The Too Many Pipes Syndrome

[pappymac]

I aspire to that lifestyle - and I'll be hanging with the NOLA club....one of these days!

We restarted having meetings a couple of months ago. We are meeting on the third or fourth Wednesday of each month. Our next meeting is June 22 at Mayan Imports in Metairie.

 

[mso489]

All my pipes get smoked, but it's a long rotation. They stay pretty young for a long time, and for a long time after that. Since I scoop and wipe out the bowls and don't build cake, the chamber diameter stays more or less the same as when new.

Since the pipes get a long rest, there is always a sense of novelty. I've smoked every one of them before, but it is like meeting an old friend after a long time.

New, or new-to-me, pipes tend to get smoked more often for a while before getting in step with the rest. Usually I'm glad to find how much I enjoy smoking each one.

 

[clynch]

When I first did pipes I was in the Navy and it was the early 80s. There were no forums. I didn't belong to a pipe club. I occasionally inhaled. I also smoked cigs . I wanted a pipe. Went to Tinderbox and bought a Savinelli. It was my pipe. 2??? Why would I have two? I got a pipe. I smoked everything in that one pipe. Tinderbox tobaccos and Captain Black. Used it for a couple years before the phase wore out. Never had an issue and loved it. This is my third time going back to a pipe. Difference is I don't smoke cigs now. I use the pipe sparingly. Need to be in the mood. I now have 7 pipes. Still got that first Savinelli and it looks pristine for a 40 year old pipe. I'm holding on 7 pipes. I will no doubt get more but I'm not in a rush.

 

[kcghost]

I have too many and it bothers me to some extent but it doesn't bother me enough to get rid of any.

 

[MilesDavis]

I picked up a couple pipes down at Edward's in Tampa a few years back. Mannie, the sales guy there always welcomed me and I just had to buy something, you know? Years later I started buying estate pipes. Not to smoke, exactly, but to repair and restore. They're cheaper than guitars! I love finding an old pipe that looks like a charcoal briquette and finding the lovely briar and stem beneath the years of disuse. But now I have well over 200 pipes! I only smoke a dozen or so. The rest get filed and forgotten unless they're needed for a family photo. I'm just a bit more selective in my buying now. I have way too many unmarked, unknown brands. Still, they're quite pretty in their own way. Here's most of 'em. Forgive the quality of this photo. It's gloomy in my basement.

 

[Hillcrest]

I picked up a couple pipes down at Edward's in Tampa a few years back. Mannie, the sales guy there always welcomed me and I just had to buy something, you know? Years later I started buying estate pipes. Not to smoke, exactly, but to repair and restore. They're cheaper than guitars! I love finding an old pipe that looks like a charcoal briquette and finding the lovely briar and stem beneath the years of disuse. But now I have well over 200 pipes! I only smoke a dozen or so. The rest get filed and forgotten unless they're needed for a family photo. I'm just a bit more selective in my buying now. I have way too many unmarked, unknown brands. Still, they're quite pretty in their own way. Here's most of 'em. Forgive the quality of this photo. It's gloomy in my basement. View attachment 154853

Looks to me like there could be one or two treasures there ! You could always sell some and invest in something you always wanted. ?

 

[jpmcwjr]

I picked up a couple pipes down at Edward's in Tampa a few years back. Mannie, the sales guy there always welcomed me and I just had to buy something, you know? Years later I started buying estate pipes. Not to smoke, exactly, but to repair and restore. They're cheaper than guitars! I love finding an old pipe that looks like a charcoal briquette and finding the lovely briar and stem beneath the years of disuse. But now I have well over 200 pipes! I only smoke a dozen or so. The rest get filed and forgotten unless they're needed for a family photo. I'm just a bit more selective in my buying now. I have way too many unmarked, unknown brands. Still, they're quite pretty in their own way. Here's most of 'em. Forgive the quality of this photo. It's gloomy in my basement. View attachment 154853

Well, that shows a lot of pipes, but nothing about any one pipe!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Well, that shows a lot of pipes, but nothing about any one pipe!

Isn't that the point of the thread?

 

[MilesDavis]

Looks to me like there could be one or two treasures there ! You could always sell some and invest in something you always wanted. ?

