Show us your Pipes

:eusa_clap

anyone have recommendations on their favorite pipe tobaccos? I'm always looking for something new and i'm in the mood for to try a couple of new tobaccos

psugrad98 said:

Oooh, I like that pipe pouch. 2 pipes and some tobacco. Very nice. Recently started smoking pipes more seriously. Been smoking cigars for years though. will post some pics soon.

Click to expand...

the pipe pouch is by peterson btw.. great buy on my part, i love it. i started the same way.. my family is cuban, so cigars are a norm, and that's where is started.. but i must say, pipes have become my favorite.

waffle said:

anyone have recommendations on their favorite pipe tobaccos? I'm always looking for something new and i'm in the mood for to try a couple of new tobaccos

Click to expand...

Depends on what you like. Your biggest problem is living in Miami. There aren't really any decent tobacco shops (except for cigars) in South Florida. I couldn't find a single one while in Ft. Lauderdale, and when asking other pipe smokers they said they order their tobacco online to get decent weed.

What do you like? Aromatics? Englishes? Virginias? Virginia-periques? Orientals? Burleys? I'm not a big fan of aromatics, but I do have a few that I bust out on occasions. I'm more a fan of Englishes and VaPers, though I do have a distinct fondness for burley codger blends like Sugar Barrel and Carter Hall.

well, i usually get Virginia mixes.. but i've been wanting to try English for sometime. considering i started with cigars, the flavor of tobacco is actually enjoyable for me.

and i agree about miami.. although we have a lot to offer in several arenas of culture, we have nothing for the pipe smoker ::thoughts of opening a shop enter my mind:: ... but there are a handful (mainly one place) i do visit where they do sell about 8-10 different tobaccos, they're just pretty far from me. I usually order my stuff online and with the exception of 3-4 stuff i've purchased locally.

English is just a stronger tobacco flavor, right? more like a cigar.. ?

Not to put too fine a point on it waffle, English is a generalized term for Virginia-Latakia blends. Once you get a taste for Latakia, pipe weed ain't pipe weed without it.

waffle said:

English is just a stronger tobacco flavor, right? more like a cigar.. ?

Click to expand...

Yes, Englishes can be a stronger flavor. They are typically laced with Latakia, which is a Syrian or Cyprian tobacco cured over fire, which gives it a smoky taste and aroma. I would suggest going over to pipesmokersforum.com and getting in on the FNG swap. People will send you several different samples to try.

I like Boswell's Magnum and H&H Vintage Syrian, though I probably have about 30 different Englishes in my collection of opened tins. PM me an address and I'll send you a few samples.

phinz said:

Yes, Englishes can be a stronger flavor. They are typically laced with Latakia, which is a Syrian or Cyprian tobacco cured over fire, which gives it a smoky taste and aroma. I would suggest going over to pipesmokersforum.com and getting in on the FNG swap. People will send you several different samples to try.

I like Boswell's Magnum and H&H Vintage Syrian, though I probably have about 30 different Englishes in my collection of opened tins. PM me an address and I'll send you a few samples.

Click to expand...

phinz, this is some great info.. thank you!

Nick D said:

Nice collection! That Dr Grabow has a great shape. Three of my favourite, go-to pipes have been Dr Grabows. Goes to show that if a pipe is a drugstore brand, it can still be a good pipe.

Click to expand...

Nick,

Though a very infrequent pipe smoker I do like pipes though I don't know much about the different brands. I recently picked up a brand new Dr. Grabow and a lightly used Medico for $5 each. After talking to some friends and doing a little research on the Internet I didn't expect much.

The Medico was terrible with really hot smoke and even the bowl was unpleasantly hot to hold. However the Dr. Grabow was really very pleasant to smoke and is a favorite now among my modest collection.

This is the only picture I have of it




Cheers

Jamie

phinz said:

Kaywoodie Streamliner

Click to expand...

Beautiful. The look of that pipe is almost enough to make me want to take up smoking. That, and the fact that pipe tobacco always smells so heavenly.

HodgePodge said:

Beautiful. The look of that pipe is almost enough to make me want to take up smoking. That, and the fact that pipe tobacco always smells so heavenly.

Click to expand...

The really cool thing about it is that it's almost flat. It fits perfectly into a breast pocket or jacket pocket without leaving a bulge.

Sounds like it needs a shoulder holster.lol

i just received my corn cob pipe, and needless to say, it looks as inexpensive as it is. it feels a lot lighter than my other pipes, and still looks pretty unique and cool. the bottom part of the bowl is constructed quite a bit differently than what i'm used to, and it seems like there's a lot of glue down there (i'm not sure how durable that would be). either way, i haven't smoked it yet, so i'll be sure to put up a quick review (and pictures, of course) of the pipe later.

Corn cobs are hardly investment pipes. I have three or four, and they tend to burn up pretty quick. Don't worry about them and smoke them. They usually smoke great for a few bucks.

I'll try to get some photos of my box of pipes. I have quite an eclectic assortment of clays, corn cobs, briars, expensive and cheap pipes, new and old, good and junk. The dross of 15 years of pipe smoking...

