I filled up my pipe stand with briars, the plan now is to only upgrade when I find a pipe I like better. I found a guy selling off his pipes, and picked up a few Dr Grabows, a Medico, a Van Roy and a Derby. I cleaned them up today and added to the stand. He also included an unopened bag of Smoker's Pride Mellow Taste, which I had to try of course. A mild Virginia/Burley blend that smoked cool, but was a bit non-descript. Edit: That's just a limit on briars, corncobs don't count
Here's my pipe of the day. It's a Sven Lars Signature. Like most of my pipes, it's from the mid 70s. This one was bought in Boulder, Colorado. I notice most of you guys have standards while most of mine are free forms like this one. I'm also mostly a bent guy whereas I'm seeing a whole lot of straights here. Looking at my pipe box has me thinking I should trade pipes for razors! Lol. And I have a buddy that probably has three times as many as I do.
Love the glowing embers in the bowl! Were you trying for that effect or did it just turn out that way?
I've just recently gotten on a straight binge, whereas most of my pipes have been bent. but most of my pipes are more standard in shape.
Thanks! I toasted the top, let it cool, then tamped it and snapped the pic 2 seconds or so after the relight. So, yes, was actually shooting for that!
Sun is over the yard arm as my father-in-law says. My one and only straight pipe. Edwards and 70s of course.
Just toasted another bowl.... That's a unique bit pattern! Very cool. It seems that the seventies were definitely the heyday of freehand Danske pipes. When I picked up the pipe in the late eighties, English traditional shapes were all the rage.
Yeah, and many were wilder shaped than that one. The idea was to carve with the grain of the briar and avoid filler as much as possible. I haven't looked closely in years but I bet you could see some filler on this one if I polished it up. I'll have to post the one my friend who owned a tobacco store made me. I don't smoke it very often because I just can't smoke big bowls anymore. I barely finish the small ones like this one is.
What style of tobacco do you most prefer? How do you choose shape? I have found that pipe mass and bowl shape affect different tobaccos in unique ways. My tastes run heavy toward unflavored VA and some VaPer. When I smoke Burley, I generally prefer things like Wessex Burley Slices, which are prepared as if they were VA leaves. As a result of my Flake preferences (avowed flake smoker here), I need pipes that smoke cool, will easily pass a cleaner, and have an easy draw for sipping. That is why you see a parade of straight and rusticated dark pipes in my rotation. I have 10-12 pipes that see action, and not a large collection beyond that, it's actually gotten smaller of late. Because I use a dozen pipes, I dedicate them to tobacco styles. And I have a Stanwell that is OGS only. I break in all my pipes with OGS, great carbon...easy burn.
