Anyone recommend a Seattle B&M Pipe Store?

[rramstad]

Hi everyone. I'm Bob and I'm a total pipe newbie.

I've been smoking cigars for 14 years, but have never smoked a pipe.

My good buddy CPT/VSG has been filling me in, and I want to give the hobby a whirl.

I'd love to buy a nice classic series (inexpensive, small) Boswell, but with the high demand, that may be a trick, and so I find myself possibly wanting to purchase something locally here in Seattle. I don't get out much to the local retailers, but I've seen a few Seattle folks post here in the Pipe Room, and hopefully someone can recommend a good local retailer (and even better if you can suggest a style or manufacturer that they carry that I should take a close look at).

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

 

[rramstad]

Oh, and guess I'll state the obvious, which is that I'm figuring it makes more sense for me to go to a retail store and heft a few pipes to get a sense of what seems to "feel" right...

That said, if it's all going to feel weird for a while LOL then I could see the wisdom of finding a good online vendor that stocks a wide range of pipes... the Iwan Ries site seems to have some interesting stuff, at good prices... the "Super Specials" for Butz Choquin "BC" and GBD look pretty interesting, and some of the Iwan Ries exclusives look pretty nice too... even some of the cheaper Chacom seem reasonably priced.

My needs are basic, I just want to make sure I don't bias myself against pipes by starting out with something so cheaply made that I can't get it to perform and never figure out that that's the problem...

 

[bilder]

Used to be a Tinderbox down there, not sure if they are still around though. May check the phone book and see if there is one near you. Was one in a mall and another downtown if memory serves me right.

For cheap pipes, you can go with a simple cob. Or if briar is what you want, Grabow, and Calabresi are inexpensive and smoke well. Tinderbox used to have their own line of pipes as well.

 

[rramstad]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll keep my ears open and if I find anything good, will post on this thread.

FWIW, Bigjake made a very nice offer to help with a purchase of a Savinelli but this afternoon after some emailing and phone calls and whatnot on the suggestion of CPT/VSG have a Boswell classic coming my way. The folks at that shop seem super nice, and I'm thrilled!

 

[Twistabister]

Kirsten Pipe is in Seattle.. Ive never been there but I have ordered from them.. They have 2 locations..

http://www.kirstenpipe.com/retailstore.shtml

 

[rramstad]

Kirsten Pipe is in Seattle.. Ive never been there but I have ordered from them.. They have 2 locations..

http://www.kirstenpipe.com/retailstore.shtml

Oh, wow. I live in Ballard. There's a restaurant near this shop that I've been to once or twice, many years ago. I had forgotten about it completely. This looks like an EXCELLENT resource. Thanks so much!

Now, to only imagine how nice it would be if we could actually smoke in smoke shops... sniff...