Tsuge

[puros_bran]

Anyone experianced in this brand of pipes?

Care to share your thoughts?

 

[Puff Daddy]

I have one of their inexpensive lines (a Mizki) and it smokes like a dream! I've not yet smoked one of the more expensive models but I have friends who own them and say that they are superb.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone experianced in this brand of pipes?

Care to share your thoughts?

I've owned over a dozen Ikebanas- somewhere around 20.

They're not too bad, but currently I only own 1. I guess that speaks to how I feel about them- my best word to describe Ikebana's is "inconsistent."

 

[Dock]

The common feeling I get about them is that they're very attractive but don't smoke all that well.I've heard the same comments that Ian made at least a dozen times over the years.Having never owned one,I can't personally comment.Most are a bit too small for my personal taste...

Best,
Dock
ipe:

 

[tin man]

My first pipe, a Tsuge Mizki given to me by :afro: for Father's day 2006.

Perhaps compared to a high grade pipe it is nothing to brag about. But it's a great little smoker and it represents true value. In my humble and inexperienced opinion, it is a much better pipe than a my Pete or my Stanwell in that price range. I've dedicated my Tsuge to VA/Pers and it's part of my regular rotation.


ipe:

 

[bronxbill]

I have a Tsuge Kaga; small pipe length wise but a good smoker. You can get them fairly cheaply at smokingpipes.com

 

[jhuggett]

I have a couple... a stack billiard and a straight Tokyo sandblast. The Tokyo is a great smoker at a very reasonable price for a bamboo shanked pipe. The billiard... well it sucks. :lol:

 

[Rev. Puffer]

A fine manufacturer, so many wonderful examples to choose from!
Puffer

www.pufferspipes.com

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder how many people here have experience looking at dozens and dozens of Tsuge's (Ikebanas) and smoking between 15 and 20- or more!

 

[tin man]

One?

 

[Puff Daddy]

I wonder how many people here have experience looking at dozens and dozens of Tsuge's (Ikebanas) and smoking between 15 and 20- or more!

How many people here have smoked 15 - 20 or more of any kind of pipe?

 

[Ol'Dawg]

How many people here have smoked 15 - 20 or more of any kind of pipe?

Do Dr. Grabows count? If so, I've lost at least that many in the last 48 years due to carelessness/accidents while fishing, hunting, yard work, cutting firewood and similar activities. :bball:

Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder how many people here have experience looking at dozens and dozens of Tsuge's (Ikebanas) and smoking between 15 and 20- or more!

How many people here have smoked 15 - 20 or more of any kind of pipe?

I have owned over 20 Tsuge Ikebanas.

 

[Puff Daddy]

Oh I believe you Ian, I just think your comment - though certainly worthy of merit based on your broad experience with the brand - is a statistical outlier in a place like this where most people would venture forth with an opinion based on one or two examples. I'm not trying to belittle your commentary and experience at all, but it sounded kind of like you meant 'My experienced opinion negates your marginal experience' when you said "I wonder how many people here have experience looking at dozens and dozens of Tsuge's (Ikebanas) and smoking between 15 and 20- or more!"

Maybe I just took it wrong, it's been a dreadfully long day. No offense intended. Personally, I think anyone who's smoked one or two has a valid opinion to give. Certainly the man who's smoked a whole bunch should be heard and his opinion given weight, but not more so than the others, necessarily.

I have one, it's not expensive, it smokes great. I'm not comparing it against other high grades when I comment on it though. Just a good little smoker.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh I believe you Ian, I just think your comment - though certainly worthy of merit based on your broad experience with the brand - is a statistical outlier in a place like this where most people would venture forth with an opinion based on one or two examples. I'm not trying to belittle your commentary and experience at all, but it sounded kind of like you meant 'My experienced opinion negates your marginal experience' when you said "I wonder how many people here have experience looking at dozens and dozens of Tsuge's (Ikebanas) and smoking between 15 and 20- or more!"

Maybe I just took it wrong, it's been a dreadfully long day. No offense intended. Personally, I think anyone who's smoked one or two has a valid opinion to give. Certainly the man who's smoked a whole bunch should be heard and his opinion given weight, but not more so than the others, necessarily.

I have one, it's not expensive, it smokes great. I'm not comparing it against other high grades when I comment on it though. Just a good little smoker.

Thanks for taking the time to explain- it was appreciated. Sometimes I am short not because I'm being condescending but because time is short for me- really, I'm literally always working

The place all this is coming from is not malicious or anything, it is this:

Tsuge is a factory whose name has literally been around for centuries. The family used to make samurai swords, which is now an extremely costly business with a limited market to sell to so they changed their model to pipes, and Fukudo went to Denmark to learn from Sixten Ivarsson- who is the one of the founders of the danish pipe movement. Obviously the shapes Tsuge's Ikebana line follow this as do many of the fundamentals. The older Ikebanas were amazing, the mechanics were solid, and the grading system had a solid baseline. Of late- and by that I mean the last 8 years I have noticed that the grading varries- meaning a C grade from 1999 might be be fundamentally gorgeous grain wise but one from 2005 doesn't match the quality and you have to pay an extra $300 to get the same thing. Further I have inspected many many many uber high grade Ikebanas in the $500 to $1000 range that were horrible as far as internal drilling was concerned. Slivers in the mortis area that would definitely affect the smoking characteristics of the pipe, very unusual channeling, all sorts of weird things going on that I was just turned off to. So I liquidated my collection and only saved one because the pipe smokes so darn good and because I smoked the pipe for the first time in Oregon on a camping trip.

I also think the bowl coating is to heavily applied and often muted the flavor of the briar. It was what convinced me that this could occur actually, previously I never experienced this with a bowl coating.

I think they're drop dead gorgeous shape wise though, and perhaps I'm just being too judgmental, but for $500 plus dollars I feel the consumer should get what he or she pays for that's all. I've never owned any of their lower priced pipes so I couldn't comment on them except to say that they've been described to me to be in the Stanwell category- and as far as I'm concerned that is the best bang for the buck pipe you can buy- so cheers to them for that.

Hope this helps, like I said I'm sorry for being short I know I do it from time to time. I just see something and comment forgetting about the whole internet thing as far as % of communication and all.

I appreciate the conversation on a subject that I very much enjoy

 

[Anonymous]

Also- I'd like to mention for future reference- when I comment on a Danish pipe it's because I have owned many many of those types as well. Commenting on the smoking characteristics of a pipe line after only owning a few is.... not my style. I usually reserve my comments only for what I can say without a shadow of a doubt, and from developed experience. Maybe that's why I take what I have to say so darn seriously I'll work on my tonality in the future

Thanks gents!

 

[Puff Daddy]

Cheers Ian!! 8) I have to give my impressions based on small numbers, as that's likely as good as it will ever get for me, but thankfully the chasm between us as far as numbers of examples goes doesn't keep us from engaging in good conversation on the subject, which can be meaningful for all involved.