For tobacco; I really like anything W.O. Larson makes. I also like Blue Note, Ranier Professional, Dunhill Nightcap, Dunhill Breakfast, and any bulk blend that does not smell too sweet or is too wet. Too sweet is too much sugar, which leads to a hot smoke and tongue bite. Too wet is too much trouble to keep lit.

shortbow said:

Sounds like it needs a shoulder holster.lol

Click to expand...

http://smokinholsters.com/

Great to see so many Pipe friendly people here. Love your photos... keep 'em coming.
Here's a few of mine:


/F

Phinz, that site is for guys who are seriously serious about smoking.lol

flieger, thanks for the pic. Was really hoping this thread would keep its legs under it. Nice machines.

It seems pipes are as bad as hats, when it comes to the accumulation fever they can induce. (Obviously, it can't possibly be my own anal retentivity and bordering-on-OCD desire to accumulate as the root cause... ) A very occasional (by which I mean maybe six in a very heavy year) cigar smoker, I decided a couple of months ago to switch to the pipe. I had a pipe back in my University and early post-University days, just a cheap, unbranded 'smoking pipe' I bought in a local tobacconist's shop. Seemed a reasonably smoke at the time, though the bowl did have a propensity to heat up overly to the touch after a while. It got given away when I entered a relationship in which my minimal smoking habit was not an approved activity. A few years ago I picked up something similar as a costume piece, a straight one this time (to match one used on stage in a production of Rocky Horror). I've always loved the ritual of the pipe, unlike a cigar which is lit up, smoked, and then disposed of, there's a whole process to smoking a pipe that appeals to my psychological desire for routine and ritual as part of a sense of overall well-being. In recent months I have decided to forgo the occasional cigar in favour of a pipe - both for the above reason, and the simple fact that in the long run the pipe works out considerably cheaper than buying a decent cigar on a night out. I set out with the intention of picking up one decent pipe that would do my job... so far, I have accumulated two very cheap pipes that I would consider 'costume' as much as anything (but can be smoked) - I only used them to experiment with shape and feel in a cheap way (didn't get the length of smoking them, selling them on now as costume pieces(!)). Heading onto eBay, I picked up a couple of nice, curved Petersons - a 312 and a 313, if memory serves; I'll put photos up of these when next I have both camera and pipes to hand. Unfortunately I've now caught the bug, and I have my eye on another five different pipes, three of the Peterson's (a 303, 80s and 999). So far I've bought used (and saved a fair bit into the bargain; one of my Petersons is reconditioned, the other came from a collection and shows no signs of ever having been smoked), though others I may buy new.

I am interested in what tobacco fellow Loungers prefer. I'm looking for something that has that lovely, olde worldy smell that suggests the thinking of wise thoughts, good cheery brandy and leather armchairs (not that I'll be smoking inside the flat, but...). Something sweet, not too heavy yet still aromatic...

waffle said:

my two petersons.. all i have for now

Click to expand...

I believe I have the same model as that top one - is it a 312 or thereabouts? (model number should be stamped on the bowl somewhere, assuming it's not worn off). The second one - an 80s, I believe? - is currently my favourite pipe shape, I'm itching to get one when my cashflow situation improves!

waffle said:

i just received my corn cob pipe, and needless to say, it looks as inexpensive as it is. it feels a lot lighter than my other pipes, and still looks pretty unique and cool. the bottom part of the bowl is constructed quite a bit differently than what i'm used to, and it seems like there's a lot of glue down there (i'm not sure how durable that would be). either way, i haven't smoked it yet, so i'll be sure to put up a quick review (and pictures, of course) of the pipe later.

Click to expand...

My understanding is that this type of pipe is effectively semi-disposable; they don't last very long, but they are very cheap, so. I have seen some sellers (I think Bond's of Oxford Street was one such) recommend them as ideal tools to experiment with a new blend of tobacco in order to see whether the user cares for it first before flavouring a favourite pipe with it.

As promised, some photos of my pipes. First up, the straight pipe that was the first of my current crop. Purcahsed as a costume piece in 2006 for GBP10, this simple pipe is unbranded and has yet to be smoked. That will soon change!



This is a Peterson System Standard 314 shape, which I recently purchase on eBay for less than a tenner. It has been smoked, though the dealer from whom I purchased it fully cleaned and refurbished it, leaving just a little carbon in the bowl to avoid need for breaking it in again.



My latest pipe is a Peterson Standard 313. This was purcahsed again on eBay, from a fellow selling an entire collection on behalf of his father. It shows no sign of ever having been smoked, and cost me less than half the price of a new one.



Looking at www.peterson.ie, the product gallery only seems to show System Standard models in a Rustic finish, whereas both of mine are smooth. Both are clearly stamped "Standard", though. I wonder if these are models now out of production?

When I have the spare cash to spend on some pipes again, I fancy something smallish, half-bent and chunky....

You might want to take some elbow grease to that stem. That's some serious oxidation. You'll be amazed how a little stem polish and wax can make it look brand spankin' new.