Wow! Good Pipes Are Good.

[bigmick]

I know, Duh! Bear with me for a few.

I've been a member here for a short while, a lurker for a year. I don't post much as I have little of real value to add, being newish to pipes and a idiot, comparatively, to the knowledge here.

I am poor. I have a lousy job, and 2 kids, wife, dog that uses up most of my money. For 2 years of pipe smoking I have settled for trying tobacco and not spending on pipes. I have a couple estate Grabows and a handful of cobs and 6 basket pipes(all of which I got as gifts or second/third/fourth hand). I had my eye on a Savinelli at my local shop. I had it put on hold months ago, thinking I'd purchase it with my tax return. It was NOS and the shop owner has been a real friend to this noob, and made me a great price deal. This week I had the extra cash to go buy it finally. Unfortunately, it was MIA. 4 guys scoured the shop and no pipe. I was highly disappointed and a little miffed. I had been lusting after this pipe for months. I have not found another like it and still have hope the boys just misplaced it, instead of some other mouth smoking it, without giving it the love I would have. The shop owner took pity on me and offered to make me a deal on another pipe. Well that deal turned into two pipes. One new and one estate. The new one was a low end Nording and the estate was a LaStrada. ( No I can't post pictures, no camera)

Now to the point of the post.

I had read all the thoughts about the evils of low end "basket" pipes, while smoking one and thinking " bull, my cheap pipes smoke as well as those $400 ones". I was wrong. These two mid range pipes have changed my mind. I can actually say I'm a pipe smoker now, not just a nicotine junkie. (I am still one of those)These two pipes smoke better, taste better and stay lit. No more 10 or 20 relights per bowl. Granted I am not a attentive smoker. I'll puff a few times and then get up to make tea or something. This LaStrada stays lit for minutes, not seconds like my Grabow.

So my advice for new pipe smokers is start with a couple cobs and a couple minimum $50 pipes. The bad part for me is I may only get one more good pipe this year, and that is only if they find MY Sav. If anyone in Columbus knows a smoker that has a new Sav, slight bent, with a clear stem, tell him to give it back. Mine! (lol, sorta)

Thanks for reading y'all.

 

[nsfisher]

Welcome aboard mate, thanks for the read.

 

[shaintiques]

Columbus, where? Georgia?

 

[bigmick]

shaintiques...Ohio. Thought everyone knew there was only one Columbus.
Thanks for the encouragement guys.
Now can someone tell me why my PS Proper English bites me in the LaStrada and not in my cheap pipes or cobs?

 

[philobeddoe]

If you live in Columbus, you have an embarrassment of riches, as far as pipe shops. Go to Smokers Haven and talk to Chedda, he's a great guy and he's also a pipe maker. The Tinderbox on the north side is awesome, there are several others I cannot remember. It's a real pipe smokers town.

 

[bigmick]

Smokers Haven is the shop that lost my pipe. Also the shop where the guys have been very patient with my outspoken self, and bent over backwards taking care of me after it was apparent my pipe was missing. I know every pipe/cigar shop in town and Smokers Haven gets most of my limited money. Tinderbox gets the rest.

 

[Perique]

I was just in Columbus (Dublin) briefly last week on some business and echo the sentiment that, yes, Columbus OH is a B&M paradise compared to most towns.
Welcome to the forums bigmick, lurker no more.

 

[bigmick]

Roth, Premal was there and he did feel really bad that it was missing. He knows how I felt about that pipe,and yes I'm sure he is still looking for it. I really don't blame him, stuff happens. I'm more miffed that it happened than at any person. I'm still hopeful it'll turn up.

I'm very pleased with the pipes I did get, even if they weren't The One.
I have spent many hours in that shop talking to Premal and Bill. Always felt welcome and almost always learn something new.

 

[cynyr]

Welcome aboard, bigmick!

 

[brian64]

IMO, generally speaking, a higher quality pipe does equal a higher quality smoke. I learned that lesson the hard way after buying a few too many lower end ones.

 

[thuber88]

Understand all too well BigMick, been looking to scrounge a smokable estate from ebay, since I cant afford anything new.

Maybe someday..
Welcome and good luck

 

[pitchfork]

bigmick, if you want a good pipe for less than $50, ebay is your friend. A lot of times, less-well-known brands like Bari and Georg Jensen can be had for a song -- just make sure they look in reasonably good shape, etc. I've found new pipes by both makers for less than $35. Plus, many of the older English makes had various lines of "seconds" that smoke as well as the main brands but may have a fill or two. Comoy had a slew of second lines like Guildhall, Everyman, Sunrise, etc. that can sometimes be had for a bargain -- nice looking pipes, too.
I'm sure others here can give more suggestions if you're looking to get beyond basket pipes.
And welcome!

