Innovations In Pipe Smoking - Is Design Dead?

[dunnyboy]

I briefly owned a Porsche design 909 pipe that was very thoughtfully designed and, I thought, beautiful, in a 60s streamlined kind of way. It had metal sheathing on the rim, which prevented scorching; parallel grooves around the bowl ostensibly to help radiate heat; a 9mm filter to reduce tar and moisture; and it used a synthetic material that made the tenon feel almost lubricated, and the stem comfortable to clench and impervious to chatter. For all that, I couldn't really enjoy the pipe. Although the metal rim got too hot to touch, the pipe itself smoked fine. I just found the pipe soulless (if a pipe can be said to have a soul). In any case, it was an example of a pipe that was designed from first principles, well executed and attractive to look at. It just never grabbed me as I thought it would.

 

[OzPiper]

I briefly owned a Porsche design 909 pipe that was very thoughtfully designed and, I thought, beautiful, in a 60s streamlined kind of way. It had metal sheathing on the rim, which prevented scorching; parallel grooves around the bowl ostensibly to help radiate heat; a 9mm filter to reduce tar and moisture; and it used a synthetic material that made the tenon feel almost lubricated, and the stem comfortable to clench and impervious to chatter. For all that, I couldn't really enjoy the pipe. Although the metal rim got too hot to touch, the pipe itself smoked fine. I just found the pipe soulless (if a pipe can be said to have a soul). In any case, it was an example of a pipe that was designed from first principles, well executed and attractive to look at. It just never grabbed me as I thought it would.View attachment 176317

Thank you for your honest critique of that pipe
I had considered buying one, but just couldn't get myself to actually do the deed.

 

[dunnyboy]

Thank you for your honest critique of that pipe
I had considered buying one, but just couldn't get myself to actually do the deed.

You might love it. It is very well made and an excellent design. You can smoke it without the filter of course. The key is to get it as cheaply as possible. It regularly comes up on eBay at widely varying prices.

 

[drastic_quench]

The write ups on smokingpipes.com claim that Ser Jacopo has the capability to drill a shank along a curve. Some of their insanus pipes look to demonstrate this. That's an innovation that actually impresses me.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Thank you for your honest critique of that pipe
I had considered buying one, but just couldn't get myself to actually do the deed.

I have a Porsche Design and love it.

 

[sablebrush52]

The write ups on smokingpipes.com claim that Ser Jacopo has the capability to drill a shank along a curve. Some of their insanus pipes look to demonstrate this. That's an innovation that actually impresses me.

Nothing new about that. French pipe makers were drilling on a curve as far back as the 19th century.

 

[drastic_quench]

Nothing new about that. French pipe makers were drilling on a curve as far back as the 19th century.

Then I'm surprised we don't see it more often. There's a lot of innovative pipe shaping that becomes possible when you don't have to have a straight line hidden within the shape.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Hard... but not impossible!

Looks like potential for interesting heating/cooling properties!

I always wanted those when I was a kid. Mom wouldn’t go for it because she didn’t want to clean them.

 

[bullet08]

They should put a bottle opener on stummel and call it biermeister. Hey! New shape!

 

[OverMountain]

From a design philosophy: a device is perfect, not when something else can be innovated or added, but rather when nothing else can be taken away.

Simplicity, utility, perfection.

 

[n_irwin]

Hard... but not impossible!

Looks like potential for interesting heating/cooling properties!

Looks like a table pipe to me

 

[Scottmi]

This is an EMC Customs Cob I saw on Instagram

View attachment 176227

Makes me think ‘Steampunk convention!’

 

[Dyakoff]

Thinking of newer pipe smokers who tend to have similar problems when starting up like packing a bowl properly, dealing with moisture, tongue bite, etc., I don't' see much innovation to solve those problems.

Vauen tried to solve these problems with their Quixx, but i’d say it’s like trying to change the target audience… simply can’t work out properly

 

[MacMarty89]

There is absolutely no point in innovation in the world of pipe smoking. The design and function has been perfected long ago. Change is good, no change is better. All that (recent) innovative bullshit simply deters us from the essence of proper pipe smoking (technique).

So mote it be.

 

[captpat]

I suspect that most pipe smokers learn over time that the less complicated, more traditional designs are dependably some of the best.

I think the state of play is evolutionary not revolutionary, even so a many evolutions were fads but didn't have a lot of staying power.

 

[trouttimes]

Let’s go back to the original post. Innovation for better performance is great. The Danish movement, though not for me, is interesting art. We all have a pretty good idea on the technical basics for a good pipe. We also know that materials can and do make variations in the smoking qualities. Innovations such as Falcons, EMC Cobs, etc while interesting, do not really improve anything. Throughout pipe history there have been innovations that didn’t prove out in practice.
As we see a lot in sports, many people want “innovation “ to shortcut the learning curve. Snow skiers want new skis/boots to take the place of learning proper techniques. Shooters want better guns and optics to take the place of practice. Mtn bikers want the latest and greatest in equipment to take the place of fitness and learned skill sets. Nothing but time and hours smoking will make this hobby pleasant. There are no equipment shortcuts.

 

[K.E. Powell]

I think SBC and trouttimes pretty much have the right of it. Pipe smoking as a marketing demographic typically skews older and is heavily driven by nostalgia. In a capitalist market, innovation is rarely propelled by necessity, but by profit motive. That's why what few "innovations" in pipes we see are usually gimmicky ways to try to entice new consumers to market, namely by making the hobby as approachable as possible by marketing innovations that alleviate tongue bite or provide a cooler smoke, etc.

This has been true for a long time. A quick look at vintage pipe ads will show nearly every pipe manufacturer had some gimmick to make their pipes smoke better than the competition. (They also promised that hot women would love you if you smoked a pipe, thus proving truth in advertising has always been a fantasy.)

But I also think we could benefit by broadening our definition of innovation, at least as it pertains to pipes. Not all innovation has to be on how the pipe functions, but it can be on how the pipe looks artistically or how it is brought to market. On those two fronts alone, one can say some innovation has occurred in the last few decades. Considering pipe smoking has been around since ancient Egypt, that ain't small potatoes.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Consider that all the pipes the Indians used were really long, I wonder if that isn't a functional design more than aesthetic.

 

[Dyakoff]

Actually all

Consider that all the pipes the Indians used were really long, I wonder if that isn't a functional design more than aesthetic.

Actially all ancient pipes were long.
Old Egyptian pipes and Old Chinese pipes were also long.

I believe that for absence of Zippo lighters, one wouldn’t want to strike flint next to one’s face.

 

[Briar Lee]

Yesterday I enjoyed shooting this 1927 A H Fox Sterlingworth at a black powder shoot.


Recently a company tried making new Fox shotguns down to the last detail the same as originals starting at ten thousand dollars. They actually sold a few, and still might.

A hundred years ago at a shotgun match and a hundred years from now at a shotgun match not anything will excel a classic American double gun for functional style.

Before the recent craziness in gun prices, that old Fox I own was about a five hundred dollar gun, maybe it’s a thousand dollar gun today.

The same thing applies to a classic briar pipe.

No matter who makes it or what’s stamped on it, how can you improve a Giant Wellington?