

I would rephrase that to read 'anything made in China' bar tea.

Absolutely. Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[mso489]

I wouldn't argue about trade practice or business ethics. But it appears to me that many Chinese-made products are high quality, including the vast array of electronics, a great assortment of stainless steel kitchen utensils and other stainless steel goods like insulated cups and tools; some clothing, and so on. I'd like to see the U.S. up its game in manufacturing. The U.S. has much to be proud of, and I look for our products to prefer in purchases. We have to admit to high quality Chinese products in order to compete. I think India cultivated tea first and still grows and packages the best. I really like my U.S. factory and artisanal pipes -- in hand-mades especially my Bob Hayes and Jerry Perry pipes.

 

[weezell]

MM's hardwoods are great.

+1...

 

[nevadablue]

Say what you will, but I would have few tools if it weren't for the Chinese. I have a large lathe, milling machine, band saw, etc, that there is no way I could have afforded to own. The tools work fine. Oh, 3 fine welders too, TIG, MIG and stick, and all of those work. My model railroads would have no people, I would have no pipe cleaners.
Why tea? Why is it OK? And, just because, I bought one of those wooden pipes from China. It is actually not badly made, and it smokes fine.
Moving along now... :roll:

 

[olkofri]

..extra asbestos...

That's for the tongue bite. Maybe they're not that bad after all.

 

[nevadablue]

Actually insulates the tongue from steam. :lol: