Adventures in Falconry & other Pipes of Prey

[Drydock]

Question: How come when I decide to take the plunge into Falconry, no one has a straight brown base in stock--with that slightly curved/bent mouth piece?

To be fair, there are some UK vendors with them, and UK folk on Ebay. But dang it all if I can't find a cheap brown metal base in the US. WITH the mouthpiece I like.

*

I'm going to read through all the other 'newbie' Falcon threads, but brace yourselves for incoming questions, like:

- what's up with carbon fibre bowls? They look pretty but I'm assuming are just a wrap?
- why are Meer bowls still so frickin expensive? Both bowls I like are $70+. Sure you can argue the pipe would be $300+. But dang. DANG. Not a cheap hobby!
- are they fiddly and hard to smoke? Screens, pipe cleaner rings, filters, oh my.
- do different brands trade bowls? Will a Falcon play nicely with a Yello-Bole? I'm guessing everything proprietary.

Pictures will be incoming as some pipe begin to roost.

 

[snake]

Smoke-king will have your best pricing, and
they'll ship non tobacco products to the US.

 

[snake]

To answer the questions above:

1. Carbon fibre bowls are just a wrap.
2. Meer bowls are hand carved from Turkey. Thus the price.
3. Not hard to smoke. Packing using the Frank Method works best for me. No screens, rings, or filters neccessary.
4. Falcons have a proprietary 4 start thread.

 

[Drydock]

Currently GQ has the better selection--and the version of the brown extra stem I'm looking for. Guess now is a popular time to try out Falcons!

@snake, I just saw your 40 falcon post--I know this is a subjective thing to ask, but is there a bowl that you'd recommend above others--in terms of flexibility, work-horse--just something that uniquely 'suits' the Falcon? I have a brown straight extra on order, with a slightly bent mouth piece. And I picked up a tulip/snifter shape plus a meer shaped like a barrel.

 

[Drydock]

Guess I should mention that I'm in the middle of a really big briar pipe reduction--and am looking in this direction as a way to swap interesting bowls, while overall reducing the # of pipes on hand. The pipes I'm shedding are all great, but not getting into rotation enough to justify keeping them.

 

[snake]

Currently GQ has the better selection--and the version of the brown extra stem I'm looking for. Guess now is a popular time to try out Falcons!

@snake, I just saw your 40 falcon post--I know this is a subjective thing to ask, but is there a bowl that you'd recommend above others--in terms of flexibility, work-horse--just something that uniquely 'suits' the Falcon? I have a brown straight extra on order, with a slightly bent mouth piece. And I picked up a tulip/snifter shape plus a meer shaped like a barrel.

I'd pick a Genoa bowl. Great mid-size
bowl and easy to hold. A pot bowl is
another favorite, but they don't make
those any more, and I have to seek
those out on the 'bay.

 

[Terminus]

One thing I'd like to mention when using the rings (as this has happened to me, but I may just be an idiot)... When you get to the end of the bowl be careful when relighting because I drew the flame down into the hole and it didn't taste good!

 

[Drydock]

Pot shapes in general I really like. They're just a great utilitarian shape. I typically prefer smaller pipes.

I'm hoping I can find one of the white stemmed, all silver Falcons eventually. I know they were a limited release, but one might hit ebay eventually--and I'm can be patient. Think the all silver against the white is very 'clean' looking. Would also look fantastic with a meer bowl!

Thanks, @snake and @Terminus!

 

[Ozark Wizard]

I like the apple and bulldog bowls myself.

 

[Drydock]

In an older thread someone had a very clever idea--using an egg carton to nestle their Falcon bowls into. Appropriate Falcon/eggs.

I think someone else re-purposed an old sewing spool holder? That's quite smart and held them very well. My wood-working skills aren't great--but I thought it seemed like something I could try my hand at.

 

[Ray Mackessy]

In an older thread someone had a very clever idea--using an egg carton to nestle their Falcon bowls into. Appropriate Falcon/eggs.

