What's the Minimal Number of Pipes for Good Smoking

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
My dad only owned one fully functional pipe at a time. He'd keep a burn-out or two on hand as back-ups, but really it was just the one pipe, smoked from just after breakfast to bedtime, every day. I have "too many pipes," about ninety-something, and I enjoy the overage, but know I could do with half these or less. What's your minimum number of pipes for contentment, in terms of smoking, not joy of acquisition or pleasure of collecting? Could you make it with three? Six? A dozen? Sixty? I know some members get along fine with probably each of those numbers. How about you?
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Seven to ten would be comfortable for me, I think, until I try to decide which seven, which ten. I like having one churchwarden, a really large bowl, a small bowl or several, an up-market pipe or three. And there I go. One pipe feels a little paltry to me, unless like my dad I took it as an ethical matter. Since gift pipes make up perhaps a dozen of my pipes, I think I'm stuck with that as my floor.
 

B.Lew

Can't Leave
Jun 24, 2020
465
5,957
SE Michigan
From my perspective 7-10 is adequate. Do I want more, yes. Do I need more, no. 7-10 is my current number on hand. This seems to fit any style needed (windy, knock-around,” and indoor fancy) for an occasion. I am a minimalist in many areas of life. Personally I don’t desire a lot of possessions that aren’t necessary or will not be used. Tobacco on the other hand…it will never be less expensive and will only become more regulated. So possess away!
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Only one of my cobs is a gift, and they are minimal acquisitions in terms of cost, and since I have about ten of them, they trim my sense of pipe allotment, justifiably or not. But they certainly are an anchor of my pipe contentment, low maintenance and high performance. I do have them fitted with Forever acrylic stems or purchased them as special editions with acrylic stems. Not counting the cobs, I have about eighty pipes. There, I feel better. (Ho-ho-ho.)
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
A single pipe, or three pipes in rotation, would probably show wear at an unaccustomed rate that would surprise me. With a large rotation, pipes stay new looking for years on end. The first pipe I bought, in 1978 or so, a Tinder Box St. Ives probably made by Chacom, still looks good and smokes well.