G'day and welcome from Oz.
My Dr Grabow pipes and MM cobs smoke just as well as my more expensive brand name pipes.
Though I must say; my Peterson Sherlock Holmes briar took an absolute beating, smoked day in day out for several years [Before I found pipe forums I seriously had little clue - briars need to be rested you say? Huh.]
It's a rather chunky pipe which is why I suspect that it took such abuse.
Although I rather fancy one particular Dunhill [A 1/4 bent root briar], no way would I spend around $400 on a pipe that does the same job as an MM cob just because it's pretty.
My Savinelli Churchwarden smokes okay but a 70s NOS UTOR Churchwarden that I won on fleabay for $15usd is a better smoker.
People get caught up in brand names I guess but the thing is that price does not guarantee a better smoking experience in itself.
My attitude is that there's nothing wrong with paying big $$$ for a pipe if one can afford it but on my meagre budget, I'm quite content sticking to my rotation of MM cobs and fleabay bargains.
