Even a blind squirrel finds an occasional acorn. That’s how I feel sometimes when I walk into a junktique shop (the signs usually say “Antique & Collectibles) and finding something worth adding to my collection. A recent Saturday expedition to one of these shops uncovered 15 or 16 usual Medicos, Dr. Grabow’s and Kaywoodie’s damaged beyond consideration. I found the …
(In an earlier post, I wrote about buying estate pipes in various types of shops. This is a follow-up to that post.) Collecting estate/used pipes can be frustrating at times when shopping antique and collectible shops. It’s even worse when the shops claim to be antique but are really junktique and flea markets. If you want to purchase a good, …
The topic keeps resurfacing on pipe smoking forums. Do the higher priced, premium pipes really smoke better than less expensive pipes? There are some pipe smoking snobs who claim the more expensive pipes do smoke better. But how does that explain the thousands of pipe smokers who collect and swear by the smoking qualities of Kaywoodies and Dr. Grabow’s for …
For the testing I loaded two grams of Dunhill My Mixture 965 in each pipe. I weighed the tobacco on my kitchen scale. Stanwell HCA: Passes a pipe cleaner with some wiggling. Draft hole off center high. Avg. size airway in stem. Good, easy draught – like sipping a fountain drink through a plastic straw. Bowl was warm but comfortable …
“Do High Priced Pipes Really Smoke Better.” My Conclusions… After conducting my smoking test and talking to several expert pipe carvers and restorers, I decided the answer is so subjective for a yes or no answer. What makes a pipe a quality smoker depends on the definition of a quality smoker by each pipe smoker. I have several hypotheses and …
Here’s the question. When shopping at antique/collectible/flea market/junk shops, how much is too much to pay for a pipe? Of course, the final answer is, “It depends on how much the buyer is willing to spend.” But other than that, how do you determine if the pipe you’re looking at is a good value? I look at different factors when …
Cornell & Diehl Sea Dog (Scoundrel Series) claims to be an English blend. That’s where my confusion about it starts. While it does contain some tobacco commonly found in English blends, the proportions seem to be all wrong. Most English blends I know contain Latakia, Oriental/Turkish and Virginia – in that order of use. Sea Dog missed the memo on …
I didn’t win. A total of six other pipe smokers smoked longer than I did. Meaning I failed in my attempt to win three years in a row. Fellow New Orleans Pipe Club member, Frank Mares finished after 1 hour, 21 minutes and Pipe Club Member Charles Williams, Jr., was second at 1 hour, 18 minutes. In contrast, I was …
As a general rule, if the critics hate it, it’s probably something I’m going to like. Doesn’t matter if it’s a movie, a TV show, booze, coffee or food – 90 percent of the time I find myself disagreeing with supposed “experts” who write reviews professionally. I have read reviews on something and said, “Someone paid good money for that …
As I sit here preparing to practice for a long smoke contest in two weeks, I thought I would pass on some words of wisdom and insights. First, and most importantly, the rules for long smoke, slow smoke or pipe smoking contests and competitions vary as much as the locations they are held in. There is no governing body that …
