The best pipe you own

[jacko]

The best pipe I own is both my best smoker and favorite shape/finish. Its a Castello sea rock 3/4 bent egg. It was my first pipe I had the 'ah ha!' moment with VAs flakes (FVF to be exact).

 

[Brewdude]

My best smokers are currently:

A Randy Wiley Rhody I got from the Issy T-Box about 10 yrs ago. Seems to smoke anything well. Mine has a tobacco leaf carved into the bowl. Alas I can't find a pic of it.


And a new Stanwell Legend 19 that looks much like this-

Neither of these cost more than $100.

 

[itsKot]

Kind of in the same boat with you Brewdude, my two most beloved pipes have got to be my peterson 53 and a tobacconist inc lumberman/lovat. Both of which were very very affordable, the pete came for around 75 bucks and the lumberman 35 shipped. Couldn't be more happy with the pair of them!

 

[raf66]

I don't have a super-huge collection (20-something or so), but my clear favorite is my Ser Jacopo Tapered Billiard. It's light, smokes very cool and darn near smokes itself. It's also a uniquely-carved piece, called a Rowlette Candle Carving, that is a truly fine-looking specimen. I will be seeking out more Ser Jacopo pipes in the future (once I win the lottery).

 

[babysinister]

A Savorys Argyll #140, which I bought new in the early 70s, is still my best smoker and is dedicated to virginias and vapers. I won't have it radically restored for fear of messing with perfection.

 

[the macdonald]

I swore off English pipes a few years ago due to skyrocketing estate prices, damned rubber stems, and falling in love with Italians, but...my Dunhill (height of hype) birth year ODA billiard is just too good.

 

[Boulder]

I don't have many pipes, but based on the topic and excluding my Meerschaums (care and posture goes with out saying)

my offer would be my Tsuge bent brandy (it's petite with a generous size bowl, light as can be, and so very sexy)

and helps me to be a better smoker.

 

[mattia76]

My black, bent, blasted, Copenhagen-Era Larsen Super.

I got it unsmoked (it was about 50 years old) and have still only smoked it maybe 12 times.
Light as a feather.
Hangs perfectly from the mouth.
Holds a lot of tobacco.
Perfection in a pipe.

 

[sand18f]

My old Pete Donegal Billiard. Stuff any tobacco in it. Fire it up, fast, slow it dose not matter. All pipes should smoke this good.

 

[mgtarheel]

My two Ascortis that I got back in the 70s.

 

[cakeanddottle]

My Ser Jacopo bent brandy is a flawless smoker, and lovely too. Makes me want a rack full of Ser Jacopos, and now that I've picked up a few Wileys and a couple Ferndowns I may do just that.

 

[Boulder]

My Ser Jacopo bent brandy is a flawless smoker, and lovely too. Makes me want a rack full of Ser Jacopos, and now that I've picked up a few Wileys and a couple Ferndowns I may do just that.

Nice looking pipe, Luv the book-ends.

 

[joshoowah]

It's kind of a toss up between my Ardor Urano Poker and Caminetto Business Lovat.

 

[SailorJack]

My Sasquatch(Todd Bannard) Plateau Horn. I'll be buried with this baby. Nothing quite like having a custom made one of a kind made just for you.

 

[Josjor]

Since I came accross this thread I've been thinking about which one is my best and I'm still at a toss up. I don't have any higher priced pipes and someday I hope to. Until then I'll have to judge using my current stock, mostly second tier estate goodies. It's still a draw between three.

1. I have a Charatan curved billiard that I love. It smokes about anything well, though I've recently cleaned it and dedicated it to lat's. I love the "double comfort" bit.

2. I have my only new pipe a Savinelli pear that is a good smoker. Rather smallish bowl for those times when I don't have time for a long smoke.

3. Finally, and probably my favorite, is an Italian made oom Paul that I found at an antique mall for $6.00. It has really nice sandblasting, a great grain, and a very deep bowl that seems to let me burn to the end without effort or a re-light.

 

[Schacht]

I´m simply not able do decide wich one is the best pipe I own - there´s at least two of them.

My favorite has been a surprise to me, bcause I really didn´t expect it to be that good. It´s a Lovat made by Alexander Ponomarchuk.
What Harlock999 wrote about his Sasieni before,

[…][it] allows me to be a terrible smoker with impunity. […]

is what I experience with that pipe as well. It´s easy to smoke and it simply works, not matter what I do, beside that it´s taste reminds me of an old Charatan that I like. It´s very light and its bit is comfortable, I almost forget it, while I´m holding it in my mouth. The bowl is not very heavy-walled, I can feel the heat, but that gives me perfekt control and the pipe never gurgles.

"Heat" is a subject that brings me to my second favorite: a Freehand Shape made by Hans Guenter Noske. This pipe handles heat just great and tastes just the way I like it: sweet, but easy to taste the different tobacco specifics. If I smoke it really hot (wich I usually try to avoid) it gurgles just like any other pipe, and that makes Ponomarchuk´s Lovat maybe my number one - it´s really the only pipe that seems to forgive anything.

Kind regards
Thilo

 

[Harlock999]

Some really great looking pipes gentlemen, thanks for the photos and testimonials! :cheers:

 

[riff raff]

Over the weekend, I tweaked the draft hole of my Rhodesian mentioned earlier. 10 minutes of effort turned it into a cool smoking, easy draw machine. Mine was one of seemingly many Ashtons with an off-center stem drill. It would not pass a cleaner. I used Dremel to ovalize the hole a little and than a needle file to smooth it out. It now passes a fluffy cleaner easily and smokes a lot cooler. Before, it would require careful packing or a lot of relights were necessary. Now, modified, it seems to smoke as well no matter how I pack and most times requires no relights, an amazing transformation. It was my favorite pipe shape and now the function matches the looks.

 

[Airborne]

I can't really say that I have a single favorite. When I’m smoking one, that’s it! When I switch to another, then that becomes it. And on and on. The two I smoked today are my current favorites. They’ll remain so until tomorrow when I smoke a couple others. The first one is a 1980’s Dunhill Prince - my flake pipe. Excellent smoking machine. The second is a Ser Jacopo Foeda. So smooth, so dry - anything I put into it. As I said, tomorrow, it’ll be a couple others. I spread the favoritism equally among my children!

 

[s.ireland]

You've got two very attractive pipes there, Airborne. And I totally agree with spreading the love to all one's pipes!