What Oddities/Attributes do You Look for in a Pipe?
- Thread starter myhyeung
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An attribute that I like in a new pipe is one that is impossible to know about until I actually have it.
And that is a relatively short breaking in time, maybe 10 to 15 bowls.
With some pipes it seems to never happen.
And that is a relatively short breaking in time, maybe 10 to 15 bowls.
With some pipes it seems to never happen.
Regardless of briar or meerschaum in order to become a prospective purchase a pipe must catch my eye. It must be bent to some degree or other. The wrong proportion means it won't catch my eye while on display. Then I will find if it fits my fist. I never look a pipe photographs, I have to get the pipe into my hands. Then I check the fit and finish. If the pipe passes those examinations it will go home with me for the "acid test" of a couple of bowls.
I had a little doctor plumb with a red dot on the stem, which made me go cross eyed, the day I sanded that dot off was the day I could safely smoke that pipe while driving!Kuddos!! I went through a period of grinding off the nomenclature of my new pipes. it makes a pipe smoke better for me, and all of those stampings are usually just ugly distractions.
Bowl dimensions ultimately determine if I buy a pipe, but I also want it to “look good” to me. For some reason I find ebonite stem maintenance to be irritating (as objectively easy as it is), so I usually want an acrylic stem. After that, I guess price goes into it. Much like my tobacco stash, I have enough pipes for my needs, so Im buying new ones at a much slower rate than in the past. I have my eye on a couple of higher $$ pipes than I would typically buy, and maybe another commission after having such a good experience with my first one a while back.
After years of stumbling in the dark, I finally came up with a set of criteria that I use before I buy a pipe. Almost all of my pipes are group 4-5. I also have a couple of group 6's. I buy pipes based on the tobacco I smoke. I smoke nothing but flakes or plugs or a rope. I have 2 aromatics that I smoke when mom visits. She like either one as her father smoked a pipe for most of his life.
My criteria is pretty simple.
Bowl height around 2"
Inside bowl depth 1.5"
Inside bowl width .82 is my favorite .75 works as does 7/8 on the right pipe.
I don't know the numbers but I like thick walled pipes that weigh 40-55 grams. I do have a couple of holders but I clench almost all the time.
Almost all of the pipes left in my collection after my culling are pipes I consigned. There is just something special about working with someone who sees pipes the way I do. I only have classic shapes in my collection. I like mostly straight but small bends are also fine. I don't do full bent. The shapes I own are Billiards, Dublins, Apples, Rhodesians, Lovats, Bulldogs, one Volcano and I can't think of any others. Some would call it a boring collection, but for me it really works. I will be adding some more pipes and they will fit my collection.
My criteria is pretty simple.
Bowl height around 2"
Inside bowl depth 1.5"
Inside bowl width .82 is my favorite .75 works as does 7/8 on the right pipe.
I don't know the numbers but I like thick walled pipes that weigh 40-55 grams. I do have a couple of holders but I clench almost all the time.
Almost all of the pipes left in my collection after my culling are pipes I consigned. There is just something special about working with someone who sees pipes the way I do. I only have classic shapes in my collection. I like mostly straight but small bends are also fine. I don't do full bent. The shapes I own are Billiards, Dublins, Apples, Rhodesians, Lovats, Bulldogs, one Volcano and I can't think of any others. Some would call it a boring collection, but for me it really works. I will be adding some more pipes and they will fit my collection.
I'm not much on technical specs as most pipes smoke quite well for me. With artisanal pipes I prefer carvers who have developed their own persona style, like Talbert, Tatum, Von Erck, Piersel, rather than trying to do warmed over Danish.
I like weird stuff (Talbert, Tatum) and I also like old Britwood for it's smoking properties and the older shaping styles. Barling Quaints are a perfect confluence of strange and classic, hand carved with a happy lack of geometrical perfection.
If a pipe has a particularly nice blast or interesting grain I won't kick it out of bed for eating crackers.
