Is a Pipe Really a Pipe If It Has Never Been Smoked?

[mso489]

There's a Forums member who collects pipes but doesn't smoke them, in memory and honor of his

dad who was a devoted pipe smoker, and I can understand that. But I'm on task. Just smoked a

first bowl in my pipe show Mountain Laurel panel billiard and am closing in on first bowls on a OD cob

and an unfinished Sav panel billiard. Yup, I want to see and smell that real tobacco carbon in a bowl.

 

[zack24]

I really break it down into pipes that are more art than functional. At the Chicago show, there was a beautiful victrola phonograph pipe for $7500. I would probably never smoke it, just stick it in a case and look at it...In the case of an artisan pipe that's designed to be smoked, I'd fill it full of some fine Stonehaven flake and light that sucker up!

 

[yorkshirepipe]

The whole collecting is a hobby in itself - coins or stamps are collected to be admired rather than used. Pipes can be the same, I only have a couple in my collection that are unsmoked, one being my very first pipe, couldn't get it going.
Tobacco is similar to me, I have some tobacco that I doubt I'll want to smoke (old tins) and I really doubt I'll want to sell, but I enjoy just having them, seeing them on my shelf.
It's a big wide world, plenty of room for collectors, smokers and the ones inbetween.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

People keep referring to collectors yet I haven't seen anyone that is a collector. Just some (including myself) who smoke but happen to have a pipe or two that are purposefully unsmoked. I have 12 pipes of which only one is unsmoked. I don't think that makes me a collector.

 

[puffdoggie]

If a wife is talking and her husband is not there is he still wrong? :rofl:
I have a very nice, new Dunhill I just acquired in a supposedly rare shape that is now unsmoked. However I will eventually smoke it at an appropriate time & place. I also have one of those gold Mark Twains from the mid-to-late 80's I treat the same. Not smoked often but yes, it is smoked.
Weird how metaphysical and existential things can get on this forum! :crazy:

 

[neverbend]

...coins or stamps are collected to be admired rather than used. Pipes can be the same...

but they don't have to be.
I was a young family man investing a little money when my little daughter tipped some water and the value of an expensive plate blocks of stamps was destroyed.
Pipes are a collectible that can be given normal use and with moderate care can retain much of their value, unlike stamps or coins (whose normal use is to give them away at face value), and so I choose to collect pipes.
Concept + Logic = Collecting

Appeal + Impulse = Accumulation
Some smoke their collection (or not) but I collect what I smoke. I imply neither as a superior method of acquisition but if fully engaged on why I included a particular pipe in my collection (as opposed to my accumulation) my dissertation would make Wagner's Ring Cycle look like a puff piece.
The method's the answer beneath Monty's question, it's what we get out of our pipes. Discussion won't convince you or me but the moment that my pipe, selected for it's superior smoking qualities passes into ownership of an admirer of it's beautiful grain, then that pipe has changed in essence if not presence.

 

[ejames]

People keep referring to collectors yet I haven't seen anyone that is a collector. Just some (including myself) who smoke but happen to have a pipe or two that are purposefully unsmoked. I have 12 pipes of which only one is unsmoked. I don't think that makes me a collector.

What if you have a couple of hundred,new and estate, that are not smoked and only collect dust?

 

[foggymountain]

To cut through the verbiage, yes.

 

[numbersix]

Well said sable!

+1
Good comments all around though. As is usually the case, I can see both sides of the argument, but side with sablebrush on this one.

 

[acutabovebriar]

I want to believe that all pipe makers want to see their pipes been smoked and enjoyed for many years. I know as a wood cutter that I take huge pride when I see pipes been made out of my wood. In this spirit I smoke all my pipes and I think not doing so cancels the purpose of the pipes existence. Still to each his own so...

 

[sablebrush52]

Let's make this simple and real. An automobile... as it sits on the assembly line is a combination of metal and rubber and plastics and polymers. It certainly has all the potential to be an automobile, but until such time as that key is turned and life is breathed into that Automobile then it is not really an Automobile because it never went from point A to point B under it's own power. It they tried and tried to get it started but it wouldn't they would take it off the line and it wouldn't be.. until it did.

