Hey!

[tperoda85]

Fairly new here guys, smoked pipe a few years back and am getting back into it!

I have a brigham 1 dot, butz jumbo, big ben warden, medico varsity, and a capri basket pipe.

I have a bit of money to play with to keep building with tax return season here. I have my eye on a dagner bulldog ... but I'm wondering, being somewhat new to pipe smoking, would i be better served buying a really nice pipe, or dividing that budget into two pipes to keep things growing?

Also, do you guys commit your pipes to a blend or blend type?

Tyler

 

[Stick]

Hey Tyler. Is all down to personal preference. As I see it your choices would include. ..

Spend the money on one good quality pipe.
Spend the money on a few good quality estate pipes.
Stay with the pipes you've got and buy a broad range of baccys to help identify what you like.

That's me done. ..

 

[tperoda85]

Haha, yup that about sums up the decision! Haha. Decisions, decisions!

 

[Brewdude]

Hey Tyler. Is all down to personal preference. As I see it your choices would include. ..

Spend the money on one good quality pipe.
Spend the money on a few good quality estate pipes.
Stay with the pipes you've got and buy a broad range of baccys to help identify what you like.

That's me done. ..

Brother Stick brings up a great point here. One can acquire really nice estates for not too much do-re-mi which will extend your budget as well as provide a pipe that's been fully broken in.

There's many reputable estate sellers, and you'd be well served to consider our Bro Mattia at Viking Club Pipes. I've a number of his refurbs and highly recommend him-

http://www.vikingclubpipes.com/


Cheers,

RR

 

[monbla256]

Both bro Stick and 'dude have given some good advice all around but I'd add that if you want to have a pipe you might want to feel is "yours" ie a new one, I'd also recomend you might want to look at the offerings of two of the "old line" makers still left, Savinelli and Peterson, They both still make some of the best values in New pipes today for the $s as well as Dunhill though their pricing is WAAAY over the top at least for the new ones! If want to go with that brand, the used market will get you the best deals! I've bought and smoked both new and used Sav's for over 40 years now and not found a "bad" one yet !! Take your time, do some research and enjoy this habit for the rest of your life !! :twisted:

 

[juanmedusa]

My advice... I'd go with what Monbla said. Grab a Savinelli and use some of that extra money to get yourself some different tobaccos to try. That would be what I would suggest.

But if the lure of getting a new less inexpensive option remains attractive to you, I would point out our very own Artisan carver Scottie is having a sale this weekend.

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/t29724-10-off-sale-at-ladybriar-com

Good luck, let us know.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I have always found it helpful, especially in the beginning, to match pipes to tobacco with genre. Flake vs plug vs ribbon, then if you so choose, VA vs VaPers vs Latakias vs Aromatics (etc). Once in a rare while, such as with Embarcadero, I have a couple of pipes reserved for it and it alone. Other than that, it's a loose separation. That way, you won't feel the need to have too many pipes out of need or obsession, wherein it's much more fun to buy them because you want them.

As for stretching your dollar, new, high-dollar or lofty-brand pipes mean jack squat for performance guarantee. Especially if you're still learning the pipe, you might not know the difference between a good pipe and a fantastic pipe except based on price and looks alone. At that point, most people seek out artisan pipes or custom carvers. Collectors that seek only a name or a line will pay nearly anything for a rare one, especially if they aren't made any longer. That's a game many of us don't play, if only because of the cost alone--there's nothing inherently wrong with it. Diff'rent strokes, diff'rent folks.

The mass-produced mid-range pipes seem to be a good theme for most. On the low end, Missouri Meerschaum cobs are around $5 - $10 a pop. Great learning pipes, and if you dig 'em, can last for a long time. Viking and Stanwell can offer good $50 - $80 pipes, then on up to Savinelli and Peterson for the $80 - $120 pipes. After that, it's all a matter of preference. Those are the Honda Civics and Ford F150s of the bunch, and nearly all of us still own 'em or owned 'em at one point in time with rewarding results.

Estate pipes are a crap-shoot, but you can get some really good deals on used stuff if you find a good seller selling pipes in good condition with notable histories or makers behind them. They might be used, 80+ years old and not as flashy, but will smoke more solid for more years than something new--at a fraction of the cost. On the other hand, shady dealers will spiff up a cheap pipe, take fuzzy photos and claim something is barely smoked, and flog it for $10--just to find someone smoked Mary Jane in it (which is nearly impossible to get rid of), burnt a hole through the side and chewed through the stem (all the while, you could have bought a brand-new cob for that same $10).

Caveat emptor, happy new smokes, and good luck.

8)

 

[DireWolf]

Welcome.

