The Pipe aka brylon

[onestrangeone]

Ha, I have a couple of these! Black The Pipe, Yellow The Smoke, also have a avocado Grabow, these were part of a collection a botl sent me about a year ago, the wife thought they were 'cool' so I cleaned em up for her now there collecting dust on a knickknack shelf. The Grabow had been heavily smoked.

 

[pagan]

Half a century later and this high-tech beauty is yet to catch on

....I know right :rofl:

 

[davet]

My first pipe was a Medico Brylon, still have it. It's a wonder I survived it after reading some of the original posts, death defying I tell you 8O

 

[Chasing Embers]

I had a brylon yello bole back in the early '90s. Man that thing got hot.

 

[davet]

I had a brylon yello bole back in the early '90s.

I just looked and mine was a Yello Bole as well. I think the fact it got hot easy was a help in learning to slow down. I still smoke it occasionally, I guess it works as intended :mrgreen:

 

[mso489]

Brylon seems to be a mistake that can be sold to many gift givers and first time pipe smokers and just a very few others. Brylon pipes were defended well by a Forums member who smoked them on particularly dusty, greasy, messy work place sites for reclaiming structures after fires. They are heavy for their size and smoke hot. On hind sight, I wonder if Brylon would have been more appealing if this synthetic material could have been sold in a slightly futuristic pipe rather than as a poor imitation of traditional shapes. I am intrigued by the first Playboy ad in 1967 which blithely swaps the shape names of the apple and pot pipes made in Brylon. This is a tip-off that the ad men were not pipe men. You can get some pretty good smoking pipes for around the same price as Brylon pipes, whether cobs or Dr. Grabows. It's puzzling how several brands still peddle them.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I just looked and mine was a Yello Bole as well. I think the fact it got hot easy was a help in learning to slow down. I still smoke it occasionally, I guess it works as intended

It was my second or third pipe bought at a drug store, and really didn't know what I was doing. Still have it here somewhere, may have to dig it out and see what I can do with it now. :mrgreen:

 

[mso489]

I suspect you can coax a passable smoke out of a Brylon pipe, but it might diminish the joie de vie of the experience.

 

[davet]

Mine has stood the test of time, thirty five + years and a lot of abuse. As a teenager on my frequent trips to the woods fishing & hunting it was always stuffed in the bottom of my pack with a pouch of Old Port or Amphora.

I'm sure a decent pipe would have been ruined the same as you would never lose a cheap jack knife :mrgreen:

 

[jpmcwjr]

Heh, Dave. So right. I bought a Le (or La) Pipe long ago, and long ago lost track of it. Did not like how it smoked.

 

[dottiewarden]

It seems this toy pipe, which in it's day priced comparably to a decent briar, won't be displacing the traditional Briars, Meers and Cobs anytime soon. The concept and the sales pitch sounded convincing enough at the time, but the fact that no experienced pipe smoker would waste time smoking it means it simply didn't pass the test of time.
I do however wonder if someday a new high-tech material could actually out perform a traditional pipe.

 

[mortonbriar]

wonder if someday a new high-tech material could actually out perform a traditional pipe

Possibly, but performance is only part of the equation. Many composite materials have been invented for the construction industry and they outperform traditional woods for stability, workability, convenience etc. I have appreciated working with corian in the last couple of homes we built, you can make countertops which epoxy straight to the sinks to make a seamless uniform white surface which sands smooth beautifully...but I would never choose it in my own home over a solid wood kitchen counter. In my opinion, nothing technology comes up with is going to surpass the texture, warmth and 'life' that wood gives.
Isaac

 

[tuold]

I contacted Billie Taylor years ago after I got this "The Pipe" and ran across his Web Page while researching it. It's primarily a curiosity as far as I'm concerned. It remains unsmoked. The addition of the "F" monogram makes me think it was a present.

 

[mso489]

For rough duty, I think I'd rather risk one of my less exalted briars or cobs. If a Brylon was all I had, I might smoke it. Since some people do smoke them regularly, perhaps you learn to avoid their bad traits to a degree.

 

[yaddy306]

I quite enjoy my "The Pipe" with the pyrolytic graphite bowl liner. Not a good pipe for beginners, though.
Can't speak for brylon bowls, however.

 

[dottiewarden]

Encouraging words yaddy306. I'll continue to put a few bowls through mine in memory of old Grandad, although I'm sure it was Grandma who gave to him in the first place!

 

[ophiuchus]

Hmmm ... there's quite a difference between "the pipe" and a "Brylon" pipe. Brylon is wood dust suspended in a nylon polymer; in a typical Brylon pipe, the material is molded into a bowl. "the pipe (sic)" has a tobacco chamber lining of pyrolytic graphite inside a Bakelite shell, with airspace between them as an insulator. Pyrolytic graphite tends to conduct heat, while Brylon is an effective insulator.
Beyond this, I can only guess; I've never smoked "the pipe," and my Brylon experience is limited to three Medicos, which are heavy, smoke hot, but have proven to be reliable bad-weather pipes (my Lancers produce a nice smoke when used in very, very cold and windy conditions).
I am very impressed with Dr. Taylor's site. Enormous amount of fascinating info there, and he documents the traffic of his collection with such loving detail. :clap:

 

[dottiewarden]

Hmmm ... there's quite a difference between "the pipe" and a "Brylon" pipe. Brylon is wood dust suspended in a nylon polymer; in a typical Brylon pipe, the material is molded into a bowl. "the pipe (sic)" has a tobacco chamber lining of pyrolytic graphite inside a Bakelite shell, with airspace between them as an insulator. Pyrolytic graphite tends to conduct heat, while Brylon is an effective insulator.

@Ophiuchus
Thanks for clearing up the erroneous name of this thread.
My "the pipe" is very light, however it must be kept clean, according to Dr. Taylor's site. I've only smoked a couple of bowls and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The pipe itself is approximately 50 years old and, despite being made of plastic, doesn't appear cheap or crappy.

 

[newbroom]

Within the first couple of months of my newfound interest in pipes, almost 3 yrs back, I managed to 'win' a couple of pipes at auction that turned out to be these synthetic burners. One of each, a The Pipe and a brylon by YelloBole.

I use them as car pipes because they're impervious to concern. The "The Pipe" is actually not a bad pipe at all, and I can make do with the brylon.

They're both on the heavy side, so that clenching them, for me, requires a bit more stem than I'd use with a briar or cob, but, their indestructible qualities are perfect for hard use. My car often gets very hot in the FL sunshine.

These may be forgiving when it comes to handling, but they do require some piping skills to smoke with any degree of satisfaction.

 

[dino]

I've been smoking my "the pipe" black bulldog since I bought it in the late '60s. It is my go-to pipe when trying new tobaccos, as it has no impact on the flavor. Even cobs and meers, unless brand new, can impart a hint of the last tobacco smoked. Not so with "the pipe." I even bought a "new" one from Billie Taylor, a black full bent, at the Chicago show, some years ago. (It's for my disputatious moods.)

Say what you will, I like them, and find them quite useful in discovering new tobaccos. And, I've actually only needed one this past half century. It still looks and smokes the same.