Ok, so my first pipe is a camoy black coral 42. I recently Picked up a Petersons I309 estate pipe off of Ebay. will i notice a bid difference in the two pipes? in the forums i do not see anyone talk about camoy. Are they decent pipes? what brands are the "good" ones? how many more questions can i ask? thanks all!

If you enjoy smoking it, it's a good pipe. Are Camoys good pipes?,,,if you enjoy smoking it, it is.,,,,What brands are the good ones?,,,the ones you enjoy smoking,,,,(see a pattern developing here?)

It depends on which era they're from, benmarcum.

Comoy and Peterson are both very old names in pipes, going well back into the 19th century. Comoy probably hit its peak from around 1920 - 1955. The market for both pipes and pipe tobacco had been in steady decline since 1900 or so and, after WW II, it was an increasing struggle for pipe makers to stay in business. Comoy and some other firms had formed a marketing cartel early on, and US tariffs were lowered to make English products more readily salable here as England struggled to repay its wartime debts, but by the 1960s, standards were beginning to slip. Finally, Comoy went into receivership ; the Drury Lane works were shuttered, and pipes marked with that name were manufactured in a modern factory. Finally, even this was not viable, and the Comoy name was stamped on pipes imported from France (and possibly elsewhere). So just the name "Comoy" on a pipe doesn't tell you much.

Peterson has managed to remain "in the family" to this day, but has gone through a lot of changes itself. The worst of them is dip-staining, which they went to to speed production. These, new, tasted like absolute crap until they were very well caked ; later, they coated the insides of the bowls to mitigate this. Some say they stopped dip-staining ; others say only on some, or not at all. (I don't know, collecting only old ones from the 1970s and before). If I didn't like the way it tasted, I'd ream the cake down to bare wood, soak out the stain with cotton balls and alcohol, and start over fresh.

There are a million potential questions about pipes. Just don't let them frustrate you or detract from the pleasure of smoking them

I have several old Comoy's: Grand Slam patents, Royals, Grand Slams, Blue Ribands, Traditionals, etc., all with the three-part "C." All are good smokers. I know nothing about latter-day Comoy's. Peterson's...well, you either love'em or you hate'em. I own three or four (one a meer), some with the P-Lip. For me personally...I wouldn't waste my time or money on them. Too damn many pesky fills, even in the higher-end pipes. Their QC is the pits!! JMHO!! FTRPLT

Kilty...Count yourself lucky, my friend. I bought a new Shamrock apple a few weeks ago. Beautiful blast; actually smokes dern good. But down on the bottom right of the bowl is a MFGDSOB dark-brown fill!! Only pisses me off just a little bit!! No more Pete's!!!!!!!!!!! FTRPLT

I have several Comoy's that I purchased about fifteen years ago (appears to be Italian) and have always thought them to be good smokers and well constructed as far as fit/finish goes. I have a newer Comoy Poker that "appears" to be made in England that is a little over a year ago that although a good smoker is not as well constructed as my older ones. As far as Pete's go that has kind of been a hit or miss for me. There was a period when I purchased them around 2000 that I thought there "quality control" was lacking IMHO, not to mention the dip stain inside the bowls. I mainly talking the Fourth of July series and the Saint Patrick's Day series. I have a 2006 Peterson Pipe of the Year (Poker Shape) and a Rosslare Bulldog that are both well constructed.

I've seen some REAL high end petes just full of fills... like Sherlock Holmes series pipes. Crazy. But I do like how they smoke.

Benmarc....I think that the preference for certain brands comes down to smoking style - how hard you draw, whether you clench... even the shape of your lips and teeth with determine what you find comfortable. All you can do is try a few different pipes in different brands and see what you like.

well...you know...trying a bunch of pipes is gonna be a hard job, but i guess someone has to do it. thank you all for putting up with all of my questions as of late.

Pipes are female.

This explains much when you ponder it.

So far my PAD has only led to a collection of 36 pipes. In order of preference they are Bjarnes, Savinellis, Boswells, Petersons and GBDs. As in all things involving the human element you can tell a lot by the construction, fit, finish etc but what it all boils down to is personal preference IMHO. If you enjoy smoking it, it's a great pipe whether a ten dollar drug store or a several hundred dollar Ashton.

you want a great smoking pipe? buy an Eltang!