Still Have Your First Pipe? Why or Why Not?

[mso489]

Do you still have the first pipe you ever owned? What was it? Was it new? Was it a hand-me-down? If you bought it, where? Do you still have it? If you don't, what happened to it? I bought my first pipe some time in the 1970's at the Tinder Box chain in the nearby mall. It was a somewhat distinctive house pipe, a Tinder Box St. Ives, a bent pot with a vertical saddle stem, in a light bright brown stain. And yes, I still have it. Out of curiosity, I wrote Tinder Box customer service about eight years ago and asked if they could identify the source, and they said they thought it was probably a Chacom. It has always been a good smoker, and still looks good. A little char on the rim and a little chatter on the bit, but not bad at all. Still appetizing after all the years.

 

[npod]

Yes sir. My first pipe is still happily in the rotation frequently.

 

[ashdigger]

My first pipe was a cob that was purchased on September 13, 2011. It was destroyed within 2 weeks because I freight trained the damn thing and burned up the hardwood shank.
But I persevered. I still own pipes numbers 2 and 3. Both Dr. Grabows. The Omega still gets smoked occasionally, but the prince suffered a catastrophic burn out.....I've since learned how to smoke.

 

[milehighpiper]

I bought my first pipe a few months ago from my local shop and yes I still have it. It was a new “Paykoc Briar” 3/4 bend and smokes well enough for a beginner pipe. Sounds like a bong whenever I smoke anything out of it and I have to run a pipe cleaner after every few puffs. I use it mostly to try new blends now. I completed a 6 day Peterson pipe rotation/collection and have not smoked my first pipe as much. I plan on making it my on the road pipe to smoke during work breaks or when I find myself hiking or fishing.

 

[mso489]

...another nice feature of my St. Ives first pipe was that it is a sitter, which for a beginner is great, before you have figured out all the various places to stow your pipe between puffs or relights. I like that my first was kind of distinctive in looks, very durable, and quite affordable without looking too basic.

 

[seanv]

First pipe was a MM cob. I still smoke it. Second pipe was a Silvano Decimo estate for $50. I still smoke it frequently, it is a dedicated burley blend pipe.

 

[scloyd]

I purchased my very first pipe in the early 80's and smoked it on occasion. Quit smoking a pipe when we started a family. No, I do not still have it. Fast forward 35 years, March 2018, my second "first" pipe was Tinder Box basket pipe. I still have it and rarely smoke it.

 

[mikefu]

I don’t have my first pipe. It was a Yello-Bole Brylon bent billiard, and it smoked terribly. I purchased it when I was in high school, and didn’t know anything about pipes, aside from thinking that they smelled good. I fried (or steamed) my mouth many times before throwing it away. I purchased a Czech made Briar basket pipe a couple years later, a nice big 1/4 bent brandy, and I do still have it, and it smokes well and is in my rotation.

 

[pepesdad1]

First pipe was a Comoy Golden Grain Canadian in 1961...still have it in daily rotation. Still smokes wonderfully.

 

[philobeddoe]

My first pipe was a Dr. Grabow bent billiard and I have no idea what happened to it. I bought an estate Big Ben bent apple from my local B&M after smoking the Grabow for about a year or so and never looked back, the idea of a “rotation” didn’t cross my mind until I had been smoking a pipe for about ten years. I figured that I had a good pipe, who needs more than one? I smoked Tinder Box Anniversary exclusively in my one pipe, then for some reason after about ten years, I decided to try other blends and I then decided that I needed more pipes because everything I was trying was tasting like cherry.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I still have the bowl. The stem cracked a while back. I may bring it to the West Coast Show and see if a carver can make a new stem for it. It's a no name Italian made Dublin shaped bowl and was a churchwarden.

 

[virginialover]

Yes I still have it. A merger GBD London Billiard 135, a gift from my mom for my 18th birthday. It ran the gamut of Aromatics, Virginia flakes and Latakia mixtures. Professionally cleaned and waxed, it's now retired and displayed on the mantelpiece.

 

[warren]

I don't. No idea why. Or, after all these years I forgot.

 

[skydog]

My first few pipes were corn cobs I bought to enjoy the OTC blends I was buying in college. Those are all long gone but I do have my first briar pipes. I inherited my grandpa's small collection and still cherish them.

 

[tavol]

I bought a pair of 5th Ave cobs as my first pipe(s) and I smoked the heck out of them. I still have them somewhere, I know they're in my fishing tackle room but I'm just not sure where, one is heavily ghosted in gawith sauce and the other was reserved for Virginia blends.
My first briar pipe was a Peterson Kapruff 80s that I bought unsmoked off ebay for $25. I still smoke it to this day and it also remains the only bent pipe I own.

 

[jensen]

My first good pipe a new Orlik given to me by my father in 1964. I still have it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

A smooth Grabow Omega purchased new at Rite Aid back in '91. Still around and still smoked.

 

[mortonbriar]

A Ukrainian pear wood pipe ordered online, I think 2009. It had a little extra section of shank that broke, and once I got my first briar it was retired. It smoked ok but the pear wood was not neutral in flavour, thinking back I imagine it only bugged me after I got briar. I still have it in a drawer somewhere, it will probably always kick around in a drawer because I find it hard to throw it out, being the first.
And I just remembered my actual first I carved out of a single piece of Churchill soapstone on a Sunday afternoon, using a very primitive set up and a wobbly bench! That one actually smoked quite well but would make a horrible clencher. I will keep that one too, although never smoke it again probably.
Isaac.

 

[ray47]

I still have my first pipe, a Dr. Grabow Viking, but the bowl no longer fits the stem. I guess the threads on the bowl are worn down. I keep it for memory sake.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My first was a Savinelli Piuma, a small chambered rusticated dublin. I still use it as a morning aromatic pipe.

It is the one in the front.