Pipe Shapes Outside Your Comfort Zone

[tarheel1]

Right now anything but a bent billiard or bent bulldog I avoid. SOme reason I have my eyes on these two shapes and love them. In the past I enjoyed a zulu and a straight bulldog and straight billiard.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Really have an aversion to traditional shapes, and a pipe has to be very special for me to buy if it is not sandblasted.

 

[newbroom]

It's fun to try a variety. Most of mine are either 1/4 or 1/2 bent.

I just got my first "P" lip stem, and discovered that it is just fine. It is just one more element of variety I've had the pleasure of experiencing within the world of pipes and tobacco.

My only aversion (new pipes) has been somewhat of a money saver, too. I do have a few cheap new pipes, but I haven't smoked a new briar pipe since starting the hobby in earnest back in 2014.

One or two have been close to new, and improved with use. It could be my imagination.

 

[aimlesswanderer]

My only aversion (new pipes) has been somewhat of a money saver, too. I do have a few cheap new pipes, but I haven't smoked a new briar pipe since starting the hobby in earnest back in 2014.

Conversely, I can't entertain the idea of estate pipes. I know they can be cleaned and sanitised, but still the idea doesn't appeal in the slightest. New pipes all the way for me - though having said that, I have ten already and I'm unlikely to need a new pipe for a very very long time.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Conversely, I can't entertain the idea of estate pipes.

Almost thirty years ago, I was the same way. In the past decade though, I have come across a few estates that I couldn't say no to.

 

[aimlesswanderer]

The only estate pipes that have come close to ensnaring me are tyrolleans. These (in keeping with this thread) are pipes that I should hate, but every couple of months I find myself sniffing the bay for them. They don't sit which is a must for me, they've likely been in someone else's face which is something that really doesn't appeal, they're hardly pocketable, and they hold way too much tobacco.... and yet somehow I find them strangely appealing

 

[drydock]

I also highly favor bent pipes. But when I saw this straight bamboo, acorn/pear shaped pipe, I fell in love. Since then, the acorn shape in general (yachtsman/tomahawk/acorn) has grown on me. It's odd how you can dislike a shape for years, and then one pipe can sort of lead to an entirely new appreciation of something you used to avoid.

 

[hawky454]

Man, I remember B. Rowley from the Pipe Makers Forum back in 2010 when he and I were just starting out. Seeing that picture above makes me wish I would have stuck with it. He has come a long way! Good stuff! He is such a nice guy too!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sad that he pulled out of the U. S. market. I really wanted one of his Ramses pipes.

 

[jpmcwjr]

So far, none. I'm guessing the first one will be a black shanked bamboo beauty.
Three pipes I've owned but wish I hadn't: A Le Pipe (synthetic blah in a billiard shape) ; a churchwarden, and a pot.

 

[sablebrush52]

Not for me...
Bawdy Baldi

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Drydock, that bamboo acorn is a perfect example of a pipe I should hate. It's a straight, thin shank, bamboo, but I love it. I am of the opinion that bamboo should never be used on a tobacco pipe, however, every once in a while I see one which is basically a great big middle finger to my opinion. And that is one. :lol:

 

[jefff]

For years I had a strong dislike for any Cutty and now it may be my favorite shape.
Today I just couldn't see myself smoking a Sav 320.

 

[drydock]

Anthony--I feel exactly as you do. There's nothing about that bamboo pipe that I 'should' like considering the shapes I gravitate toward and enjoy. But the second I saw the acorn/pear/bamboo wonder, I knew I had to get it. And I still absolutely love it.

 

[dread]

Cutty's. I never ever understood the attraction to the shape. Then I saw one of those vintage Ropps on SPC that, for whatever reason, I thought was neat looking. I now have three of them and love smoking each of them.

 

[recoilrob]

I never warmed up to the pot shape, they always seemed to smoke poorly.

 

[bassbug]

I freely admit to probably having some sort of mental defect about this but...
If its not a bent billiard or bent apple, its not a pipe. Much like, if you can't spit through it, its not a motorcycle.
Putting on my fire retardant suit and awaiting the replies

 

[toobfreak]

Conversely, I can't entertain the idea of estate pipes.

I always wonder the aversion to estate pipes, I bought one meer estate pipe that it appeared to never have been used at all other than maybe one small bowl just to see how it smoked. I've bought other estate pipes that had been pre-cleaned; they looked like new! Look at your own pipes---- do you keep them clean, in good shape? They are estate pipes to anyone else. Most estate pipes I've bought have needed only minor cleaning; unless you have absolutely battered a pipe for years, smoking it does very little to the wood or stem other than superficial. Someone had their mouth it? What about when you go to a restaurant to eat---- a thousand other people have eaten off that plate and silverware; in a hotel, a thousand other people have slept in that bed. You clean the pipe, but even germs only last so long. Most of what people do to used pipes when they get them is mainly for peace of mind than anything else.

 

[skraps]

The only thing I am drawn to or buy these days are Bings. Classic Billiard in shape, elongated pencil shank, thin comfortable bit, clean sleek lines. What more could you want?
I see other pipes that are gorgeous and I can appreciate the aesthetics, but have zero interest in owning or smoking from them.