Let's pick up a new hobby!

[YellowSmoke]

Avid cigar smoker trying to get into pipes!
I need a little bit of help as I am a newb about pipes!

Here is what I am trying to find:

- Good quality pipe for 300ish dollars
- Strong, full body, full flavor pipe tobacco, I have a tendency to smoke strong cigars and I am trying to get the same experience with pipes
- Good quality leather pouch for pipe and one for the tobacco.

THANKS GUYS!

 

[B.HOBS]

Welcome to your second slippery slope!!

I honestly suggest getting a cheaper (in price) pipe to start off with, to test the waters with. Believe it or not, corncobs are one of the better smoking pipes out there, and cost around $10. If you really want a traditional briar, Savinelli makes a great series called Duca Carlo, in many shapes, for around $40-50. I have one and love it. If you truly want to spend the coin, the I would go with a higher end Peterson or Savinelli to start with.

When you get a pipe, send me a PM, or reply in this thread. I will send you a bunch of samples of all different types of tobacco. This will help you save some dough and narrow your tastes down. Pipe tobacco is nothing like cigars, so its hard to compare them. There are plenty of cigar leaf blends out there too.

You can get a decent combination pouch for your pipe and tobacco from wherever you choose to buy your pipe. They can be as cheap as $20, to really expensive. Keep in mind that a pouch is only good for temporary storage of pipe tobacco. Long term you want to have something airtight, like a canning jar.

Hope that helps!

 

[YellowSmoke]

Hey! We got a similar picture =)
Well this is not my first pipe I bought a few (when I was traveling in France)
The reason I want I nice pipe to "start" with is because I just don't want another useless item... I have checked out both Peterson or Savinelli, they fell cheap. Do you have a few other brand to recommend? As well as good the leather pouch maker? Or maybe a website where I can get all that stuff?

I thank you for your offer! Very nice!

 

[Pipe Smoker]

If Peterson and Savinelli felt cheap to you, I think you'll be disappointed with just about any pipe out there. I have Dunhills Castellos and expensive handmade pipes and my Petersons smoke as well as any of them and better than some.

At $300 I would look at low-end Castello, high-end Radice and handmades from guys like Rad Davis, Brian Ruthenberg, Chris Askwith and the like. Avoid new Dunhills at that price point, estate Duhills would be ok.

 

[YellowSmoke]

If Peterson and Savinelli felt cheap to you, I think you'll be disappointed with just about any pipe out there. I have Dunhills Castellos and expensive handmade pipes and my Petersons smoke as well as any of them and better than some.

At $300 I would look at low-end Castello, high-end Radice and handmades from guys like Rad Davis, Brian Ruthenberg, Chris Askwith and the like. Avoid new Dunhills at that price point, estate Duhills would be ok.

THANKS!

 

[mrgunnar177]

go for the handmade pipes if you are willing to spend $300.

 

[B.HOBS]

If Peterson and Savinelli felt cheap to you, I think you'll be disappointed with just about any pipe out there. I have Dunhills Castellos and expensive handmade pipes and my Petersons smoke as well as any of them and better than some.

At $300 I would look at low-end Castello, high-end Radice and handmades from guys like Rad Davis, Brian Ruthenberg, Chris Askwith and the like. Avoid new Dunhills at that price point, estate Duhills would be ok.

I second this.

 

[nismo270r]

Lots of good advice here already. I'm that price range, you'd be better off with a good hand made or a good estate. For $300, you could actually get a comission piece from a lot of the carvers out there...off the top of my head I know Chris Askwith commissions were usually in that range.

Also shoot me a PM when you get things rolling and I'll hook you up with a bunch of different samples as well. I think I have close to 30 open tins (well they're in jars) so there's a little but of everything to try!

 

[The Black Cloud]

Yeah, as Billy said, pipe tobacco and cigar tobacco tend to not have the same flavor profiles. I think that's been the one of the biggest hurdles to get over (aside from packing the bowl). Still, it's that difference in flavor that I've come to enjoy.

I can't say much about buying an economical pipe, as my first pipe was a fairly nice Peterson. Hey, we all like to have nice things, right? However having used a cheap corn cob pipe, I can definitely see the value. In fact, the one I had got plugged for some reason and I couldn't fix it. Big deal, I threw the cob in the fireplace, threw the bit in the recycle bin, and next time I'm in the shop I'll grab a new one for $5-$10. I can't imagine having that sense of value if one of my pricier pipes gets ruined.

 

[nismo270r]

Cobs are definitely great to have, especially when wanting to try new blends that could possibly ghost a good briar. My first pipe was a basket briar for $35, then I grabbed a Savinelli Venezia bent Dublin that was around $50-$60, then a Peterson Aran bent bulldog for around $70 ish. I don't have a current count of my herd, but it grew substantially in a short time. I think pipes and cigars, especially pipes, brings out the "collector bug" very easily, lol!

 

[souldog]

I take full responsibility of TBC's re-emergence as a pipe smoker, a la Christmas Cookie at the Turkey Herf a couple years back. They're great, but I only smoke them with a morning tea or when I don't want to stay the whole hour and a half with a cigar in this cold weather... Based on your price point, dude, go with a Boswell. Great guys, amazing blends, and excellent customer service. I blame 42 for sending me in that direction.