New Jason Cochey Briar Bird "Twisted Tomato"

[layinpipe]

Got this baby in the mail on Friday afternoon and boy was i excited to finally see it in person! It is a Briar Bird pipe by Mr. Jason Cochey, which he dubbed "Twisted Tomato". The pipe is simply amazing, from the wonderful 360 blast around the bowl, to the cumberland shank extensions on either side of the 3 knuckled bamboo Jason tastefully applied to the pipe, to the skillfully crafted and oh so comfortable cumberland stem that melts right into the first extension. The pipe is very light at 46g and makes for a comfortable clencher, although a bit long for clenching as i happen to be clumsy and have on occasion hit my pipe on doors going in and out of the house, lol. The pipe dimensions are as follows: 6-3/4" long, 1-9/16" tall, 1-3/4" wide, with a 3/4" chamber diameter.
This is my first foray with bamboo incorporated into the shank of a pipe, and it will most definitely not be my last! It is one of the main contributing factors of why this pipe smokes so damn cool the entire bowl through. It is the coolest smoking pipe i have ever had the pleasure of puffing and the draw is effortless. I met up with sailorjeremy again on Saturday at our b&m and showed it to him. He dug it as well and could appreciate the skill that went into constructing it, especially for the steal of a price i paid for it. I've been on a roll lately with ebay and it has paid off. He showed me a 1953 patent dunhill shell briar cherrywood that he had recently restored and, boy did he do a hell of a job! I hope he posts the finished product on here, bc it is one hell of a burner and piece of piping history.
The pipe also has a metal delrin tenon (aluminum i think?) which i thought was pretty cool, to add to the durability of the pipe. It's pretty ironic, because i just last night broke the tenon off of my 70s briarworks nachwalter pipe, so that is going to Mike at Walker Pipe Repair. Maybe i should get him to put a metal delrin tenon on it, too? lol.
Anyways, i am REALLY stoked on this burner, both cosmetically as well as its smoking characteristics. It is my second BB pipe and both are fantastic. I look forward to adding more BB's to my stable in the near future. Jason really is an up and coming artisan pipe maker to watch for, if you are not already tuned in to his great pipes. I know he posted here for a while, so some of you are well aware of him and his work.
Here are some pics i took before i deflowered her with my trusty go-to Irish Flake:

 

[yazamitaz]

That's a looker layinpipe. I am starting to warm up to the idea of bamboo in the stable. Did you get that from Jason directly, an online retailer, or your B&M?
Thanks,
Dan

 

[layinpipe]

Tim, I'm not sure, i've been meaning to hit Jason up on FB and ask him. I would think aluminum bc of its light weight and lack of heat absorption, but it is not a very strong and shape retaining metal. Steel would be a good call because of its durability and resistance to rust, but would be questionable because of its weight.
Dan, haha my b&m carries ZERO artisan pipe makers. Their pipe selection is terrible besides a couple nice looking Nordings. They are definitely majority cigar oriented. I got it off ebay and again, got extremely lucky with the price and i do not know how, as the seller is widely known and watched. I've been watching his pipes and very occasionally throwing bids in for the past year and have never won any of them, based on the volume of bidders and potential bidders. Not a whole lot of pipes slip through the cracks. The seller i am almost certain got the pipe directly from Jason or ordered it from his website to resell. I say this because he included Jason's personal business card with a description of the pipe as well as the price, handwritten on the back by what appears to be Jason himself, reminiscent of how it would be at a pipe show. It was unsmoked and came with the original pouch as well. I will probably ask Jason just out of curiosity. Both of my BB pipes i have scored for WAY under retail on ebay.

 

[yazamitaz]

Good for you bro. I haven't been on Ebay for a while. I think I am going to try the artisan commission route here over the next few years. I only have 25 briars but that is enough for the amount I smoke. Although if I can find deals like you did..... :clap:

 

[layinpipe]

Thanks gentlemen and i most certainly will!
Dan, that's mostly what i look for these days is artisan (preferably american) made pipes. I really like supporting up and coming pipe makers that are not well known...yet. As for ebay, i can't say it enough, just be patient and do not chase after pipes. Watch a plethora of auctions, preferably by less popular sellers, and do plenty of searches. I find that searching recently completed/sold auctions/listings and getting a feel for where the market is and what people are paying for certain pipes also helps a lot to prevent overpaying. I also do constant research on pipes/pipe makers i bid on to make sure i'm not getting ripped off and that the artisan puts out quality work. In my opinion, i don't think i've been burned yet and have scored some amazing deals by following these guidelines.
25 briars is plenty, i have some herd thinning to do in the near future and i think 25-30 quality great smoking pipes is where i would like to be. But i guess you have to do a lot of acquiring with trial and error to find out what you prefer in terms of pipe size, shape, length, chamber diameter, chamber depth, finish, and the list goes on.............

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Great stuff. It looks almost Japanese in design. Beautiful.

 

[tbradsim1]

Great lines on that pipe, like Peck says looks Japanese in design, flows very good.

 

[weezell]

I am fortunate enough to own 5 of Jason's pipes. I believe the 4th one from the left is one of the first ones he carved. BriarBird(Jason) is a wonderful guy and I hope he continues to do well!

... 1.Bing 2.Peeled orange 3.Rusticated Billiard 4.Nosewarmer 5.Smooth Billiard

 

[antbauers]

Nice win! I watching that one too, I'm glad you won it. It's a great looking pipe!

 

[layinpipe]

Thanks gentlemen! Weezell, nice bro that is quite the fine collection of BB's, i must say. I have heard he is an awesome dude and do not doubt it for a second. I am always on the lookout for his pipes, especially on ebay, and i thank god that no one really knows who he is or how talented he is YET and his pipes still pretty much fly under the radar. That is bound to change in the very near future though if he keeps at the pace he is on. I'll stock up while i can, lol.
I was thinking japanese design/flow as well, brad and peck. I know if you two distinguished gentlemen, with your pipe porn libraries numbering probably over 500 combined, approve of the pipe then Corey done done good!
I ran another bowl of SG US Dark Flake through it last night and it is hands down the pipe in my collection that smokes the coolest by far. I see more bamboo laden pipes in the future finding their way into my stable.

 

[quincy]

I very nearly bid on this pipe too! Glad someone from the forums got it. I'll tell you, if you haven't tried one of Jay's pipes before, you need to drop what you're doing, get on his website or Facebook and order one right now. In fact, I should one showing up tomorrow morning. He recently started doing something different with his engineering and they smoke absolutely amazingly. Just incredible. And he's an incredible guy too!

 

[delkhouri]

Congrats. Even though you outbid me. I had the chance to see this pipe at the columbus show. You got a heck of a pipe from a heck of a guy.

 

[layinpipe]

delkhouri, yeah i think i got outbid on about 10 or 12 auctions that day but finally won this one. I certainly did not expect to win it, especially at that price. But with the way i approach bidding on ebay, i try and put my max bid and walk away. You win some, you lose most, lol.
Quincy, thanks for refraining on it and letting the stars align for me! I saw that lovat you got off of Jay's website and i was damn close to pulling the trigger on that bad boy. Again, glad someone here got a hold of it! I check his website just about every day to see the new stuff he is putting out and man has he made leaps and bounds in his work.
Here's my other BB, the one Jay dubbed "Mako" for obvious reasons. I freakin' love this pipe and it is a great little light clincher and a flake smoking monster.

 

[quincy]

Love that stem!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I love bamboo pipes. It always makes me feel like I'm on Gilligan's Island. :: I want a bamboo pipe rack with little sections of coconut shells as the rest that the bowl sets on.