Basket pipes are usually seconds that a maker doesn’t want to put their brand on due to some flaw, which can be strictly cosmetic. They are commonly placed in a “basket”on the counter. A slight cut above a basket pipe is what some shops display along the counter top or display case top, whereas their name brand pipes are housed inside the display case, hence the term counter pipe. If you examine them carefully, looking primarily for good draft hole placement, these pipes can be excellent bargains.
Absolutely! It pays to go through those baskets carefully on occasion. Good way to build a little rotation or acquire genre-dedicated pipes of good quality for cheap.
That is how I built my initial rotation. I will confess to being fairly lucky in my early purchases. I picked pipes I liked, with no idea about what exactly to look for; fortunately they were all pretty well engineered, they just had a slight putty fill here and there. Those fills aren’t noticeable to many, and due to being fairly small putty fill have no impact on smoking qualities.
I go through the basket and counter pipes I every new shop I am in. You never know what's there... I've had a bunch of winners.
Only two shops I've found here in Mayberry that sell better than $2.49 cobs. All their stock is behind glass. Have to have a word with them about this. Tapatalk Via Kyocera
Parker pipes were established by Dunhill to market and sell their “seconds” not GBD from my understanding. Either way nice pipe! I have a Parker Prince that is one of my best smokers. Parker Pipe Reference here.
Had a nice bowl of Escudo on my MM Rob Roy cob. Fantastic smoke. A shout out to @wchnu that inspired me to come back to pipe smoking. At the moment Escudo is my favorite blend, but on my Gasparini briar it tends to gurgle halfway the bowl. With this MM cob that doesn't happen, a very nice fresh, tingling on the nose enjoyable smoke.
A follow up question for the Basket Pipe Ignorant; Assuming these are "seconds" or less than perfect examples - what price range should I expect? I'll be looking for fills hidden by the finish, draft holes drilled at or near the center bottom of the bowl, and other oddities.
Cup of Chickory laced 'Tween roast mellowed out with Italian sweet creamer and a rubbed out couple of coins of PS Lux Bullseye Flake. Cake is building slowly in the Stanwell 403 Army Mount. I've found a Burley builds cake much quicker than Virginia.
Being no stranger to Estate/Vintage shave gear I'm not adverse to the same in my pipes. Don't think I've spent much more than a twenty on any used bowl yet. The key to basket bargains is going to be finding a style I like rather than spotting particular brands since I'm not as trained to pipes as razors.
Bully!!! Let me know if you find a basket...I will do the same. Todays "keep from going postal in crazy young people from LSU traffic" pipe. Orlik DSK in a COA Meer.