I like weird stuff (Talbert, Tatum) and I also like old Britwood for it's smoking properties and the older shaping styles. Barling Quaints are a perfect confluence of strange and classic, hand carved with a happy lack of geometrical perfection.
If a pipe has a particularly nice blast or interesting grain I won't kick it out of bed for eating crackers.
I own classic billiards of group 4-5 size. Half are smooth grain and half are sandblast. All are of similar dimensions. I enjoy the classic tapered, straight stemmed billiards. —-My criteria? They all must pass a pipe cleaner easily to the bowl while smoking. I don’t care for more depth than 1.5” and I like sweet spot width of .75 to .80. I prefer acrylic stems. I don’t often clench. The rest of course, is the pipe’s appearance. I have some beautifully grained Briar as well as some great sandblast. I also enjoy MM Cobs which I do not consider throw aways. I treat as I would any other. — I own a few bents which I consider novelty pipes, one African Meer and one 3/4 bend briar. I don’t often smoke these.
I buy pipes based on looks.
I prefer classical shapes - my pipes are predominantly old Britwoods.
I like silver banded pipes, because the hallmarks help with dates.
I find horn stems and ferrules attractive, as are amber stems.
I like (some) bamboo extensions, but find that the overwhelming majority are just "stuck on" with little thought to the proportion or "the line" of the stem, and have little merit.
Whimsical - perhaps. Oddities - definitely a no !
This is a great question. These days I look for Dunhill ODA and Group 6 Apples, or 6101. I always look for interesting Astley's, Upshalls, Willmer's, Ferndown, Etc. Lately I've also been searching for cheaper old Danish style freehands.
Although I prefer a pipe that takes a pipe cleaner through to the chamber it's not an absolute deal breaker if it's a good smoker.
A pipe that gurgles will not make it into my rotation. [My 1/4 bent Dr Grabow Riviera is a fine looking pipe but it gurgles like a creek]
The most important feature that I look for is a decent thickness to the chamber wall.
Function is way more important than form but there's no reason that one can't have both.
I've seven 80's NOS Veninis in my rotation. All good looking pipes that feel great in hand, six take a pipe cleaner through to the chamber and all are fine smokers.
Best of all they averaged out at $35 each including postage.
One example; an 80's half-bent Apple Venini;
A pipe that gurgles will not make it into my rotation. [My 1/4 bent Dr Grabow Riviera is a fine looking pipe but it gurgles like a creek]
The most important feature that I look for is a decent thickness to the chamber wall.
Function is way more important than form but there's no reason that one can't have both.
I've seven 80's NOS Veninis in my rotation. All good looking pipes that feel great in hand, six take a pipe cleaner through to the chamber and all are fine smokers.
Best of all they averaged out at $35 each including postage.
One example; an 80's half-bent Apple Venini;
in regards to pipes ,at this very point if I'm going to anything it has to be strictly in accordance to the classic British shaping, so to say, preferably light weight max 35gr, group 3 to 4 by Dunhill )long stemmed ,not too thick bowl walls,no adorments nor bands, but where possible with deep ring grain blast,
No, a billabong is a bit like a pond. . . . . oh, you must be talking about a croc infested billabong. Then you'd be correct; them nasty buggers do gurgle.
If it gurgles, you're about to be ate - by a bloody great croc
All this gurgle/billabong talk reminds of cosmics comment on another thread, in regards to the origin of the word bong..
Sounded like an Australian word he reckons..
Also reminds me of an old Billabong jumper I had as a teenager, had BONG printed on the front with a small Billabong on the back.
Needless to say I wore that jumper everywhere as a 15 year old smart arse would.
Sounded like an Australian word he reckons..
Also reminds me of an old Billabong jumper I had as a teenager, had BONG printed on the front with a small Billabong on the back.
Needless to say I wore that jumper everywhere as a 15 year old smart arse would.
