This is something I’ve been curious about looking at the price range of pipes. Seems like the spread can go from $25 to $2500, and everywhere in between. Haven’t found what a guy can reasonably spend for a pipe to be considered “ok” or pretty good.
I recall my father smoked the Dr. Grabow pipes and Borgum Riff forever and never seemed to have an interest in changing up.
I guess if you’ve found something that works, that’s a good thing.
I can see though where buying something and not making a good choice could turn a guy off though from the entire hobby.