Unsmoked briar that old can become desiccated and will often crack when exposed to the heat and moisture of smoking.
Pipes You Don't Smoke?
- Thread starter Sjmiller CPG
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
I've got one like that. Unsmoked with the original box and signed sleeve.
True story. That picture makes me wanna cry
I've got two pipes I don't smoke. One is a meerschaum that was my late Father in law's that he only displayed and had given to my wife to display long before we met. The other is a Hunter's pipe from an ebay auction win, that came with the meerschaum I really wanted. I don't think its briar so it is also just a display piece. I smoke all the others when I can fit them in to the rotation.
I have way more pipes than I can smoke in rotation, so some get put in drawers and used occasionally, and some I just maybe smoked once and set aside. I am not a pipe dealer, so selling one wouldn't get me much of a return on it. Plus, I kind of like the sentimentality of some of them. I have a Ferndown spigot that dropped the stummel off once while smoking it. I love the pipe, but I can't trust it anymore. It inspired me to try to make spigots myself.
I have a beautiful Norther Briars churchwarden, and I will smoke it maybe once a year. It just feels stupid to me. I'm not a hand holder pipesmoker. But, it is huge and holds about a third of a tin when I pack it, so it makes a good movie night pipe. But...
I also have pipes people have given me, and some that just don't please me. I have a whole room dedicated to pipes and tobaccos, so I have room. Maybe one day I might sell some that are easier for me to let go of.
I have a beautiful Norther Briars churchwarden, and I will smoke it maybe once a year. It just feels stupid to me. I'm not a hand holder pipesmoker. But, it is huge and holds about a third of a tin when I pack it, so it makes a good movie night pipe. But...
I also have pipes people have given me, and some that just don't please me. I have a whole room dedicated to pipes and tobaccos, so I have room. Maybe one day I might sell some that are easier for me to let go of.
At -5°F I struggle to keep any of them smoked.
Pipes I don't smoke usually get traded for credit towards tobacco. I have my first two pipes I made that idk what to do with. I refuse to smoke them for some reason. A pipe I plan on practicing making a new stem for. A couple restorations that in all reality probably can't be smoked, due to the amount of glue used
, and finally a pipe with a flexible stem that was given to me, that I'll probably hang on the wall. I need to get rid of the waste!
, and finally a pipe with a flexible stem that was given to me, that I'll probably hang on the wall. I need to get rid of the waste!
I have pipes I rarely smoke; many of those are in the back of shelves, so forgotten. Perfectly good pipes. - I have pipes I haven’t gotten around to smoking yet. None of my pipes were bought for ‘collecting’, all were bought to be smokers.
I probably should stop buying pipes & get rid a few that I have.
Mac
I probably should stop buying pipes & get rid a few that I have.
Mac
I'm not a fan of cobs, so I have a Dagner cob (poker) and a cheap MM cob that I don't smoke. I've smoked both of them a few times. They sit in a drawer.
What happens with me is not that the pipes I rarely smoke are bad. (Bad ones for me are gotten rid of. Maybe they’ll work well for someone else.) - Its that I discover that a favorite blend just sings in a particular pipe, & I end up going back to it often.
Mac
Mac
I spent a lot of time and a bit of $ getting various estate pipes to try - as I was learning both my own, and the unique smoking characteristics of various pipes.
During the process, and over about 3 years, I've got some that are my "shelf" pipes; those which I really like aesthetically, hold a spot in my memories, or are simply a nice smoke that I'll use - sometimes. Probably about 15 in total.
I've also got a couple racks holding about 15 or so that I don't really care if I ever smoke again. They're just average, or more precisely, were just average for my style of pipe utilization. At some point these will likely be sold off, as I see no reason to hoard that many extra pipes, but we'll see.
Interestingly, the division between those two classifications of my personal pipes began to sharply define itself when I began smoking Petersons - especially with a P-lip. Although not all of them are P-lip, I have 15 Petersons I truly enjoy, and 4 more new, unsmoked ones waiting for me to gift to myself. These are my daily tools and are the cause of neglect for all of my other pipes.
As of this week, I could say that I've conquered my PAD, as now, instead of buying pipes, I only purchase: smoking instruments. We'll see how that plays out over time.
I also have a few artisan pipes that are for unique or special occasions, a couple of them still yet to be smoked by myself as that occasion hasn't presented itself to me yet. (I guess I like to plan ahead.)
So I used to make an attempt to utilize all my pipes regularly, but that has changed, and when I get some free time down the road I plan on sending them off into the world to find their way onto the path of pleasing another individual with their service to our pastime.
All in all I guess I was a bit overly enthusiastic, as the amount of time I have to enjoy a pipe is really rather limited, and my "pipe to time ratio" is really out of balance...
During the process, and over about 3 years, I've got some that are my "shelf" pipes; those which I really like aesthetically, hold a spot in my memories, or are simply a nice smoke that I'll use - sometimes. Probably about 15 in total.
I've also got a couple racks holding about 15 or so that I don't really care if I ever smoke again. They're just average, or more precisely, were just average for my style of pipe utilization. At some point these will likely be sold off, as I see no reason to hoard that many extra pipes, but we'll see.
