Tell Me About Your Collectors Pipes

[zonomo]

The Dracula thread got me to thinking. I know many people here will buy a pipe, keep it unsmoked and just collect it. I suppose the enjoyment comes from having it and showing it. But for me personally the joy come from actually smoking it. I don't have any collectors - they're all smokers.
As I age, the one thought that keeps reverberating in my mind is..... You can't take it with you. Thoughts?

 

[cigrmaster]

I have never nor will I ever own a pipe that I do not smoke. My pipes are for smoking not looking at. I can understand people who do this with certain pipes, it is just not for me. I know there are many collectors who have pipes to smoke and pipes that will never be smoked. If you are collecting with the thought of re selling down the road then of course an un smoked pipe is much more valuable.

 

[docwatson]

I have an overabundance of pipes to smoke, and still buy more nonetheless. Many of the new/unsmoked pipes I've bought in the last 5 years are still unsmoked, and I'll get around to breaking them in hopefully some day. With so many estate pipes in my racks I just reach for those instead of the unsmoked ones. I'm not fond of breaking in new pipes, maybe that's the basic reason.

 

[numbersix]

I have never nor will I ever own a pipe that I do not smoke.

+1
Collecting just for collecting's sake is a behavior/mindset I don't quite get, but I suppose if one is enamored with what a pipe simply represents, perhaps just collecting them alone is enjoyment enough.
To do it, as Harris suggested, just to increase its value seems a bit risky. If a pipe smoker deprives oneself of smoking a truly fine pipe simply because they may sell it some day seems a shame.
Plus I have a feeling that the value of pipes will (in the not-too-distant future) begin to drop. As tobacco becomes more and more expensive, and possibly illegal, there will be fewer people interested in pipes.
I'm reminded of this story:
Family goes bankrupt after blowing their $100,000 savings on Beanie Babies they thought would become valuable

 

[pruss]

I think everyone knows I am, at best, a sporadic smoker. I love smoking a pipe, I love holding a pipe, I love the art and design and engineering and craft that goes into making a pipe. I love the different aromatics that evolve from the first open of a tin to the last puff in a bowl. I just don't smoke often. I'm up to four or five bowls a month now.
I can't stop buying pipes.
What this means, is that I have a English/Latakia/Oriental rotation and a Virgina/VaPer/VaBur rotation; and each pipe has likely been smoked no more than 2 or 3 times. I've commissioned and received my first indie/artisan pipe and smoked it.
I understand having pipes that don't get smoked. But I fully intend to smoke each pipe I buy. If, like Sam, I find a pipe on my rack that I just DON'T go to... It gets moved to the sale rack.
One of the awesome things about this wonderfully wacky community is that everyone approaches their hobby from an incredibly personalized way. I love that.
-- Pat

 

[smokeybear]

I am along the same lines as Pat actually i buy pipes because i love pipes. I dont smoke as often as i would like to yet i keep buying different blends to age not even to try i have enough open jars to last me years at this rate. I guess ill call it P.S.P Pipes Saving Plan. For when i have the time i want to spend it neck deep in Baccy and Briar. lool

 

[rcstan]

All the pipes I have get smoked, including the recently-bought Peterson Straight Grain ( granted, with more care ) , unless I am getting them to clean up and resell .... no time for that lately, plus I restore pipes for a living now . A pipe that just sits around to be looked at is a pipe without a purpose ....

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I feel like this thread was meant to shame me for planning on not smoking the Dracula pipe, lol. Or am I just being sensitive?

 

[petes03]

I couldn't imagine buying a pipe, especially an expensive one, and not smoke it! I wouldn't be able to keep myself from it! Even if it were an unsmoked $15000 Bo Nordh, I'd have to smoke it at least once!

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I am at the perfect amount of pipes for a good rotation. I only smoke one pipe for a day and have five to work with -a sixth is out for stem repair- so I could have a pipe and not absolutely have to smoke it. Though I could use another pipe dedicated to English blends ... like my other Peterson. You guys are doing a hell of a job trying to convince me to give in.

 

[wyfbane]

I am not a voracious smoker. I am a voracious pipe buyer. I have many pipes that i have not smoked. I will get to them eventually. It is a marathon not a sprint, this pipe thing. lol

 

[sablebrush52]

I confess! I confess! I have several pipes that I haven't smoked because I really like their design. A couple of them are by Paul Tatum. He does very subtle treatments to the surface of the briar that will be just poof gone once lit. But by and large, I buy 'em to smoke 'em.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

Picked up an old "unsmoked" (though it just looks well cared for and reamed) Savinelli Oscar on the Bay last night. My PAD for the week scored a 10 between the Sav and the Pete Dracula that will be here tomorrow. My nose will be the judge as to whether the Sav was unsmoked because the Dracula is surely brand new.

 

[sparrowhawk]

Pipes hold a unique position, arguably, in the art and crafts world. They are uniquely personal in preference and in use, and they also stand as superb pieces of art (at least some of them do). I mean, if we just wanted a delivery system for tobacco, a corncob would do nicely (no insult intended to cob users). And they are meant to be used. So each of my pipes from my modest collection (4, if you don't count the pocket pipes) are wonderful creations of art that I enjoy smoking from all, particularly when I'm meditating or involved in my work. An unused pipe, it seems to me, is an insult and a waste to the maker.

May I use another example without getting into Political Correctness trouble? Many or all of you are familiar with the use of Roman Catholics beads called rosaries. Great skill is often employed to make these religious artifacts. But a rosary that isn't actually used, despite it's beauty, is useless. Catholics such as myself look for a rosary that speaks to us in some way, through color, shape, and so on, but we are also looking for something that we can meditate with. I hope I've made my point without insulting anyone.

 

[petergunn]

Own a pipe and not smoke it? that's like owning a gun and not shooting it, ain't gonna happen. Unless it's something old and unsafe but I don't buy old unsafe guns I really don't even look at decrepit pipes.

 

[rigmedic1]

Never bought a pipe that I didn't intend to smoke. Of course, I never had an inkling that some of them might be valuable collectors items one day. The only pipe I have that I have never smoked was a no name meer gifted to me by my lady, that looks so fragile I am afraid I might break it. It smells of root beer too, lol.