What Do the Brigham Dots Mean in Practical Terms?

[olkofri]

They all come with one filter. So try it and find out.

The only time I smoked my Voyageur sans the filter I burned the hell out of my tongue. Then again, I was starting out, so I can't rely on that experience as reference.

 

[greeneyes]

You all might collaborate and update the Brigham Pipedia entry with all of this great information.

 

[seanv]

I’m jumping in to the deep end with an Acadian straight apple on the way. I’m hoping the seven dots means no fills and light weight, in addition to the aesthetics.

I haven’t decided if I want to bother with the filters or not. Anyone smoke these filterless and like the draw?

The draw will be very open but very smokable. Congrats on the new Brigham. Post pics when it arrives.

 

[Casual]

The draw will be very open but very smokable. Congrats on the new Brigham. Post pics when it arrives.

Will do. Looks like a real classic apple shape. Understated.

 

[mau1]

The best source for information on Brigham pipes in general can be found at dadspipes.com. The site is run by Charles Lemon who is a Brigham pipe history expert. Do yourself a favour and check it out.

 

[bigbeard]

I’m jumping in to the deep end with an Acadian straight apple on the way. I’m hoping the seven dots means no fills and light weight, in addition to the aesthetics.

I haven’t decided if I want to bother with the filters or not. Anyone smoke these filterless and like the draw?

I would love to hear what you think of it. The Acadian pipes are so beautiful. They let the wood and the carving stand on their own. The straight apple is a nice, elegant shape.

 

[mso489]

Harvesting briar, to judge from the videos, is true heavy labor, both getting to the plants in rough country carrying the necessary tools, and mostly the digging and cutting it takes to harvest the briar. I'm really surprised any briar pipes can sell for as little as some do. This must mean that the briar harvesters are significantly underpaid, as are many heavy labor people. My hat goes off to them.

 

[olkofri]

The best source for information on Brigham pipes in general can be found at dadspipes.com. The site is run by Charles Lemon who is a Brigham pipe history expert. Do yourself a favour and check it out.

Thanks for that link. That's the bloke in Canada who does pipe repair whose contact info I wanted to get but couldn't. Maybe he can make me an acrylic stem for my MacQueen churchwarden.

 

[mau1]

Thanks for that link. That's the bloke in Canada who does pipe repair whose contact info I wanted to get but couldn't. Maybe he can make me an acrylic stem for my MacQueen churchwarden.

Charles documents some of the more interesting repairs/restorations that he does. He's fixed up a number of pipes for me. He does good work. And he has the most comprehensive listing of Brigham pipe models and shapes(pictures too), more than anyone else.

 

[olkofri]

Gotcha. Hopefully his making a new stem will be cheaper than buying another churchwarden.

 

[bigbeard]

The best source for information on Brigham pipes in general can be found at dadspipes.com. The site is run by Charles Lemon who is a Brigham pipe history expert. Do yourself a favour and check it out.

I've been looking at this treasure trove of information. Wow, there is a lot here.

I didn't see answers to my specific questions but I did find a lot of great answers to questions that I didn't even know to ask.

 

[olkofri]

... and then there are unknown unknowns...

 

[mau1]

I've been looking at this treasure trove of information. Wow, there is a lot here.

I didn't see answers to my specific questions but I did find a lot of great answers to questions that I didn't even know to ask.

"Treasure trove of information", that's a good way to describe it. When I started reading DadsPipes.com, I discovered the Archive section where it links to the repair articles he's been posting every month since July 2015. That's about 300 articles! As I followed his journey from when he first began repairing pipes, I realized that he was continually improving his techniques. I mention this in case anyone is planning on using his advice on doing their own repairs, perhaps you should start with the more current articles as they have the most current techniques. He's also a great writer to boot. Cheers,

Mau

 

[bigbeard]

... and then there are unknown unknowns...

Story of my life.

 

[alaskanpiper]

All I know is, if it has a multi-tiered grading system full of esoteric symbols and unintelligible needless changes throughout decades of history in which story becomes legend, legend becomes myth, and all is lost but for the knowledge of one decrepit hermit with an excel spreadsheet who lives in a quonset hut with no phone somewhere on the fringe of a dumpass town at societies event horizon........then it MUST be a high end pipe!

Bound to put fires in the eyes of some half chubbed ebay pipe spotters crouched over their keyboards in a haze of smoke and butt stink for nights on end researching exactly when and where this mystical piece of briar was forged in the fires of industry by some hobbled peasant cursing under the whip of his overseers as the buffing wheel screams back at him until at long last that steam whistle sounds.

And how much is it worth to own such a mystery? Who knows anything about it? Will any of them agree? At the risk of once again confronting a loose stemmed Sir Walter poltergeist infested oxidation riddled nightmare, there is only one way to find out.