Interestingly, the division between those two classifications of my personal pipes began to sharply define itself when I began smoking Petersons - especially with a P-lip. Although not all of them are P-lip, I have 15 Petersons I truly enjoy, and 4 more new, unsmoked ones waiting for me to gift to myself. These are my daily tools and are the cause of neglect for all of my other pipes.
As of this week, I could say that I've conquered my PAD, as now, instead of buying pipes, I only purchase: smoking instruments. We'll see how that plays out over time.
I also have a few artisan pipes that are for unique or special occasions, a couple of them still yet to be smoked by myself as that occasion hasn't presented itself to me yet. (I guess I like to plan ahead.)
So I used to make an attempt to utilize all my pipes regularly, but that has changed, and when I get some free time down the road I plan on sending them off into the world to find their way onto the path of pleasing another individual with their service to our pastime.
All in all I guess I was a bit overly enthusiastic, as the amount of time I have to enjoy a pipe is really rather limited, and my "pipe to time ratio" is really out of balance...
Waiting till my 50th to smoke 3 Ser Jacopos, a straight Billiard for Va Flakes, a full bent Dublin for VaBur, and a smooth Egg for Orientals. Hoping my palate is functioning close to 100% post covid by then...
I grew my collection to have 1 pipe a day for resting and rotation purposes. Then I got a few that I like smoking on the weekend or in the yard tub. Then I stopped... I now have gone the other direction and got a savage amount tin tobacco in the cellar and stopped buying pipes. I have a few on my wish list, that I may get when budget and mood strikes, I would love a silver spigot pete... but I am trying to control said urges....
To answer more directly the question, yes, I have a couple I don't ever smoke and a few I smoke less often than others but I also go through phases where I smoke a shape more than others then leave it on the shelf while going back to them.
To answer more directly the question, yes, I have a couple I don't ever smoke and a few I smoke less often than others but I also go through phases where I smoke a shape more than others then leave it on the shelf while going back to them.
I have about 30 pipes, and I seem to always reach for the same 10. I think SP will be getting a box from me shortly. They aren't doing me any good just sitting here, and they are all perfectly fine smokers
Ha, it isn't exactly all decorated up or anything. It's also the room where my wife wants to put the vacuum cleaner and stuff when people come over. I don't hang out and smoke in there, because I just smoke everywhere.
My preference in recent months has strongly shifted to deeper chambered pipes and, so, about 1/2 my collection are now infrequently smoked. About 6 months ago finally thought I'd see if SP would take some off my hands-some nicer Petes. Turns out they're pretty picky about conditions of estates and wouldn't take them
Just as well they sent them back as am glad I didn't pass them along. Not good with that sort of thing. Might pull a Chasingembers and toss a couple in the near future.
Just as well they sent them back as am glad I didn't pass them along. Not good with that sort of thing. Might pull a Chasingembers and toss a couple in the near future.
Oh, I'm not the only one. Too much hassle driving 10 miles to the post office to ship a pipe and I can't in good conscience see passing off a pipe to someone else when I think it's junk.
I've bought some estates that just weren't suitable and tossed them, minimal investment, sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don't, one just got tossed this morning, haha, would never pass it on to someone else.
I was in the process of thinning the herd and got sidetracked and now finally have them cleaned and shipping them off tomorrow along with some other things I've been meaning to mail out since before Christmas, and just been to damn busy.
So I've got 18 pipes that are leaving and a couple more I'm going to list on here. They are all great pipes, I just don't pick them up and some are shapes I thought I would like and I just don't and also eliminating what I think is redundancy. The rest, I use, will have time to use and aren't going anywhere. So easy to experiment and click, haha. Kind of settled in to what I know I like or will pursue. In 2023 I plan to add another commission from Doug Finally and one from J. Everett Pipes, I've settled on those guys and lucked into one from a forum member recently, but I'm saving that for a specific occasion, so no pics or mention for awhile on that (but it's incredible). Picked up a couple Peterson SPDs and have high hopes for a nice Peterson in a few months.
All IMO and YMMV.
I was in the process of thinning the herd and got sidetracked and now finally have them cleaned and shipping them off tomorrow along with some other things I've been meaning to mail out since before Christmas, and just been to damn busy.
So I've got 18 pipes that are leaving and a couple more I'm going to list on here. They are all great pipes, I just don't pick them up and some are shapes I thought I would like and I just don't and also eliminating what I think is redundancy. The rest, I use, will have time to use and aren't going anywhere. So easy to experiment and click, haha. Kind of settled in to what I know I like or will pursue. In 2023 I plan to add another commission from Doug Finally and one from J. Everett Pipes, I've settled on those guys and lucked into one from a forum member recently, but I'm saving that for a specific occasion, so no pics or mention for awhile on that (but it's incredible). Picked up a couple Peterson SPDs and have high hopes for a nice Peterson in a few months.
All IMO and YMMV.
You guys who are tossing pipes away should offer them up here for the cost of shipping. I’d love to pick up some of those pipes to do some practice with refurbishing and repair work that I’m too nervous to try on my own pipes.