Un-natural fear of Estate Pipes.

[Blackbeard's Delight]

So I have been cruising the web but checking Ebay regularly for pipe lighters, stands, etc. I have run across many estate pipe lots for sale and think it's a great idea. I figure if I paid $30 for a single basket briar, why not pay the same amount for a lot of 5 estate pipes? If I get just one of them cleaned up and smokable it will be the same price, but most likely several of them would be usable.

Then I get looking at the pics and start getting grossed out... for some reason it makes me cringe, much like the idea of brushing my teeth with a used toothbrush!

My brain knows it's ok. I have an old used Gillette Aristocrat I found in the basement and cleaned up and use every day. It's no problem. But with pipes, I don't know. I know I could soak it in grain alcohol overnight and it will be sterile as new... but I reflexively get the heebie-geebies when I think of it.

Does anyone else have this weird fear? Has anyone overcome this to buy and smoke an estate pipe? I would really like to!

 

[Ace_Club]

My first pipe in college was a used pipe. Granted it was cleaned and re-furbished by the pipe shop, but still. Smoking a used pipe is not much different than using a used razor (straight or DE). If properly cleaned and sterilized, you have no issues, and will be enjoying a piece of history during your smoke.

Additionally, with pipes you can always replace the stem, which would give you added piece of mind when using.

 

[Commander Quan]

Do you use the the silverware when you eat out at restaurants? Those have been used by thousands of people before you.

 

[jwhite]

Do you use the the silverware when you eat out at restaurants? Those have been used by thousands of people before you.

These are my thoughts as well. That said if I'm in the market for unrestored estates, I'll spend some time looking at respected brands that often sell at good prices and try to find a pretty reasonable example. More for the likelihood of a really nice completed restoration without a ton of gunk and soot removal than sanitation issues. If a lot of nonames and yellowboles that looks pretty bad I'd skip it. Look for GBD, BBB, Savenelli, comoy and Barling or lots containing them they can often be had at good prices.

 

[PugslyCat]

My experience with used pipes from smoke shops has been very good. I have several from Ted's Tobacco in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. My $35 - $40 estate pipes look as good as new. David's in Des Moines, Iowa has some great looking pipes, but I haven't bought any of their estate pipes, yet.

On the other hand, my experience with several antique malls has been appalling. I've seen too many pipes with dottle and filters left in them for years. I went through one box of pipes and wanted a tetanus shot.

On eBay, if your seller is a pipe person you are probably going to come out fine. I believe that Boswells sells used pipes as do a good number of other vendors. If the seller has a sizable number of pipe auctions under their belt, you will probably come out of it OK. If they deal in a wide variety of merchandise and just a few are pipes, I would ask serious questions about the condition of the merchandise before bidding.

 

[joshua1970]

i love estate pipes!!!

without them I would be hard pressed to find pre WWII Dunhills, Comoys, Charatans, Sasienis ad infinitum that are NOS

did score a 50's era Sasieni poker NOS.

 

[conroygc]

I clean the bowl with everclear and salt, and I clean the stem using bleach. Ain't no bugs to be afraid of after that!

 

[Blackbeard's Delight]

I guess I just need to get over it. The restaurant silverware comparison is a decent one, but silverware is usually metal that has been put through a machine with steaming hot water and harsh chemicals between every use (restaurants don't want to get sued because their salad forks test positive!). Pipes are a little different... wood and plastic dangling out of someone's mouth, who knows if it has ever been properly cleaned, not to mention you know what those pipe smokers usually look like, blegh!

Seriously though, I am sure I will get over it in time. It may just be finding an offer I can't refuse. I will clean it like my life depends on it, surely, and once I get puffing I guess I'll be fine. My brain can logic through it but my (sizable) gut gets wigged out about the idea, that's all.

I seem to see a lot of pipe racks that come with a couple estate pipes posted on ebay pretty regularly, so if I go for one of those, the pipes are a bonus feature, so no pressure on making the purchase. We'll see.

I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure there is a tutorial on restoring estate pipes somewhere on B&B, if not, most likely there's web sites and youtube videos on the subject. Although Conrogc's reply above seems to sum it up in one simple sentence!

 

[Argonaut]

who knows if it has ever been properly cleaned[/SIZE]!

You do, after you properly clean it.