16 seconds left. Up the bid. Buy the ticket. Take the ride. The rest will sort itself out later.

Congratulations! You won this auction!

Now take that deep breath as the slow, sweet buzz of acquisition starts coursing through your veins. Rest in the beautiful bliss of victory, for you will need your strength for the 7 day ceremonial pee pee dance you must now complete while you wait for it to arrive and debate all the various pipe scholars on the forums as they bicker back and forth about who made what, and when? And why? And how?

God only knows. God....only.....knows.....

 

[SoddenJack]

I read somewhere that Fidel Castro once had a custom briar made that was so perfect, so flawless, so indescribably beautiful that Brigham graded it a 27 dot pipe. Supposedly the carver never carved another pipe and retreated to a Tibetan monastery high in the Himalayas and hasn’t spoken a single word since.

 

[maulragoth]

Really appreciate the great data rankings you guys put together. Thanks for sharing. I have always wondered. ?
Looking forward to seeing Casual's new piece.

 

[olkofri]

Looking forward to seeing Casual's new piece.

Ditto. But it's been about a month already! Maybe Casual's new pipe became a casual-ty of the postal system? ?

 

[Casual]

Ditto. But it's been about a month already! Maybe Casual's new pipe became a casual-ty of the postal system? ?

I got it! Great packaging on these Acadian pipes: a sturdy hinged metal tin, a fuzzy bag, and a beautiful pipe.

It looks like what I hoped. A smallish apple, traditional understated finish. Even smaller than the pics suggested to me. Not too big, too flashy, or too indulgent. Something you’d expect to see poking out of the breast pocket of a tweed jacket early last century.

I haven’t smoked it yet! That’s why no pics. I have been working through a few that were purchased earlier in the recent PAD attack.

I haven’t decided what, if anything, I should use it for. Smallish bowl, decent clencher but not the best, classy looks. Hmm. Strong tobaccos for late night reading of eldritch books? Everyday medium length smokes of my current favourite, Mac Baren Mixture?

 

[bigbeard]

Just a follow-up on this thread. I now have the following Brigham pipes:

• New Voyager 1-dot - Shape 36 - 1/4 Bent Apple or Brandy
• New Sportsman 3-dot - Shape 84 - Full Bent Volcano
• New Sportsman 3-dot - Shape 3 - Straight Billiard
• Refurb 3-dot Made in Canada - Shape 29 - Bent Apple (will not accept distilator filter)
• New Heritage 5-dot - Shape 426 - 1/4 Bent Rhodesian
• New Klondike 6-dot - Shape 29 - Bent Apple

The refurb was my Grandpa's pipe.

My sample size is small and my experience as a pipe smoker is short. Take as much salt with this as needed.

I really do find that the more dots, the better everything tends to be on the Brighams.

Finish
The finish on the 5-dot and 6-dot is incredible. The dye job really pops the grain. The glossy finish is beautifully and carefully done. By contrast, the 1-dot's total rustication feels "chunky" and the overall finish feels a bit lazy and sloppy. The sportsmans are deliberately as they are so no criticism there.

Fit
The fit on all of the pipes is really good. Stems join flush and match up with the stummels. The 1-dot and sportsmans aren't perfectly round and centered at the joint so if you turned the stem (why would you?) they don't line up. The 5-dot and 6-dot are perfect.

Smoking
This is what really counts.

My 3-dot sportsman volcano is prone to having the airway clog and it feels quite restricted compared with the others. A deep cleaning didn't help. I also get gurgle and moisture issues, probably due to my inexperience. But a pipe cleaner doesn't want to go deep enough to resolve it.

The 1-dot is the next worst but it is actually quite usable. I have no complaints. It's just that the draw doesn't "feel" as good as the others. I want to say it feels "turbulent".

The 3-dot sportsman billiard and 5-dot Rhodesian are VERY enjoyable to smoke. Great draw. Stays lit quite well. The 3-dot smokes slightly better, IMO. Could be the straight shank and stem?

The 6-dot Bent Apple and the old Made in Canada 3-dot Bent Apple smoke almost identically and both are pure bliss to smoke. The draw is wide open. The pipe is like an extension of my breath.

Tobaccos
In case this is relevant, I do use different types for different tobaccos.

• 1 Dot - Kentucky and Burley
• 3 Dot Sportsman Billiard - Virginia
• 5 Dot Rhodesian - Virginia Perique
• Both bent apples - Aromatic (Kendal Cream, Vanilla, Grousemoor, Amphora Green)

Virginia Perique is my favourite baccy but the bent apples are my favourite pipes.

3 dot Sportsman Volcano is not in rotation.