As brothers of the briar we compete as gentlemen, on our honor to see that the rules of the contest are followed, and that the competition remains fair. I thought, as I know that some of the competitors read this site, that I would touch upon a few of those rules here.

The tamper may only be used when the pipe is in the mouth.

It is forbidden to knock, or shake, the pipe in any way.

It is permitted to remove the mouthpiece from the bowl to get rid of liquid.

Competitors may use the papers provide to wipe the tamper.

Competitors may remove ash from the pipe, but may not put back any tobacco that happens to fall out.

Competitors may not drink until the 10-minute mark has passed.

From the start of the competition competitors will have 5 minutes in which to prepare their tobacco, but may not humidify or add anything to it.

Time will be registered from the moment the command to light the pipes is given.

Competitors have one minute to light their pipes with either one or both of the matches provided. Defective matches can be replaced.

Competitors must signal appropriately when their pipe goes out.

Should a competitors pipe bowl burn, the competitor must be disqualified.

I am honored to be hosting this contest again this year. We have some wonderful prizes, including the ever-odd prize of 1000 matches. My sincere thanks to those who have helped put this competition together, it could never happen without your efforts.

With that, I look forward to Thursday Evening at Smokey Joes!

Thursday, November 13 at Smoky Joe’s in little ol’ Fife.

Details can be found at the Seattle Pipe Club website, and complete rules at the UPCA website.

This is always a great event, and we look forward to tremendous fun and fellowship this year as well.

This past week I received my Seattle Pipe Club Meerschaum. It’s a truly beautiful pipe. A classic claw and egg shape with a heavily decorated bowl, and best of all our very own Seattle Pipe Club shield. Two stems, and a fitted leather case compliment the pipe.

I will confess that I’ve had difficulty smoking Meerschaum pipes enough to adequately color them, but this is a special Meerschaum, so I shall make an extra effort. Traditionally our December club meeting is a white pipe night, and I’d like to have some nice color on it for the occasion.

Therefore, I think it might be appropriate to expand the scope a little, to include at least a touch of that second vice. That wonderful silver money eater.

This second vice if it may be called such is for Airstream brand travel trailers. I am filled with great childhood memories of our family camping in our Coachman trailer. Alas though, many of those memories are of just how amazed we children were each time one of the wonderful silver Airstream’s pulled into the campground. I remember us kids just standing and looking, wondering about these striking homes on wheels, and the fortunate occupants inside. I also remember my parents assuring me that such Land Yachts were very, very expensive.

They did get the expensive part right, a top of the line Airstream today costs just under $100,000.

About a year ago the time came for me to realize this childhood dream, to posses an Airstream of my very own. I strongly considered a beautiful new one, and am lucky enough in my life that such an option is open to me. Alas though, while truly amazing, the new Airstream is not the exact Airstream of my memory. Luckily, Airstream’s don’t die. They are restored, rebuilt, and returned to their original glory by wonderful craftsmen everywhere.

I found a vintage 1973 International Overlander, just perfect for me. The exact trailer of my memory having been a young child in the early to mid 1970’s. I suppose that one of these days I’ll pass the old beauty on to another and buy the newest and best, but for now this truly vintage trailer and I are a perfect fit.

Vintage Airstream’s are extremely popular, so I am not alone with this hobby, but one thing I am not is mechanically inclined. I lack the desire or ability to restore a vintage car, and in much the same way, I’m not a craftsman who could restore a vintage Airstream.

As luck would have it, mine precluded that need. It came to me fully restored on the interior, and with all the working systems rebuilt. From day one it was ready to go, good as new. A sad story, a fellow decided to have the Airstream he grew up traveling in restored, and took it to a professional shop to have the work done. The shop assumed he could pay for the project, he assumed it would not be very costly. Both assumptions were wrong, and the shop sold the trailer to me when he was unable to pay for the work they performed. He learned the hard way that even very old Airstream’s are very expensive, and they learned the hard way that just because someone is in possession of such a beauty doesn’t mean that they are in a strong financial position.

The only thing not restored on the Airstream was the exterior. It lacks the high shine that it was born with. I suppose that the financial problems were figured out prior to polishing taking place, hence it’s dull grey appearance. I’ll have to have that problem remedied one of these days.

For now, I am enjoying this piece of my childhood, spending way too much money on all things Airstream, and enjoying the envious looks it gets whenever we are in a RV park.

So, there you have it, the second ‘vice’ and a little something of interest for those who may have followed a link here from an Airstream website.

