"new" pipe choices

[Brewdude]

Brother Nick...Pete's are mostly fine smokers. I love their shapes; hate their QC. Far too many fills in their "higher quality" pipes...

I love me some Petes, but only their low end pipes. If you want a pipe that will look OK and smoke nicely, something to smoke while camping or just enjoy around the house, then you can't go wrong with a Pete. I've got a couple of Pete Irish Army pipes that are never gonna win any beauty prizes, but are the two best smoking pipes that I own. They're built like tanks and have a superb draw. They're meant to be smoking pipes, and they excel at their intended purpose - and they were reasonably priced to boot.However, I've examined a few Pete high-end pipes and those left me less than inspired. They looked great at a distance, but upon inspection I found way too many flaws on these pipes that were priced north of $200USD.

However, I won't single-out Pete as being the sole offender in this respect. Sav and Stan are guilty of this as well. I think that there comes a point where you return begins to diminish. Pete, Stan, and Sav all make really good pipes in the entry level ($80 - $180) price range. They may not be beauty queens, but they're all probably gonna smoke just fine. However, when I start to go north of $180 then all of these manufacturers have left me kind of cold because I haven't really found any (at least not any that I've ever handled) that were worth the asking price. Seems like all they did was put lipstick on their entry level pipes, but none of them appeared to be made of a better quality briar (at least nothing that appeared too be worth the extra coin) or were any better engineered - just some pretty bright work, a cooler stem, and a nicer finish. Cosmetic refinements that were nice, but not nice enough to justified the price increase that the manufacturers wanted. At least not for me, anyway.

When it comes to pipes priced north of $200 I won't buy a pipe from any of the major pipe manufacturers because I've never found any that I thought were really worth the asking price. My Dunhill estate would be the only exception, but brand new that pipe would be something that I couldn't have afforded anyway. If I'm gonna pay more than $200 for a pipe, then I'm gonna go with an artisan-made pipe. I have two high-end pipes made by Sasquatch over at BST, both were priced north of $200. I chatted with Sas about the general idea that I had for them, and he created works of art that exceeded anything I could think of. On both pipes, the briar is flawless, the finish is stunning, the balance is superb, the draw is awesome (but not awesomer than those two Pete Irish Army pipes), and the bit has been hand cut and fitted. Both are big enough to give me a good hour's worth of smoking joy.

YMMV, but I think that if you're gonna collect pipes than you should concentrate on artisan-made pipes. You'll get a lot more pipe for your money.

Lots of wisdom here, including and especially the recommendation to lean towards artisan pipes beyond a given price point. You certainly get what you pay for there. And, you can get a pipe made to your design/specs.

Lots of factory Pete's, Sav's, and such in my collection. And they are all fine pipes and well worth what I paid. Smoke all of them regularly and not a dud in the bunch. So there is that.

This is not to disrespect any name brand manufacturer. I've had major lust for a few and still do. One just has to have their own priorities in mind.


Cheers,

RR

 

[denholrl]

I don't think you can go wrong with a Peterson, but don't rule out a Stanwell, one of the best (and certainly the best-designed) mass produced pipes.

RobD

 

[RoyOdhner]

...One just has to have their own priorities in mind.


Cheers,

RR

And this is the essence of collecting pipes.

I know pipe smokers who collect only Dunhills, and that is cool. I know pipe smokers who concentrate on Petes, and that is cool too. I know pipe smokers who have never owned more than two pipes in their entire lives, and I know a pipe smoker who never owned more than one pipe - a Dr G - and he would smoke that until it fell apart, then go buy another one. I know a bunch of pipe smokers who smoke nothing but MM cobs, and have several of varying sizes on hand. None of us has a corner on class or superiority when it comes to pipes, because it's all kind of subjective. You've got to smoke and collect what you like... and, most importantly, what you can afford.

My collection is at about 50 right now. The only pipe I lust for anymore is a Watson, part of the Pete Sherlock Holmes series - and I know a B&M that has one. I've asked for it for Father's Day, and if I don't get it then I'll buy it for myself as a birthday present. It will go along with the Mycroft and Original that I already have. However, knowing what I know now my collection would be considerably smaller. I'd have just stuck with my straight Falcon and various bowls, my no-name basket Canadian, my Dr. G Royalton and a MM Diplomat, my two Pete Irish Army pipes, my two (soon to be three) Pete Sherlock Holmes pipes, and my two BST artisan pipes. Unfortunately, that knowledge came at the expense of collecting pipes based on whims.

Like many others, I was caught up in the fervor of collecting pipes - many of which looked good but were crappy smokers. I spent a lot of money on crappy pipes over the years, and the 50 I now own are those that are the best smoking of the lot. I've given away or disposed of about 25 others. However, of those 50 the only ones I really smoke on a regular basis are the afore mentioned 11 pipes. I'm making plans to reorganize my smoking corner of the living room into a small office once I graduate from Texas Wesleyan, and in the process those 50 pipes will be thinned down to about 20. I'll keep the other 30 on ice so that I can rotate them.

When it comes right down to it, a pipe is only a tool to burn tobacco - and you can only smoke one pipe at a time. Knowing what I know now, I'd have focused on tobacco and building a cellar and been a lot more conservative and critical (and self-disciplined) when it comes to collecting pipes. This is strictly based on my own perspective, but when it comes to the OP I'd discourage pipe collecting - at least I'd discourage buying more than one pipe every couple of years. I'd recommend focusing on building a cellar instead.