The Shape You Just Can't

[Wooda]

I've never seen a poker/ cherrywood I liked the look of, and hated the ones i've owned.

Seems like everyone and their brother starts their pipecarving shindig with a poker. Two cylinders joined somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 the bowl height, you just can't win.

If the shank transition is smooth, it looks like a lump. To crisp, it looks harsh and artificial.

If the bottom is angled to make it a sitter, it throws off the balance. If it's not, you're still stuck holding an uncomfortable tube with a 90* edge.

[Wildcrow]

I've never seen a poker/ cherrywood I liked the look of, and hated the ones i've owned.

Seems like everyone and their brother starts their pipecarving shindig with a poker. Two cylinders joined somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 the bowl height, you just can't win.

If the shank transition is smooth, it looks like a lump. To crisp, it looks harsh and artificial.

If the bottom is angled to make it a sitter, it throws off the balance. If it's not, you're still stuck holding an uncomfortable tube with a 90* edge.

I can only smoke mine when clenching isn't an option and I need to use my hands a lot. Throwing darts is mainly when that pipe gets a workout.

[Thelonious monkfish]

I used to like the bulldog, but I cannot get into pipes with geometric shapes outside circle and oval. Square shank billiards don't do it either.
My style is drifting toward the organic shaped Danish inspired offerings, but I still have a soft spot for traditional English shapes.

OK I'm just a simple sod (i.e. no anorak ) and for me 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder' so if a pipe looks good and fits the hand well
I might buy it and see how it smokes, if it doesn't smoke well I'll save the stem and 'bin it'
I've no interest in the maker or shape just how it smokes for me. Heres's a few I' ve kept

That a BC Maitre Pipier Spigot Calabash? Let me get you my address

[Whalehead King]

I've never seen a poker/ cherrywood I liked the look of, and hated the ones i've owned.

Seems like everyone and their brother starts their pipecarving shindig with a poker. Two cylinders joined somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 the bowl height, you just can't win.

If the shank transition is smooth, it looks like a lump. To crisp, it looks harsh and artificial.

If the bottom is angled to make it a sitter, it throws off the balance. If it's not, you're still stuck holding an uncomfortable tube with a 90* edge.

I can only smoke mine when clenching isn't an option and I need to use my hands a lot. Throwing darts is mainly when that pipe gets a workout.

I type a lot, so I need two hands free. A poker is my favorite shape, or any other shape that I can put down without a stand without the pipe falling over. I used to clench a lot, and I still do when I'm walking around, but when I'm in my office, I prefer a poker.

I got mine from L.J. Piretti, it's a house brand poker. No complaints. It tends to be one of my go-to pipes.

My other go-to is my Kirsten, which we won't get into here, but it, also, can be put on a table and not tip over.

I've got a tall, flat-bottomed Tsuge that, again, doesn't tip over. It's also within easy reach and I smoke it, but I'm not a big fan of its materials or construction. I hate to sound like Archie Bunker, but every time I fiddle with the Tsuge, and I just did so before typing this sentence, I think, "This is Jap crap." Nice, I know. Please, Social Justice Warriors, no need to assail me. I'm repentant. Mea culpa.

I just looked over the pipe rack in my shed here. Poker wins for my preference without any other competition.

[Wooda]

I should point out that I rarely put my pipe down. If I do, I'm liable to have an ADHD moment and lose it for weeks.

Therefore, it stays in my hand or in my mouth.
Everyone has different needs.

Now, drop that poker's shank all the way to the bottom and make it a Tankard, and I will fall in love.

[KevinP]

Pokers and cherrywoods, or basically any sitters. They may be practical, but they lose me in the aesthetics.

[KevinP]

I have always liked the looks of bulldogs, and I have several. The bowls are just too small for me to find long-term happiness with them. They get smoked but not binge smoked.

Until fairly recently, I could have written that. I liked the shape in principle, but all the ones I had just weren't big enough. Over the decades, I just began to forget about the shape.

But I collect Jacono pipes and saw an old bulldog with nomenclature that doesn't match the current system that he's been using for years so I bid on it and won. When it arrived, it was the perfect size.

(I should add I'm really terrible at getting a feel for how big pipes are when ordering online, even when photographed next to a ruler or a measured grid and when measurements are provided separately. I'm almost always surprised at the size, one way or the other, when it arrives. This time it was a really pleasant surprise.)

[Fr_Tom]

(I should add I'm really terrible at getting a feel for how big pipes are when ordering online, even when photographed next to a ruler or a measured grid and when measurements are provided separately. I'm almost always surprised at the size, one way or the other, when it arrives. This time it was a really pleasant surprise.)

They need to include measurements or at least have a coin or two in the picture to give an idea of scale.

[Mr Beardsley]

I'll have to go with the bulldog shape as well. I owned a savinelli grezza bulldog for a bit and it always felt dainty to me. Like a big ol doofus with a dainty little pipe hanging out of his pie hole. Ended up giving it to a buddy of mine. I've also yet to see a stereotypical "freehand" that I liked

[321 One]

I have always liked the looks of bulldogs, and I have several. The bowls are just too small for me to find long-term happiness with them. They get smoked but not binge smoked.

I was reading briefly about what constitutes a Bulldog Pipe.
Does a Bulldog always have the seam on the bowl around the center.