I'm listening to the Sykes & Rick Newcombe IPSD episode 75 and the part came up about price.
When I first got into the hobby I thought every pipe should be $20. Why would anyone spend $100 on a pipe? Pipes are pipes right? Then I got into the hobby seriously and saw a Peterson Aran for $80 and didn't think twice about buying it. Then I upped my price range to $100 since I hadn't thought twice about spending $80.
I started getting into forums and YouTube after that and had grown an affection for Peterson. I saw their 2011 Pipe of the Year and loved the paneled brandy. Price had jumped up to $220, but I still bought the pipe. It's been a great smoker for many years.
I had come to the point of okay now I'm not spending more than $220 on a pipe. I'm fine with pipes under that price point.
Fast forward to this year. I'm browsing SmokingPipes (shameless plug) estates section just because one day and there was a smooth straight billiard with a bamboo shank from Pete Prevost for $250. My info is stored on that site so as soon as I saw it I put it in the cart and had it on its way to me. A few weeks later I saw a Peterson Silver Spigot sandblasted shape 87 (straight apple) with antler stem. I hadn't seen an antler stem at that point and loved the pipe so much again I put it straight in the cart and had it heading my way. I've also always liked Dr Bob's pipes. I have two of them. Now this year I'm planning on picking up a hawbill from him at the Westcoast Show. Those typically run around $350 on his site. My ceiling now is roughly $500 if the pipe (shape & stem) and maker are right and it's one of those can't pass on pipes I'll pay that for it.
From my personal experience I don't think anyone should ever say I won't spend more than ____ on a pipe. I think people should look at it as right now my budget is _____. Will I ever have the budget for a Bo Nordh or Lars Ivarsson, probably not. If some how I did have the finances to spend $5,000 on a pipe would I buy a Nordh or Ivarsson, if it caught my eye and I fell in love with it absolutely.
Are these higher priced pipes better, that's subjective. In my experience there really is a difference in drilling and engineering from a $50 pipe to a $250 pipe. Personally I think once you crack the $250 range the extra price is because of the maker or the limited number of them made.
When I first got into the hobby I thought every pipe should be $20. Why would anyone spend $100 on a pipe? Pipes are pipes right? Then I got into the hobby seriously and saw a Peterson Aran for $80 and didn't think twice about buying it. Then I upped my price range to $100 since I hadn't thought twice about spending $80.
I started getting into forums and YouTube after that and had grown an affection for Peterson. I saw their 2011 Pipe of the Year and loved the paneled brandy. Price had jumped up to $220, but I still bought the pipe. It's been a great smoker for many years.
I had come to the point of okay now I'm not spending more than $220 on a pipe. I'm fine with pipes under that price point.
Fast forward to this year. I'm browsing SmokingPipes (shameless plug) estates section just because one day and there was a smooth straight billiard with a bamboo shank from Pete Prevost for $250. My info is stored on that site so as soon as I saw it I put it in the cart and had it on its way to me. A few weeks later I saw a Peterson Silver Spigot sandblasted shape 87 (straight apple) with antler stem. I hadn't seen an antler stem at that point and loved the pipe so much again I put it straight in the cart and had it heading my way. I've also always liked Dr Bob's pipes. I have two of them. Now this year I'm planning on picking up a hawbill from him at the Westcoast Show. Those typically run around $350 on his site. My ceiling now is roughly $500 if the pipe (shape & stem) and maker are right and it's one of those can't pass on pipes I'll pay that for it.
From my personal experience I don't think anyone should ever say I won't spend more than ____ on a pipe. I think people should look at it as right now my budget is _____. Will I ever have the budget for a Bo Nordh or Lars Ivarsson, probably not. If some how I did have the finances to spend $5,000 on a pipe would I buy a Nordh or Ivarsson, if it caught my eye and I fell in love with it absolutely.
Are these higher priced pipes better, that's subjective. In my experience there really is a difference in drilling and engineering from a $50 pipe to a $250 pipe. Personally I think once you crack the $250 range the extra price is because of the maker or the limited number of them made.