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Artikel: Review - Vauen Bilbo Pipe
David Wise
I'm going to write about a pipe I have not smoked. Not that I wouldn't smoke it, I just haven't decided whether I want to smoke it or display it (or both) yet.
In response to my query about this pipe, someone posted a link to a piece in the German group DAFT; reading between the lines of Babelfish's wacky translation, I got the impression the reviewer thought it was a cheap, terrible flute -- er, pipe.
Well, now I have one in my hands, and can report on it in English.
I'll be straight, I don't know what the German reviewer's problem was. This is a very well-made pipe, fairly large and visually impressive. The bowl is something of an egg/pear, about a Group 6 in capacity. The stain is warm brown. There are no visible fills or flaws, and the grain is pretty decent (crosscut w/ birds-eye). After about two inches of shank, the stem becomes ash (the wood, not the residue!), which more or less matches the stain on the briar, then gradually darkness further up the shank. The last inch of the shank is brindle (cumberland) acrylic; the whole thing gives the impression of a pipe made of a single piece of wood. (The mouthpiece is like that of a clay, with no bit per se.)
The pipe has two odd adornments on the bowl, which come from the styling of Bilbo's pipe in the LOTR film: First is a metal snail who seems to be climbing up the front of the bowl. The snail is made out of solid, funky brass, and is really eye-catching. Second is a gold spiral on either side of the bowl. The spirals are silkscreened directly on the wood. This is the one area where I could complain about cheapness; OTOH, Bilbo's film pipe does have this pattern, and I don't really see any other way of accomplishing it for the mass market (doing an actual metal inlay would be too expensive, not to mention problematic for a piece of wood that is going to expand and contract when smoked).
My only complaint is that this pipe should come with a stand. Not only should a beautiful display piece deserve a special stand, but the size and weight distribution of the piece makes it difficult to position on a conventional pipe stand. (Oh, and one other nit-pick: on terms of proportion, the stem is overall a little too thick, thanks to that *!%*$#!!& German filter.)
I assume this pipe will smoke just fine; the briar looks good and Vauen is a reputable company. But it also looks like it will be a bit of a pain to smoke; you'll have to hold it the entire time, and it's heavier than the average churchwarden, thanks to the thickness of the stem and the use of ash (and the brass snail!).
Since most of the pipes seen onscreen in the film were just simple bowls with bentwood stems stuck in them, Vauen's Bilbo pipe is undoubtedly the best LOTR pipe on terms of both accuracy and visual splendor.
Now, whaddaya think: should I break down and smoke it? :-)
Bilbo pipe on the Vauen website
(Posted on asp 26.09.2002)