So an uncirculated 1933 double eagle is not a gold coin?
Sorry, this argument will not wash.
We have this discussion at least once a year. What it does point out is that meaningfulness is a personal matter, not an objective measure. My pipes are pipes whether I choose to smoke them or not. My reasons for owning them may vary, but in the end, they are MY reasons for owning them. YMMV.

 

[monty55]

A gold coin becomes what it is the moment it's minted, circulated or not.
It's all good. I probably don't believe what I am saying as much as I was just pondering existential spooky stuff. I can't remember, but I might have been drinking too. :roll:
The tuba and thong thing still has me rolling. :lol:

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Existential discussions can really make my brain hurt. I sat through too many philosophy classes where something like this was discussed and all I could do was shake my head. I've also sat through too many stoner conversations that were very similar.

 

[peter70]

A pipe is a pipe, even if unsmoked. It has proper drilling, a fine grain and can be a sculpture. But it is lifeless, until it is smoked, because only then it can deliver the great pleasure, pipe smoking brings. I often see showcase pipes, like the famous Savinelli Autograph, which probably never will get smoked, and cannot help thinking, how great these pipes might taste.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I appreciate it when I get my hands on very old pipes that were never smoked. I don't put down the collectors. But for myself, I always have a blend in my pocket when I check the mailbox, so that I can smoke whatever pipe arrives before I even get it in the house.
This accumulator appreciates the collectors ::
And, to some it may just be a knick knack till it's smoked. Some may think it's a pipe because someone made it with that intention. Some may just be a PSO (pipe shaped object), and some just grab the nearest beer can with a pocketknife and turn it into a pipe when needed. Who cares? Art, beauty, and pipes are in the eye of the beholder. Because one person looks at a toilet and thinks its a drinking fountain, isn't going to stop me from using it how I've always used it, ha ha.

 

[derfargin]

I see it this way.
Accumulators focus on "appreciating" a pipe, and often find more value in them that no collector can monetize.
Collectors are too focused on the depreciation of a pipe, and can only find value in it's worth by others.

 

[drwatson]

I collect,smoke and accumulate! I have a pipe by a maker, a rather large pick axe. I could care aless what it may be worth in 20 years or 50 years. It has a special handmade stand, it is drilled perfect,stained perfect,grain is flawless. If someone offered me 5 grand for it, I would turn it down. Is it a pipe? YES! Does it need to be smoked to prove itself? NO!..But to me it is also a work of art. A pipe can be and is more than just smoke rings, they give you pleasure and comfort. And this pipe, although sitting there UNSMOKED! Brings me just as much comfort and pleasure as my 25 dollar Grabow. So therefor is has fullfilled it's intent.

 

[jon11]

Collector. It looks like I may be the only one, but yes I'm a collector first. I have a bunch of unsmoked pipes, all of which are high grade artisan pipes. I love the pipe hobby and all that comes along with it. But the fact of the matter is that I'm always smoking cigars. I don't know what the attraction to high grade pipes are for me but I really enjoy them. Although many are smoked, some do remain unsmoked. I definitely do not need anymore pipes, but will probably continue to buy them. They are functional pieces of art and I really enjoy acquiring new pieces. So I do smoke cigars more than pipes, but collect pipes and pipe tobaccos. Sounds like I need help!

 

[sparrowhawk]

I'm not really a pipe collector; they are smoked. If I don't smoke it, I eventually rid myself of it, either as a donation or a sale for cash. For that reason, I only have about 10 briars, although I 've owned many more.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So, I was thinking more about this today... If a pipe, isn't a pipe until it has been smoked, then that brings up a interesting quandary. So, when you order this "thing" from somewhere, and you get it, did you not just receive a new pipe? And, if not, then what is it? and how do you know to smoke it? I know this is extreme, but I'm just trying to follow the logic.
If by this logic, I load up a shoe with tobacco and smoke it, does it become a pipe, or am I smoking a shoe? If I put a pipe on my foot and wear it out walking the dog, does the pipe become a shoe? Or, am I wearing a pipe on my foot? Is a shoe a shoe, only after it's been worn? I have guns that I've never fired, are they guns?
And, thank jon11. If it weren't for folks like you, I would never have had the opportunity to ever be the first one to smoke some maker's pipes. Folks like you make it possible for others to experience things that could never have existed if absolutely everyone smoked their pipes... like me :wink:
OK, back to your regularly schedule program ::