You're right. I've been thinking of selling. I hesitate out of naivete, mostly. I have a large assortment of Barontinis, a few Hardcastles, a dozen or so Kaywoodies, a Peterson or three, several Savinellis. I should share.

 

[FurCoat]

I picked up a couple pipes down at Edward's in Tampa a few years back. Mannie, the sales guy there always welcomed me and I just had to buy something, you know? Years later I started buying estate pipes. Not to smoke, exactly, but to repair and restore. They're cheaper than guitars! I love finding an old pipe that looks like a charcoal briquette and finding the lovely briar and stem beneath the years of disuse. But now I have well over 200 pipes! I only smoke a dozen or so. The rest get filed and forgotten unless they're needed for a family photo. I'm just a bit more selective in my buying now. I have way too many unmarked, unknown brands. Still, they're quite pretty in their own way. Here's most of 'em. Forgive the quality of this photo. It's gloomy in my basement. View attachment 154853

I fail to see the problem. Although if you feel that some of the pipes are neglected, I would suggest smoking more...?

 

[augiebd]

I think I have ballpark about 90, don’t know for sure. I smoke them all on a slow rotation, like @mso489. Although that is being disrupted now by focusing on 2 of my 4 meerschaums. Do I have too many? I bought each one for a reason and when I think of reducing the herd, I can’t think of one I would give up. At some point I may let some go, I feel I am getting close but I also know I will still buy more (at a slower pace). To answer the question, it’s up to the individual, if you feel like you have too many, then there is such a thing. If not, buy more, just not any I’m bidding on. With maintenance, I have moved away from near sterilization after each use of the pipe to basic cleaning. Keeping it basic and relaxed in all ways is what works best for me.

 

[mso489]

I have a few spare watches, though I mostly wear one (a Wenger), and a few spare folding knives as I carry one every day, but usually settle on a few favorites. It is only the pipes that sometimes stop me as I look over my three racks and one cabinet and think, "What the hell?" Culling helps me keep it in perspective. I have "too many," but I can let some go. I think the pipes I have received as gifts, and a couple I have received as prizes, are sacrosanct. And eight or ten up-market pipes are, to me, too good to trade, sell, or gift away. I'm glad I can take pleasure in some low-end pipes, special edition cobs and others refitted with Forever stems, various U.S. factory pipes, and other deep discount and sale items that have worked out especially well. I received a MM hardwood straight pipe that smokes as well as most, that helps keep acquisition in perspective; I think it cost less than six bucks.

 

[mav]

Still being a new smoker of less than a year, I bought a lot of factory made "mid range" (savs, petersons) at the beginning but now that I have a better understanding of what I like I'm going for a smaller but better quality rotation. Lower end hand mades (not in quality or smokability but in comparison to $300+) would be a good description; 2 Ser Jacopos, 1 Radice, 1 Caminetto, 1 Chris Askwith, 1 Dunhill, and 2 Meers, and a couple of cobs.

For the amount I smoke this is a good rotation size for me and my PAD is in remission (until the next pipe show that is ).

 

[mav]

Re-reading my post, please understand me, I am in now way putting down Savs and Petersons or any other pipe, this is just my personal preference and taste. I don't want to get on the bad side of any lifers here .

 

[Chasing Embers]

. I don't want to get on the bad side of any lifers here .

If you do, tell them to pound sand. Personal preference shouldn't be imposed on anyone.

 

[mso489]

I'd still hang onto the mid-range pipes from the past. At least some may smoke as well as any, and they will lengthen the lives of your new up-market pipes. I have both and enjoy the range of possibilities. For some blends, a cob is just right.

 

[Briar Lee]

I think it was Mae West who said (something like) too much of a good thing is never enough. I have too many pipes, for sure ... by some standards. And I am a big piker by others. So here are a few pros and cons of owning, ahem, quite a few pipes. First I acknowledge that the grand total varies wildly from person to person.

Some would find 25 or 30 pipes way too many, definitely clutter and excess. Others find 500 a fairly spare accumulation, scarcely a collection at all. So within my own parameters, here are my pros and cons on having quite a few pipes:

Pros:
A lot of pipes is an array of smoking tools for a wide variety of smoking experiences.
A large number reduces wear and, in rotation, guarantees longer lasting pipes.
More pipes means a wider range of nations, sizes, materials, finishes, shapes, etc.

