Quality Control Going Totally Down the Drain!

Whalehead King · Fri Dec 28, 2018 6:46 pm

I don't buy pipes online anymore. I know it's not an option for a lot of people and for people who don't have a B&M in their neighborhood. If they have to order online, I recommend Grabow, Medico, Yello-Bole, MM. My first pipe was a basket pipe and I still have it. It's one of my favorite pipes. When I first moved to New Orleans I bought a Peterson Irish Sea from my B&M because I liked the look of it and, it being a name brand, I didn't inspect it as thoroughly as I would a basket pipe. That Pete is a gurgle dog and I hate it. I should throw it in the bushes where it belongs. I will never buy a Pete again. One less customer. I will never buy a pipe from that B&M, either.

Part of the problem is that most people don't know what to look for or expect from a good pipe. They get a pipe in the mail and they smoke it and they think this is the best it can be. They don't meet or talk to any other pipe smokers during their daily routine. Since they smoke in isolation on their back porch or wherever, they think this is the best it's gonna get. A good pipe is a thing of pleasant utility. A bad pipe is a pain in the keister but if you're already used to having hemorrhoids then you it in stride. Such is life.

How many times do we read about problems in the forum for which there is no easy answer? Well, the answer is often to look at the pipe. If it's a dud, you're not going to get an excellent smoke out of it. We don't get to examine the pipes, though, so we encourage new pipers so sip at the smoke and recommend various packing techniques, etc. Sometimes, it's the pipe----probably more often than not. It's not like smoking a pipe should require an advanced degree. A good pipe is a thing of joy. A bad pipe is something you live with and work around. How many people get to compare pipes with fellow smokers? In this day of age, darned few, I reckon.

The companies can get away with it because we are few and far between. They'll keep selling pipes to those who want them. I've always enjoyed a search through the basket at a pipe shop to see what gems I can glean there. I know what I'm looking for in a pipe, though. Most people probably don't. Caveat emptor.

Bamarick · Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:53 pm

Whalehead King wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 6:46 pm That Pete is a gurgle dog and I hate it.

My recently purchased Peterson is also a gurgle dog. I smoke it with the pipe in one hand and a cleaner in the other. Besides the gurgling it also whistles, as I smoke it I'm trying to train it to whistle Dixie

Whalehead King · Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:05 pm

Bamarick wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:53 pm My recently purchased Peterson is also a gurgle dog. I smoke it with the pipe in one hand and a cleaner in the other. Besides the gurgling it also whistles, as I smoke it I'm trying to train it to whistle Dixie

Did somebody just say Dixie?!?

Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind. This is my beer of choice.

Peterson is not my pipe of choice. I feel your frustration, Bamarick. I know it all too well.

Bamarick · Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:35 pm

Whalehead King wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:05 pm
Bamarick wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:53 pm My recently purchased Peterson is also a gurgle dog. I smoke it with the pipe in one hand and a cleaner in the other. Besides the gurgling it also whistles, as I smoke it I'm trying to train it to whistle Dixie
Did somebody just say Dixie?!?

Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind. This is my beer of choice.

Peterson is not my pipe of choice. I feel your frustration, Bamarick. I know it all too well.

I would have though that your Beer of choice would have been Abita......Purple Haze of course

My Pete is a handsome Bent Aran Rhodesian that I thought long and hard about ordering. A cleaner won't pass all the way through it and there was a burr in the draft hold that I corrected with a 5/32 drill bit, but it still whistles! My Grabows do not gurgle and they do not whistle. My $10.00 Cob doesn't gurgle and it didn't have a burr either nor does it whistle.

Fri Dec 28, 2018 9:49 pm

Bamarick wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:35 pm
Whalehead King wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:05 pm
Bamarick wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 7:53 pm My recently purchased Peterson is also a gurgle dog. I smoke it with the pipe in one hand and a cleaner in the other. Besides the gurgling it also whistles, as I smoke it I'm trying to train it to whistle Dixie
Did somebody just say Dixie?!?

Welcome to the New Orleans state of mind. This is my beer of choice.

Peterson is not my pipe of choice. I feel your frustration, Bamarick. I know it all too well.

I would have though that your Beer of choice would have been Abita......Purple Haze of course

My Pete is a handsome Bent Aran Rhodesian that I thought long and hard about ordering. A cleaner won't pass all the way through it and there was a burr in the draft hold that I corrected with a 5/32 drill bit, but it still whistles! My Grabows do not gurgle and they do not whistle. My $10.00 Cob doesn't gurgle and it didn't have a burr either nor does it whistle.

unregistered1 · Sat Dec 29, 2018 6:11 am

Funny, I just passed a pipe cleaner through the stem. Incidentally, I was doing this very close to my table lamp; and something unusual caught my attention.
So I brought the pipe right under the light. Would you believe that I can see the pipe cleaner in the stem? Removing it and keeping the stem under the light, I can see the air hole!
Can you believe this?
So, for those that are considering buying a Castello? For owning three and two presenting defective borings and one having a super thin stem, I can only say, from my experience of them: they are GARBAGE.

Sat Dec 29, 2018 6:58 am

Go, go, Grabow!

unregistered1 · Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:46 am

@Kevin: LOL
I have owned three Dr Grabow. I really don't like the stems but the briar was just fine and, hey, they know how to bore a pipe.

As far as I am concerned, I have been absolutely satisfied with all of my 4 Savinelli and will buy this brand from now on. They are truly reliable and a lot of their series are reasonably priced. It's simply a no brainer.

unregistered1 · Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:08 am

houtenziel wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 10:14 am Ooookkayy, now I see. When I looked at your comparison photos it led me to take a much closer look - it was really hard to judge size, so it didn't look nearly as bad on it's own. That draft is huge, and I see the two amateur hour drilling attempts as well.. I will tolerate some deviation in the location of the draft hole, but I will not tolerate a draft hole that is massively wallowed out like that in any pipe I own(not even a basket), so I understand your extreme displeasure with Castello. Zooming way in, and you can see the sort of sideways 8 draft from two attempts at drilling. Upon seeing that up close, it's hard to not be royally pissed for you.

Bud, you nailed it. I don't get pissy for trivial reasons.

Whalehead King · Sat Dec 29, 2018 3:34 pm

Lord Guyrox wrote: ↑Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:08 am
houtenziel wrote: ↑Fri Dec 28, 2018 10:14 am Ooookkayy, now I see. When I looked at your comparison photos it led me to take a much closer look - it was really hard to judge size, so it didn't look nearly as bad on it's own. That draft is huge, and I see the two amateur hour drilling attempts as well.. I will tolerate some deviation in the location of the draft hole, but I will not tolerate a draft hole that is massively wallowed out like that in any pipe I own(not even a basket), so I understand your extreme displeasure with Castello. Zooming way in, and you can see the sort of sideways 8 draft from two attempts at drilling. Upon seeing that up close, it's hard to not be royally pissed for you.

Bud, you nailed it. I don't get pissy for trivial reasons.

I don't have anything to add to Lord G's

quote. I just want to super-agree with it, so I quoted it so that everyone is forced to read it again.