First of all the collection. Took them out and gave them a quick once over. Primarily a liquor and pipe cleaner ream, getting the loose ends of leaf out, and rubbing everything down with the appropriate thing to rub it down with. I do this less often than some, more than others.
From the top left, going down and then to the right, doing the same:
1. Grabow Grand Duke
2. Grabow Special 11
3. Grabow Savoy (non filter style)
4. Shoreham (Algerian briar)
5. Uncle Arthur "Boot Knife"
6. Uncle Arthur "Ward Cleaver"
Bottom Row, going "up" from left to right....
1. Thomas Mitchel / Mitchell Thomas
2. Sir Hubert
3. Kaywoodie Carburetor
All are good smokers in their own right. Some better than others, but I smoke all of them.
The Savoy is my go-to pipe for a quick burn of Lame Eye Kew. It is a 20 minute pipe, and smokes very well.
The Shoreham I reserve for the occasional times I smoke Haddos. It is small enough so that I won't be as prone to overload myself with the nicotine when I smoke the Haddos. It is as close as I come to dedicating a pipe to a blend, but it is more about self protection than any sort of aesthetics.
The Tmas Mitchell / Mitchell Thomas I picked up for about $30 or so at a Ft. Worth, Texas Head Shop. I purchased it from some bona-fide stoners who were bon-fidely stoned. They wanted me to present a "Texas ID" to make the purchase for some reason, so I presented my "State of Texas Department of Corrections Official" ID card to them. Hopefully my little attempts at humor were not a buzz killer. It smokes like a champ, and was quite the conversation piece with a couple Fort Worth chicas. One quite the looker, one quite the un-looker.
The Sir Hubert is a true blue beater pipe. It is the 1977 Buick of the bunch. It refuses to shine, and has a nice mix of bondo and rust. However, it smokes well enough and it fits certain moods I come in and out of.
The Uncle Arthur Ward Cleaver is a a pipe that about smokes itself. I mostly just hold it and look handsome. The Boot Knife maybe not such an easy smoker as its big brother, but not a bad one. Smallish bowl, nice for a medium length smoke.
The Kaywoodie is what I smoke when I want to feel sophisticated and pretend my coke zero is a highball.
The Grand Duke and the Special 11 have hellacious draws on them (I smoke them without a filter), and the Special 11 tends to smoke a bit hot. They do well enough, and the Grand Duke was my #1 go to pipe for quite some time, as it was the key stone of my budding collection.
The point of this is not to garner compliments on my style, truth or well meaning lies as they may be. Instead, all but three of these pipes cost me less than $15 each. The Thomas Mitchell / Mitchell Thomas coast me about $30 brand new, and the Uncle Arthur's have a secret price, but it was far from exorbitant. For under the ~$200 range, I have a nice rotation of pipes and a couple of "specialty pipes" to fit some specialty situations.
I don't fault a man for spending the big money on his pleasures. Dunhills, Petersons, and all the famous maker stuff need to be bought. But they don't have to be. Buying a small handful of estates, and getting a pound of divided common blends ought take the common man pretty well into this business.
From the top left, going down and then to the right, doing the same:
1. Grabow Grand Duke
2. Grabow Special 11
3. Grabow Savoy (non filter style)
4. Shoreham (Algerian briar)
5. Uncle Arthur "Boot Knife"
6. Uncle Arthur "Ward Cleaver"
Bottom Row, going "up" from left to right....
1. Thomas Mitchel / Mitchell Thomas
2. Sir Hubert
3. Kaywoodie Carburetor
All are good smokers in their own right. Some better than others, but I smoke all of them.
The Savoy is my go-to pipe for a quick burn of Lame Eye Kew. It is a 20 minute pipe, and smokes very well.
The Shoreham I reserve for the occasional times I smoke Haddos. It is small enough so that I won't be as prone to overload myself with the nicotine when I smoke the Haddos. It is as close as I come to dedicating a pipe to a blend, but it is more about self protection than any sort of aesthetics.
The Tmas Mitchell / Mitchell Thomas I picked up for about $30 or so at a Ft. Worth, Texas Head Shop. I purchased it from some bona-fide stoners who were bon-fidely stoned. They wanted me to present a "Texas ID" to make the purchase for some reason, so I presented my "State of Texas Department of Corrections Official" ID card to them. Hopefully my little attempts at humor were not a buzz killer. It smokes like a champ, and was quite the conversation piece with a couple Fort Worth chicas. One quite the looker, one quite the un-looker.
The Sir Hubert is a true blue beater pipe. It is the 1977 Buick of the bunch. It refuses to shine, and has a nice mix of bondo and rust. However, it smokes well enough and it fits certain moods I come in and out of.
The Uncle Arthur Ward Cleaver is a a pipe that about smokes itself. I mostly just hold it and look handsome. The Boot Knife maybe not such an easy smoker as its big brother, but not a bad one. Smallish bowl, nice for a medium length smoke.
The Kaywoodie is what I smoke when I want to feel sophisticated and pretend my coke zero is a highball.
The Grand Duke and the Special 11 have hellacious draws on them (I smoke them without a filter), and the Special 11 tends to smoke a bit hot. They do well enough, and the Grand Duke was my #1 go to pipe for quite some time, as it was the key stone of my budding collection.
The point of this is not to garner compliments on my style, truth or well meaning lies as they may be. Instead, all but three of these pipes cost me less than $15 each. The Thomas Mitchell / Mitchell Thomas coast me about $30 brand new, and the Uncle Arthur's have a secret price, but it was far from exorbitant. For under the ~$200 range, I have a nice rotation of pipes and a couple of "specialty pipes" to fit some specialty situations.
I don't fault a man for spending the big money on his pleasures. Dunhills, Petersons, and all the famous maker stuff need to be bought. But they don't have to be. Buying a small handful of estates, and getting a pound of divided common blends ought take the common man pretty well into this business.
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