What's the Most You Would Ever Spend on a Pipe?

[fishfly]

I draw the line at $25 but with an I-can't-let-that-get-away-for-$5 cushion. More than that and I just don't think it's going to smoke much better than my $10 to $20 estates.
I could probably scrape $4000 together by skipping a few fishing trips, drinking cheaper gin, and doing without other things I find pleasurable, but I would never spend that much money on a pipe.
I certainly see the beauty in some of those $4000 pipes, but I also see the beauty in an Ansel Adams photograph, but don't feel a need to hang one on my wall.
OK, so I'm cheap. But within my constraints, I have accumulated more than enough nice pipes. Some of them are even quite attractive.

 

[jackswilling]

Saw this on Drudge and thought of this thread. Your Johnson never felt so good.
"A Pair of Boxers for $400? Men’s Underwear Goes High-End"
"Priced in a broad range from $24.99 (the figure at which men’s underpants are considered “premium”) to the $470 the French luxury-goods house Hermès charges for a pair of woven boxers are briefs whose virtues are sometimes described in terms better suited to the aerospace than the apparel industry."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/26/fashion/a-pair-of-boxers-for-400-mens-underwear-goes-high-end.html?_r=0

 

[cynicismandsugar]

This raises another interesting question: How much would one be willing to spend on a [50 gram] tin of their favorite out-of-production or cellared blend(s)?

 

[jackswilling]

^^^ A bundle

 

[hooboy]

My reasoning is I have not the inclination to go this high.....
I am not destitute and don't live in a pasteboard box. I am retired as well as my wife. I worked for over 40 years at a Caterpillar dealership and when I retired I had my own Branch store , My wife was a rural mail carrier for 25 years plus . Not wealthy by No means but I know where My next meal is and We are Debt free with a small farm and home with 3 Automobiles and a 18 ft. Ranger bass boat . We owe nothing except monthly expenditures.
Now that is more info than you need and so saying I cannot for the life of me see a pipe worth 4 thousand or better, I gave a tad less for the 1st bass boat I owned And I would not have traded it for a pipe!

But If it floats your boat go for it (pun intended).

For me I don't understand the logic it IS all I am saying!

hoo

 

[jackswilling]

"For me I don't understand the logic it IS all I am saying!"
I now live in the Ozarks, so I understand that you don't understand. But there are people who have the means, and for the 10th time, I think it is cool that there are expensive/extravagant things, all kinds of things, and wealthy people to buy the things.

 

[warren]

hooboy: I wasn't looking to pry. I just do not understand the fascination or interest some have have in how or why another person spends their moneys. It simply baffles me. Me? I would look at your bass boat and simply think, "I bet he fishes for bass." And, if the boat was totally "tricked" out I'd guess that was because you wanted it that way. But, I'd sure not pass judgement on your spending habits. That's is simply none of my concern. It's the same logic for a pipe. There's no arcane reasoning. I wanted it, I could afford it, I purchased it.

 

[hakchuma]

I would probably spend up to $300 but no more. I have yet to spend more than $150 on a a pipe so far.

 

[gogosamgo]

The question is set up to make one reluctant to post, "yes, I don't think $4 grand is too much for a pipe at all."

Cosmic, I apologize if my original question seemed to be set up in a way to draw a specific response, that was not not my intention at all. I am not in any way "wealth-shaming" but was just curious what the general opinion was from the people in the hobby when they see a pipe priced in that range, and where they currently draw the line of how much to spend on a pipe (or if there even is a line). I came from a family who enjoyed the "finer" things in life. My mom loved designer jewelry, and what she would spend on one piece at Tiffany & Co she probably could have purchased 10 pieces from a local jeweler, but she didn't because she enjoyed her designer brand pieces. For one reason or another, this never transferred over to me. As I mentioned earlier, seeing a pipe that expensive made me realize that even though my finances can allow a purchase a pipe like that, I personally don't think I ever could. But I know everyone reasons differently, which is why I asked my original question to see what the general consensus was.

Was Bonhoeffer a pipe smoker?

I've read a few accounts that he smoked a pipe from time to time, but in general he smoked cigarettes and cigars more frequently. None the less, I have a lot of respect for him as an impactful figure in history!

 

[lochinvar]

Hooboy- If you can find a Purdey for $4 Large, pick me one up too
My tops is about $400, enough to get a Castello or Ferndown. Over that and we are in gun territory, and for the right one, $4000 and much more would not be out of the question.....but it would be a Westley Richards or Jeffery .500 Nitro Express, suitable for pachyderms, lion, buffalo and the occasional flying squirrel (damn them).
That said, if someone wants to who cares? People have different wants and priorities. Situations where they splurge and you won't are offset by situations where you splurge where they wouldn't. I've had people look like they've had a heart attack when I told them the the pipe I was puffing cost $40. Another friend says he wouldn't pay one red cent for any booze, and I was a fool to....to which I and my friends Talisker and Laphroaig heartily disagreed. A lot of people like the new artisan carvers work, most of them I wouldn't pay $100 for; I like the looks, smokability and price of Castello better than, for example, Rad Davis...but it's apparent a lot of guys like his work, I just don't. I think motorcycles are a boring waste (except for a 1938 Indian Chief, total badassery).
In short, that's what makes for horse races.

 

[stanlaurel]

This Tsuge Ikabana went for $1140.

I was very tempted but it sold so fast and it was gone.

 

[litup]

It changes over time, doesn't it? Like many, my first pipe was a $20 basket pipe and that seemed high to me. I remember graduating to a $100 Peterson and being afraid to handle it because it was way more than I thought I'd ever spend on a pipe. A few years deeper into this pastime and I find that I'm totally comfortable spending $300-$500 on a pipe. And while that's the number I'm comfortable with now, I can't promise that it won't increase over time.
I transfer a pipe and tobacco allowance every month into an account that's separate from our household finances so once that money is there I consider it "guilt free" spending money. If I want to save up a few months' worth of allowance and buy a really nice pipe I don't feel bad about it at all. I saved for it, I bought it, and I'll enjoy it.

 

[iamn8]

Very nice! I to have a weakness for high grade Volcanos in a modern aesthetic. I might've bought that one as well.

 

[cynicismandsugar]

If I want to save up a few months' worth of allowance and buy a really nice pipe I don't feel bad about it at all. I saved for it, I bought it, and I'll enjoy it.

Hear, hear!

 

[michaelmirza]

I'm sure I'd spend a lot more on pipes if I were still single. It gets a lot harder to justify the cost when it's no longer my money but now our money... especially when trying to save up to buy a house. But hey, corn cobs cost $4 and many folks swear they smoke better than briars, so there's always that.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Anyone who would spend more than $50 on a pipe is out to lunch.

 

[jackswilling]

^^^ Where are you currently having lunch?

 

[tbradsim1]

+1 Peck.

 

[cossackjack]

$200 is the most I have ever spent & only once. Most of my pipes were less than $100, usually much less, primarily estate & MM pipes. The pipes which I smoke most often are under $30, particularly Missouri Meerschaums. Trying to be thrifty, but mostly due to the scrutiny of SWMBO.

 

[warren]

I had a business model a few years ago that just didn't work out. I was going to take one photo a year, make it very good and sell it for $1,000,000.00. I am still refining the idea.