Selecting Your First Pipe - part II

So bent or straight, large or small, rough or smooth...it often comes down to aesthetics and personal taste. If you‘re happy with your pipe, that‘s all that counts.

Should you spend a lot of money on your first pipe or go for the budget pipe? I always recommend to a first-timer that they go with a "board" or "basket" pipe for their initial one. These are pipes that are considered "seconds" by the pipemakers because of some flaw in the brair. They started out as "firsts" but when a flaw was discovered in the process of carving it, it became a "second" and the price commanded for it when down drastically.

So plan on spending $25-45 for your first pipe so that if you try it and don‘t like it, you haven‘t spent an inordinate amount of money on it. Later you can "graduate" to first rate pipes.

(...to be continued)

Next articles: Selecting Your First Pipe - part III