The Advantages of "Too Many" Pipes (Or "Too Few")

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Zamora

Can't Leave
Mar 15, 2023
403
1,187
Olympia, Washington
I'm trying to limit myself to one pipe per blend style, I just got my first Kentucky blend last month which naturally was an excuse to get a pipe reserved for Kentucky blends. I also got my first straight VA so now I'm debating whether I should get a pipe for VAs instead of just using my VaPer pipe.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
44,334
113,968
I have too many pipes. How many, you ask? Okay, I'll tell you, but please don't laugh at the number.

13.
No laughing here. Out of hundreds accumulated since the early '90s I find myself only smoking four of them regularly. A broken shipment from Turkey really gave a black mark to buying any more.
 

RookieGuy80

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 6, 2023
734
2,710
Maryland, United States
I find myself with about 30 at home. Plus a couple I'm looking to trade in. And a couple that I'm putting together for a gift or to keep in case anyone ever comes over and wants to try. Plus cobs. Cobs don't count towards a total pipe count. Plus a pipe in the motorcycle saddlebags, 2 in my car, 3 in Mrs. Rookie's car. And the couple in the camping box. Amd the one in the tackle box. I have read about "chicken math" and I'm starting to think chickens are actually made of briar.

I've been smoking a pipe for 4 years now. Really, I still regularly smoke 2 of the first 4. I'm starting to think about paring down my collection. But everything in my collection shares 2 interesting traits. First, they all smoke between good and great. That makes it harder to justify getting rid of them to myself. The second is none of them are worth much. I paid $15 for this cool looking Medico Jetstream, about what it's worth. If I decided to sell it, I'll probably clear -$5. So it doesn't make sense to sell my old pipes to fund my new.
 

jagsdriver

Lurker
Jun 13, 2024
33
105
Vancouver Island BC
I've smoked and collected pipes for many decades. I went through a process that I think many of us do.

1) have to get a pipe
2) have to get a couple of pipes
3) have to amass a ton of pipes, after all I'm a collector now
4) have to get high end pipes
5) time to really thin the herd

One time I had a couple of hundred. Lots of loaded pipe racks, pipes stashed in drawers and storage. A number of them I hadn't even smoked. through the years I have had a mentor (and a member here) that always said all you need is about a dozen quality pipes and if you see one you really want to buy, you have to divest one from your dozen. It took a long while but the coin finally dropped. Last year I sold off quite a number and this year I am doing the same.
 
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dingdong

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 2, 2024
582
5,857
Jakarta, Indonesia
mso, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The hunt for the next pipe is at least equal to possessing it. When I was building my 7 day set of Willmer Bel Airs it was all about the quest.

An interesting personal litmus test is,

if you could have only one of the pipes in your collection, would you still enjoy the hobby?

Conversely, only one tobacco, but as many pipes as you’d like.
It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase - puffy puffy puffy
 
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