I have been givig serious thought into producing a striclty educational documentary on pipe smoking(not cigars or cigarettes), covering all the basic aspects of it. I've jotted down a few notes and ideas but before I get in over my head, I'd like to know if anyone knows if such a thing has already been done. I know there was a very brief segment on a Modern Marvels episode, but when I saw it I felt it lacked the depth that this art deserves.

I imagine something that anyone who is interested in pipe smoking could watch and come away with a much better understanding of what goes on. Does anyone know of such a film?

No, and I doubt that anyone could make such a video.

Why?

Pipe smoking is an art that must be learn in order to benefit the fullest from it's subtle nuisance. Those nuisance are what can't be filmed.

Pipe smoking itself is an art. The blending of tobaccos and creation of pipes is an art. But every form of art has a background. That is why there are classes for music appreciaion that teach music as if there is a scientific substance behind it, which is how I see pipe smoking. Our goal is always the experience and result but part of the hobby is the backgroud info. I'm a visual person and prefer to watch things, which is why I love documentaries.

It wouldn't be a video on how to pack a pipe although there would be a small segment of the various ways with a disclaimer on how it's still an art. But there are many parts which are fundamental such as briar wood or the growing of the leaf etc... This coudl be covered in a video.

I have three different ones on DVD that were produced over the last few years. Not one of them is entertaining let alone at all useful. If I were a novice they wouldn't exactly excite me about my new hobby. I honestly think the best book ever written on the subject was Hacker's Ultimate Pipe Book. It was a great mix of entertainment and useful knowledge.

If I were gonna try my hand at making my own videos I'd take cues from Hacker and make sure it's both enjoyable to watch and infomative

Listen to Dock, He learned from me!!! Ken
pacem en Puffing!

The videos I have watched over the years are the Uptown's series. Larsen, Great Dane, Vesz and Pete. Hacker put one out that was ok. Pipe maker JT Cooke did a homemade video. It is interesting, it shows him blasting. Bob Hamlin/PCCA did a homemade video that shows the Castello, Dunhill, Paolo Becker, Ashton and a couple of other shops if I remember correctly. The Cooke video can be found here courtesy of the CPCC. http://www.chicagopipeshow.com/education/video_broad.php

Here is a video I found that follows and explains the making of a pipe by a man named Pöhlner. Shows pretty much every part of the process:

Richard Carleton Hacker, author of The Ultimate Pipe Book and Pipesmoking: A 21st Century Guide http://www.amazon.com/Pipesmoking-Century-Richard-Carleton-Hacker/dp/0931253152 also has a VHS video called The Ultimate Piper Video http://richardcarletonhacker.com/pipebooks.html

Can't really help other than to say, whatever you do, do NOT go to youtube and start searching pipe videos. For some very strange reason the vast majority of them are gay fetish videos. I still haven't figured out why and what the connection is, but suffice to say I stopped researching pretty quickly!

-Andrew

Yes it is...