I think someone else re-purposed an old sewing spool holder? That's quite smart and held them very well. My wood-working skills aren't great--but I thought it seemed like something I could try my hand at.

I use something like this for my Falcon bowls and stems at home


I also use this for when I'm only taking a few bowls and couple of stems when away from home.

 

[SonoranHotDog]

Drydock, I agree with you: the "curved" stem is much more comfortable than the straight stem. However, the straight stem is not uncomfortable to me. It's just that the curved stem is even more perfecter (sic) than the straight one. I've never seen a curved, white stem. You're right, the curved stems are hard to come by right now. Be patient, they'll come around (that's what I'm doing anyway).



Reading reviews of Falcons, I've often found people saying that the dark briar bowels have a terrible taste and take a while to "break in" to the point where that taste is gone. I started with a dark, briar bowel and sanded the inside of it, and swabbed it with alcohol several times with little affect on the horrible taste of their dark finish. I do not want to go through that break in period again, so I'll never buy another dark bowel from Falcon.

IMHO, the pipe really comes into its own with a meerschaum bowel. It makes the pipe even lighter and results in an even cooler smoke than usual. 4Noggins has recently gotten another round of meerschaum bowels and might still have some "Black Friday" sales going on.

 

[Drydock]

@SonoranHotDog/ -- that's really interesting to hear about the stain! Now I'm curious if a combo of sanding & a salt/alcohol treatment would help any? Like when you're sanitizing & de-ghosting an estate? Since the tulip/snifter shape only came in the dark brown stain--looks like I'll soon experience the stain first-hand! The fresh white meer does in fact look great with the white mouthpiece. Nice picture!

Thank you everyone, for the info. Part of the reason I'm starting this now, is in the hopes that as December/January roll around and get a little frantic, I'll have a new pipe adventure to retreat to--with an interesting learning curve associated. Plus, I got in a bonus that after applying toward Christmas presents for the fam, left me enough to take advantage of some of these Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for Falcon parts.

 

[Ozark Wizard]

No, he's right. You earn those dark stained bowls working them into rotation. I've got a few. I earned each one smoking them. Bleh!

But they're cheap!

 

[WalkinStick]

I'm hoping I can find one of the white stemmed, all silver Falcons eventually.

Do you mean like this one?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/143458926645

 

[Drydock]

So close!! Yes--but without the dark black colored airway. So the entire thing would be silver. Ewww man, though. That is tempting.

Actually--that pipe confuses me. The underside is absolutely silver. The top is unmistakably black. What in the world?

 

[WalkinStick]

So close!! Yes--but without the dark black colored airway. So the entire thing would be silver. Ewww man, though. That is tempting.

Actually--that pipe confuses me. The underside is absolutely silver. The top is unmistakably black. What in the world?

I believe the black tube picture is an error. I’ve bought from that seller multiple times, and it happens sometimes. His descriptions are always accurate though.

 

[Drydock]

Ok, @WalkinStick . You're a caution. A terrible enabler. I bought the darn thing. (Actually THANK YOU). I'm hoping he had a couple to sell and combined the images. We'll find out. If it's all chrome--I owe you brother. I'll need to do you a good turn. If it's got a black tube--yer dayz is numberrred I tells ya!

Man o man. This board. You guys. I'm the luckiest sob to have landed here.

 

[WalkinStick]

Good deal! I saw that it was gone when I went back to check the listing. I know he does get the silver tube shillelaghs, because I just bought one for a friend a month or so ago.

If it ends up being a black tube, I’ll swap you something for it and grab you a silver one when I find one.

 

[Drydock]

That's a deal I can't beat, friend! I think it's going to be all silver, regardless of the picture because the description says chrome.

I honestly feel better about the world when I see so many random acts of generosity around here. Happens here daily--people getting surprises in the mail, pointed in the right direction on Ebay--swaps and trades and lots of 'just because I cans'. Feel like maybe if the world ran a little more like this joint, we'd be in a better spot overall.