Do Expensive Pipes Really Smoke Better?
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Whilst doing some cleaning I came across a brochure about pipe facts and maintenance from the original Tinder Box in Santa Monica. I used to patronize that store a lot when I worked on the west side. Here's what the late great Ed Kolpin Sr. has to say on the matter:
"Do not assume that the price of a pipe is a true reflection of the quality of the wood the pipe is carved from. Some brands charge a premium to have their name stamped on the pipe. Other, lesser known brands offer pipes which are of excellent quality, at very reasonable prices."
"Do not assume that the price of a pipe is a true reflection of the quality of the wood the pipe is carved from. Some brands charge a premium to have their name stamped on the pipe. Other, lesser known brands offer pipes which are of excellent quality, at very reasonable prices."
No matter what price level, shopping hard for a pipe can make the crucial difference. As the price level goes
up, the chances of getting an excellent pipe increases, but you still shop carefully to make sure you don't end
up with one of the expensive pipes with issues. When you go down to lower price levels, rigorous shopping can
make all the difference, to give you the best chance of getting something good. I recently bought a not expensive
pipe (by my standards), that I'd been looking at for over a year. It is a pipe maker I have bought before and whose
pipes I very much enjoy. This particular pipe is an interesting version of a standard shape. What impressed me
most was its incredible lightness. This has to be some throughly aged briar. It's a Group 4 (medium sized pipe),
but it is lighter than most of my smaller pipes, even with a thick bowl. Amazing work. Now, how does it smoke?
I'll find out.
up, the chances of getting an excellent pipe increases, but you still shop carefully to make sure you don't end
up with one of the expensive pipes with issues. When you go down to lower price levels, rigorous shopping can
make all the difference, to give you the best chance of getting something good. I recently bought a not expensive
pipe (by my standards), that I'd been looking at for over a year. It is a pipe maker I have bought before and whose
pipes I very much enjoy. This particular pipe is an interesting version of a standard shape. What impressed me
most was its incredible lightness. This has to be some throughly aged briar. It's a Group 4 (medium sized pipe),
but it is lighter than most of my smaller pipes, even with a thick bowl. Amazing work. Now, how does it smoke?
I'll find out.
So many variables here. Besides the material and engineering quality, which obviously takes the major section weather a pipe will smoke good to our preferences or not, we must acknowledged our philosophical tendencies in order to fully "judge".
What Im trying to say, is for example if john doe is a person which values the experience and not how it is achieved, maybe a mid price pipe will do the job. If another john smokes mostly in company of other johns, then the experience might not be fulfilled just with a smoking instrument, but few layers has been added in order to reach that gap, meaning grain, appearance and shape. A completely different john would tell you that in his mind, the more he paid for an item, the better he thinks it is. It is known, in the absence of quality measure, price is the quality indicator.
To me, I like pipes. very simple. I like it, I buy it.
What Im trying to say, is for example if john doe is a person which values the experience and not how it is achieved, maybe a mid price pipe will do the job. If another john smokes mostly in company of other johns, then the experience might not be fulfilled just with a smoking instrument, but few layers has been added in order to reach that gap, meaning grain, appearance and shape. A completely different john would tell you that in his mind, the more he paid for an item, the better he thinks it is. It is known, in the absence of quality measure, price is the quality indicator.
To me, I like pipes. very simple. I like it, I buy it.
Ultimately, quality is subjective.
There are guys who love the crap out of Dr. Grabows and corncobs. And, if you become accustomed to how one of those smokes, you may not like a top end Italian pipe, or even the way it smokes.
One could easily spend just a few bucks a month in a pipe hobby and get just as much if not more out of the experience than someone who spends thousands a month. How could someone tell someone else that their joy and pleasure is less than theirs?
Me, I relate pipes to cars. If I could collect hundreds of automobiles, I would enjoy them all for what they have to offer. Trucks for workloads, driving a load of gravel down a dirt road. A small sportscar for hugging the road as I skate down a windy road. A huge landbarge for the easy ride on a long car trip with the family, floating down the interstate. Each pipe has the way it wants to be smoked, just like you can't drive a dumptruck like a little Porsche. However, if you are stuck on only knowing how to drive a Porsche, you may not like a pickup truck, and vice-versa.
There are lots of different pipes for lots of different people. Some just happen to be more expensive. All of them smoke, but quality is subjective. Just like all coats will cover your upper body, however a Brooks Borothers coat, while being very expensive) may freeze you to death in a blizzard, where a $45 WalMart coat would work much better.
YMMV
Old thread.
RIP to HiloJohnny and Chuckw, two nice guys that had to leave too soon.
As for pipes? anything over 300 bucks is a waste. And I do believe a 10 dollar cob can give a guy a damm good smoke if he or she can get over how ugly (and "corny") they look. And almost always I think a handcrafted pipe will smoke better than a machine/factory pipe. I've seen way more factory pipes drilled like shit compared to independent carvers.
RIP to HiloJohnny and Chuckw, two nice guys that had to leave too soon.
As for pipes? anything over 300 bucks is a waste. And I do believe a 10 dollar cob can give a guy a damm good smoke if he or she can get over how ugly (and "corny") they look. And almost always I think a handcrafted pipe will smoke better than a machine/factory pipe. I've seen way more factory pipes drilled like shit compared to independent carvers.
Some do, some don't.
No one has performed a blind test of how pipes actually smoke.
