Sooo went to the local B&M to see if they had cobs, no but they had "cheap basket pipes" starting at only $20... ffs
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Sooo went to the local B&M to see if they had cobs, no but they had "cheap basket pipes" starting at only $20... ffs
You might get lucky with one of those, chances are you won't. I've seen a lot of "brylon" pipes in those baskets, as well as pipes with drilling so bad that you couldn't get a pipe cleaner through them. PM your name and address to me, I think I can fix you up.
You're better off dropping 20 bucks on a nice Estate Grabow, Kaywoodie, Mastersen, LHS, or Mastercraft IMO.
Or better yet, spend 40 and get the Missouri Meerschaum grab bag. Instant inventory of cheap cobs.
I have a couple basket pipes that I smoke on a regular basis...though I did buy at least 3 others that I ended up tossing in the drawer because I couldn't get them to smoke well.
with a good eye and some inspection you could find a good smoker in there! Don't write them all off as cheap, but also don't be too hasty to buy one just becuase of the appearance.
There's nothing wrong with basket pipes IN A B&M, where you can check the drilling. I wouldn't waste your money on them online, though.
basket pipes can be hit or miss and, most likely, miss for an untrained eye. Especially beware of pipes with high air holes into the chamber and pipes that have been dipped in stain. Stained dipped pipes can taste really awful for many many smokes.
I would suggest Aristocob.com for a really good choice of nice corn cob pipes. I especially favor the General, an equal to a good briar pipe; been smoking mine for years - great puffer. Don't underestimate cobs.
It just seemed high to me.... was thinking basket pipes should be in the $10-20 range, not $30+
I agree with most of the above sentiment. While you may get lucky, odds are you'll get a mediocre pipe.
I own several estate pipes that were less than that, all of them ebay finds. Estate pipes are more fun too, since you get to recondition them yourself.
For the best no-nonsense, cheap & great smoking option: cobs are the only way to go.
It doesn't matter if your thing are only $2000+ briar works of art. Cobs must be experienced. I'm particularly fond of the Missouri Pride, the freehand and general seem to be very popular although more expensive.
For a smaller bowl, the Legend is, well, precisely that. The classic corncob shape.
Any of them, even the more expensive ones, are an absolute bargain when judged on their smoking merits. I think they look and feel kickass too...
I have one basket pipe, a Capri. It was my first Briar. I will never buy another basket pipe unless I can put my grubby hands all over it first and it's a great deal. Estates and cobs are too cheap to muck with them.
Why do THEY call it a basket pipe?
Begging the question: "If it is a basket pipe, what did it do to get tossed in the basket?"
It didn't do something right, I'd suppose.
Only been in a couple of B&M stores. One didn't have any basket pipes, the other didn't have anything under $20 and they were all briars. I assumed that was a good price for a no-name.
They typically don't come in boxes or even their own dedicated sleeves so they are often placed in baskets on the counter for sale.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Moo
Back in the 80's when I was getting back into pipes I found some nice basket pipes. They were Lane Limited seconds of Ben Wade pipes. The proprietor showed me the stamping features of both the Ben Wade Model and the second and the only things missing were the name brand stampings. In some cases the seconds looked cleaner than the Ben Wade pipes! I've still got two of those pipes, a bent bulldog and a Dublin and they smoke great. It may not be so easy to find quality basket pipes today; I recently shopped for one at the Gatlin-Burlier. I was hoping to find a natural finish one like I had from back in the 80's; it was a beauty of a bent billiard with no fills and the Gatlin-Burlier stamping. When I went to the store last month, they had a good selection of house pipes but nothing of the caliber of that natural finish one I had from the 80's. I ended up getting a "H.I.S." basket pipe or house pipe that I liked:
http://i1377.photobucket.com/albums/...psjdv2jhmn.jpg
If you can physically inspect a pipe at a B&M this could be useful in eliminating a stinker.