Thoughts on Hardcastle Tobacco Pipes

[finnian3]

All,

I have been buying, selling and smoking pipes for a while now and have run the gambit of all the Dunhill sublines. Parker, Savory, Hardcastle (did I miss any?) and of these sublines, Hardcastles seem to be the lowest grade. That said, I have a a few Hardcastles in my collection and have found them to be fairly good smokers. They do not get too hot, never seem to accumulate much moisture...... but when it comes to selling these pipes things are not so positive. Anyone care to give their feedback on these pipes? I like them but I think I am flying solo here.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Hardcastle made (make?) great pipes for the money. I have several but my favourite is a bent bulldog which gets smoked at least once a week.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[wyfbane]

I have seen older Hardcastles that look fine and I'm told smoke great. My personal experience with new ones is not that hot. I was at the Tacoma Tinderbox during an event and there were 6 or 8 brand new Hardcastles in the store. I like the shaping and the prices were good, so I looked them over. Nary of one of them was drilled worth a crap. Not one. My kid could have drilled them better blindfolded. There were holes all over the place in those things. It was really off-putting.
I would not buy a new Hardcastle I could not inspect myself. I know that sometimes there are bad batches and as such I wouldn't dismiss the whole line out of hand. Nevertheless, I would recommend checking one yourself or making sure someone takes pictures of the drilling before pulling the trigger.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"I like the shaping and the prices were good, so I looked them over. Nary of one of them was drilled worth a crap. Not one."
I wasn't certain they were still being made Wyfbane but you have confirmed that they are. Very sad to hear your tales of woe, all I can say is that of those I own, all were bought as estates and are from roughly the 50's to 70's era so it would appear their standards have dropped significantly as all of mine are perfectly drilled (I just checked) and are great smokers.
Perhaps they have taken the downward slope as other manufacturers have due to cost cutting? Their sister brand Parker however are still knocking out excellent pipes and this I know as I own two new ones, both under £50 and both cracking smokers.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[danielplainview]

Hardcastle wasn’t always a Dunny second. They made a beautiful pipe once upon a time.

 

[jensen]

Dave is right,once upon a time.
If you fell over one stamped Hardcastle`s British Made DE LUXE (all arched)

then go for it. Stems were hand cut

 

[mso489]

Iwan Ries had handsome Hardcastles for about forty bucks for many years, on their web site, until about five years ago. Other good lower end English brands are Britannia and Parker. I think Britannia is especially well crafted.

 

[finnian3]

Just mixed quality I guess. I have pre-Dunhill Hardcastles and their Briar is nice. I also have two Hardcastles in my collection and I think they smoke just find, but if I judged the pipe by their sales.... not so in demand.

 

[finnian3]

Just mixed quality I guess. I have pre-Dunhill Hardcastles and their Briar is nice. I also have two Hardcastles in my collection and I think they smoke just find, but if I judged the pipe by their sales.... not so in demand.