While the vacations have been wonderful, hopefully I’ll not be missing the next meeting!

Luckily the time came when I was able to order some for myself, and I’m glad that I got a bit carried away. I bought plenty to see me through years of enjoyable smoking, and now it was my turn to think upon my good fortune as others tried to find an adequate stash for themselves.

Then came Seattle Evening. Another superb blend, but smokable for one night only as it was crafted specifically for use at our Annual Dinner.

Alas I am proud to report that the horrible shortage of these amazing tobaccos is over. They are now available to all from PipesandCigars.com.

Seattle Pipe Club Tobaccos

I would strongly recommend that you follow my lead and order some of this amazing tobacco today. You will not be disappointed.

I should also point out that these blends, plus Mississippi River will be reviewed in the fall issue of Pipes and Tobaccos magazine.

What strikes me is the extreme difference between the pipe club, and the other two clubs. Within the pipe club, we seem to all get along very well, and serious disagreements just don’t seem to exist. The other two are quite radically different with factions engaged in seemingly never ending battles.

All three clubs have a self-selecting membership, so that cannot be the cause for the difference.

I have to wonder if it is true what is said about the pipe smoker. If he is indeed a more mellow, more reasonable fellow than the average. Certainly it doesn’t seem that there could be any more cause for serious disagreement between fellows who love Airstreams than fellows who love smoking pipes.

Whatever the cause, I must say that the pipe club is a welcome calm in the wider world of clubs, and it is quite wonderful to watch people with such divergent backgrounds get along so perfectly.

Pipe carvers from around the world are creating truly wonderful pipes, amazing pipes in everything from traditional shapes to freehands that boggle the imagination. Additionally, many of these great pipes are affordably priced. There is also a very vibrant estate pipe market bringing the treasures of the past back to us today.

Small tobacco blenders are creating amazing blends, and new blends on a regular basis. Some old favorites may be gone or changed forever, but new favorites continue entering the market.

Fancy tampers, extremely functional lighters, it seems we have it all available, and importantly, most within the reach of everyone.

We also have pipe clubs around our country, and indeed around the world. Great friends, fellow pipemen whom we can enjoy a bowl of fine tobacco with. This social aspect of pipe smoking is perhaps one of its most valuable assets.

All of this said, I think that we, as people who love the pipe, must make some efforts to expand our numbers. To make sure that our pleasure does not die away due to interest falling below what is necessary to sustain the commercial pipe smoking industry.

Pipe carvers, tobacco blenders, retailers, and estate pipe sellers all need a certain level of business to survive. If too many pipemen are lost, without replacement these small businessmen who serve our community so well will no longer be able to meet our needs.

I think that the Pipe Party is one way we can replenish our numbers show others the joy we find in a great bowl of tobacco. That is why I hosted my party last weekend, to bring non-pipe smokers together with pipe smokers, to let non-pipe smokers see for themselves the pleasures of the pipe. Perhaps it worked, I hope it did.

I can’t claim the idea as my own, for I was invited to two parties hosted for the same reason, and those parties set me on my own path of the pipe. With luck, perhaps it will work the same way for others.

Pipe smoking is a true joy that should be shared with others, not only to allow them to experience what we do on a regular basis, but indeed for the very survival of the industry we rely upon to provide the products we need to find that joy.

I will be hosting future parties in an effort to share the joy of the pipe. If you would like to be invited, please subscribe to this sites newsfeed for invitations will be sent over it.

I received this week my ballot, and my voter’s pamphlet, a guide that I read in great detail. I don’t imagine that many others spend nearly as much time with their own pamphlets but such is the nature of life when ones livelihood is determined by success and failure at the ballot box.

I was disturbed to see that my particular pamphlet contained 8 local levy proposals, all for fire/EMS services, and in my opinion all the supporting statements were written in such a way as to mislead the voters about what the actual effects of passage would be.

For this reason I have decided to attempt to explain how property taxes in Washington work here on ‘The Mayor’s Vice.’

Before I begin, there are a few things I would ask you to remember:

1. As stated previously, property taxes in Washington are extremely complicated. As someone with ultimate responsibility for the financial health of a City dependent upon property tax revenue it was necessary for me to understand exactly how property taxation works. My ability to explain the process however might not reach the same level of proficiency as my understanding of the process. Therefore my explanation may result in you having follow-up questions, I would be happy to answer any such questions via email.

