I have this exact pipe myself. It will take some breaking in as the wood is very potent. The meerschaum bowl is great though. Mine smokes fine and the biggest advantage of any Calabash isn't how cool it smokes, but how dry it smokes. No gurgling involved and that is a HUGE bonus. They are a novelty pipe...Especially true gourds. Very heavy and definitely a hand-held pipe. The Meerschaum will color with age from pinkish to golden brown and with enough use will get darker and darker till it eventually can become black...But that would require years of heavy smoking. Also avoid touching it with your hands as much as possible.
Calabash pipe
- Thread starter TenorClef
- Start date
I have this exact pipe myself. It will take some breaking in as the wood is very potent. The meerschaum bowl is great though. Mine smokes fine and the biggest advantage of any Calabash isn't how cool it smokes, but how dry it smokes. No gurgling involved and that is a HUGE bonus. They are a novelty pipe...Especially true gourds. Very heavy and definitely a hand-held pipe. The Meerschaum will color with age from pinkish to golden brown and with enough use will get darker and darker till it eventually can become black...But that would require years of heavy smoking. Also avoid touching it with your hands as much as possible.
- Thread starter
- #22
So my Calabash arrived today! I think the little case is quite cool.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #23
and a few more photos- The central hole is well....not central but locks up nice and tight.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #24
and some final photos-
As you can see the Calabash now takes centre stage on my modest pipe rack!
As you can see the Calabash now takes centre stage on my modest pipe rack!
- Thread starter
- #25
It's well made, pretty light too. The part that holds the tobacco is actually fairly small so you don't use a great deal of leaf. Probably will require some breaking in time but on my initial use of the pipe i thought it was very good.
I'm glad you're enjoying it! You do know that the ferule usually stays attached to the shank.
Enjoy it.
Reminds me of Inglorious Bastards, when Hans Landa pulls out this big pipe!
Reminds me of Inglorious Bastards, when Hans Landa pulls out this big pipe!
That would be a proper Gourd Calabash.
- Thread starter
- #30
Yeah you would probably need the day off work to smoke that monster! My Calabash feels more like the 100 metre sprint than the cross country run.
Yeah you would probably need the day off work to smoke that monster! My Calabash feels more like the 100 metre sprint than the cross country run.
Many years ago I had a Pioneer calabash pipe with a 1 1/4 inch diameter chamber, it was the biggest one they had at the Austin Tinder Box, the clerk said he'd never seen one that big before. I could load it up with a half oz of Balkan Sobranie when I got home from work and it would last until the middle of Johnny Carson. Dropped it while cleaning it one day. My current favorite calabash is a standard Pioneer 1" dia chamber (same size as the one Landa is smoking above) that only lasts about 2 hrs. Wonderful pipe but it's just not the same as that old monster, though the lack of real Sobranie probably has something to do with it.
Last edited:
I just got a calabash pipe in the mail that I ordered a few days ago
Its not as fine quality as the others here but seeing as I only paid $18 for the pipe, it is a nice pipe for the price. I haven't smoked it yet, I will smoke it tomorrow to see how it performs. It is heavy as Thor's hammer; seing as how the bowl is made of marble and not meerschaum, so I probably WON'T clinch the pipe while I smoke it.
Hmmm, speaking of smoking it tomorrow what should I have Dunhill My Mixture 965, GL Pease Westminster or Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme?
Looks like that is oak, cherrywood or maple, not an actual gourd either - but, will probably deliver a very cool smoke!! and yeah def don't recommend clenching it LOL
are you sure it's marble and not porcelain or ceramic? marble would be valued more than the pipe I'd imagine.
let us know how ti smokes
and I vote GLP!
are you sure it's marble and not porcelain or ceramic? marble would be valued more than the pipe I'd imagine.
let us know how ti smokes
and I vote GLP!
Yeah, I bought a calabash about 5 years ago now. It is real gourd and cost me $180. Love it. Smokes like a dream. I bought it in Flint, MI. Wasnt looking to purchase a pipe that day, just a little tobacco. But one must not pass up such a rarity.
-Frank
-Frank
its' beautiful!! though it DOES look like some sort of wood grain to me - granted I'm only going by the pics and your descriptioon of it's heft (weight)...I've never seen grain patterns like that on a real gourd... interesting.
If it is wood, it's far rarer than gourd that's for sure!....and I think we can all relate to walking into a store (or even visiting a website) with full intentions to purchase only software (be it tobacco, soap, flies- what have you) and walking out the door spending far more than intended on pipes, razors/brushes, fly rods/reels ad infinitum!
smoke it in good health, Frank!!
Commander Quan
Commander Yellow Pantyhose
TCG that pipe is interesting, how much space is there between the bottom of the cup and the bottom of the hollowed out portion of the pipe? It's also interesting to be that the draft hole is offset from the hole in the cup, but I guess that is the easiest way to do it. I've never seen the inside of a wood calabash shaped pipe, but I assumed they was drilled into a funnel shape to at least recreate the chamber effect of a gourd.
Here is a link to some unconventional shapes that are not calabash pipes, but have a chamber that collects and cools the smoke like a calabash. http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/2011/3/1/the-calabash-effect.html
Here is a link to some unconventional shapes that are not calabash pipes, but have a chamber that collects and cools the smoke like a calabash. http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/2011/3/1/the-calabash-effect.html
very cool link Derrick!!!!
love those Negoitas! he is, IMO, one of the most unorthodox but brilliant pipemakers out today...and a sweetheart to boot!
That pipe and case look exactly like my SMS Meerschaum calabash. Mine is mahogany and not gourd as well. It's truly my favorite pipe for when I can relax in my easy chair. When I first started here I soaked the bowl in alcohol to clean it. That disolved the bowl completely, of course. A replacement was obained after that fiasco from David's Briar Shop in Des Moines for only $40. I think I bout the pipe originally from David's in Omaha for $49 back in '98 or '99.
you guys got me wanting to pick up a new calabash!!
Commander Quan
Commander Yellow Pantyhose
I have a Pioneer calabash that I need to have some work done on. I wonder if Tim West has slowed down any after his feature in P&T mag.
