Rad Davis briar

[mngslvs]

A question about Rad Davis briar.

First, I'll say that this is my first ever participation on a forum, despite having smoked a pipe for several decades. Retired, with some extra $, I've been upgrading my pipes.......now have Castellos, Barling - pre, Ser Jacopo, don Carlos, Andrew Marks, etc etc. Have noticed that Rad Davis pipes have a sterling reputation. One can assume good engineering, but does anyone know anything about the briar he uses ??? I've found that buying a pipe is essentially a crapshoot, though reputation is one way to increase the odds. But to me, the wood is the thing.

Thank you one and all.

 

[Civil War]

Don't know much about Rad Davis Pipes, but Welcome to the Forums!

 

[cortezattic]

Harris ( cigrmaster) has probably over a dozen of Rad's pipes. If anybody knows, it's him.

 

[cortezattic]

The Smoker's Haven website says,

"Rad's pipes are crafted from Select pieces of fine Grecian Plateau Briar or Super Select Aged Italian Briar. Each pipe is shaped by hand to accentuate the quality of the grains. You will never find a fill in a Rad Davis pipe. Rad takes care to select only the best blocks of briar.."

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I have 7 or 8 I've bought as estates. Cannot tell you specifics on the briar origin but can testify that every one of them smokes superbly.

 

[sasquatch]

I don't think Rad's made a pipe for a few years now, so you'll have to find one on the estate market.
In terms of briar....I spent about 5 years tinkering with this stuff, trying to draw conclusions based on where the briar was picked, where milled, how old, the physical properties of the piece (grain density, ring density, actual physical density). I've gotten feedback from hundreds of customers, I have guys that have 6 pipes from me, 5 from one briar mill and 1 from another, I have guys that have pipes from all sorts of different mills, I have guys who basically want a certain look, guys who want a certain density... whatever.
I can draw, as far as I can tell, absolutely no conclusions about how a pipe will smoke based on the briar. I think it's a factor, and I think really good pipes need really good briar, but it's also not hard to get really good briar. Rad's pipes smoke good because he knew how to build 'em. It's that simple. It really is. That's not trivial, but looking for miracle briar as the root (excuse the pun) cause is going to lead nowhere.
I can build a crap pipe out of great briar if you want. I can build a great pipe out of great briar if you want. And pretty often I can build a great pipe out of dead ordinary briar. In cutting 500 pieces of wood I think I've thrown out 2 or 3 that smelled bad or just... I didn't like 'em for some reason so I just didn't use them. But unless your pipe maker is buying bottom-of-the-barrel stuff out of some 3rd world vendor, briar's briar.
Dunhill mentions buying Calabrian briar because it was slower growing in that region. People have spoken fondly of the old Petersons which were in theory Spanish briar, and how it broke in and smoked incredible. I've had great blocks from Greece. I can also buy crummy blocks from Greece. I can buy great blocks from Spain, and crummy ones... "Great" is really relative though - a guy like JT Cooke who is looking to sandblast super deep is looking for maybe exactly the opposite of what I'd call a great block - my choice might be grain that is too tight to blast nicely. These are technical decisions for a pipe maker. Trying to use the appropriate block in each case. The idea that there's one "right" source is... just wrong.

 

[mngslvs]

Thanks very much to all of you. Helpful stuff.

Sasquatch -- based on my experience, I'm inclined to agree with you. ( I recently bought several pipes.....including one that cost $35 that smoked far far better than one that cost $400.)

But the subject seems controversial. I'm neutral really, just trying to sort it all out.
I seems to me that one has to be willing to piss away hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the search for really good smokers. Buying pipes is not like buying anything else, it seems.

 

[cigrmaster]

I currently own 22 pipes from Rad Davis and love the way they all smoke. I don't know much about briar, certainly nothing to the degree of Sasquatch above but I do know when a pipe smokes great. I just recently scored my 22nd Rad as they are harder and harder to find since he retired.

 

[sasquatch]

Pipes are a little funny, for sure, in that paying 400 bucks isn't in itself a guarantee of getting a really good smoker. I've seen and repaired some really expensive pipes that I thought were basically... defective.. I guess, in terms of construction.
I've bought 5 pipes this year, I guess, and all of them are simple for construction - straight, filterless. And they all smoke a little different to me, based on bowl size, briar maybe?, airway diameter, stem construction. If I had to pick one single feature as dominant, I'd say it's probably stem construction. How much air they move, how smoothly.
There are 35 dollar pipes which smoke admirably, to be sure, and it's frustrating to buy a pipe that is ten times as expensive only to learn that it's a bit of a dog as a smoker. Going to pipe shows and talking to pipe makers and other smokers is really helpful in developing an understanding of what is likely going to smoke well or not.
In the meantime, go to tabacheria corti, order a Castello, and stop worrying! 8)

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I seems to me that one has to be willing to piss away hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the search for really good smokers. Buying pipes is not like buying anything else, it seems.

