Idlefellow
Well-known member
I actually I hate that term - don't know why. Maybe "Pipe Dreams" is more suiting. At any rate, there are a couple pipes I've dreamed of owning - one of Richard Seyfried's briar-lined elk horn pipes, and a Boswell fishing pipe. I don't know if Richard is still making his pipes, and anyway, I've never seen one for sale anywhere.
The other is a Boswell fishing pipe, and recently I had the opportunity to check that one off. It's a lovely pipe, a "shotshell" model, with the bezel between the shank and bit make of shotshell brass (nickel in this case). It's unsmoked and mint. I paid a bit more than I cared to, but hey,,,
But now for the BUTS... when it arrived I was troubled by a couple things. 1) The bit is fixed and not turnable nor removable, and I see future issues: trouble cleaning the pipe, replacing a broken bit, etc. Hard to understand why the maker felt it necessary to construct it so. 2) the lanyard is permanently fixed, set in a hole in the briar under the edge of the shotshell. Also it's on the underside of the shank which causes the pipe to hang upside down on the lanyard. The other Boswells I've see had the lanyard in a groove around the shank and the lanyard is adjustable and removable, and since I was already making plans for replacing the nylon cord lanyard with something classier, that was a disappointment.
So, after a lot of soul-searching, back it went. The seller is a nice fellow and a brother pipe smoker and fisherman who had bought the pipe for himself and decided to sell it for the same reasons I've listed above. So, back on the trail; will be interesting to see if my interest for owning one was sated even though our time together was brief...
The other is a Boswell fishing pipe, and recently I had the opportunity to check that one off. It's a lovely pipe, a "shotshell" model, with the bezel between the shank and bit make of shotshell brass (nickel in this case). It's unsmoked and mint. I paid a bit more than I cared to, but hey,,,
But now for the BUTS... when it arrived I was troubled by a couple things. 1) The bit is fixed and not turnable nor removable, and I see future issues: trouble cleaning the pipe, replacing a broken bit, etc. Hard to understand why the maker felt it necessary to construct it so. 2) the lanyard is permanently fixed, set in a hole in the briar under the edge of the shotshell. Also it's on the underside of the shank which causes the pipe to hang upside down on the lanyard. The other Boswells I've see had the lanyard in a groove around the shank and the lanyard is adjustable and removable, and since I was already making plans for replacing the nylon cord lanyard with something classier, that was a disappointment.
So, after a lot of soul-searching, back it went. The seller is a nice fellow and a brother pipe smoker and fisherman who had bought the pipe for himself and decided to sell it for the same reasons I've listed above. So, back on the trail; will be interesting to see if my interest for owning one was sated even though our time together was brief...
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