A Good Pipe

 

I have no unwritten rule that says I have to write about expensive pipes costing hundreds or thousands of dollars.  My Dunhill brand new would have cost $1200, but used and reconditioned it was less than a few hundred.  It is the most expensive pipe I will ever own.  I found the above pipe on Smoking Pipes website, which is where I do almost all my shopping for pipes and mostly tobacco.  It is an AKB Meerschaum pipe.

The above pipe has a list price of $57.  Because they are often handcrafted, Meerschaum pipes can be quite expensive, but often are sold as estate pipes and can be had rather inexpensively.  Meerschaum pipes are easy to care for, but will break if they are dropped or abused.  But they clean easily and the smoke is cool.  They don't burn out like Briar can and their appearance and carvings make them very interesting.  

I chose the above pipe rather than dragons, skulls, bearded men, or pirates, because this pipe is rather simple with a Dublin shaped bowl.  This pipe due to its simplicity was more than likely machine made.  But I like Dublin shaped bowl pipes.  I don't own a pipe shaped like this bowl and often think I'd like to own at least one with this shape of bowl.  This pipe hits all the right notes for both a pipe and a Meerschaum.  

Meerschaum is sold in one of two ways.  It is sold in solid block form, which is simply mined from the area of Turkey near the Mediterrenean or it is sold as pressed Meerschaum which are shavings heat pressed to form a block for carving.  Obviously block Meerscaum is best.  If it's pressed there are faint lines in the Meerscaum which is not as high quality and less expensive than block Meerscaum.  The price of this pipe indicates it's pressed Meerschaum as opposed to block Meerschaum.  It would be a bit more fragile if pressed.

The smoking quality of either block or pressed is the same.  But generally a carved Meerschaum would most likely be block Meerscaum as it is less likely to crumble when carved.  Meerscaun is another name for Coral that has been in the earth for millions of years.  This is where Meerschaum originates.  As a substance for pipes, it has been used since about 1723.  Prior to this the substance mostly used for pipe making was clay.  Wood was used in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Briar was first used in pipe making in the late 1800's.  Otherwise pipes were made of clay, stone, corn cobs, and gourds.  The earliest pipes are from Egypt from about 2000 BC.

I chose the above pipe for this post because it is a Meerschaum pipe and it's proof that Meerschaum pipes don't have to be expensive and ornate.  I now own several Meerscaum pipes, but one of my favorite pipes is my Meerscaum Lee Van Cleef pipe.  It's simply a good pipe that isn't ornate.  I just thought I'd share this pipe this morning.  Today it is my Peterson Irish Harp pipe with some Captain Black Original and a cup of hot Costa Rican black coffee.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave