Is Price A Good Indication of Quality?

[cigrmaster]

I have bought great estate pipes for as little as 135 that smoke as good as anything I have ever smoked. I believe price does matter as my artisan pipes smoke better for my tastes than any factory pipe I have ever owned. Now if I did not have a problem with acrylic stems then I would own way more Castello pipes as to me they are the best smoking factory pipe. You can buy those used for as little as 100-150. Better briar and better engineering makes for a better smoking experience in my opinion. Pipes that gurgle, have uncomfortable stems, smoke hot and wet ruin my tobacco. I want to get the best flavor out of my blends so a pipe that smokes cool and dry, weighs a certain amount, has a comfortable stem are of great importance to me. Others could care less about some of these things so for them a 25 dollar basket pipe is totally cool with them. My neighbor smoked his Captain Black in a Grabow and has happy as can be so as long as you enjoy what you are smoking, that is all that counts.

 

[papipeguy]

My company had a president that used to tell us that, "It costs so little to go first class." Hem meant that if you're committed to spending so much that a bit more will give you a lot more. I say buy the best pipe you can reasonably afford. If you have $100.00 then wait until you have $150.00 and see what that will get you compared to what you would have gotten. Good luck and Happy Smoke Rings.

 

[cigrmaster]

pap, I totally agree that people should buy the best pipes they can afford. At one time in my collecting I was buying quantity over quality. I finally listened to BigVan and I bought my first Rad Davis( my first American artisan pipe). Now I would much rather own 32 artisan made pipes than 75-100 pipes that are in the 50-150 range. I now save my money and wait until I can afford an artisan made pipe. I have bought plenty as estates in the 135-250 range and they smoke as good as any 1500 pipe I have smoked. Back in the day when I first began collecting pipes I was able to buy pipes that today would retail as high as 1500-2000. Back in 2000 they retailed for 600-1000 and I was paying 225.00 for a brand new 900.00 pipe. Those pipes were very good smokers, but not as good as a 135.00 estate Stephen Downie I recently bought. I was trading a guy Cuban cigars for those high end pipes. I would get a box that cost me 225.00 and double the price. He would take a 900.00 pipe and sell it to me for his cost(450.00) and that is how I owned plenty of high end pipes. I owned pipes from artisans like Former, Rainer Barbi, Kurt Balleby and others. I traded a box of Cohiba Siglo III's that I was into for 177.00 for a brand new Dunhill Bruyere Group 5 bent billiard that retailed for 660.00. I kept the pipe for a few months and then sold it( for a tidy profit) because I did not care for how it smoked( smoked hot as hell and a tad wet). There are tons of pipes out there that in my opinion are completely over priced so to me price does not make a pipe a great smoker. Price can raise your odds a great deal, but it will not guarantee you will get a great smoking pipe. Another of my best deals was when I paid 50.00 for an older Peretti Straight Grain Billiard. This pipe which I still own smokes like a champ. It has a nice soft vulcanite stem, smokes cool and dry and I will always keep it in my collection.

People should keep their eye out for those older Peretti pipes, they were made from Algerian briar that used to be coveted by pipe smokers all over the world.
I honestly believe that every pipe smoker should save some money and buy at least one really good pipe so they can see the difference in smoking properties. I always recommend buying a Castello Sea Rock for around 150.00 so the can smoke a pipe that literally smokes itself. If acrylic stems do not bother you then that is my first choice. I had somewhere around 10-15 Castello's over the years and every single one smoked cool and dry and made my tobacco taste great. Their wide open draws( shank dimensions of around 4.3-4.7 mm) makes for a really dry smoking pipe and Castello's for me have always smoked extremely cool. Instead of buying 3 or 4 40-50.00 pipes, save your money and buy that one Castello. I think you will be amazed at how it smokes. If you can find a 150-225.00 Rad Davis, Brian Ruthenberg, Scott Thile, Stephen Downie, Steve Morrissete, Bruce Weaver go for one of those. It is really hard for me to describe in writing the smoking properties on those types of pipes, you really have to experience it yourself to understand what I am talking about. Now I know some of you are saying to yourselves, Harris is full of shit and doesn't know what he is talking about, that is fine. I only say what I have experienced and I always try to help out my fellow pipe smokers. I will never judge a man on what pipes and tobacco he smokes.
Hell peck is one of my best buddies and he smokes all of those high end pipes that I wouldn't be caught dead buying. lol

 

[necron99]

Yes, usually.

 

[hippiebrian]

"I've got a Country Gentleman and love it, but it's about a 45 minute smoke."
Okay, so I was wrong. I just got in a couple bags of seconds, and evidently I had a Legend with a Country Gentleman shape, because I recieved a real Country Gentleman (along with a couple Great Danes and a Diplomat) and had no idea how large those bowls actually were! I just used some overtime (read extra) money and bought a full rotation of cobs!
Anyhow, after smoking my CG a couple times, no, while price may be somewhat an indicator when it comes to briars, the cobs rule for smokeability, and they are less than 10 bucks.

 

[charlespe]

Price is not always the best indicator for quality. In fact brand name is,

 

[foggymountain]

Depends on what you are talking about. Not necessarily with women, but usually with pipes. (Except on Ebay where suckers beware.)

 

[mso489]

If you're lucky enough to have pipe smoking friends who can share conversation and silence,

that can make a $80 pipe smoke like an $800 pipe in that context. Sentimental, yes, but also

often true.

 

[bigvan]

So glad I could be your enabler, Harris.

 

[bwithers55]

Those who smoke artisan pipes think they are getting a better smoking experience, so they continue to buy more artisan pipes.
Those who prefer their estate pipes are sure they are not losing out because they enjoy their pipes every bit as much as the artisan pipe smokers.
We make our choices and then we validate our choices.
-bw

 

[philobeddoe]

That's why I buy estate artisan pipes!

 

[settersbrace]

Great topic!
I feel as many do that one should spend what they can comfortably afford on a pipe but do not need to spend a fortune to get a quality smoking pipe. I find that there are the very low end, money and time waster pipes that probably keep more folks from ever getting into the hobby then help get them off to a good start. Then there are the mid to mid high grade factory pipes, this is where some research on the buyer is required to make a well informed choice because in this bracket lies some pure junk as well as pure gold. I'm talking the $65-$200 range here and there is a mountain of choices hidden in there. Beyond that there's a huge bump and aside from high grade name brands like Dunhill, Castello, Ferndown, etc you are looking at artisan made hand crafted pieces.

As a cigar smoker I know that there are many, many excellent cigars that fall into the $4-$9 price range that can blow your socks off and many of them are far and away better in all ways then some $15-$25 a stick offerings that are coveted by the so called "aficionados" so there's something to be said for being an informed consumer. In the end we usually get what we pay for but with pipes it's sometimes surprising the quality one can find for less money IF the end user does some research. Not every $500 handmade pipe smokes like a dream but nor does every $75 one but given the choice I'd rather be disappointed by the cheaper one.