Biggest Pipe Disappointment

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
peckinpahhombre

peckinpahhombre

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Messages
264
Reaction score
0
Have you ever bought a pipe that just turned out to be a complete disappointment? I am thinking here of a pipe brand that has a good or upstanding reputation, and you buy the pipe based on that reputation, only to be confronted by a piece of briar that provides you with a really substandard smoke. Of course, it might just be a defect with that one pipe, but regardless, your experience with your lone pipe has tainted your view of the entire brand.

I had this happen recently. I bought a Nording. I don't recall exactly what I paid - I think it was $150-$200 (so it wasn't one of the cheapest Nordings, to be sure) - but for the life of me, I can't get a decent smoke out of this pipe. It looks beautiful, but it doesn't perform when called upon (like some kind of chaste beauty queen). There are many who love Nording, and my problem may very well be isolated to this one pipe, but my experience has left me jaded.

I would like to here about any similar experiences you folks have had.
 
What shape is it?
Is it a typical Nording freehand?
If you know of a decnt pipe repair shop, you may want to go to 4mm and that may improve things :king:
 
I wouldn't condemn a firms complete line of products based on one "lemon" in the bunch. Things like that happen in the world of production. And as has been said, "... one mans ceiling is another's floor". I've had a few pipes which did not start off as much to my liking and I just put them in the rack and came back to them at a later time. I had a Pete System 02 like that that I tried for almost a year and felt it wouldn't work. Cleaned it up, put it in a drawer and came back to it 5 years later and it is now one of my fave Pete's for smoking Balkan's in. I wouldn't say one "bad" Nording makes 'em ALL bad. Put it up, give it some time or if that's not to your liking, clean it up and put it up for sale! Life's to short and there are too many pipes out there to get hung up on just one :p
 
My worst experience I've ever had is with my upper end Ben Wade Danish freehand. It gurgles like a child's bubble pipe. I don't even smoke it any more.

EDIT: I like Monbla's approach and thinking on this.
 
My very first new pipe purchase. It was a Peterson based on their reputation. Little did I know at the time that their reputation has taken quite the beating with their newer pipes. I had to send the first one back due to an extremely poor fitting band and a really loose stem to shank fit. Got a replacement at no cost. It was much better, but a pipe cleaner takes a little bit of work to get it all the way through. To this day it isn't my favorite smoke. The sad part is I want to sell it but the thought of passing off a second rate pipe to someone else bothers me tremendously. For now it sits in my slowly growing collection as an object lesson in buyer beware.
 
DoverPipes":a6yq9nzd said:
What shape is it?
Is it a typical Nording freehand?
If you know of a decnt pipe repair shop, you may want to go to 4mm and that may improve things :king:
Click to expand...
It is a freehand.
 
My experience is kind of like Monbla's. I found a very nice "Made in London England" basket pipe that I'd describe as a tall, drop bowl, billiard bordering on Dublin, with a vulcanite saddle bit. Took a pipe cleaner w/out even a slight tick. A few small sand fills in conspicuous spots gave testimony to its rough passage by the quality control bench. It looked like a smoking machine, but gurgled as soon as it heard the match strike and was generally sulky. But it was a looker, so I just put it on a single pipe stand well away from the rest of my hoard lest bad habits are contagious. I did smoke it now and again, usually half bowls, Then I noticed that this particular pipe liked aros, (Shoulda guessed - tall, largeish bowl, thick walls). Eventually, I began gradually filling the bowl more and more and being careful to do no more than slowly sip. After a prolonged break in and used in the way described, my "Made in London, England" cheapy, now in my employ for 45 years, has burnished beautifully and is never worse than somewhat particular.
 
dp : the cleaner problem should be a pretty easy fix for somebody like Dr. Dave.

:cat: :face: :study:
 
I have a Nording signature that gargles like crazy, and then a giant Nording that smokes great.

Worst was a meer from Yanik that is just plain unsmokeable based on the design. Left me jaded on the brand. Every time I see one that has stupendous carving and I want, I am unable to pull the trigger because this one pipe is purely ornamental now.
 
Growley":wq9zkt9i said:
My worst experience I've ever had is with my upper end Ben Wade Danish freehand. It gurgles like a child's bubble pipe. I don't even smoke it any more.

EDIT: I like Monbla's approach and thinking on this.
Click to expand...
Jeeez, Brian, you oughta be able to fix that. You are a pipe maker. :lol:

Rad
 
More of my issues have been with stems than with the briar itself. It amazes me, how the part of the pipe that goes into your mouth, and delivers the smoke, can sometimes be so substandard.

Stem work is one of the best selling points, of high grade pipes. IMO

I have 3 Nordings, all of which are great smokers, but I have seen some lower grade Nordings that I would not purchase. I can't think of many pipe makers whose craftsmanship can swing so far in both directions. With most brands, the quality of workmanship is equal from pipe to pipe, and the grain of the briar is mostly responsible for the grading.

