Favorite (and former favorite) pipe(s)?

[Benzadmiral]

This came to mind during the Pipe of the Day yesterday. For the first time in a while I dug out, loaded, and smoked a Lorenzo pipe I bought at Tinder Box in the '80s: a bent Dublin sitter with a thick-walled bowl. It's been through some adventures. Apparently I replaced the stem with an acrylic one; the shank cracked and I reglued it. For years, while I did not smoke, it sat as a decoration on a kitchen shelf. It still smokes well.

The odd thing is that, in the late '80s and into the '90s, until I gave up pipe smoking, the Lorenzo was my favorite, the go-to pipe. For some reason that seems to have changed -- or I would not be storing it in a separate box from my other briars. I wonder what happened. My current favorite, I guess, is the Mastercraft straight billiard I picked up in Birmingham a couple of years ago. It's slim and tapered, with the unusual twin bores in the stem. And it's connected in my mind with bugging out for a hurricane (not good, but a kind of adventure) and with visiting The Briary there and buying the pipe, the current leather pouch, and my Zippo (great).

So: If you have more than one pipe, what is your favorite, either because it is the one you reach for most often, or for another reason? And did it displace another former favorite?

 

[luvmysuper]

I have a Dr Plumb flat grip pot I go to frequently as well as an Imp meerschaum LVC. Those two are probably my most frequent drivers, though I rotate through many others.

 

[Alex Jr]

Right now a vintage savinelli Bruna billiard, vulcanite stem. It's the thinnest mouthpiece of all my pipes, so comfortable it seems there's nothing between my teeth when clenched.

 

[luvmysuper]

Right now a vintage savinelli Bruna billiard, vulcanite stem. It's the thinnest mouthpiece of all my pipes, so comfortable it seems there's nothing between my teeth when clenched.

That's what impresses me about my Dr Plumb flat grip pot!

 

[Alex Jr]

That's what impresses me about my Dr Plumb flat grip pot!

So comfortable to clench it ruined all my other pipes!

 

[seabee1999]

I have quite a few cob pipes but still, to this day, my favorite one is my very first Country Gentleman cob.

 

[Deano]

My no name Denmark. A Christmas present from my late wife in the late 80's. Sentiment aside its a good smoker l reach for quite often.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Right now a vintage savinelli Bruna billiard, vulcanite stem. It's the thinnest mouthpiece of all my pipes, so comfortable it seems there's nothing between my teeth when clenched.

My Jeantet billiard with the horn stem is ultra-comfortable as well.

 

[DogLeg]

My favorite pipe was a Dr. Grabow Omega for many years. It happened to be the only pipe I had for many of those years, but still.

Then I got a Dr. Grabow Starfire which is now the pipe I smoke most often.

Since finding this forum I have been smoking more of my pipes so that may change which one gets to be my favorite.

 

[cwright]

It's a tie, Bones Billiard and Bones Bulldog....

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I don't really have one at present. I have quite a utilitarian attitude towards my pipes, and so long as it smokes well and sits well, I'm happy. Beyond that, I reach for the pipe that matches the blend I want to smoke (I segregate to minimise ghosting), and choose a bowl size for the duration required.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

My favourite pipe is this Ser Jacopo Picta Van Gogh cutty/hawkbill. For some reason the shape really pleases me and always has. I have other pipes I love but this has always been my favourite since I bought it more than ten years ago. It was also the start of a long love affair for the particular style of pipes made in Pesaro, Italy.

 

[nortac]

Hard to pick a favorite, but one of my Dad's old pipes, an Armellini bent brandy comes to mind, mostly due to sentimental reasons. My MM Towne Cobbler probably gets smoked the most, it's my truck pipe. I enjoy several Pete's , hard to pick just one!

 

[brandaves]

My Savinelli Series III 320 is the pipe I reach for most often.

