Keep it in your stash. Invite a good friend over and gift it to them as you convert them from cigars to the proper way to smoke tobacco.
What to do With a Gifted Pipe?
- Thread starter jiminy
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
BTW, if anyone is planning on giving me a brand new Eltang.... I'm not picky. Just any style Eltang will be appreciated. 
I agree it matters who gave it. Also, I tend to pass on unneeded/unwanted gifts to others who might enjoy them. However, if I give a gift, it's no longer mine and you can do whatever you like with it and I'm not too worried. The only thing I am not fond of is what my (former) father-in-law does. If you give him a gift he doesn't prefer, he'll berate you and demand you take it back and give him something better.
That's unacceptable.
When I give a gift, you may do as you please (trash, sell, regift, enjoy). But don't be a jackass. It's easier to say nothing.
Truth there. I've gotten (and given I'm sure) crappy, badly thought out gifts. No harm in a "thanks" followed by disposal of the gift.
This reminds me of my eldest son birthday last month.... A friend of ours came by unexpected for his birthday, gave him his present. He unwrapped, it was a Ninjago Lego set and gave it back with the message "I don't like it". I first felt embarrassed because that is not how we raise him, but she was happy he was dead honest about it and returned the gift for a pencil set he likes a lot.
I live by the mantra "don't look a gift horse in the mouth", I would use it. Maybe find a aromatic you like and ghost the hell out of the pipe.
I live by the mantra "don't look a gift horse in the mouth", I would use it. Maybe find a aromatic you like and ghost the hell out of the pipe.
Accepting a gift with grace is a rather important skill. The older I get, the more I realize this. If someone offers help or gifts, I just accept gracefully and thankfully in most situations. I try to avoid the whole, "Oh, you shouldn't have!" routine, and I certainly try not to criticize what I am given, provided it was given in good faith. The gift is not what matters. It's the giving. And giving can be harder than it looks. Applaud the effort if nothing else.
I'd probably keep the pipe around long enough to give it a chance to win me over, and also as a gesture of respect, so I don't feel like I've rejected the person who gave the gift. Then, if it really won't do, I'd probably trade it for store credit with SP or re-gift it, or donate it to a good cause (active duty military, etc.).
If there's actually something wrong with the pipe, toxic materials or aspects of fire hazard, I'd just trash it.
If there's actually something wrong with the pipe, toxic materials or aspects of fire hazard, I'd just trash it.
I think I'd be honest with the person. And it's helpful that sometimes I can be super sentimental (other times the opposite), so getting a pipe even a not so great one from a friend, lover, or family member would make the pipe super appreciated. And there are in my opinion two types of pipes you're likely to get as a gift from a non pipe smoker.... The first the uneducated guess. A neat pipe that's cheap or super common and not the pipe a pipe smoker would buy to impress a friend (none pipe smokers act like my mid range pipes must be top of the line costing a whole 100 sumthing dollars), or the other option is that pipe which is great but you wouldn't pick it your self because you are a cheap bastard that thinks 400 dollars for a pipe can't be justified at the moment.
So basically the worst case scenario for me is that it stops being a pipe but becomes an appreciated fetish that is handled and loved with the rare smoking out of it. So that's how I'd handle the gift.
And yes I'd tell the person. I love this it's great and gives me the warm and fuzzies but I probably ain't smoking it save for special occasions. (either cause it ain't my thing, or it's too nice to take to work).
So basically the worst case scenario for me is that it stops being a pipe but becomes an appreciated fetish that is handled and loved with the rare smoking out of it. So that's how I'd handle the gift.
And yes I'd tell the person. I love this it's great and gives me the warm and fuzzies but I probably ain't smoking it save for special occasions. (either cause it ain't my thing, or it's too nice to take to work).
