Thinking my 1st briar will be a Stanwell Silkebrun 83

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
sonarman":psb4pp51 said:
Is this a good pipe? Or is it a YMMV type of thing?
Click to expand...
It's likely a good pipe, and it's always "YMMV" with this hobby. :) It's not a filter pipe, so that's a plus.

The tobacco chamber seems a good choice for what you smoke, at least by my reckon.

8)
 
I dont think Ive heard anything bad about Stanwell pipes, I have two, one Danish made and one of the newer Italion made and both are solid pipes that smoke great.
 
The Stanwell firm is known to produce some of the best values in a pipe of just about any brand. The few that I have are GREAT smokers, well made and I would not hesitate to purchase another if such an opportunity were to come my way ! Load that puppy up and enjoy :p
 
Stanwell's a good choice methinks.

From my perspective, just a couple of concerns -- I'd make sure my Stanwell was made in Denmark and I prefer vulcanite over lucite for the stem. So it would be more than likely I'd go with an estate pipe, but there are still Stanwell pipes that meet both of my requirements in stores.

Many prefer Lucite (and vulcanite is a lot harder to maintain) but I just like the mouth feel of vulcanite/ebonite/cumblerand better.

 
For me Stanwell is in the Trifecta of affordable, quality, machine made pipes. The other two brands being Savinelli and Peterson. For me Stanwells have an edge, but I haven't smoked any of the ones made in Italy. That move by the company really turned me off. Still I think that out of the three, Stanwell makes the best quality/price pipe on the market.

I've got plenty of experience with all three brands. I smoke 12 Stanwells but I own 20. My Hans Christian Anderson set will remain unsmoked and I have a sandblasted bamboo billiard that I haven't smoked yet. I own 24 Petersons and 4 Savinellis. If I had to rank them, I would put Stanwell at the top, followed by Savinelli and then Peterson.

IMHO every serious pipesmoker needs to try one of each. It looks like your off to a good start.
 
Should be a nice pipe & be comfortable to hold with your teeth while your hands are busy. Bent pipes are convenient that way.

Their drawback is they're more likely to smoke wet, with that likelihood proportionate to the degree of bent-ness.

Straight(er) pipes are less likely to be problematic.

Assuming you found one you liked, a prince or apple would be more nearly ideal.

But with a good, Danish Stanwell (the make them in Italy now), you ought to be home free no matter which shape you like.

FWIW

:face:
 
The info on it says Denmark but I'm not sure if that's the company mark or where it was actually made. Right now I'm looking at the bent stem only because of how it looks. I would rather have a pipe perform better in Va's high humidity than look cool in my shed smoking it :D Thanks for all the info guys, I'm going to do some comparisons. My bowls are getting better now that I'm "filling" my cobs rather than packing them and lasting for about an hour but the last half does not have the good flavor that the beginning does and I'm hoping that a proper briar will help some.
 
That's mostly packing, Sonar. And tamping.

With flakes : try packing way looser than you think reasonable (it expands as it accumulates moisture), hardly tamping at all, and fluffing the ash up & dumping it out as you go.

And it's OK to let it go out & cool off if/when it starts getting warm/wet.

FWIW

:face:



 
I have a couple of Stanwells and they smoke great. Both are bent stems and I have no issues at all with wet smokes or anything else. Definitely easy to clench and smoke without a thought in the world. The pipe would probably suit you well brother, of course YMMV as always.
 
Thanks Yak, I'm going to try that on my next few bowls. That makes sense based on them tasting like ash for the last half or so.
Also I decided to go with this guy here a Stanwell Silkebrun 32 Bulldog http://www.marscigars.com/stanwell-santana.aspx the straight stem should keep my bowls nice and dry.
 
Top