Me Dr. Grabow Grand Duke

Preacher1611 · Fri May 18, 2018 7:52 am

OK, so I commented in the What Are You Smoking thread yesterday on Kevin Keith's Grand Duke. I bought this pipe, (it's the first pipe I ever bought), when I was maybe 19 or 20. I'm 40 now sooo... roughly 20 years ago. Wow, that's some crazy stuff right there. I started smoking Captain Black White and that was my only smoke for years. I smoked the pipe sporadically, you know, when I felt I needed to buy some Captain Black. It's had a smoke of every tobacco I've ever tried, it's been left in extreme temperatures, in the glove box, it was thrown away once, (for a couple of minutes), you know that green stuff people smoke? that's been in there, it's been wet, the lacquer or whatever Grabow puts on their pipes has bubbled. It's been quite a few places and seen quite a few things. Anyway, I've written this thread because I have never seen A Grand Duke like this one since I purchased it from CVS Pharmacy way back in the day. I bought one from a guy on the old forum years back and it's not the same, the closest thing I've seen is Kevin Keith's Silver Duke. Well, my camera seems not to work anymore, lame, so I took a few shots with my phone to show it off:

Preacher1611 · Fri May 18, 2018 7:53 am

Preacher1611 · Fri May 18, 2018 7:53 am

Preacher1611 · Fri May 18, 2018 7:55 am

This is my favorite pic of her:

Fri May 18, 2018 8:56 am

Oh yeah, that's a great pipe I guarantee. I really like the beading on the old guys. Grabow still has the machinery to cut them but they don't. I haven't heard any reason why they stopped but they did. Other factories did too so I guess it's just step saving, cutting costs anywhere you can.

Sat May 19, 2018 1:57 pm

Thats a nice looking one ! Any time I find a Grabow I love , I smoke it so much its ridiculous ... but I end up breaking them too . I cant seem to keep one for over to years

Sat May 19, 2018 2:26 pm

I am a fan of the Grabows.

Whalehead King · Sat May 19, 2018 6:04 pm

Nice pictures. The soft focus reminds me of late night 80s TV channels (you know the ones I mean).

I'm a Medico man and I have my share of Yello Boles, myself, but I don't own any Grabows. I haven't bought one because, well, heck, how many indestructible reliable smokers does one man need? ---Don't answer that.

That pipe is a GLOP, a Gorgeous Lady of Pipes.

These solid OTC pipes withstand the test of time and a lot of hard knocks, just like the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.

I'm dismayed by the lack of stingers in newer models, but as long as they take filters, I'm in the game.

These solid OTC pipes withstand the test of time and a lot of hard knocks. I've never broken a Medico or a Yello Bole, so how Ruff breaks a Grabow, I have no idea. These pipes are designed to be tossed into tool boxes, lunch boxes, duffle bags, sea bags, ammo cans, footlockers, and survival kits, to take a licking while keeping on ticking after being tossed around in the back of a truck on back roads or being hauled over ice floes in either the Arctic or Antartica, good for jungle conditions, desert conditions, combat conditions, or sitting out on the back porch enjoying the sun going down over a freshly mowed lawn.

I'm dismayed by the lack of stingers in newer models, but as long as they take filters, I'm in the game.

Thelonious monkfish · Sat May 19, 2018 6:13 pm

Ruffinogold wrote: ↑Sat May 19, 2018 1:57 pm Thats a nice looking one ! Any time I find a Grabow I love , I smoke it so much its ridiculous ... but I end up breaking them too . I cant seem to keep one for over to years

What are you doing to them?

Thelonious monkfish · Sat May 19, 2018 6:18 pm

Whalehead King wrote: ↑Sat May 19, 2018 6:04 pm...I'm dismayed by the lack of stingers in newer models, but as long as they take filters, I'm in the game.

You're in luck, all new production Grabow take filters. Those filters generate more money than the pipes and are what keeps their doors open. So call Deb over at Sparta to order yourself a new Grabow and some filters.