 

[jwhite]

I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure there is a tutorial on restoring estate pipes somewhere on B&B, if not, most likely there's web sites and youtube videos on the subject. Although Conrogc's reply above seems to sum it up in one simple sentence!

There is in the GE sticky at the top of the page.

 

[Schmitz Bitz]

The restaurant silverware comparison is a decent one, but silverware is usually metal that has been put through a machine with steaming hot water and harsh chemicals between every use (restaurants don't want to get sued because their salad forks test positive!).

You would be surprised just what one can grow from seemingly sterile surfaces in restaurants. They may be clean when they come off of the washing rack, but by the time the silverware hits your table it's covered in all sorts of awesome bacteria. And that assumes there are no bits of food clinging to the surface, providing a meal for said bacteria.
I restore (and smoke) between thirty and fifty pipes per year with no detrimental effects - indeed, the over-abused briar often smokes best - there is a reason someone loved that ugly Pete enough to build cake to the point of unsmokable...and it's (usually) not because it was a crappy smoker!

Just for fun, here is a photo journal of my last project, a Brigham 1-dot that arrived as part of a Canadian Box Pass; still packed with nasty tobacco, filter in.

 

[Blackbeard's Delight]

You would be surprised just what one can grow from seemingly sterile surfaces in restaurants. They may be clean when they come off of the washing rack, but by the time the silverware hits your table it's covered in all sorts of awesome bacteria. And that assumes there are no bits of food clinging to the surface, providing a meal for said bacteria.
I restore (and smoke) between thirty and fifty pipes per year with no detrimental effects - indeed, the over-abused briar often smokes best - there is a reason someone loved that ugly Pete enough to build cake to the point of unsmokable...and it's (usually) not because it was a crappy smoker!

Just for fun, here is a photo journal of my last project, a Brigham 1-dot that arrived as part of a Canadian Box Pass; still packed with nasty tobacco, filter in.

That shot of the filter in the tenth photo down... yikes! I wonder if you could re-sell the filter as an antique, that thing was old! Beautiful pipe though! I like the series of photos, they play like a narrative. Like you were walking down the street, and hello, what's this sitting on this fence? Oh a pipe! I better give it a good home!

I know at the end of the day if you scrub/bleach/grain alcohol it enough, anything still alive in there deserves to live there and share the aromatics with me. I love the idea of the history in a pipe... wondering where that pipe has been, etc. The fun of shaving with an old Gillette razor versus a new out of the box Mercur or something, it wouldn't have the same sense of history and about it, even if the shave is just as good.

I'll definitely be looking into some estates for sure and I'll let y'all know what I find. I just needed to have some of my B&B brothers razz me enough to man up, get over the irrational anxiety and go for it. Oh, thanks to Jwhite too, I found the section about restoring pipes. I'll definitely be spending some time reviewing that!

 

[Kentos]

I have had some really grodey estate Falcons. The nice thing is you can soak everything but the bowl to clean it out. I stay away from eBay briar pipes that look like a 3rd grader's mold experiment.

 

[morganjg]

My experience with used pipes from smoke shops has been very good. I have several from Ted's Tobacco in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska. My $35 - $40 estate pipes look as good as new. David's in Des Moines, Iowa has some great looking pipes, but I haven't bought any of their estate pipes, yet.

On the other hand, my experience with several antique malls has been appalling. I've seen too many pipes with dottle and filters left in them for years. I went through one box of pipes and wanted a tetanus shot.

On eBay, if your seller is a pipe person you are probably going to come out fine. I believe that Boswells sells used pipes as do a good number of other vendors. If the seller has a sizable number of pipe auctions under their belt, you will probably come out of it OK. If they deal in a wide variety of merchandise and just a few are pipes, I would ask serious questions about the condition of the merchandise before bidding.

I agree completely. I buy my estates from my local tobacconist and they are perfect when I get them. He reams, freshens, cleans, polishes (and re stems if needed) all pipes he gets and they are usually pristine. Add to that the price tag of $25-40 and it is a perfect solution. I have gotten many high end pipes from him and often feel like I am paying too little! Two years ago I bought a bamboo Dunhill with the Neiman Marcus branding for $40, a pipe that easily retails at several hundred dollars. It was well broken in, the bamboo had a delightful color, and smokes like a dream. Your local tobacconist is the place to go first.