I Can Finally Display My Pipes Again

[mtwaller]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

So many lookers here but those two lovats win in my book.

Thanks, yeah the two Ashton lovats are really cool. That picture doesn’t do them justice, but the ring grain is stupid, particularly on the one with the black stem. I love a well done lovat, it’s such a great shape.

 

[Sigmund]

Nice! And yeah, its hard getting good photos of black pipes without formal lighting.

 

[bootlegpipes]

Thanks, yeah the two Ashton lovats are really cool. That picture doesn’t do them justice, but the ring grain is stupid, particularly on the one with the black stem. I love a well done lovat, it’s such a great shape.

If that picture doesn’t do them justice then I’d probably go blind seeing them in person

 

[mtwaller]

If that picture doesn’t do them justice then I’d probably go blind seeing them in person

Yeah some of these Ashton’s will give you unrealistic expectations of what sandblasting and ring grain should look like. I pretty much won’t buy a sandblasted pipe unless it has great ring grain now, all because these were the first sandblasts I ever had and they set the bar way too high.

 

[bootlegpipes]

Yeah some of these Ashton’s will give you unrealistic expectations of what sandblasting and ring grain should look like. I pretty much won’t buy a sandblasted pipe unless it has great ring grain now, all because these were the first sandblasts I ever had and they set the bar way too high.

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Yeah, I need to find an Old Church like that one of these days.

 

[mtwaller]

Yeah, I need to find an Old Church like that one of these days.

Do it!! Buy all of the Ashton’s and post pictures

 

[Alanon]

Circumstances for the last 3-4 years have dictated that all of my pipes were in a big storage tub in my closet. Most of the tobacco rotation was too. Lighters, cleaning stuff, etc. were in like three different areas.

Anyway, it was a huge pain in the ass and I never got to enjoy looking at my pipes. I finally was able to clear out a corner and use this existing desk/shelf thing that had a fish tank on it until recently, and it’s damn near perfect. I’m so happy to see them all again. I have a little felt lined caddy on the way for the lighters and such.

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Nice! I would love to have a proper space for my pipes, maybe a desk like you, or maybe a cabinet like @rowdyroddypiper, but lack of space and the sheer amount of pipe stuff I have don’t really allow for it right now. Someday though, when I move house, I was thinking of uniting the scattered pieces and maybe mounting them on a wall, like in a store... but for 100+ pipes that might be too much of a challenge... who knows.

My pipes and tobaccos are also currently in two completely separate locations so it’s an even bigger pain. I’ve resorted to storing them in small-ish cabinets or desk drawers. I store most of the pipes in various leather pipe bags - 2-pipe, 4-pipe, 7-pipe, etc. That way they’re protected from sunlight, and sort of tucked in. I can’t see them, but at least they’re protected (that’s what I tell myself, anyway). Oh, and no dust that would accumulate when I’m not at the other location for a month or longer.

On one location I have a couple of stands and racks on a shelf that accommodate a dozen or so pipes. That’s where I let pipes that I’ve smoked dry out and rest. That’s also my in-between solution for being able to gaze upon them. Once they’ve rested, into the leather bags they go, others come out to take their place, etc. Every once in a while I take some of the pipes to the other location and bring others in to rotate them and make sure they’re all smoked as evenly as possible.

It’s all far from ideal but it’s the best system I could come up with.

 

[mtwaller]

Nice! I would love to have a proper space for my pipes, maybe a desk like you, or maybe a cabinet like @rowdyroddypiper, but lack of space and the sheer amount of pipe stuff I have don’t really allow for it right now. Someday though, when I move house, I was thinking of uniting the scattered pieces and maybe mounting them on a wall, like in a store... but for 100+ pipes that might be too much of a challenge... who knows.

My pipes and tobaccos are also currently in two completely separate locations so it’s an even bigger pain. I’ve resorted to storing them in small-ish cabinets or desk drawers. I store most of the pipes in various leather pipe bags - 2-pipe, 4-pipe, 7-pipe, etc. That way they’re protected from sunlight, and sort of tucked in. I can’t see them, but at least they’re protected (that’s what I tell myself, anyway). Oh, and no dust that would accumulate when I’m not at the other location for a month or longer.

On one location I have a couple of stands and racks on a shelf that accommodate a dozen or so pipes. That’s where I let pipes that I’ve smoked dry out and rest. That’s also my in-between solution for being able to gaze upon them. Once they’ve rested, into the leather bags they go, others come out to take their place, etc. Every once in a while I take some of the pipes to the other location and bring others in to rotate them and make sure they’re all smoked as evenly as possible.

It’s all far from ideal but it’s the best system I could come up with.

