D. H. Billings

“My sympathies for the obsolete are climbing higher every day”
—Mutemath, Break The Fever

Before I was a husband, before I was a father, before I was a nurse, before I worked in mental health, before I’d realized that one day I might lose my hair, I was a pipe smoker. I was an idiot, but at least I had figured that out… barely. It would take me almost a year and discovering the local pipe shop to figure out some of the basics—like what a tamper is, the difference between a tapered and saddle stem, and even the difference between aromatic and non-aromatic tobaccos—but I knew I was a pipe smoker, and I knew that I liked it.

I think part of what attracted me to the hobby was its obsoletion. After all, there is no real place for pipe smoking in our society; it’s like a typewriter, a relic from days gone by that forces us to slow down—to appreciate things like craftsmanship and old-world charm, to focus in on something that has no purpose outside of itself. But, also like a typewriter, that’s kind of the point; it is a weird, unusual hobby that connects current enthusiasts to each other and to those who came before.

2014 Christmas 107: I know this particular style rustication was divisive, but on this particular line I always felt it evokes the look and feel of a pinecone.

Dracula System 302: This particular pipe completely changed how I look at the shape due to its perfect hang.

Like many pipe smokers from my generation, I was initially attracted to freehands. Their exotic, flowing lines that went with the grain spoke to who I was at the time. After all, I wasn’t some stuffy Bertrand Russell meme, I was a millennial pipe smoker! But, as time marched on, I found that I was being drawn towards traditional shapes. Specifically, the shapes that stood out to me the most were the 111 KS and 320 KS from Savinelli, and the 107 and 302 from Peterson. Those last two shapes are chubby, feel great in the hand, smoke like champs, and are distinctly Irish – something that, as an Irish American, means a whole helluva lot to me. (We’ll forget that I mentioned Savinelli. This is a Peterson blog, after all.)

A recent LEAPS banner

I also found that I prefer acrylic stems to vulcanite, funky finishes to traditional ones, flame or random grain to cross-cut grain and birdseye on smooth pipes, gnarly sandblasts with visible scars to more pristine ones, and affordable pipes to ones that cost more than a car payment. In fact, I got so fed up with the “more expensive automatically means better” crowd that I created the Low End & Affordable Pipes Society (or LEAPS for short) on Facebook with its concept being to “celebrate the affordable.” Not that I have anything against higher end pipes (hell, one of my dream pipes is a Natural Spigot 107 and the crown jewel of my collection is a smooth 2007 Pipe of the Year), but I really just wanted to honor the fact that a person doesn’t have to break bank in order to find that moment of pipe smoking zen. In this group, we obviously see a lot of cobs and bare-bones type pipes, but we also see a lot of Peterson System Standards, Donegal Rockys, Draculas, etc. In fact, our current banner image is a rusticated Pub Pipe with a Pete Geek mug. But I digress….

Beyond figuring out my tastes in shapes, finishes, and pricing, one of the greatest things I did as a pipe smoker was take time to learn from pipe makers and those who truly understood the internal engineering of pipes. Two of the greatest sources for understanding the System engineering were this site and the SmokingPipes blog; both have delved into the topic (as well as the Charles Peterson tobacco packing method). That is one of the reasons I am so excited to be able to write here—because this site has been such a help to my pipe journey throughout the years.

When it comes to finishes, I mentioned that I prefer funky presentations to traditional finishes.  The Halloween line, for me, is a perfect representation of this and I am excited to see what Peterson comes up with in the future. I like it when they experiment and try new things, and I absolutely love it when those experiments are dark and spooky. With the recent shake ups at Peterson and the improvements in QC as well, I am also just excited to see what the future holds.

One of the things Mark asked me to write when I first volunteered to write for him is the culture of pipe smoking where I live. Here in Asheville, things are a bit… odd. For decades now, we have had “Keep Asheville Weird” bumper stickers, commissioned graffiti, hippies and hipsters, and beer—a lot of it, actually. We were named Beer City USA by USA Today multiple years in a row and continue to show up on top craft beer destination lists all over the country. All that to say that, while the area isn’t the most smoke-friendly place on earth, people here are generally pretty tolerant of pipe smoking so long as it is outside.

B&B Tobacconists, Asheville

We also have B&B Tobacconists: one of the best brick and mortar pipe shops in the country. And that’s not just me saying this, pipe smokers online have been talking about this place for decades as a place for pilgrimage. Not only is it where I was first taught about pipe smoking and one of the few places in the western half of North Carolina where people can smoke inside a place of business, but it is also home to Beck’s Ol’ Limey Bastard (the only blend to have been approved by the Pipe Club of London and Bill Ashton-Taylor as a replacement for the 1980s-era Dunhill 965). If you ever find yourself in the area, you should definitely make time to spend a few hours at the shop. It’s definitely worth it.

For more information about B&B Tobacconists, check them out on Facebook at The Smoke Filled Room

Also, feel free to join us in Low End & Affordable Pipes Society on Facebook.

D.H. Billings, CPG is the founder and one of the admins of the Low End & Affordable Pipes Society. He is a husband, father, psych nurse, and general dork.

James Ravenwood, CPG.