Recent content by KevinM

I bought a Charles Town Cobbler and it’s a remarkable pipe. Most cobs feel very light in the hand. This one has briar-like heft and very nice balance. Haven’t smoked it yet. Just been admiring it.?

I suspect staff turnover is pretty darn quick in the business, and it’s not unusual for people to move on for whatever reason. If part of your job is writing short chunks of copy you can get worn out PDQ, especially if you have a list of other stuff that competes for your time. They do two...

7F and a 30 mph breeze!!! I imagine you won’t find a single outtastate license plate at any of the Maine beaches. Damn panty waists?. Your dedication is admirable, Sir. Have another piece of pie. Nice pipe, by the way.?

I think it’s easier to dedicate pipes (if you’re going in that direction) to types of tobacco rather than particular blends. So you’d have pipes for English, others for Va’s and others for Aro’s. Then a bunch of “take all comers” pipes. Lakeland’s are interesting. Personally, I like a Lakeland...

Re: consignment tins and pricing. In an open market, the seller names a price, and the buyer gets to keep his money or take the goods home. No one’s making anyone do anything. I’d say the only Q is the split between the seller and the consigner. (Right word?) My guess is that many of the...

Zeno Marx — I recall the same report from the surgeon general. I think it was quoted in a pamphlet I received in an order from Iwan Reis. I also recall the report touched off the “2nd hand smoke” business. If 8-10 bowls was a safe ration, why all the fuss? The contrived answer was that there is...

Molina’s, I don’t know. But I bought some Lacroix pipes from SP and find them handsome, well made and very capable smokers — $45 each. All but one were unsmoked estates. In a couple months time I bought five or six. I plan to keep a few and gift others. I very much admire pricey artisan pipes...

But your phrase “smoosh and stuff” takes the prize for originality. I wasn’t alert enough or something to recognize the method :D

Light tamping, no dumping for this piper.

You can’t step in the same river twice. Or something like that.

Both. And a third method, which works especially well with a Pot and a partially rubbed flake. Get a good idea of the size of the pipe’s bowl. Then take out a pinch that, when gently and carefully rubbed into a small ball, will expand just enough to loosely fill the pipe’s bowl. If you want to...

I’ve smoked St. B and have a few pouches in reserve. Can’t say I detected any floral notes or noticed any propensity to bite. I think of it as a nice, mild, inoffensive summer smoke. Sometimes I add a pinch of Conniston to perk it up a bit.

I scrolled down to say congratulations, and then I got to the plot twist. What a nightmare! Mold and some of the other problems you describe are not easily remedied and could have health consequences. Any chance of renting a large camper as an interim measure? Necessity has its own laws, as...

Re: outdoor piping. Some pipers don’t like outdoor smoking for various reasons but, as a New Englander, I’d opine that going outdoors with my briar only requires choice of a spot that is somewhat sheltered, especially if the wind is stiff. I don’t find this too challenging a task, perhaps...

Nope. Not here in CT. Knock, knock.