2. You will have likely never heard property taxes explained in this way before. That is because governmental entities occasionally rely upon voter confusion to pass levies. It is unfortunate, but nevertheless true that your government has a vested interest in providing property tax information in such a way as to confuse.

3. I have found when explaining the property tax process to others that the largest stumbling block to understanding the process is a mistaken belief about how assessed valuation effects ones tax bill. It is not true that an increase in assessed valuation requires or must result in an increased tax bill. I ask that you forget any mistaken beliefs about how assessed valuation comes into the process as you start to read and in turn I promise that I will explain it at the appropriate time.

4. I am not advocating for or against any measure on the ballot. I have no way of knowing if any particular levy you are being asked to vote in favor of is a reasonable proposal or not. I am simply explaining the process so that you can make a properly informed decision.

With all of that out of the way, on to the process:

Each year every local government that you pay taxes too decides how much money it wants to run it’s operations for the next year. The County, the City, the School District, the Library District, the Fire District and so on. They all do this.

The governing body when making this decision has three options. It can decide to collect the same amount of money next year as it did this year, it can decide to collect one percent more money next year than it did this year, or it can decide to ask the voters for permission to collect an amount greater than one percent more money next year than this year. The important thing to remember is that the governing body, on it’s own can maintain the same level of tax collection, or even raise tax collections by one percent. It only must seek the consent of the voters if it desires to raise tax collections above one percent in a single year. Hence, any levy that passes will increase your taxes, and likely will increase them dramatically. Technically I suppose that the governing body could also, on it’s own decide to reduce the level of it’s tax collection. I doubt however if hell is yet so cold.

This decision states how much money will be collected in the upcoming year. A dollar figure for the entire taxing authority. It is not decided by how many ‘dollars per thousand’ or any other measure intended to confuse. The government in question simply states how much money will be collected from property taxes in the upcoming year.

Once that decision is made by either the governing body or the voters the tax collectors go to work. They figure out exactly how much all of the real property located within the taxing jurisdiction in question is worth then divide the amount decided to be collected by the total value of all taxable real property.

Once this broad number is figured out it is broken down by individual property owner. Each property owners tax bill is based upon how much of the total property value within the taxing jurisdiction he or she owns. This is where your assessed valuation comes into play.

If your home increases in value faster than that of most in your community, perhaps due to home improvement projects your taxes will rise because you now own a larger percentage of the total value within the community. If your home decreases in value faster than that of most in your community, perhaps due to an issue effecting it’s livability your taxes will fall because you now own a lesser percentage of the total value within the community. If however like most people your house rises or falls in value at the same rate as that most everyone else your taxes will remain roughly the same because your total percentage of ownership of the entire value of the community has neither gone up, nor gone down. In my experience, the vast majority of people do not understand this. They believe that their tax bill always increases as the value of their real property increases, thus they direct their concern, indeed anger, towards rising assessments instead of rising levels of revenue collection. The wrong process is blamed for increased tax bills, how convenient for those who hold public office and seek to raise taxes!

Property tax exemptions also play into ones tax bill, and in a large way. Churches pay no property taxes, many senior citizens pay lesser property taxes, and other exemptions exist as well. None of these exemptions reduce the amount of money collected by the government. That burden is simply shifted to everyone else. Remember that in step number one the government decided how many dollars it would collect. If your neighbor doesn’t have to pay his full amount, for whatever reason, you and the rest of your neighbors will have it added to your bill. Therefore the wise voter would use extreme caution before ever lobbying for additional property tax exemptions. In the end such exemptions hurt far more people than they ever help.

There you have it, property taxes in a nutshell.

Now let’s look at a specific example or two.

Snohomish County Fire Protection District Number 1

From the voter’s pamphlet, statement for:

“This levy is not a new tax. Prop. 1 restores the existing fire levy to the same rate approved by voters in 2006: $1.50 per $1000 assessed valuation.”

Let’s break this down.

The statement clearly wants voters to believe that if Proposition 1 passes their taxes will not go up. Rather their taxes will remain the same. The statement is of course misleading, and quite likely designed to mislead.

The truth we can learn from this statement is that in 2006 the voters approved a levy that resulted in taxes of $1.50 per $1000 in assessed valuation at that time. Of course since 2006 property values have risen. The dollars collected by the district have either remained the same, or more likely have risen by a couple of percentage points in the intervening years. The dollars collected from the average taxpayer have also remained about the same, or risen by a couple of percentage points. Since however the value of all real property within the district has risen property owners are no longer paying $1.50 per $1000 of assessed valuation. This is because the property owners have more thousands. The taxes collected have remained the same, but the amount collected per thousand has fallen because there are more thousands.

