Stanwells AGAIN

Brothers of Briar

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Stefanos":ynv1c69s said:
Exactly Aaron. Priorities.
Some of these guys here (you know who you are 8) ) can drop big bills on a gorgeous pipe like I put a quarter in the Tip Jar at the coffee house.
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That's just what I'm saying Stefanos! Some of us can drop big bucks on briar but we really shouldn't do it under the misguided belief that we're simply paying for a great smoking pipe! You can buy plenty of great smokers for well under a hundred bucks and I've recently bought some under $20.00!

I'd just like to see some other folks like me come out and call a spade a spade. Folks buy expensive pipes because 1) They're miniature works of collectible sculpture that they like to show off to their friends and fellow collectors. 2) We get romanced with a certain brand/maker and in a way we try to"buy into" the mystique of it. 3) We want to own "that hot pipe of the moment"(usually an up and coming carver who's stuff is all the rage) 4) We simply have a good deal of expendable income and can afford them.

What I'm saying is: DON'T yearn for a certain brand of pipe all the while thinking that it's gonna blow you away the first time you light match to it. I've never had the angels singing Haaaa-le-lo-yaaa" no matter what the brand or what I paid for it :lol:

A pipe is'nt all that complicated folks! A hunk o' wood and a hard piece of rubber or acrylic. That's it! :lol:
 
Aaron, when I was a poor college student all my pipes were cheap, too. But I was always happy with them and enjoyed every single one. No concept of rotation whatsoever, either, just smoked them in serial. And smoked tons of Mixture 79. What I had in my favor was that there was no internet and ignorance was bliss. PD and the others have it right, you don’t need expensive pipes. Having a good blend is much more important.
 
Danish_Pipe_Guy":7y9p2y0v said:
I'd just like to see some other folks like me come out and call a spade a spade.
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[Puff Daddy opens the closet door] "I'm with ya Dock! I like my high grades too but I know they are what they are, and they aren't what they aren't (if that makes any sense)".



Wet Dottle":7y9p2y0v said:
... smoked tons of Mixture 79.
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In spite of that, and even though the man is probably suffering from the detrimental effects that Mixture 79 can have on a man's central nervous system, he is right :lol:
 
Dock,

I really appreciate your humility!!!

:D :D :D

It's part of what makes BoB what it is!
 
Aaron, I started with S.S,Pierce pipes $2.95 each, well I still have some of them and they are still smoked! 50 years later! Ken :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue:
 
I remember a time I only smoked cobs and Walgreens brand bulk black cavendish and was perfectly happy! I still occasionally load up some bc and im instantly transported to the summer days of 1991, listening to the Dead with friends that are long gone...ah, those were the days!
 
On the basis of having had some anywhere from unsmoked to pretty new "good" pipes (assuming Dunhills, Cavicchis and a Winslow D qualify) and a lot of distinctly old pipes (going back to around 1920 or so) : a good new pipe is to be treasured. But after the initial infatuation wears off (Latakia Lovers' Rule : No pipe is allowed to be listed as a "favorite" until you've had 50 trips around the block with it), the nod goes to the old ones. Emphatically. Especially when their airways have been tuned.

Old briars just, IMHO, taste rounder, fuller and mellower.

And not necessarily high-end ones either. The right Parker after 50 years will probably match the taste of any Dunhill and stomp any new one.

Those who remember Doc from the knox board might recall that his all-time favorite pipe was an old Bewlay (which was a chain of tobaconists in England that put that name on the manufacturers' over-runs they sold).

If I could only have one pipe, it would be a Peterson Kilarney (at that time, a decent briar with a few small fills) from around 1970 or so. Or a Stanwell I can recall.

:face:
 
I have approximately 50 pipes or so and not one high end job. Love them all and wouldn't give them up for the world. In my collection you will see names like Stanwell, Peterson, Jobey, Alpha, Bari and the list goes on. I'd put up many of my pipes against the Dunhills and Rad Davis' of the world when it comes to great smoking properties. If I had the cash would I buy one, absolutely but I'm not the least bit jealous of those who can afford it. I'm quite proud of my collection.
 
This is a great thread...wish I had seen this a while back. I guess I appreciate it more because I had two great smokes last night, one being in a cob, and another in a no-name old drug store briar. Nothing high end there but great smokers.

I have recently been admiring Stanwells for their style and good reviews. Def time to pick one up!

-Adam
 
With Stanwell auctioning off their briar, their machinery, their building, and laying off their crew, Yes.. Now if the time to get one...


I had imagined them picking everything up and moving it to Italy.. I thought wrong.

I can't help but believe the new pipes will suffer, even if they buy all new machinery, wood and train a new batch of carvers..which it doesn't look like what they've did.
I Very gloomily say, from all appearances they aren't 'moving' they just sold the name. I feel like carrying mine out to the USA Today paper box and snapping pics just as proof of their age..
 
I find this thread to be very pedestrian. I wouldn't smoke 30 year old Balkan Sobranie out of a Stanwell, just like I wouldn't drink Dom Perignon straight from the bottle while sitting on the toilet.

:lol:

Jokes aside, I think you should just smoke what appeals to you. Sure I drool over some of the really expensive pipes I see, but that doesn't mean I don't drool over my old Stanwell that I picked up on ebay for under $30. If you like those really crazy shapes, hey, go for it if you have the means!
 
After the holidays I will be surely making some Stanwell purchases. I'd love to get a Nanna Ivarsson designed one, I love the shape and look.

There was site that someone posted some time back with some European Stanwells (redundant much?) that were not sold in the US. The shapes were somewhat different and I don't recall the cost being much higher.

Any idea where that site was?

-Adam
 
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