As mentioned years ago, there are a ton of other factors that make a given smoker feel that pipe he's smoking is superior.
No one has performed a blind test of how pipes actually smoke.
As mentioned years ago, there are a ton of other factors that make a given smoker feel that pipe he's smoking is superior.
The pipe mentioned four years ago, which was a Johs, smokes great and is still going strong, probably getting better. Up to a point, probably more expensive pipes have a better percent chance of smoking in an outstanding way. After that, you are buying artistry, name, premium material (a little), and bragging rights. A seven-year-old post? Yipes. Then of course there are those thirty, or forty, or sixty dollar pipes that smoke like a dream, but I don't talk about that in front of my up-market pipes.
And taste. Lol. So subjective, but it is fun to see that this question will never be answered in a way that it won't be asked again. Nothing changes. My simple answer is yes, because I like comfort of the bit and button. However, the increase in price is not always in proportion to the increase in pleasure. And sometimes, an expensive pipe is still just expensive garbage.
Oh...Gawd...It's so hard to show restraint in public when presented with a line like this.
As for the OP question, the answer remains, "not necessarily". It's 25% equipment and 75% technique. Hmmmm...maybe we ARE all johns.
I defy any member to define a "good smoke" in terms which would be acceptable to every member. "sable" has it mostly right I think. It's the smoker and what the individual smoker defines as "good" or "great" in pipes as well as blend selection, coupled to personal expectations. No one member or group of members can speak beyond their own personal experiences.
I'll vote YES. The overall pipesmoking experience is heightened by smoking a nicer looking, more comfortable pipe (bit, etc).
If you are only talking about one aspect of smoking a pipe, getting the smoke from chamber to mouth, not a huge difference.
Although, my other senses are stimulated by nicer more expensive pipes, whether visual or tactile, or subconscious. My feelings are positively impacted when holding a beautifully grained pipe or historically important pipe. I can't quantify my feelings, but I'd bet money if you hooked me to a machine and I smoked a corn cob and then a beautifully grained pipe from my favorite pipe maker Geiger, the readings would indicate I received more pleasure from the Geiger. More pleasure=better smoke.
If you are only talking about one aspect of smoking a pipe, getting the smoke from chamber to mouth, not a huge difference.
Although, my other senses are stimulated by nicer more expensive pipes, whether visual or tactile, or subconscious. My feelings are positively impacted when holding a beautifully grained pipe or historically important pipe. I can't quantify my feelings, but I'd bet money if you hooked me to a machine and I smoked a corn cob and then a beautifully grained pipe from my favorite pipe maker Geiger, the readings would indicate I received more pleasure from the Geiger. More pleasure=better smoke.
This again?!
What an absurd question. :evil:
Of COURSE they do.
One percentage point better for every ten dollars spent, meaning a thousand bucks will get you a perfect smoke every time.
It's a PipeWorld rule that's as reliable as gravity. No exceptions.
The end.
.
Of course not. It only seems that way because only people of sufficient means to buy high-end pipes have the knowledge to smoke properly. It's a scientifically irrefutable fact. For example, you will note that people who drive BMWs are, without fail, the best and most courteous drivers on the road. Same principle at work, see?
I think the answer is that in general more expensive pipes are better pipes and will smoke better, but price is no guarantee that it will smoke better. And at some price point, over $100 or so, it really isn't going to make much difference to the average pipe smoker.
I've owned everything from cobs to Dunhiills and a nice custom. My best smoking pipe was a Sav GDO, $400.
I think a $120 Sav will smoke as good as any $600 Dunhill, or maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to tell the difference.
All my worst smoking pipes, gurgling, draw problems etc, were sub $100 pipes.
I've owned everything from cobs to Dunhiills and a nice custom. My best smoking pipe was a Sav GDO, $400.
I think a $120 Sav will smoke as good as any $600 Dunhill, or maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to tell the difference.
All my worst smoking pipes, gurgling, draw problems etc, were sub $100 pipes.
I'd be surprised if anyone is going to say that a pipe is going to smoke better simply because it costs more money. And I guess that a pipe might cost more due to things having nothing to do with actual tobacco smoking performance, and not be a good smoker.
No other question in the realm of pipe smoking brings out the opinionated *ss in me so I will endeavor to tread lightly.
I will confine my remarks to the term "engineering." The shank must be drilled straight, and enter the chamber at bottom-center and that straight line must be mirrored in the stem. Whatever the maker does to effect dispersal at the bit is a needed embellishment to that straight line. The term "engineering" it seems to me to praise high-end pipes by those who can't affords to buy them. Maybe I over-simplify but I find far more justification to say correctly-drilled than engineered.
None of the sellers whose pages I frequent use it, perhaps because they would then need to say which engineering principle was in play, substantiating a demonstrable presence. The term lives on the forums.
I will confine my remarks to the term "engineering." The shank must be drilled straight, and enter the chamber at bottom-center and that straight line must be mirrored in the stem. Whatever the maker does to effect dispersal at the bit is a needed embellishment to that straight line. The term "engineering" it seems to me to praise high-end pipes by those who can't affords to buy them. Maybe I over-simplify but I find far more justification to say correctly-drilled than engineered.
None of the sellers whose pages I frequent use it, perhaps because they would then need to say which engineering principle was in play, substantiating a demonstrable presence. The term lives on the forums.
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