I feel you. That’s exactly what I was doing. I had 4 pipes stuffed into a 2 pipe bag and was constantly shuffling them around and trying to squeeze things in random places so it would be easier to get to than the big tubs buried in the closet. Not ideal, certainly. Sounds like you have a killer collection, and one that requires way the hell more space than mine!

 

[Alanon]

I feel you. That’s exactly what I was doing. I had 4 pipes stuffed into a 2 pipe bag and was constantly shuffling them around and trying to squeeze things in random places so it would be easier to get to than the big tubs buried in the closet. Not ideal, certainly. Sounds like you have a killer collection, and one that requires way the hell more space than mine!

Yeah, you can be as inventive as you want, if there’s no space, there’s little you can actually do to improve the situation. Recently I was contemplating putting up some additional shelving on a tiny bit of wall, enough to place stands and racks for about 30-50 more pipes. In the end I decided against it, as the pipes would just get dust on them. Also, light is a concern as most of my pipes have vulcanite stems, and I do not want to scrape them more than absolutely necessary.

I’ve been in the hobby for a while, and I love thrifting, so that’s the main reason I have as many pipes as I do. I try to pass along or sell as many as possible so as to stay under 150 or so, but pipes seem to cross my way fairly consistently. I’m more focused now about what I get and keep than I was in my early days in the hobby, but my collection will never be as thought out as yours for example, or of such consistent high quality.

There’s a lot of expensive pipes in the collection, don’t get me wrong, but also many sentimental pieces and gifts, old pipes or European no-names I like too much to give up. A lot of my pipes have character, but they aren’t collector’s items. I’ve posted some of what I have in various places on the forum, I wouldn’t want to clog up this thread by reposting, but you can check it out. What I’ve been posting is mostly on the collectible side of things, with just a few of the no names I find so interesting.

The guys at my local pipe meets often debate whether it’s better to start out focused and go after one or a couple brands with resale value for the ability to cycle through pipes, or be a magpie like me and chase whatever looks attractive in the moment. I know people that just collect exclusively Peterson and have racked up hundreds of them—this I don’t get—but something like aiming for a particular shape or size, or grain, or a select couple of marques, this makes much more sense.

 

[mtwaller]

Yeah, you can be as inventive as you want, if there’s no space, there’s little you can actually do to improve the situation. Recently I was contemplating putting up some additional shelving on a tiny bit of wall, enough to place stands and racks for about 30-50 more pipes. In the end I decided against it, as the pipes would just get dust on them. Also, light is a concern as most of my pipes have vulcanite stems, and I do not want to scrape them more than absolutely necessary.

I’ve been in the hobby for a while, and I love thrifting, so that’s the main reason I have as many pipes as I do. I try to pass along or sell as many as possible so as to stay under 150 or so, but pipes seem to cross my way fairly consistently. I’m more focused now about what I get and keep than I was in my early days in the hobby, but my collection will never be as thought out as yours for example, or of such consistent high quality.

There’s a lot of expensive pipes in the collection, don’t get me wrong, but also many sentimental pieces and gifts, old pipes or European no-names I like too much to give up. A lot of my pipes have character, but they aren’t collector’s items. I’ve posted some of what I have in various places on the forum, I wouldn’t want to clog up this thread by reposting, but you can check it out. What I’ve been posting is mostly on the collectible side of things, with just a few of the no names I find so interesting.

The guys at my local pipe meets often debate whether it’s better to start out focused and go after one or a couple brands with resale value for the ability to cycle through pipes, or be a magpie like me and chase whatever looks attractive in the moment. I know people that just collect exclusively Peterson and have racked up hundreds of them—this I don’t get—but something like aiming for a particular shape or size, or grain, or a select couple of marques, this makes much more sense.

That’s cool that you find so many different pipes that you enjoy. I wish I liked sort of scruffy, lower end estate pipes. I’d have a lot more fun in antique shops! For whatever reason those pipes just don’t do anything for me.

I definitely do find a certain brand that I like and collect 3-5 of them and then continue on to another brand, it seems. That’s not by design but just how it seems to naturally go. So far I’ve gone Peterson, Ashton, Musico, Radice, Neerup. With a few outliers here and there. I had a couple Dunhill’s that I sold. They were meh for me personally.

I find it wild that some guys have such incredibly specific requirements for a pipe. Like you’ll see somebody say “if it were 5 mm longer I’d be interested” or “if it was 5 grams lighter, I’d be all over it”. Like that just blows my mind. I have zero predefined parameters that a pipe has to exist within in order for me to buy it. If it grabs ahold of me and doesn’t let go, I don’t care what shape, size, finish, etc. I just bought a stout Neerup and a freakin’ tiny Brulor. Didn’t plan on buying either until about 5 minutes before I added them to my cart