 

[bigmick]

After this lesson I'm definitely looking to move past basket pipes. There is a part of me that wants to toss all my cheap pipes and tell the wife I HAVE to buy better replacements. SWMBO will not buy that line of logical and rational thought. Women!

Ebay is not my friend. I have rotten luck there. Esty is better in my mind. No bids, just buy the dang thing.
PAD while broke is a sad thing.

 

[foggymountain]

Someone must have pinched it. Sorry about that Mick.

 

[bigmick]

Roth, I am in SH 3-4 times a month. My budget(director) won't let me go more often. The guys have been very nice to a guy who only spends @$30 twice a month or so. They do have tons of pipes and I drool every visit. Good idea about getting Premal to bird dog one for me....

 

[rmbittner]

I'm not wanting to refute your premise here -- that better pipes actually smoke better -- because you're absolutely right. But I do want to defend the "basket pipe" a bit.
I think there are some great deals to be found in the baskets or on the wall or however a shop displays its "generic" pipes. But you do have to do some work to find them. I think your frustration may be with the fact that your own basket pipes were not hand-chosen by you but came to you "second/third/fourth" hand. I have two no-name pipes that have been with me for years (one was my very first pipe ever, bought in 1980), and they give perfectly satisfactory results. No, I don't swoon over their grain or their craftsmanship, but they are well-made, drilled properly, and do everything I need a pipe to do. Neither one has any fills, and both seem to be an appropriately light weight for their size.
So if you ever feel the need to seek out a basket pipe firshand, I'd suggest looking for pipes that feel light in your hand for their size, pipes that are drilled correctly (will they pass a pipe cleaner into the bottom center of the bowl?), and pipes that exhibit no flaws on the inside of the bowl (assuming it's bare wood). Fills don't affect smokability at all, but if you can find a $20 pipe without them -- and it meets the other criteria -- then I'd choose that one in a heartbeat.
Welcome to the hobby -- and the forum!

 

[matchstickman]

I'm not wanting to refute your premise here -- that better pipes actually smoke better -- because you're absolutely right. But I do want to defend the "basket pipe" a bit.

Im gonna side with rmbittner on this one, again, not saying that your point doesnt have merit, which it absolutely does. I have a good size billiard pipe I paid $15 for on Ebay. No name, no marking, no nothing. Good size bowl, came with char marks on the rim and still has them, no great grain to speak of, mouthpiece has a little bit of chatter, but it is drilled so well and the draw is so free and it smokes so dry that it easily beats out some of the other lower end briars I own. Again, there is nothing like a high quality, well made pipe, but there are diamonds in the rough to be found in the bargain bin, you just have to know where to look.

 

[bigmick]

If I had known then what I know now when I picked up my basket pipes I may well have a different opinion of them. I have little doubt there are gems hiding in baskets,but no or little knowledge beginners will only find them through luck. Most of us don't do a lot of research when deciding to pick up our first pipe.
I have gotten good smokes from my no name pipes...but these two new ones just seem to bring out the good side of the tobacco. Before I would get hints of great flavor, now I find it consistently.

 

[bigmick]

Yeah, my first briar was a Weber, stinger and all, bulldog, rusticated. Caused me all kinds of grief and pain. Wouldn't part with it for nothing. I get it to smoke fine about once every 3 bowls. The rest is an exercise in frustration, but I love that darn thing. I'll master it one day.

 

[rmbittner]

I have little doubt there are gems hiding in baskets,but no or little knowledge beginners will only find them through luck. Most of us don't do a lot of research when deciding to pick up our first pipe.

I think this responsibility actually falls squarely on the shoulders of the tobacconist who is selling the pipes, not the beginner who is shopping. Granted, "tobacconist" might not really apply these days. And I do realize that educating a new pipe smoker takes a lot of time and may not always be possible during the course of a busy business day. Nonetheless, I believe it's the job of the person behind the counter to do the initial hand-holding. That's how you win customers. That's how you help to ensure a successful smoking experience that will bring that customer back to your store for their next pipe, their next tin. If a retailer is unwilling or unable to do that -- maybe they only know cigars -- then I don't think they really deserve that new smoker's business.