Thread: Pipe purchasing help

Hey guys,

A while back I picked up a cheapo (bargain basket) tobacco pipe thinking that it would be a fun hobby to start. Didn't use it much, mostly because I had no idea how to. Well now years later I've decided to give it another go and things are going much better as I took the time to learn how to pack the bowl, light and smoke it properly.

I'm thinking of graduating my pipe, however. As far as I can tell it works just fine, and it looks very nice, but it's small and overall just not my style. With a little research I found out that the pipes I really like the look of are of the "bent bulldog" style, so I want to get one of those.

The problem is that I have no idea how much a decent pipe should cost. Went to my local tobacco store, where I usually get cigars, and the pipes there were all pretty pricey (well over $100, more like $200+ on average. Online prices range, but I have no idea what to look for as far as quality, and what I should be paying. I also found a nice "estate" pipe that I like a lot for around $50, but I have no clue if it's a good pipe or not.

So to all the pipe smokers here: a little guidance, please. I definitely don't need anything fancy, just something that I like the look of and that isn't a piece of crap.

Thanks!

I always advise new pipe smokers to begin with corn cob pipes because you'll find out if you're going to stick with it, and have a rotation, without a large outlay of $. Corn cob pipes smoke very well BTW. Since you seem to know what you want, and have smoked your one pipe enough to feel that you are sticking with it, I would say go for a used briar. There are so many choices it would be overkill to list them all.

Dunhill, Ashton, Sasieni, Upshall, Comoy are some of the English pipes of high quality. Castello, Radice, Ser Jacapo, Ascorti are some Italian makers. I would suggest a search on the bay for "bulldog" pipe and see what comes up. Quality pipes usually aren't cheap but good pipes don't have to be expensive either...... relatively speaking.

I've assisted a few fledgling pipe smokers in my day but today I'm gonna hit one out of the park. The bent bulldog description you provided reminded me of one of mine, a Flame Grain Kaywodie Bent Bulldog. Good pipe and a great smoke but the problem is I prefer straight pipes so it just doesn't get much smoke time. If you'd like it, shoot me an address and I'll send it to you, I'll even toss in a serious cleaning and sterilization (so that it arrives at your place smoke ready) and my pamphlet on Pipe Smoking 101 at no additional charge. Here's a pic

Peterson pipes are well made and smoke nicely too! I had one up until recently, I got rid of it as I was enjoying it and didn't want to get hooked.

1OldGI, thanks for the generous offer! That's exactly the kind of pipe style I like (visually, anyways). Sent you a PM.

Everyone else, thanks for your input, too. I'll save it for if and when I go to buy another pipe (or pipes. please God don't let this end up like my razor buying habit).

Since we're on the subject of pipe questions, may I just highjack this thread a little and ask if anyone knows of any worthwhile small (interior) bowl pipes in briar (I have several in clay)? Outter dimensions don't matter so much, but smaller is fine, I'm just after something a little smaller to aid in conserving tobacco (Expensive here). Yes I know I could smoke a little less, or pack a little less in the bowl, but that's not the point. Any thoughts are welcome.


Mick

You might be able to find a Dunhill estate pipe in a group 3 or group 4 shape that won't cost much. They're easy to clean up and put in smoke-ready condition and are great smokes if you favor smaller bowls. Most estate pipes are well "broken-in" and save you the trouble. Most collectors value the larger bowls, so you might be able to save some money if you're after a smaller pipe.

I smoke a lot of small sized briars. Comoy and Sasieni made a lot of them way back when. So did Peterson for that matter. I would say Dunhill, because they made them down to group 1, but even smaller Dunhills tend to be higher priced. Something about that white dot on the stem. Both Sasieni and Comoy made very good pipes, equal to any IMO, and in the lesser grades they don't cost much on the estate market.

If you get into Comoy Blue Riband, Specimen Straight Grain, Sasieni 8 Dots and some of the 4 dots they go for mucho dinero, but the Traditions and stuff like that are reasonable. There are a lot of other less well known brands that are good and are cheap. Sort of like straight razors.

@Mick, savinelli (sp?) makes a series of small bowled pipes. I have one (currently being lent to a friend) and it will definitely get a bit hot if you smoke fast but I rather enjoy it for trips up the chair lift or that kind of thing.
Definitely not a super nice pipe and you have to check the stem alignment before you buy but at under $30 usd it isn't a bad little pocket pipe.

I just make them. Estate pipes are good deals as well. I picked one up on the bay for just a few dollars. Gave it a cleaning, buffed it with some compound and carnuba wax and it looks and smokes like new. When the hurricane blew in it knocked out power. I was bored out of my mind and could not run anything in the wood shop so I got out the coping saw and jack knife and started carving. Doing a freehand in African zebra wood, should be a nice one.