I've never owned one. I understand they are brittle & somewhat fragile. New they are stark pure white, but color up from the thinner parts first? How long have you used this particular, and do you have recommendations? Photos of the others, please?
I've heard they are fragile too. The only problem I have, with the one I picked up, is that it didn't come with a hard case. The good thing is, that it's never been used, and is in mint condition. Time to visit the Tobacco shop, and see what they have. Any suggestions on you guys favorite tobaccos?? Can you order them through various sites? If so, any links to those sites? Hopefully they have samplers.
Www.pipesandcigars.com My fave pipes: Stanwell Chacom H.I.S Gardesana Rossi Tobacco: Orlik Golden Sliced Orlik Golden Mixture Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake Escudo Navy DeLuxe Solani 656 Wessex Burley Slices H&H Marble Kake H&H Anniversary Kake
Virginia/Periques are tasty for the plum fruitiness. Peterson University Flake is smooth and plummy. My daily tends to an blend of mostly OTC Carter Hall with a fat dose of Perique. Toasted Burly from Stokkebye has a pleasant peppery note. Hearth & Home offer several interesting products - Viprati (Cavendish!) and Marble Kake. I'm not yet to enjoying much Latakia, but I did enjoy G.L.Pease Jack Knife Plug. Visit Pipesandcigars.com and you can receive their monthly catalogue.
www.smokingpipes.com is my go-to. I'd recommend what are lovingly referred to as "Codger Blends" for starting out, Carter Hall, Prince Albert and Half & Half. They practically smoke themselves, and are more forgiving of over-eager puffing than a lot of other blends.
Yup just like that is what I am hunting. I smoke either OTC prince albert or capt. Black. I also pick up C&D blends at my cigar store. I tend to like Latakia and perique blends seems like..
Only two Cigar Stores I've visited here in my little Minor Metro area. One did have Lane products, Peterson's at the other. When the pocket money is right I'll pass by. A few beer stores that call themselves "Tobacco Outlet" but they mean discount cigarettes. Their pipe offerings are the OTC Fuzzy mentioned (like my Carter Hall) or big old bags of very generic looking product. It's available in Red, Gold, Menthol. I think it's roll your own cig tobacco to beat the tax stamp.
There are a couple of nice stores here. They have C&D and some others I can not remember. There is bulk pipe tobacco too. Smokers choice I think. I like it for fishing days or such when I am just going through a lot.
Yes meerschaum is a little fragile, if you were to drop a pipe onto a hard floor, well.., I've never had a problem (knock on wood). I bought this one at the NY pipe show (held strangely in NJ) around 1998. It was an estate pipe then, missing it's case, it was my first meerschaum. I have the problem of owning too many pipes and not smoking any of them enough, so pipes I've owned for years still look relatively unbroken-in. My recommendation for new meerschaum pipes is just to make sure that you are getting block meerschaum, they make cheep pipes out of meerschaum "cement" that don't color, it's also the stuff that's used for meerschaum lined pipes. Here's a few pics of my meerschaums: CAO Beckler 1998 Year Pipe No name Calabash
And some more.. Wm Demuth Co antique colored meerschaum amber bit Gourd calabash meerschaum bowl CAO lattice SMS lattice Antique meerschaum, amber stem, heavy natural color from use
Very nice looking pipes. How can you tell the difference between "Block Meerschaums", and "Cement Meerschaums"????
If you are buying a pipe from one of the major companies (CAO, SMS,etc.) you have no problem, all of the new meerschaum pipes that I bought have a sticker on the case saying "Block Meerschaum". In fact there are only a few charlatans out there, mostly coming from China. If the price seems too good to be true, it's pressed (cement). The pure white meerschaum comes only from Turkey where there is a law regarding export. The overwhelming majority must be carved into it's final shape, so probably any carved meerschaum is probably safe.
I'm not an expert, but I've done a fair amount of research. There's a "Wet Finger Test" that supposedly works on unsmoked pipes, where you moisten your finger and rub inside the bowl. If it's sticky, it's block. Not sticky, pressed. There's also African meer, which is much harder, and usually pre-colored.
Well, I wet my fingers. It's slightly sticky, inside and outside the bowl. The water also absorbs very quickly, and it smells heavily of clay.
Did you buy that figural meerschaum that you linked to on page 293? I'm sure that's block. It's in a typical Turkish face carve, something you really don't see with pressed meerschaum. I understand that test works, but it's hard to do for pipes that you are buying over the internet. I haven't tried it.
Yes, I did buy that pipe. I didn't know much about Meerschaum, so I rolled the dice, and hoped I didn't pay too much. I always wanted one, it's just that they are usually expensive.