Bottom line, a vote in favor of Proposition 1 is not a vote to keep paying the same level of tax, it is indeed a vote in favor of a rather large tax increase.

Snohomish County Fire Protection District Number 12

From the voters pamphlet, statement for:

“This levy is a restoration of the Emergency Medical Services levy rate, which re-sets the levy to .50 cents per $1000 of assessed valuation, the same level previously approved by voters in 2004.
Washington State law sets a 1 percent limit on property tax increases. As a result, the EMS levy rate drops a few cents each year. The previously authorized EMS levy has dropped in the City of Marysville and Fire District #12 to .34 cents ad .38 cents per $1000 of assessed valuation respectively. Passage of this levy will allow the fire district to restore the EMS levy to the .50 cent rate previously approved by voters.”

This statement is in my opinion also intentionally written to mislead and foster confusion. It clearly hopes that the voters will think something along the lines of:

If you vote for this levy your taxes will not go up beyond what they were in 2004. That due to some odd quirk of state law the fire district has been collecting a bit less money each year since 2004, and that the fire district will be harmed if this decline in revenue is allowed to continue. Therefore a yes vote will just be taking things back to how they were back in 2004.

The truth is I’m afraid much different, but can be gleaned from the statement. We can learn that in 2004 the voters approved a levy that resulted in taxes of .50 cents per $1000 in assessed valuation at that time. Since 2004 property values have of course risen. The dollars collected by the fire district have increased by at least one percent each year since 2004, but as the value of real property within the district has risen the number of cents collected on each thousand has fallen. Since there are more thousands within the district less cents per thousand must be collected in order to collect the same or in this case slightly increasing amounts of money. If the levy rate is currently at .34 cents, and this proposition seeks to raise that levy rate to .50 cents that will not result in the fire district collecting about the same amount of money it collected in 2004. Rather it will result in close to double the dollars collected. It will come close to doubling the taxes each property owner within Fire District 12 pays for EMS services.

The statement was written so that the average person would believe that passage would result in the same amount of taxes paid as were paid in 2004. The truth of the matter is that passage will result in an almost doubling of the taxes paid. Quite a difference!

It is worth pointing out that voter’s pamphlets come with little disclaimers, mine says:

“The for/against statements are the opinions of the authors and have not been checked for factual or grammatical accuracy by any government agency.”

In other words, no one checks to see if they are misleading, indeed no one checks to see if they are filled with lies. Unless you know and trust the person who wrote the statement it is best to remember what the disclaimers say and take the statement with a nice healthy grain of salt.

I have picked on Fire Districts 1 and 12 here simply due to random choice. All the other statements within my pamphlet are written in similarly misleading language, so the fact of my choosing them as examples should not be perceived as a belief that they are somehow worse than other local governments. Additionally, I do not live within either Fire District, so cannot judge the merits of their propositions, I do not suggest a vote either way, they are simply examples. My own fire district is quite conservative when it comes to tax increases and they do not have a levy before the voters this year which is why I had to choose others to serve as examples.

The choice is yours, either choose to vote to increase your taxes or choose to spend that money on a fine new smoking pipe instead. I cannot give advice about the levies you are asked to vote in favor of, but I hope that at least by providing this explanation I am able to provide you with the understanding you need in order to make an informed decision. A role that should be, but is not, fulfilled by our Secretary of State.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is a very uniquely shaped Nino Rossi pipe, made in Italy. It has been very lightly smoked and comes with its box. The pipe is small and extremely light weight. It should prove to be a wonderfully enjoyable smoker for the man seeking these qualities in a fully bent pipe.

The pipe has no major issues. Minor issues include one very tiny toothmark, and some virtually unnoticeable oxidation on the underside of the stem. I don’t buff my pipes, but this oxidation could be buffed away in moments if desired.

Nomenclature: Nino Rossi 1886 45B Italy FEATHERWEIGHT and a star symbol. The stem is marked with an inset and stylized N, difficult to notice as it was left black.

The pipe comes in its box that is damaged in one corner and worn in the others.

You can learn more about Nino Rossi pipes here, a once tremendously successful and forward thinking company that unfortunately closed it’s doors only 1 year before it’s 100th anniversary.

$70.00 USD
$6.00 Domestic Shipping, Handling, Insurance.

If you are interested in purchasing this very lightly smoked Nino Rossi estate 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.