Would you keep an ugly pipe that smokes really well?

[BingBong]

you need a Radiator or that Dunhill that is built like one, or the Dunhill motorist that is bent 90 deg so the ash flys around the side when you take the open top Bentley out

There might be scope for a Peltier heat pump, copper heatsink and fan arrangement.

 

[JoeW]

Yes, unless it's a falcon.

If a falcon gave the best smoke on earth I'd still pay someone to take it away.

Otherwise, sure, I'd sometimes use an ugly pipe that smoked really well.

How about a Yello-Bole that looks like a Falcon, ghosted with Lakeland?

 

[Briarcutter]

If they smoke great, sure, keep them. If you ever start making pipes, you'll learn to love the ugly ones, those are the ones you keep

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

My best smoking and most frequently used pipe is a little on the ugly side, so sure! To me a pipe is first and foremost a tool to smoke tobacco, and while I do appreciate aesthetically pleasing pipes it doesn't have to be pretty to get the job done.

 

[bullet08]

I keep what I buy, unless it's really fucked up. Peterson all smokes very well for me. But their stems can be really messed up cosmetically. But I always buy pipes based on their grain, or blast. Once I have in my hand, I check the grain first. If stummel is fine, I couldn't give a rat behind about the stem. Only two out of 40+ that have some what a questionable angle. I posted pictures smoking them. No one noticed, or this forum is getting too polite.

 

[Elric]

I got rid of a number of cheap pipes, an Aldi Velani and a Molina come to mind, that were nothing special. I ended up trading them in to SP and regret it now that I'm more experienced and have bought a few nice pipes that smoked for crap.

 

[Bbailey324]

If it is a great smoker I'll find some way to convince myself that it looks sort of okay.

 

[Butter Side Down]

My preference is probably the same as everyone else: A good looking pipe that smokes great.

I do care about aesthetics, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd take the ugly great smoker.

Three of my best smokers are plug ugly. Two are kit pipes I made a long time ago. The third is a chewed up old Ropp billiard that was part of an eBay lot from 2005 that was clearly thrown in just to get rid of it. I had to boil the stummel to get rid of the ghost of Condor, which had the unfortunate side effect of popping out a bunch of fills in the briar, which just made it even uglier, but afterwards it has always smoked like a champ.

 

[Rafrox]

If it smokes really well, it's beautiful in my mind's eye.

 

[OzPiper]

Nope. I don’t do ugly
But it’s all in the eye of the beholder, innit

 

[Chasing Embers]

Yes, unless it's a falcon.

If a falcon gave the best smoke on earth I'd still pay someone to take it away.

Otherwise, sure, I'd sometimes use an ugly pipe that smoked really well.

I wish I'd discovered them decades ago. They're visually interesting in an H.R. Giger way and out smoke every pipe I've ever owned.

 

[Hillcrest]

A pipe that smokes well is not ugly. Yes, you can smoke a pipe into submission. A good looking pipe that doesn't smoke well is called a thoughtful gift.

 

[MisterBadger]

There are simply too many real pretty pipes that smoke really great.
Why spend time relaxing with an ugly pipe regardless of how it smokes is what I'm thinking

Several reasons:

1. Most pipes are barely visible while you're smoking them, and if they're good smokers then you're not fiddling with them and looking at them to get them to work, so it doesn't matter what they look like;

2. The ancient Egyptians had an aesthetic different from ours, which they called Ma'at: an untranslatable word not only meaning 'true', but also 'beautiful because thoroughly fit for purpose', and I subscribe to that;

3. An ugly pipe will not be envied by anyone, so nobody will be tempted to steal it or pester you to sell it;

4. The same reason I drive a car with scrapes and dents: not only does it not attract the envious, a little more damage will hardly be noticeable and therefore not a source of concern;

5. Ugly things often have compensating character - what the Japanese call 'wabi-sabi'.

There

 

[Hillcrest]

The same reason I drive a car with scrapes and dents: not only does it not attract the envious, a little more damage will hardly be noticeable and therefore not a source of concern;

It can also scare the crap out of others on the road if you drive with wild eyes when you need to !!!

 

[didimauw]

I don't enjoy my pipes untill they are caked, dented, and ugly. Pretty and or shiny pipes aren't for me.

 

[username]

Yeah their called cobs! Just joking of course.

 

[dog_park_piper]

Most of the time nobody sees me smoking. I’m not going to impress anyone. And when I’m smoking, I’m not looking at my pipe. If it smokes well, then it becomes beautiful.

 

[dog_park_piper]

Ugly pipes need love too.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I've never bought a pipe I thought was ugly. However, if for some reason I had an ugly pipe that smoked great, I'd absolutely smoke it. Having a beautiful pipe that smokes awful is like having a movie star caliber girl friend who won't swallow. Fat girls need love too, so do ugly pipes.

 

[warren]

A pipe must attract my eye whole on display in a shop. So, I wouldn't own any pipe I consider ugly. To answer, the question on your post, no. I trash pipes that do not perform satisfactorily.