Your First Briar

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Serviceable briar can be had for very reasonable price. About the price of two well made cobs. What you smoke depends on what you want to smoke. There are no rules and measures regarding what you want to smoke. Some guy smoked dungs for all his life.

 

[AroEnglish]

Oh man I remember the days of only having a cob and wanting a briar so badly. If you've got the cash I'd say don't wait at all. If you don't have the cash then focus on your smoking technique. After finally getting a briar I noticed nothing changed and that's because I didn't really know how to smoke a pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

There's a coloring factor which briar does not do.

Briar colors in less time and more uniformly than meerschaum you just don't notice it much on stained pipes.

 

[BingBong]

Your first briar should probably be a Dunhill, then you can move up from there.

 

[Merton]

Nothing against cobs, but please get a couple of Briars as soon as you can. You can pickup brand new briars for $50-75 and good estate briars for around the same.

 

[RookieGuy80]

So once I got it in my head I wanted to smoke a pipe I went to the local B&M. I walked out with 2 ounces of tobacco, a cob, a briar, and pipe cleaners. It was a cheapo basket pipe, H.I.S. was the brand. You're ready for a briar once you know which end of the pipe to light.

 

[captpat]

Your first briar should probably be a Dunhill, then you can move up from there.

That's a step down from a cob.

For the OP looks like you've received the expected advice from a pipe-smoking forum, of course, folks will encourage you to buy more pipes, tobacco, lighters, tampers, etc., etc., etc. Value pipe brands include Morgan Bones, Rossi, and for a bit more Stanwell. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

 

[AreBee]

I started smoking about five months ago. My first two pipes were Meers and liked them so much I thought I'd never buy a briar. I bought my first briar about two months after I started. I have nine briars now.

So the answer is two months.

 

[kcghost]

I've never heard of a waiting period before getting a briar. Some people select a cob because they want to hold down the cost until they are sure they will like pipe smoking. Like most folks I got a briar first and never regretted it.

 

[anotherbob]

How long would you tell someone to wait until they bought their first Briar pipe? I have a cob but find myself coveting a briar. thanks

-N

the moment you feel like it and it's comfortably in the budget.

 

[dottlejockey]

There are some good prices on estates here:
mars cigars & pipes - https://www.marscigars.com/estate-pipes.aspx
(I apologize in advance if this triggers anyone's PAD.)

Alternately, look around for a Stanwell or Savinelli. Hard to go wrong. Estate or new, depending on budget.

 

[emac.917]

How long would you tell someone to wait until they bought their first Briar pipe? I have a cob but find myself coveting a briar. thanks

-N

I just started smoking pipes in January this year. I started out with a cob which I was very content puffing away on, but I started feeling that briar itch about 3 months in.

I had a trip to Spain & Portugal planned for this month (July), so I decided to make it a goal to buy my first briar while there for some added adventure.

My first purchase was a Bruken from the lovely pipe shop R. Moreu in Madrid. The proprietors and staff were super friendly and were happy to spend time looking through and talking about their collection of pipes. They are on the 4th generation of family running the shop. Fun to chat with them even though my Spanish is limited.

Beware that first purchase though… I ended up buying a few more pipes while traveling through Barcelona and Valencia. It’s so addictive.

While in Valencia, I visited the Bruken workshop where they shared a lot of lovely pieces with me. They were very friendly even though I don’t think they expect visits from newbie smokers like me.


Early morning first bowl in my first briar while in Lisbon.