Scott Klein Design Pipe

[Merton]

A recent thread regarding colored stems lead me to purchase a sandblasted lovat with a shimmering navy stem from this line. I love colored stems and have a number, most happily several of Radice's E line, but I really don't need another pipe at this point. However, at $75 or so I took a chance and ordered the pipe. What a pleasant surprise and I wanted to pass on to others what a bargain these pipes appear to be. No, they are not a Radice nor a Castello but a pipe which you will likely enjoy and might well be a very good travel, work, car or beach pipe. Very shallow sandblast with (understandably) no great ring grain, a preformed acrylic stem which is actually quite flat and comfortable and perfect open drilling. Comes with a rather powdery bowl coating which I immediately rinsed out and used a paper towel to remove a bit more. Light in weight and about 5 inches long, the pipe is a good clencher and, most importantly is perfectly drilled. Fit and finish is excellent, especially for such a relatively inexpensive pipe. I wonder if others have found the same.

 

[kcghost]

Good thing the title had Scott Klein in it or I would have never known who you were talking about. Scott makes expensive pipes and he has line at a much lower price point. He is quality carver and knows how to make a pipe.

 

[spicy_boiii]

Although I've modified the stem to open the Airway (like all my pipes), I'm very happy with my Scott's Handmade.

 

[Merton]

Good thing the title had Scott Klein in it or I would have never known who you were talking about. Scott makes expensive pipes and he has line at a much lower price point. He is quality carver and knows how to make a pipe.

Right, the pipe I bought is a second (probably third as these are about 25-30 dollars less than than his second "handmade" line and about 30 dollars more than his "burner" line) line and not his artisan pipes which are sold under his full name only. I have plenty of more expensive pipes but thought that this might be the kind of pipe that could be traveled with and if lost or broken would not ruin the trip. Nice pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

No, they are not a Radice nor a Castello but a pipe which you will likely enjoy and might well be a very good travel, work, car or beach pipe.

You're right, I don't enjoy Radices and Castellos but would take any pipe to those places. Where are the Kleins available from?

 

[Merton]

You're right, I don't enjoy Radices and Castellos but would take any pipe to those places. Where are the Kleins available from?

SP

 

[Chasing Embers]

SP

Wow, those are some great prices and good sized pipes!?

 

[kcghost]

When Scott really got established his pipes would bring from $400-$800, but he couldn't quite make pipes that would sell in sufficient numbers at those prices so he is trying the other end of the spectrum.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

From what I can tell Scott's Pipes is making some of the best pipes on the market.

I love these upstart American manufacturers, the only problem is it seems the Italian's have an advantage in Briar selection, you can find a huge range of sizes and shapes from Italy and at mostly reasonable prices, I just can't find an Italian maker who does stems the way I like, other than Castello, but those cost more than Dunhill at this point and I'd rather totally re-drill the airway myself than pay 2-3x more just for a few minutes of extra work.
If Savinelli would just swap their 3mm drillbits for 3.5mm I would hardly have any reason to look elsewhere.

There is always Missouri Meerschaum for an out of the box flawless draw in the basic plastic stem, but as I just experienced carrying a cob out to the barn in the rain and worrying about the shank getting loose, Cobs do have their limitations

 

[Merton]

From what I can tell Scott's Pipes is making some of the best pipes on the market.

I love these upstart American manufacturers, the only problem is it seems the Italian's have an advantage in Briar selection, you can find a huge range of sizes and shapes from Italy and at mostly reasonable prices, I just can't find an Italian maker who does stems the way I like, other than Castello, but those cost more than Dunhill at this point and I'd rather totally re-drill the airway myself than pay 2-3x more just for a few minutes of extra work.
If Savinelli would just swap their 3mm drillbits for 3.5mm I would hardly have any reason to look elsewhere.

There is always Missouri Meerschaum for an out of the box flawless draw in the basic plastic stem, but as I just experienced carrying a cob out to the barn in the rain and worrying about the shank getting loose, Cobs do have their limitations

I have been a long time Castello smoker, lots of styles over the years but mostly 55s and 10s. I agree that the Castello airway is great and, frankly, always loved the acrylic stem for its durability. However, i now find most of their stems to be too thick and clunky. The Radice stems, on the other hand, usually feature a decidedly more tapered stem in both the acrylic and the ebonite. Moreover, i love their use of colored stems. I now find that I reach for the Radice pipes more often. I wish Castello would taper their stems a bit more often and make more pipes with ebonite.

 

[mso489]

I have one of Scott Klein's pipes, a prince, pretty small. It's just right for a short smoke or other small-pipe uses, sampling and such. It's nicely sandblasted and is extra light weight.

 

[americaman]

I recently got an estate Scott Klein Tomato handmade with bison horn (around $800 to $1,000 new). Mike McNeil and George Dibos have spoken highly of his pipes, so I have been wanting to get one. And all I can say is, “Wow.” It is perhaps my best looking and best smoking pipe. I don’t know how to describe the draw, but it is open yet not too wide open. Just right. The attention to detail and craftsmanship is perhaps the best I’ve seen. This might be one of those “magic” pipes.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I have been a long time Castello smoker, lots of styles over the years but mostly 55s and 10s. I agree that the Castello airway is great and, frankly, always loved the acrylic stem for its durability. However, i now find most of their stems to be too thick and clunky. The Radice stems, on the other hand, usually feature a decidedly more tapered stem in both the acrylic and the ebonite. Moreover, i love their use of colored stems. I now find that I reach for the Radice pipes more often. I wish Castello would taper their stems a bit more often and make more pipes with ebonite.

Indeed that has crossed my mind, the design of a Castello stem might have more in common with Missouri Meerschaum than most are willing to admit.
And yes Radice makes some of the nicest buttons for the price, one of the main reasons I have two of them (I would just collect Tsuge pipes instead since they have very similar stem and button design, but Radice has the big bowls that I like).

If only Radice would treat their air channel the way Scott's Pipes does.
I have held one Radice with an extra deep slot before exchanging it, not that the deep slot in itself fixes everything but even then I can't tell why that pipe had a deep slot and my more expensive sandblasted plateaux model doesn't.
When there's no rhyme or reason for features existing in some pipes and not others all I can do is ignore that the maker does it at all because there's no point in telling people about something that only happens at random.
As far as the average customer is concerned Radice is practically no better than Savinelli.

Hopefully Scott's Pipes can maintain consistency in their stem design above a certain price point, if they can do that it would be a huge improvement over 99% of pipes ever produced.