My first pipe

[judcasper]

Well I did it. I went and bought a pipe. I'm ready to be told I've made a mistake and that I should have saved up and bought something decent (or searched harder for a good estate pipe) but we learn by our mistakes, yes?
To most I've probably bought crap, but to someone who's brand new to pipe smoking and has only 'played' around with a crappy prop pipe from China that cost me the princely sum of £1, this is a real pipe and I'm very excited to give it a try!
I could have bought a budget briar for about a pound cheaper than this, but I like nosewarmers (just learnt the proper name for stubbies) and the briars didn't fill that desire.
This is pear wood, by the way. Prone to cracking according to the description, but we shall see.

 

[lawdawg]

If you're on a tight budget, then Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipes are a good place to start. I have a decent collection of briars from popular factory makers (Savinelli, Peterson, etc.), and I still smoke corn cobs a lot. Another good option is used pipes which are known as "estate pipes." You can potentially get good deals on ebay, but you should know what you're looking at so you can make informed decisions. Ebay is not a great place to start for an beginning pipe smoker. You can buy a relatively inexpensive estate pipe on smokingpipes.com and be confident that you're getting a fair deal. I see good looking estate pipes on there starting around $60 frequently. Probably less at times, and often more.
EDIT: I see you know the term "estate pipes." Anyhow, there's a reason that most pipes are made out of briar. Some people have had decent things to say about pear wood. Corn cobs are a great place to start because they are absorbent and you're less likely to get a nasty wet smoke since beginners often smoke hot, which often results in condensation and gurgle. Disjointed ramble over ::

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

To most I've probably bought crap,

As long as it's a safe wood to smoke, or meer, or even corn cob, it doesn't matter what other's think of your pipe. If it's drilled and fitted correctly and therefore gives you a nice smoke, that's all that really matters. My first pipes were a couple of those Ukranian made pearwood pipes... They actually smoke great, but aren't very durable. The shanks cracked on both of mine, perhaps partly due to beginner error. Still, I wouldn't recommend them. The shanks are quite thin where the mortise enters the shank.
Yours (not sure of the maker or material) appears to be well constructed, at least from what I can tell from that photo. If it smokes well, I'd say you're off to a good start. Congrats on your first "real" pipe. Enjoy the heck out of it! :clap:

 

[brassmonkey]

We all got to start somewhere so fill that pipe and get smoking. I would also recommend an MM cob for someone new to pipes. They are cheap and very forgiving, I’m almost ashamed to say that I use cobs more than briars now.

 

[judcasper]

Thanks for the encouragement, chaps.

Yours (not sure of the maker or material) appears to be well constructed, at least from what I can tell from that photo. If it smokes well, I'd say you're off to a good start. Congrats on your first "real" pipe. Enjoy the heck out of it! [:clap:]

I very nearly went with something on amazon, but forced myself to accept I would only be getting throwaway crap at the price range I was looking at.
I'm encouraged by the fact I've bought from a tobacco/pipe website, as I suspect the CC will be far more sympathetic than it would on amazon, should anything be amiss with the product once it arrives.

 

[economistandfisherman]

Very pretty pipe! Congrats! With pear wood the one thing you don't want to do is remove the stem until it's had a chance to thoroughly cool...just like briars but more so with fruit woods; fruit woods are prone to holding their temperature for longer than briars so this period may be at least several hours--in other words, don't go to cleaning it right after you smoke from it, let it sit for a while. Also, don't ream it until you have a nice thick cake in the chamber...other than that, enjoy it and smoke it just like you would a briar! I've had briars crack too...its a risk we all take!

 

[judcasper]

Very pretty pipe! Congrats! With pear wood the one thing you don't want to do is remove the stem until it's had a chance to thoroughly cool...just like briars but more so with fruit woods; fruit woods are prone to holding their temperature for longer than briars so this period may be at least several hours--in other words, don't go to cleaning it right after you smoke from it, let it sit for a while. Also, don't ream it until you have a nice thick cake in the chamber...other than that, enjoy it and smoke it just like you would a briar! I've had briars crack too...its a risk we all take!

I didn't know any of that, so thanks very much for the warning. It will be heeded!
I just need to go look up what 'reaming' means.

 

[workman]

Pipes are less important than tobacco to me. Along the way I have found out that I prefer lightweight briars, small-medium sized bowls and I like an assortment of both bents and straights, although the bents are growing on me. Brands, grain, provenance and stuff like that I don't care about. It's the tobacco first, and then the proper tool to smoke it from.

 

[judcasper]

I like your philosophy, workman

 

[olkofri]

Post back and let us know how it smokes. As I said in your other thread, I'm also interested in a pear wood pipe.
Been ogling the offerings from this Polish maker, Mr Balandis, whom we were discussing in another thread. Many of his pipes are made of pear wood and they're very cheap in price, but still look well made and good quality overall. Maybe next month, God willing, I'll bite the bullet and order one.

 

[judcasper]

Been ogling the offerings from this Polish maker, Mr Balandis, whom we were discussing in another thread.

That's a shop worth browsing. I only wish there was a filter to sort by price, but on the first page alone there are some gorgeous stubbies - right up by street - and definitely closer to my price range if I save the pennies.
This is a beauty!
Pipe

 

[luigi]

That's a pretty looking pipe, I'm glad to hear you followed your taste and made a compromise between ("ugly") corncobs and ("expensive") briars. Enjoy your smokes.

 

[newbroom]

If you scroll through the balandis website you find several relatively inexpensive briars with ebonite stems.

Incredible pricing, which I suppose can be offset by shipping and handling, but I haven't investigated the source.

Here's one for under $25.00. Briar. Nice and simple and good sized.

 

[crashthegrey]

And Balandis is less expensive because they are in Poland, and that is a good price for a pipe in Poland, not because the quality is low. It is a win for us.

 

[olkofri]

Additionally, when the item's price is less than $50, customs sometimes just waves it through. At least in Canada.

 

[crashthegrey]

That is a huge added benefit to inexpensive pipes, olkofri.

 

[judcasper]

Thanks for the views, people. Pipe still not arrived and there's always a chance my postman will keep it for himself, as he has done with dozens of things I've ordered online. Let's just hope it's a different postman doing my round now.