"dumb"? pipe question

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Lysander

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Messages
54
Reaction score
2
In a few photos on ebay and other places, why are bent stems pointing upward or the "wrong way"?
 
Lysander":nrksjwfl said:
In a few photos on ebay and other places, why are bent stems pointing upward or the "wrong way"?
I have a theory about this in certain cases, and it may be completely wrong, but here goes...

How many people think the bent stem goes in that way? Are all of them on ebay selling pipes?

I think sometimes it is done intentionally to draw the eye and capture attention. It gives the impression that the vendor is clueless and may be selling a Dunhill as an "England" pipe. You think "W00t! Here is my chance to get a deal on a pipe that is not going to show up in searches because the vendor is an idiot!" If you click to check it out, the strategy worked.

Of course it could be that the vendor really is is clueless, etc.
 
I have a pipe that has only a slight bend that i use primarily as a fishing pipe. Here in he PNW it rains a lot in the winter when i fish for steelhead, i frequently turn the stem around and smoke it upside down in order to keep raindrops out and goop down as God intended. Maybe these people all live in a rainforest somewhere.
 
NAJ_ile":7ak1t4uh said:
I have a pipe that has only a slight bend that i use primarily as a fishing pipe.  Here in he PNW it rains a lot in the winter when i fish for steelhead, i frequently turn the stem around and smoke it upside down in order to keep raindrops out and goop down as God intended.  Maybe these people all live in a rainforest somewhere.
OF COURSE !! They couldn't ALL be THAT dumb!! All they need to do is check their APPS right ? :twisted: :twisted:
 
I've even seen this in antique shops. One opinion might be that if there turned in then the stem is less likely to stick out and catch on something (at least in an antique shop). And I've seen them turned in for shipping purposes.
 
My guess is, that this style of pipe is being marketed to this crowd, who unfortunately were at some point bitten by a bat with rabies.

 
There's no excuse for not fitting the stem properly when taking photos to advertise the pipe for sale, but I often store my pipes that way. Often a bent pipe can't make it into the rack unless you spin the stem around.
 
I once bought a nice Becker Rhodesian with the upsidedown stem - the seller didn't have many pipes, appearing to specialize in the knick knacks you might find at yard sales. It was less than $80 and had little traffic; I think the serious Becker buyers were scared off.

hp
les
 
Top