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I've been thinking about picking up a meer. I had an old GBD one decades ago but something (now forgotten) happened to it and it is history. I've been looking at IMP, Beckler and CAO (by the way is CAO still making meerschaums?). Any thoughts on any of these lines, or others that you would...

There's a good looking Sasieni Ruff Root on Ebay that I'm interested in. It appears to be the tan finish. The highly reputable seller lists it as family era but Hacker's "Rare Smoke" says the tan finish was never made during the family era. On the other hand, the seller points out that it has...

I was saddened to hear yesterday of John Updike's death. I've read him all my life--I counted 30 Updike volumes in my library yesterday. He was a fine American writer and man of letters. I, for one, will miss his work.

Well, I stopped by my favorite local B & M this afternoon, Smokers' Haven, to see what was new in stock and, as I walk in the door, there's Michael Parks, my favorite pipemaker, hanging out with Premal Chheda! Michael, in addition to being an outstanding pipe maker, is a completely charming and...

As a serious cigar smoker/collector from 2002 through 2007, I participated at a couple of cigar boards, principally Cigar Family. I posted only about cigars and ignored all the flame wars. When I changed over to the pipe, I looked at numerous pipe boards before joining this one. The biggest...

Over the years I've subscribed to a number of magazines but the one intellectual essential, to me, is the New York Review of Books. Anyone else subscribe/read it?

The estate Chheda came in from Pipestud ultra fast considering the season so I decided to spend Christmas Eve in my first "restoration." Actually, that's an overstatement because the pipe looked like it had been smoked only a few times at most. I gave it the Elijah Craig treatment to the shank...

I won an Ebay auction last week and have an unsmoked Astley billiard coming from Coopersark. Anyone ever smoke one? I assume quality is similiar to a Dunhill or Chartan...or is it?

Although I've been buying north American pipe makers (Parks, Pohlman, R. Davis & Chheda) and one Italian (Cavicchi), I still love the traditional English shapes, too. Does anyone have any experience with Ashton (Bill Taylor) or Northern Briar (Ian Walker)? I've seen the threads on Ferndown and...

After a couple of newbie posts about North American carvers, I've been continuing my education in the world of new pipes by extensive Internet reading and looking at pipes from many makers/carvers. And, I have been spending every Saturday afternoon talking for hours with Premal Chedda at...

In the heyday of my cigar smoking I purchased one of Bob Staebel's Aristocrat cabinet humdors. Since I rarely smoke cigars anymore, I've been selling off some of my inventory to create space in the Aristocrat for opened tins. I keep the humidity level at 65%. I like having a variety of open...

I smoked the Michael Parks coral Canadian that shows in my PAD post and, this being my first Parks pipe, I have to say that I'm really impressed. The pipe is extremely light in the hand and was an amazingly cool smoker. The draw was great. In all, I'm really impressed with Parks' work and am...

August 23. Pre-show August 22 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Smokers' Haven). Anyone going to either? I've never been so I'm really looking forward to it.

The Columbus pipe show is coming up and I see that Cooke will be there which presents a rare opportunity, I assume, to buy one of his pipes. Does anyone have any experience with them as smokers? If so, what do you think?

I'm scheduled for a conference in Scottsdale in October at the J. W. Marriott Camelback Inn, which is non-smoking, of course. Two questions: a) is there anywhere to smoke in Scottsdale and b) are there any good pipe stores in the area? Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Obviously, in earlier decades pipe production dwarfed today's production and many grand old names--that are now defunct or a shadow of a former self-- were available as regular production pipes. But, the choices of the 1950s or 1960s smoker were essentially limited to factory production pipes...

As I've re-entered pipe collecting after a long absence, I've grown to appreciate sand blasted pipes in addition to smooth. It seems to me that the surface aesthetics of smooth pipes are much easier to appreciate than blasts in that the natural grain is obvious; the blast finish, on the other...

I'm also thinking of adding some additional English estate pipes--presently, all my older pipes are GBDs from the 1970s or before. Presently, I'm looking at a Barling Fossil from the 1950s. Hacker's Rare Smoke speaks well of them. Experiences?

I just read the article about Claudio Cavicchi in the Winter 2008 issue of P & T and then looked at four of his pipes at the local B & M. What's the opinion of his work? I have to admit that I really like the look of the pipes but I'm not sure how they smoke. The article says that Cavicchi...

Wet Dottle's comment at the end of the Tinsky, Davis, Purdy thread made me reconsider the underlying purpose of that thread. What I was really asking about was what fine American carvers to buy from and I unnecessarily limited the topic to three. Being new to artisan carvers, I'd be interested...