I was in your shoes a couple months ago, and have a couple of Peterson's, Savinellis, and some cheap Stanwells, and my "fancier" pipe is a Neerup classic bent apple.  Only spent $50-$100 for each, and with a few cobs, I have enough pipes to dedicate a couple to each type I try, and a few cobs as beaters.  The rest of the $$$ I had has been applied in an "exuberant" tobacco buying spree.  That's included some aged tins that were for sale here to see how Va's develop with age, and have selections from several makers that I am slowly working through to find out what I like and learn about tobaccos.  When I decided to get back into it, and started reading - the brands and blends are endless, and learning the pipe shapes and characteristics of each is a plateful, let alone the factory pipe makers.  Toss in the artisan pipes and shapes, and it's mind bending.

Have fun!

 

[tperoda85]

Awesome info! Thanks guys! So out of the gate its more effective to dedicate a pipe to style of tobacco instead of flavor profile? I have a small rotation now and have been smoking a few of them for aromatics, 1 for flakes, and 2 for english blends.

 

[Brewdude]

Awesome info! Thanks guys! So out of the gate its more effective to dedicate a pipe to style of tobacco instead of flavor profile? I have a small rotation now and have been smoking a few of them for aromatics, 1 for flakes, and 2 for english blends.

This is pretty much what I do most of the time. However I don't find that for me it makes any difference between straight 'ginny's and VaPers. Others will disagree but that's my experience.

I'd never use the same pipe for Lat blends and Va/Vapers but monbla will be along anytime now to say that he does this all the time with no ill results.





Cheers,

RR

 

[monbla256]

Awesome info! Thanks guys! So out of the gate its more effective to dedicate a pipe to style of tobacco instead of flavor profile? I have a small rotation now and have been smoking a few of them for aromatics, 1 for flakes, and 2 for english blends.

This is pretty much what I do most of the time. However I don't find that for me it makes any difference between straight 'ginny's and VaPers. Others will disagree but that's my experience.

I'd never use the same pipe for Lat blends and Va/Vapers but monbla will be along anytime now to say that he does this all the time with no ill results.





Cheers,

RR

What he says as this saves me typing !! :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Brewdude]

Awesome info! Thanks guys! So out of the gate its more effective to dedicate a pipe to style of tobacco instead of flavor profile? I have a small rotation now and have been smoking a few of them for aromatics, 1 for flakes, and 2 for english blends.

This is pretty much what I do most of the time. However I don't find that for me it makes any difference between straight 'ginny's and VaPers. Others will disagree but that's my experience.

I'd never use the same pipe for Lat blends and Va/Vapers but monbla will be along anytime now to say that he does this all the time with no ill results.





Cheers,

RR

What he says as this saves me typing !! :twisted: :twisted:

You're predictable if nothing else Michael!

:drunken:


Cheers,

RR

 

[Kyle Weiss]

You're predictable if nothing else Michael!

:drunken:

:snerk:

:lol:

Back to "separation anxiety" as it were, there are some of us who are quite sensitive to stuff like Perique and The Lakeland Stank.   The former being spicy enough to really screw up a delicate red VA blend and make it taste like a rowdy chimera of "WTF is this stuff?" while the latter will make everything taste exactly like it, though a dialed-down version.  

If you're into that kind of thing, hey, by all means.   The $6 investment of a cob for the experimentation purposes of a new, funky tobacco sure beats two weeks of trying to de-ghost your favorite pipe if you end up hating the flavor.    

Then again, we don't all have the fine "Texebecois" palate of Monbla, who apparently can smoke a dead armadillo and get nothing but Flavor Country.  Must be the filters he uses.   :lol:

8)

 

[monbla256]

You're predictable if nothing else Michael!

:drunken:

:snerk:

:lol:

Back to "separation anxiety" as it were, there are some of us who are quite sensitive to stuff like Perique and The Lakeland Stank.   The former being spicy enough to really screw up a delicate red VA blend and make it taste like a rowdy chimera of "WTF is this stuff?" while the latter will make everything taste exactly like it, though a dialed-down version.  

If you're into that kind of thing, hey, by all means.   The $6 investment of a cob for the experimentation purposes of a new, funky tobacco sure beats two weeks of trying to de-ghost your favorite pipe if you end up hating the flavor.    

Then again, we don't all have the fine "Texebecois" palate of Monbla, who apparently can smoke a dead armadillo and get nothing but Flavor Country.  Must be the filters he uses.   :lol:

8)

Armadillo is good! We usually cook it on a spit over a nice mesquite fire!! :twisted: Just think, after you've been smoking as long as i have, YOU TO will have the renowned "Texebecois" palate as i do !! You can deny it but it happens !! Just remember to shade your lid from that desert sun as I've met folks from where you live who don't and it's sad :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Armadillo is good! We usually cook it on a spit over a nice mesquite fire!! :twisted:  Just think, after you've been smoking as long as i have, YOU TO will have the renowned "Texebecois" palate as i do !! You can deny it but it happens !! Just remember to shade your lid from that desert sun as I've met folks from where you live who don't and it's sad :twisted: :twisted:

Any animal that comes equipped with its own bowl for convenient eating is alright with me.

8)