I don't think anybody makes 100% great smoking pipes. Too many variables they cannot control. However, your chances of a superior smoking pipe are greater with some brands and carvers. I've had great success with Castello. I have multiple Rad Davis, Ryan Alden, Larryson and Martin Cermak pipes. Not a dog among them, in fact, they all smoke fantasic. I've had as many as 10 Moretti pipes, which can be readily purchased for around $100, and they are very light, well drilled and smoke fantastic. While the drills aren't top notch, every Northern Briars pipe I've had has smoked superbly.
There are a lot of very good smoking pipes out there. You don't have to spend $300 plus to own one.

 

[litup]

cigrmaster, that last Rad Davis you picked up? It would happen to have been this one on Smokingpipes was it? If so, I am both jealous of you and ticked at myself. Either way, I'm ticked at myself. I should not have waited so long to pull the trigger.

 

[cigrmaster]

litup, no my last Rad came from ebay.

 

[raevans]

does anyone know anything about the briar he uses

You may want to check with Mark Tinsky of American Pipe Company. I believe that they obtained their briar from the same place. Mark was Rad's mentor. I believe that even though Rad had to retire from pipe making, he still does quite a bit of the sandblasting for Mark.

 

[sasquatch]

Sure, and that's from the Amadeus mill in Greece.
It's good briar.

 

[mngslvs]

Hoosier....thanks for the names. I had not heard of all of those. You people (on this forum) apparently have massive collections. Good for you.

Sasquatch, thanks for the recommendation to visit Tabaccheria Corti. I'm gonna pop over right now. Shouldn't take long.
"Pipes are a little funny, for sure "

That's an understatement for sure.

 

[ebklodt]

When I visited his shop he was using Mimmo Briar.
Doesn’t mean he always used it, but that’s what he was using at that time.
I’ve used quality Briar from a few cutters and have had good results. As long as it’s quality Briar your off to a good start.

 

[pitchfork]

As Sasquatch has pointed out, there's no good, practical way to determine the best source or type of briar. There are just too many variables.
I used to think that the source of briar didn't matter at all, so long as it was good briar, properly processed (and made into a good pipe). Just the same, I own several Andrew Marks pipes and they all have a sweet, almost buttery taste -- I've never tasted any other briar quite like it. It's most notable when the pipes are new, but after a good cleaning that mellow, buttery taste comes right back. The caveat here is that he bought all of his briar in one go, from the same source, sometime in the late 60s or early 70s. Wherever it was grown or however it was processed, it's truly special briar.
When I visited him at his shop about 3 years ago, he was down to his last bag of that briar. After that bag is gone, he said, he's probably done for good.

 

[hauntedmyst]

I can draw, as far as I can tell, absolutely no conclusions about how a pipe will smoke based on the briar. I think it's a factor, and I think really good pipes need really good briar, but it's also not hard to get really good briar. Rad's pipes smoke good because he knew how to build 'em. It's that simple. It really is. That's not trivial, but looking for miracle briar as the root (excuse the pun) cause is going to lead nowhere.

In my 40 years of pipe smoking, I'd say this is spot on. Price of the pipe and where the briar is from has almost nothing to do with it. A good pipe is a good pipe and good piece of wood is a good piece of wood. The other factor is the maker knowing what to do with it. I'd guess I've had 60 to 70 pipes over those years and perhaps 4 or 5 bad ones. When I was new to estates, I bought an estate Dunhill that a good 40 to 50 years old. It was done. I mean done: over smoked, overused and under maintained. It's the only estate I bought that was ever bad. I had an American Smoking pipe that was the worst pipe I ever bought new. I thought it was just taking a long time to break in but it never got to be a good smoker. The wood was simply bad and it tasted like crap. The remaining 3 or 4 were just poorly made pipes.

 

[ssjones]

I didn't have a good experience with a pipe made post-heart attack, perhaps he switched suppliers when he returned to making pipes (for a short time). It just would not break in.

 

[mngslvs]

There is a man, well known in the pipe community in this country, who advises if I want the best smoking pipe, to stear away from new pipes, and to buy only pipes made with old briar. I think by that he means pre 1962 Dunhill, Barling, and Charatans, and the like. So I just got a pre-transition Barling, in good shape, and am totally unimpressed upon first smoke. It may be beyond its good days. I have two Andre Marks pipes, and I will echo pitchfork's comments about the briar -- from the first light I can taste the effect of that briar he used (He's now retired), and it is very agreeable.

On the subject of briar, I am going to start a new thread about whether a pipe, assuming properly cared for, can eventually head south and change taste. That has been my experience 3 times, with good quality pipes even. Others tell me this should never happen, assuming proper care.