Which Pipe Brands to Avoid?

[captaincalabash]

I would unabashedly recommend my own handmade pipes, but, what to call them? My forum name, "Captain Calabash" is too long to stamp on the stummel, so I thought about just the initials - but "CC" might be taken as a dosage, so, perhaps if it was stylized, something like:
No...too close to another type of pipe. Maybe if I contracted it? Let's see, what works? "Captain Calabash" - "CaptaCala", no...:Cap Bash", not quite...Capbash, almost...wait! That's perfect! "Cabbage"! Ladies and Gentlemen, herewith, my new brand and logo...I give you...:Cabbage Pipes"

On further reflection, given that I've only made 2 pipes and one was a corncob using leftovers from dinner, AVOID ANY PIPES WITH THE ABOVE NAME AND/OR LOGO!!! Seriously. Avoid. Like the Plague. Or your mother-in-law at Depends-changing time. Or combat duty with the Wagner group in Bakhmut. You'll be glad you did.

 

[yanoJL]

Dirtiest man alive... He did in fact smoke dung in that pipe.

And when asked "why?" He famously said: "it was either that or Cult Blood Red Moon"

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

"Which Pipe Brands to Avoid?"​

The ones you think look ugly.
Every modern pipe is perfectly serviceable, it's very hard to find a pipe that doesn't smoke well.

If you're particular about having a pipe with high volume airflow then Missouri Meerschaum is the only company mass manufacturing good pipes.

 

[vosBghos]

For me - Ropp. I can't say they are bad for the price, but they seem like toys to me.

The thing about Ropp is that some of them look really pretty, have good blasts, some with horn stems, and are cheap, but they tend to smoke really hot in my experience. So when I smoke them I tend to go extra slow.

 

[Searock Fan]

The thing about Ropp is that some of them look really pretty, have good blasts, some with horn stems, and are cheap, but they tend to smoke really hot in my experience. So when I smoke them I tend to go extra slow.

What I don't understand is why you would want to smoke them at all....

 

[JackOrion]

I would definitely avoid this estate:

This guy is the living embodiment of the Burning Man festival

 

[FurCoat]

I won’t be buying Ratray’s again. No response to emails to their website.

Ah yes, the 2000 Year. I haven't seen them for sale in awhile. I got a refund on mine when it split in half on its maiden smoke. I asked the vendor to replace it but they issued a refund and they were pulled from the site. I think this was a common problem.

 

[tobakenist]

I have been to France on many occasions and have never seen a Frenchman smoking a Ropp, I think they just export them, I have smoked one once, the ones with bark around them, not my thing, in the film Inglorious Bastards the opening scenes the Frenchman is smoking a Corncob, maybe very accurate ?

 

[Lumbridge]

It's very real. This guy made his first appearance here maybe 7 or 8 years ago, If I remember correctly he was Iranian, maybe Syrian, in his 80's - a longevity that he attributed to having never bathed - and he smoked camel shit in that pipe.

So when are we going to see blends like Samuel Gawith Dookie Plug hit the market? Sutliff Mr. Hankey Flake for the holidays, perhaps?

 

[mso489]

The blend is Camel Scat, with traces of hay, oasis herbs, sandstorm, dromedary sweat, camel musk, floral and citrus notes, and a blessing of mango.

Someone checked the smoker's birth certificate and he's age eighteen.

 

[Lumbridge]

The blend is Camel Scat, with traces of hay, oasis herbs, sandstorm, dromedary sweat, camel musk, floral and citrus notes, and a blessing of mango.

Someone checked the smoker's birth certificate and he's age eighteen.

Sounds preferable to Captain Black Cherry, at least.

 

[mso489]

I'm a hyper-focussed shopper and overthink everything, so mostly I buy fairly good pipes. Now and then one doesn't work out by some flaw or another, or just a trait that I don't like.

I bought a handsome foursquare, a paneled billiard by Ben Wade, at the local Tinder Box. It was a pretty good price, a good deep blast, and not a bad smoker, but that pipe had some kind of finish that made a handsome pipe look plastic. It just never appealed to me, so I traded it away. I think Ben Wade makes some good pipes, but not that one.

I bought an artisan pipe, a bent ball, that somehow just didn't draw well. I could not light and sustain a good ember in it. I think the airway was a little off, so I traded it off. I have other pipes by the same carver and they've been good for years.

Some brands that make great pipes go out of business. And some brands that make less good pipes seem to hang on. But usually, if a brand sustains itself over time, it makes mostly pretty good pipes, I've found.

 

[craig61a]

When I was in Europe, the sheesh was called camel shit…

 

[Zamora]

It's very real. This guy made his first appearance here maybe 7 or 8 years ago, If I remember correctly he was Iranian, maybe Syrian, in his 80's - a longevity that he attributed to having never bathed - and he smoked camel shit in that pipe.

So no, I wouldn't recommend smoking it if it ever became available for sale.

Wonder why he did that. There's that urban myth that Latakia is smoked with camel or yak shit

 

[Chasing Embers]

Wonder why he did that.

He believed that defiling himself and abstaining from cleanliness attributed to a long life. Even ate decaying food.

 

[Searock Fan]

He believed that defiling himself and abstaining from cleanliness attributed to a long life. Even ate decaying food.

It's simple. He was bat-crap crazy!

 

[sablebrush52]

Wonder why he did that. There's that urban myth that Latakia is smoked with camel or yak shit

He couldn't find a tin of Germain's version of Balkan Sobranie.

 

[Maierar]

Ah yes, the 2000 Year. I haven't seen them for sale in awhile. I got a refund on mine when it split in half on its maiden smoke. I asked the vendor to replace it but they issued a refund and they were pulled from the site. I think this was a common problem.

I guess you had a better vendor than I had. Mine just gave me the email address of their pipe repair guy who told me to “replace it”.

 

[Hunter1]

I love my Petersons, I only have 3, but never had a problem with them. I'm getting ready to order another Irish military mount. But I also have a couple of Capri pipes , and never had a problem with them either.Matter of fact the 11 or 10 pipes I have , I have no problems with them at all, they all draw good, I do keep them in top shape. Only problem I have with a pipe sometimes is if I pack to tight, to loose, but once adjusted all smoke great.

 

[craig61a]

Anything that starts with the letter A, D, or P…