The wife will be away, so I must play. What better excuse for a pipe party? What better way for pipe smokers to meet their fellow aficionados or for those who want to try the pipe to learn some of the art and science of smoking from those who have already mastered it?

You are cordially invited to come join me on Saturday, August 9 at 5:00pm for a good old-fashioned campfire here in the woods on the banks of the Skykomish River. In the tradition of outdoorsmen past we shall build fond memories as our tobacco smoke reaches for the sky, there to mingle with the smoke of our fire.

I’ll promise you food, fellowship, and fun. You need only bring yourself and your libation of choice.

Of course I’ll be doing the cooking so can’t promise that the food will actually be good, but it’ll be free and that can’t be beat!

We will eat around 6:00pm, and light the fire shortly thereafter.

For you brothers of the briar, I offer you a simply amazing view to contemplate as you enjoy a bowl of your favorite tobacco. For you future brothers of the briar, I offer you loaner pipes and a selection of the worlds finest tobacco’s to try.

All of that my friends is the good news.

Now for the bad news.

I’m having this little event at my house, and lemme tell you, my house is a long way from civilization. I’m about 40 minutes east of Monroe, off Highway 2, near the tiny town of Index. If that isn’t enough to scare you off, my ‘driveway’ is a primitive gravel road, my house about 4 miles in. The road is good enough for any car to pass; indeed one of my friends has visited in his Corvette. That said, were I to own such a car I would not drive it here, and would advise my guests that they might feel much more comfortable if they were to arrive in a more rugged vehicle. One small consolation is that it is easy to find, no one is likely to become lost looking for my home provided that they remember to bring directions.

Weather presents two minor obstacles to these plans, but will be unable to derail them. If it does not rain soon the Burning Ban will remain in effect stopping the enjoyment of a campfire. If it does rain, we shall be fine, we shall simply move inside the studio where smoking is always welcome.

Please RSVP to bailey.cameron.m AT gmail.com by Thursday, August 7 so that I may ensure enough food for everyone. When you RSVP please let me know where you will be coming from so that I might send you directions via the quickest possible route.

Posted by Cameron at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I mentioned some days ago in a post here, this month I posted a timelessly shaped new Ferndown pipe by Les Wood. This week I took to smoking the pipe, and thought that a report of my first impressions would be appropriate here.

The pipe is quite a bit larger than those I normally smoke both in overall size and the volume of the tobacco chamber. This has caused me to feel the need for a more gradual break-in process, likely unnecessary, but to ensure that the tobacco was consumed by fire to the very bottom of the bowl I took to smoking those first couple of bowls with only the slightest amount of tobacco in the bottom. This has worked quite well, and careful examination shows that I have wonderfully even cake forming in the lowest 25% of the bowl. Upon that success I’ve begun to break in the rest of the bowl, enjoying my first full bowl last evening.

To my eye this Ferndown pipe stands at the pinnacle of quality, and given the price range of Ferndown pipes must be considered a superb value. The classic shape is perfectly executed, the blast quite well done with only the smallest troubling spot that likely no one else would notice. The nomenclature is crisp and clear, the stem work obviously done with great care, and as seems to be the case with every Les Wood pipe I’ve closely examined the silverwork is flawless. Topping everything off the chamber is properly bored, and the air hole enters dead center in the very bottom of the bowl, as it should.

A pipe that so well exemplifies the English Style begs I think for English Style tobacco, so I’ve selected Dunhill’s Early Morning Pipe for this break-in process, and this pipe will likely regularly burn even heavier English tobaccos.

One final thing I should mention even though it may reflect poorly on myself is the functionality of the mount. I have read, though I do not know if it is true, that the military mount was created by soldiers in WWI out of necessity. That all too frequently a soldier’s pipe would be broken in the shank or tenon while he was suffering the horrors of the trenches. That to effect a repair he would carve two cartridge cases to come up with an effective but crude way to mount the stem to shank, the precursor to the military mount we know today, and that this form of mounting was adopted by pipemakers to serve those smokers who’s activity was highly likely to break a plain shank or tenon. As I mentioned above, I do not know if this story is true, but I do own a number of pieces of ‘trench art,’ artistic and functional items made out of cartridge casings during WWI, so I presume that it could in fact be the case.