(Post your own excuses for lots of pipes on this thread.)

Cons:

More pipes represents more expense. Fewer makes it easier to spend more on each pipe.
More maintenance makes demands on time.
People not familiar with tobacco pipes might suspect one is a hoarder.
Unless you leave detailed instructions, your heirs will never redeem their value.

(What are your negatives on owning lots of pipes? Post on this thread.)

This is mostly for fun, but also to pique conversation. Is there any such thing as too many? Too few?

There is such a thing as too few pipes.

Im not even going to try and prove it, but I have sure and certain faith that every pipe has a finite lifetime.

Think how awful we treat our pipes. We kindle smoldering fires in a piece of wood, up to several times each day.

Our briars aren’t lined with asbestos, they are an organic material, all made from a strange growth called a burl that only is found on the rocky shores of the Mediterranean on the roots of heath shrubs that must be a half century old, but the older the better.

It might be ten thousand times, or twenty thousand, but no matter how well we care for our pipes someday comes when they’ll gradually absorb enough oils from the wonderful tasting leaves we burn in them to where they’ll no longer be serviceable.

That assumes we don’t burn them out first or chew up the rubber stems, and doesn’t consider that each time we use one there’s a tiny bit of cosmetic abuse that occurs, that accumulates eventually to render our once glorious looking pipes old and worn, in our service.

But if a man will just buy say, a dozen good pipes a year, they can be used Star Grade Lees that average less than thirty dollars, or expressed another way a dollar a day for pipes, in a couple of decades he’ll own about twenty dozen beautiful pipes, and there’s no way he’ll live long enough to smoke any of them to death.

Then when the man finally lays down to sleep no more on this earth, his heirs will find his stash of pipes, all carefully kept and ready to smoke.

The average regular funeral these days is about $12,000, and a suitable stone several thousand more.

If the man owned a thousand Lee Star grades, his children would scarcely break even after they gave him a decent burial and erected a nice stone to mark his grave, after they paid all the postage for selling a thousand pipes.

Think of a Lee Star Grade as a thirty dollar investment, and you won’t feel guilty spending the children’s inheritance.

WHEN I WAKE UP TO SLEEP NO MORE

 

[Hillcrest]

There is such a thing as too few pipes.

Im not even going to try and prove it, but I have sure and certain faith that every pipe has a finite lifetime.

Think how awful we treat our pipes. We kindle smoldering fires in a piece of wood, up to several times each day.

Our briars aren’t lined with asbestos, they are an organic material, all made from a strange growth called a burl that only is found on the rocky shores of the Mediterranean on the roots of heath shrubs that must be a half century old, but the older the better.

It might be ten thousand times, or twenty thousand, but no matter how well we care for our pipes someday comes when they’ll gradually absorb enough oils from the wonderful tasting leaves we burn in them to where they’ll no longer be serviceable.

That assumes we don’t burn them out first or chew up the rubber stems, and doesn’t consider that each time we use one there’s a tiny bit of cosmetic abuse that occurs, that accumulates eventually to render our once glorious looking pipes old and worn, in our service.

But if a man will just buy say, a dozen good pipes a year, they can be used Star Grade Lees that average less than thirty dollars, or expressed another way a dollar a day for pipes, in a couple of decades he’ll own about twenty dozen beautiful pipes, and there’s no way he’ll live long enough to smoke any of them to death.

Then when the man finally lays down to sleep no more on this earth, his heirs will find his stash of pipes, all carefully kept and ready to smoke.

The average regular funeral these days is about $12,000, and a suitable stone several thousand more.

If the man owned a thousand Lee Star grades, his children would scarcely break even after they gave him a decent burial and erected a nice stone to mark his grave, after they paid all the postage for selling a thousand pipes.

Think of a Lee Star Grade as a thirty dollar investment, and you won’t feel guilty spending the children’s inheritance.

WHEN I WAKE UP TO SLEEP NO MORE

that was cheerful

 

[Hillcrest]

MilesDavis, If and when you do sell some, please consider listing them on this forum. Thanks, Happy Fourth !

 

[mikethompson]

Pipes are kind of like anything else. When you have too many of them you will know. I have too many, which for me is around 12-15. I am probably due for a culling.