 

[Ponycarman]

My Savinelli Series III 320 is the pipe I reach for most often.
View attachment 1701193

I wanted one of those so bad lol. Then found out they discontinued the series . Maybe someday they will return.

 

[Ponycarman]

I hate these questions . I really don't know which I smoke most. So many to love so it is spread thin lol. Might be able to narrow it down to a peterson or savinelli lol. One of my most special pipes is the first neerup I grabbed. The chunky rustication and gorgeous contrast staining has always been a favorite of mine. It has turned into somewhat of a birthday pipe for me. Only pulling it out on special occasions.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I'm not really a bent pipe guy any more. But the Peterson 80-S bent bulldog I picked up recently is a good smoker, not large but holds a sufficient amount of leaf for a short smoke . . . and the diamond-shaped shank lets me set the pipe on a saucer, tilted to one side, without spilling any ash. I suppose that would be true of any diamond-shaped shank pipe, but still. . . .

 

[AimlessWanderer]

and the diamond-shaped shank lets me set the pipe on a saucer, tilted to one side, without spilling any ash.

Every single one of the pipes I smoke is a stable sitter. I won.t smoke any pipe I can't safely put down on any nearby surface, without ancillary apparatus, or having to prop it up somehow. Besides the little hole at the near end end, being joined to the big hole at the other, sitting upright on its own is the second most important feature for me.

 

[Columbo]

I probably mentioned this before. But my favorite pipe is my first pipe.

An oiled French-made poker that I paid $15 for at a walk-in newsstand, back when they still had walk-in newsstands, and $15 was an awful lot of money to me.

It remains in my regular rotation to the present day. And I’ve smoked everything in it over the years. And it can smoke just about anything well and stay sweet. The great melting pot of tobaccos near and far. And yet it maintains a certain studied neutrality. I guess after God-only-knows how many thousand bowls, I should understand it.

Is it my best smoker? No. And it is hardly impressive to look at. It would never pass muster with the snobs. Its flat bottom has a couple scratches, and it’s been reamed many times over its long life, yet looks to have decades more left in it. Even with a rubber bite, the vulcanite stem has grown a little tooth mark over the many decades, and it’s developed a very polished brownness. It has, to put a nice spin on it, the character of experience.

But it will be forever my favorite, because it was my first. I’m hoping my son someday smokes it when I am no more.

 

[DogLeg]

I probably mentioned this before. But my favorite pipe is my first pipe.

An oiled French-made poker that I paid $15 for at a walk-in newsstand, back when they still had walk-in newsstands, and $15 was an awful lot of money to me.

It remains in my regular rotation to the present day. And I’ve smoked everything in it over the years. And it can smoke just about anything well and stay sweet. The great melting pot of tobaccos near and far. And yet it maintains a certain studied neutrality. I guess after God-only-knows how many thousand bowls, I should understand it.

Is it my best smoker? No. And it is hardly impressive to look at. It would never pass muster with the snobs. Its flat bottom has a couple scratches, and it’s been reamed many times over its long life, yet looks to have decades more left in it. Even with a rubber bite, the vulcanite stem has grown a little tooth mark over the many decades, and it’s developed a very polished brownness. It has, to put a nice spin on it, the character of experience.

But it will be forever my favorite, because it was my first. I’m hoping my son someday smokes it when I am no more.

I am the kind of person who is uncomfortable with using brand new (especially pricey brand new) things.

The thrill of the new shiny is more than offset by the foreboding feeling that the first dent, ding or scratch is waiting to pounce. At which point, I now have a used whatever that I could have purchased for a significant discount in the same condition as it now is.

I'm probably just a cheapskate, but I come by it honestly. The people where I grew up have a farmer's sensibility: They'll drop a huge amount of money on something that will make them money without hesitation. But they'll agonize over buying something inexpensive that they'd like to have, but don't actually need.

Which is a long way of saying I am much more comfortable buying an estate pipe than a new pipe and I appreciate the functionality and familiarity more than the "newness".