I am a "young" college pipe smoker and I can tell you right off the bat that meerschaums are intimidating to most in my age group. First off, they seem to be more expensive than entry level pipes so college kids are less likely to buy one as a first pipe. Second, I have been told that meerschaums require special care such as you cannot hold the bowl while smoking. Because college life is full of the unexpected I would much rather purchase a briar I can semi-abuse. Third, I hear that extra care is needed when cleaning. I would hate to have a meerschaum I enjoy and my only reason for not smoking it is it be a pain to clean. Lastly, most college aged pipe smokers that I know are strapped on cash so they end up buying a very cheap first pipe and smoking it until it burns out. I am very intimidated by meerschaums and I am afraid that if I bought a nice one I would end up ruining it someway. Also, due to the fact that I am short on cash I would be more inclined to purchase an estate meerschaum instead of a brand new one. However, this leads to a fear of getting ripped off because I am not knowledgeable enough to know the difference, though your writings have helped me in this area.
If there was a way to conquer these fears and purchase a quality meerschaum at a reasonable price [and I mean college reasonable, not older gentleman I just paid off my house what do I do with my extra cash reasonable
], then I would be willing to try it out. With that being said, I believe you are on the right path to giving me said confidence in buying a meerschaum pipe.
On a side note, have you heard anything about the mini meerschaums that Pipes and Cigars sells? They are only $20 so I am a bit weary of them. They can be seen
here at the bottom of the page.