My local tobacconist has some unstained Nordings for sale, and the drilling of the mortise leaves a lot to be desired in all of them.

However, I have a .925 silver horn Nording on layaway right now in that shop. He is very careful to keep the low grade Nordings out of the high grade case, and in the basket pipes section.
 
A Brebbia Churchwarden - smoked wetter than an Irish Summer and trying to hold it was akin to cupping one of Satan's testicles. It's also straight which meant that if the pipe got tipped backwards it was prone to depositing a foul tasting effluent into my mouth. :evil:

My Peterson Churchwarden gives fantastic smokes, so I persevered with the Brebbia in the hope that my experiences of it might improve. It's now in a box in my loft. Maybe a period out of circulation will improve its attitude......

Fraternally

Jers
 
Years ago I commissioned a new pipe from a newer pipe carver that was just getting started. Seen some of his work and was impressed. Paid a little over $200. Around the second or third smoke noticed my finger getting warm and a dark spot growing on the side of the bowl. It was a bad piece of briar with a pretty large sand pit that went all the way through the bowl. Ended up having to send it out to someone else for repair (pipe putty mixture) and refinish. In discussions with carver was told such was the nature of briar. Weeks later he told me he would carve me another pipe for cost when he had time. I moved on and let the matter drop.

Note: Carver is not a member of BOB and from what I've been told has become quite good at it.
 
There are lots of fish in the sea, and lots of pipes for somebody else -- a conclusion reached after any number of, if not world class, at least decidedly "good" pipes that I just didn't like. Nothing wrong with the way they smoked, and beautiful enough to pull my trigger. Sometimes just too big. Bottom line : "the best and the brightest" are not necessarily the best friends you can have.

Affinity is a separate quality 8)

:cat: :face: :study:
 
On further consideration, I did have a memorable disappointer -- The Pipe.

The Pipe was advertised as made of a space age material far superior to any other for the manufacture of smoking pipes. I think they meant it would dissipate heat. But The Pipe was mostly remarkable for how wet it smoked and how hot the bowl got almost immediately. Mine was a straight apple. The bit was comfortable, but otherwise that was the only pipe I had that I couldn't find some way to get along with. I still see them on ebay. Wilke was selling one a little while ago. I got so disgusted with mine one day that I just put it in the trash. Unfortunately, I did that the day before pickup, so there was no opportunity for second thoughts.
 
My first new pipe, a step-above-cheapest Nording, is a freehand sitter, small for its line actually, has given me problems for a while. I refuse to get rid of it because I still like it, but I don't smoke it. I find this to be a tragedy of sorts, because even though freehands are no longer an interest of mine, I wish it did smoke well. I'm not sure I want to send it off due to costs making it right, but I can't get rid of it. All the tricks, improvements and skills I've acquired even making the worst pipes I disliked smoke great, this is the only one that's thwarted me.

I still like Nording. I probably just didn't put the pipe to the scrutiny and knowledge I have now because I didn't know any better...or, likely, it was just a bum pipe. Who knows...I won't disparage Nording in the slightest, because I hear fond tales of good smokes from them.

It just happens sometimes. We do our best to avoid it, adapt if necessary, and if all else fails, send it off to a true professional to get "just right." I'd even go as so far to say there's pipes out there that just don't want to get along with the smoker no matter what.

Fortunately, there's always more pipes, and someone out there, someplace, would probably smoke the "bad ones" just fine.

Sorry to hear your Nording isn't up to snuff.

8)
 
Thanks guys. And let me be clear - I am not casting aspersions on all Nording pipes. I know many hold them in high esteem, and indeed, that is why I bought one in the first place. That said, I know people who won't buy fords or dodges anymore because they caught one of the 1980s lemon cars and, as a result, they won't touch the brand again. Likewise, I too will have some serious reflection to do before I take the leap into another Nording pipe.

As I have said many times on here (and will soon stop saying), I am new to the hobby. One of my other hobbies is and continues to be wine collecting. When I first got into wine about 15 years ago, as a newbie I tended to gravitate toward higher priced wines, not because higher priced wines are always better than lower priced wines, but because there certainly is a positive correlation between higher prices and better wines. As I became more knowledgeable about wine (primarily through reading countless books and magazines on the subject and through websites much like this one but devoted to the brotherhood of the grape), I became more selective and have become quite good at choosing more affordable wines that punch well above their weight in dollar terms. I am going through a similar process with pipes. I chalk this up to experience, and proof to me that choosing a higher priced pipe won't necessarily lead to bliss.

 
Yak":2q0p0krn said:
dp : the cleaner problem should be a pretty easy fix for somebody like Dr. Dave.

:cat: :face: :study:
Click to expand...
Ah, could be rabbit, could be........ :king:
 
Top