In any event, to make a long story short, last night I dropped the pipe. A nasty drop from a high distance onto a hard surface. The mounting worked perfectly. Stem separated from bowl with no damage and indeed with not even so much as a dent anywhere on the pipe. What could have been a sad moment instead proved to be one of no consequence whatsoever.

Posted by Cameron at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An old, yet un-smoked GBD with the silver roundel on the stem this is a very unique and striking pipe. It is stained a dark red/brown where it has been given a rusticated finish, and stained natural in those places that are smoothly finished.

This is a mixed grain pipe that lends tremendous variation to the bowl especially to my eye in those parts of the bowl that carry a rusticated finish. The stem is carved with two bands that add to the out of the ordinary look of this beautiful pipe.

This pipe has not been smoked and it has no major issues. As to minor issues there is only the fact that I do not buff my pipes and the stem reflects that as it shows a level of oxidation that could easily be buffed away if desired.

Old GBD pipes, especially those from the era of the silver roundel or before are in my experience truly wonderful smoking pipes. This pipe should provide that experience to it’s new owner or could of course be left as an un-smoked collectable.

The pipe is light in weight, well balanced, and I find the contrast between the rustication and the smooth finishes to be quite interesting in the hand.

Nomenclature: London England, GBD (in a circle), Tapestry, 133, with the silver GBD roundel on the stem. All of the nomenclature is deep and very easy to read.

You can learn more about GBD pipes here, here, here, here, and here.

$163.50 USD
$7.00 Domestic Shipping, Handling, Insurance.

If you are interested in purchasing this beautiful un-smoked vintage GBD pipe please email me for more information or to arrange payment and shipping details. My email link is in the navigation bar at the top of the main page.

View more pictures below.

Posted by Cameron at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday was the annual Seattle Pipe Club BBQ; a wonderful time was had by all. We were treated to great food, tremendous conversation with friends new and old, and had an opportunity to view some truly amazing pipes from member’s collections.

I suppose that as with any gathering of pipemen there was also a brisk trade in pipes both estate and new. Wonderful pipes going to wonderful new owners. I was not immune to the excitement of course and acquired a beautiful new Ferndown Bark Billiard Military Mount Two Star.

In this age of horrible smoking restrictions I think that pipe clubs are perfect safe harbors from the storm. Smoking is a social activity and they provide that important outlet in spades. Additionally I think that the clubs are tremendous assets to the new pipe smoker as they allow him to learn from the experience and wisdom of those who have gone before, vitally important when one is trying to master both the art and the science behind enjoyable pipe smoking. Ultimately I believe that the clubs are leading to resurgence in pipe smoking within our society, which I must count as a truly positive trend. If you love pipes but aren’t a member of a club I would strongly recommend that you give your local club a try, or even start your own.

As I close I must give a hearty thank you to our amazing host again this year: Thank You Al!

My new Ferndown by Les Wood.

Posted by Cameron at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I always try to smoke my pipes very gently so until now I haven’t had an occasion to need a serious pipe repair job.

Things changed when I purchased a badly abused but nevertheless quite extraordinary pipe a few months ago. The pipe needed a great deal of work. Its original amber stem was shattered, the separate screw-in tenon was destroyed, and likely worst of all, the tenon’s threads within the shank were mangled.

There were some less serious problems as well, but I was able to correct them on my own.

I sent the pipe off to Dave Wolfe at Walker Briar Works for the shank, stem, and tenon work.

Through the process Dave and I communicated via email and phone, I found him to be a great pleasure to do business with. Friendly, knowledgeable, and caring, qualities I imagine we all want to see in the people we entrust with our treasures of pipedom.

The newly repaired pipe arrived this week, and I am happy with the job Dave was able to do. He took a pipe that was in no way smoke-able and turned it into a pipe that I should be able to enjoy smoking for years to come.

The shattered amber stem was replaced (at my request) with a modern Lucite stem, the screw tenon was replaced with a standard push tenon, and the mangled threads within the shank were drilled away to accept the new push tenon. The pipe looks wonderful with its new stem and it resides in its fitted case perfectly. The stem/shank fit is off ever so slightly, but given that the shank itself is hand carved at a less than perfect angle I doubt if any stem could match up without some measure of light gap.

Overall I was quite pleased with the job Dave was able to do for me, and based upon that I do not hesitate to mention Walker Briar Works here.

Posted by Cameron at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)