Recently I came across one of Muttnchop Piper’s videos entitled “What Shape Should I Choose?” in which he suggests purchasing pipes based on how their shapes correlate with your facial features. ?
Have any of you ever applied this concept to your pipe purchases? How many of you avoid certain pipe shapes (despite liking them) specifically because you think they’re ‘unflattering’ to your face?
Personally- I couldn’t care less if my socks match, not to mention whether or not my pipe makes me look like a thumb. Quality, good engineering, beauty and palm feel are what I look for. That said, I’d love to hear the community's take on thisfeel free to share your selection process.
The Muttnchop video-
Good ol' Muttnchop. Bit of an oddball but I used to watch him when I was first starting out. That video in particular seemed like a well meaning attempt at providing style tips to the savages but the face matching thing never crossed my mind.
I look for functional pipes that are also visually appealing to me. As much as I like seeing a pipe cut in half, I don't focus too much on engineering aspects (before you ask, of course there's an amazing thread on this very thing and yes there are pics). Also, I figure I can adjust my technique to get a good smoke out of most pipes. Same goes for certain tobaccos.
However, there are subjective things I also take into account which usually boils down to that certain je ne sais quoi which sets a pipe apart among the 1000 other same ones from the factory. "This my pipe, there are many like it but this is mi--"
I guess what's most important for me is that I find the pipe enjoyable to smoke - maybe it's not a showboat or the hottest meme but I genuinely have to like the pipe over what it can do for my appearance. Anyhow, in my short time with pipes, I know that I'm definitely a smoker and not much of a pipe collector in that sense... at least my budding TAD and lack of cellar says so.
