A Better Pipe Smoking Community

It's an awesome looking piece and sure to get remarks. I'm still not a 'rustic/blasted' fan. Looking at this lovely piece makes me wonder what the grain looks like.
Never tried Stanwell tobacco, but I love my four smoke factories from them. Nording had some with their name on it, but was made by McClelland.

Thanks Vasco for sharing, I really like that pipe, and I added that site to my pipes & tobacco collection. Take Care.

Jack

Beautiful pipe. Perhaps a tad stubby for my taste. And I agree with you about not buying tobacco placed under a pipe makers logo. Except Dunhill. Which is made by Orlik. Who used to make pipes. This is more complex than I thought...

A very nice looking pipe. My only concern is that it would be heavy. I like to clench a pipe and this one looks like it probably has some weight to it, even being as small as it is. Nothing worse then a sore jaw while relaxing!

Nose warmers are great for sticking in your pocket.

... for a nose warmer! But, maybe on the ski hill to keep my shnose warm? Hmmm... we'll see.

Wow . Typical of GL,, near perfection.

Thanx V

I love it and hate it at the same time. I love the molten look, that's what first attracted my attention. I love the silver band, it is a perfect contrast to the inky black stem. The bent bulldog design also does a lot for me.

In general though, my opinion (not that it matters) is that nose warmers look stupid. I have a hard time taking them seriously. It would also make sense to me that they smoke rather hot. My shorter-stemed pipes have to be treated with more delicacy than I am comfortable with sometimes. My best smoker hardly fits in my pipe rack (my best smoker also only cost about $25, go figure). To me, a pipe should be at least 4" OAL if bent, longer if straight.

As a fan of nosewarmers, I definitely think this is a cool chubby pipe. I had seen Greg's news release on this one back in September. You can read about it's story over on his site, http://glpease.com/BriarAndLeaf/?p=58
My personal fav is the natural finished, silk-cut (sandblasted) version, though it would seem they've all been snatched up at this point. I understand that nosewarmers aren't for everybody. Taste being subjective and all. However, I'm not sure if all the criticisms are on point. For example, I've never found my nosewarmers to be uncomfortably close to my nose or hot-smoking. Even at 4 1/4", my J Alan nosewarmer billiard doesn't come close enough to my nose to make much difference, and it smokes as cool as any average length billiard.

To each their own!

I don't see myself smoking one of those but I admire beauty when I saw it, and the form and proportions of those pipes + the molten lava finish for me are really beautiful.
I think that this is the 1st time that my favorite is not the polished light colored version. No doubt, Radice is a great artist.

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

As a lover of short pipes for a few years, now, I am compelled to say a few words about the brucianaso, in general, and the Rubens Rhodesian, in particular. I've never found that short pipes smoke any hotter, nor long pipes any cooler. Think about the physics. The length of time the smoke is in contact with the wood in a long pipe may be greater than that of a short one, but it's still inconsequential to the temperature of the smoke. Wood is a very poor thermal conductor, and is therefore a poor heat sink. If there's even a 2-3˚ difference between the temperature of the smoke from a short pipe and that from a normal pipe, I'd be quite surprised.

Short pipes offer some wonderful advantages. They're light, compact, easy to clench, sturdy and pocketable. These were some of the criteria I had in mind when I designed the RR. Additionally, I wanted it to present a wonderful hand feel.

Of course, short pipes are not to everyones taste, but if you're intrigued by the idea of a brucianaso of any sort, don't let any preconceived concern over their smoking qualities scare you off. I've got a very diverse collection, and enjoy wonderful smokes from pipes of all shapes and sizes. But, when it comes down to grabbing a pipe to take on a walk, or for a casual smoke, I'll more often than not reach for a shorty.

Here's more.

Cheers,
Greg

Greg, it's a pleasure to have you join the discussion. Personally, I think your eye for design, be it pipes or photography, is completely on par with your uncanny abilities in the art of tobacco alchemy. I hope we will be seeing more of your work realized in briar in the near future!

Thank you for the kind words. These aren't the first pipes that have come off the drawing board. I've done some designs for Larry Roush (the Pokerhawk, his squat rhodesian and the Twain are my designs), Peter Heeschen, and others. Recently, I've been collaborating with another Italian pipe maker on a little project that has been a lot of fun, and will be announced in a couple months, and Luca and I are working on the next Pease/diPiazza Design pipe with Radice. All fun stuff!

When I went to Denmark, part of my time was spent learning a little more about the art and science of pipe making from some of the masters. Possibly the greatest lesson I learned is that I just don't have the patience for it. It takes a lot of hours to make a beautiful pipe, and my patience seems to run out about a quarter of the way through the process. It's only worsened when you push through, and find a fatal flaw that ruins the work. I admire what these guys do, and their ability to push through the tedium of sanding, sanding, sanding, to get those beautiful finishes.

But, doing this gives me the chance to do the parts I like, and do have patience for - sketching the concepts, working with the pipe makers, and smoking the results! Seems perfect for my temperament. And, my short attention span. ;)

Great designs. Quite impressive.

Really glad to have you on our site, please pop in often. It's great to have a blender throw his hat into some of our conversations.