Landscaping fabrics buyer's guide

Do you dream of sprawling on your lush, sweet-smelling lawn on a summer&#;s day &#; yet yours is soggy, waterlogged and full of unsightly weeds? Perhaps you&#;ve got your heart set on transforming your outdoor space with design features like paved paths, patios or ponds &#; but you&#;re wondering how to keep these structures strong and secure?

Please visit our website for more information on this topic.

If that sounds like you, landscaping materials can help. From super-strength geotextiles that keep hardscaping stable, to weed control fabrics that save hours of gardening time, the right membrane can turn your outdoor space from an embarrassing eyesore to something you can really be proud of.

From driveways to patios, decking to flower beds, using membranes can solve a myriad of outdoor problems &#; like preventing flooding or stopping unruly roots. But with such a dizzying array of different options on offer, it&#;s hard to figure out which fabric goes with what. Each membrane does a slightly different job &#; and we&#;re here to explain exactly what that is.

Are you unsure between woven and non-woven? Your weed control from your root control? Our buyer&#;s guide to landscaping fabrics can help. Read on and we&#;ll help you match the membrane to your landscaping project. Soon everything will be as clear as that weed-free garden.

Table of contents

What are landscaping fabrics?

Landscaping fabrics can be broken down into categories, including weed control membranes and geotextiles.

Weed control fabrics

Weed control fabrics are great to use anywhere you don&#;t want weeds! Some are just for use in flower beds, while others can be laid under lawns, driveways, decking or patios. Specialist fabrics like the DuPont Plantex Root Barrier can be used vertically to stop aggressive roots like bamboo from encroaching on other garden structures.

Geotextiles

Geotextiles can also be used to control weeds, but they&#;re much more heavy-duty. As such, they&#;re more commonly used in ground engineering projects like roads or driveways where they help provide strength, stability and drainage capabilities. In the garden, they can be used under hardscaping projects like patios, paths or decking, where they play a vital role in keeping different parts of the soil from mixing together and potentially destabilising garden structures. They&#;re also used in drainage projects, like soakaways and land drains, to stop any silt or debris from entering.

What are the benefits of landscaping fabrics?

Still undecided on whether to use some sort of landscaping fabric for your garden project? We&#;ve made a list of what membranes can do for you.

They can prevent waterlogging

Where land is flat, soils are compact or the water table is high, having a well-designed drainage system in place is a must. Without it, water may collect, undermining paths and patios, drowning expensive plants and turning lawns into big, muddy bogs.

If any part of your lawn is prone to waterlogging putting in a drainage solution such as soakaway crates wrapped in a non-woven geotextile membrane such as ACOWrap, ACOTex or Draintex can really help. This is pictured below in a domestic soakaway system.

If it&#;s your flower beds or borders that are prone to getting soggy in a downpour, any permeable weed control membrane can help drain excess water away from plants to keep them healthy.

They help stop soil erosion

Having a membrane in place can stabilise loose soil and stop it from being eroded by the weather. Slopes and embankments are particularly vulnerable to soil erosion &#; and this can be dangerous. Not only can moving soil affect the growth of grass or plants, but it could also destabilise the slope.

They can stop soil and gravel from moving around too much

Planning on covering your driveway in gravel? Having a strong, woven geotextile membrane in place will keep the gravel in place and will stop it from spilling onto the road. These geotextiles are designed to allow water through, whilst separating and stabilising the aggregate within.

It also makes gravel paths and soil easier to walk or drive on.

They can keep different parts of your soil separate

From potholes on your driveway to sagging bits of your lawn, when soil becomes compacted due to heavy use it can start to cause all sorts of unsightly problems.

Geotextiles not only help to absorb and spread the weight of heavy loads, but they can also keep different parts of soil separate to prevent sinking and rutting caused by aggregates settling into the soil beneath.

They can save you from hours of gardening

Always battling weeds in your beds and borders? Weed control fabric from DuPont or ProWeed can be laid on the ground below the topsoil and its structure. This allows air, water and nutrients to pass through but prevents weeds from emerging from dormant seeds below.

They extend life to your paved paths or patios

Surface cracking is a huge problem in paved patios and it not only looks unsightly, it means that water can get in and cause further headaches.

Geotextiles like Wallbarn, Groundtex or TCS help you avoid cracking by providing reinforcement between the paving and soil beneath. This not only forms a moisture barrier but can also absorb future stress to stop the spread of the dreaded cracks.

They help you be kind to the environment

By stopping the problem right at the source, putting in a weed control membrane helps to reduce the number of aggressive chemicals and herbicides you need to keep your garden looking lush and beautiful.

They can create a green roof

A geotextile membrane like the one from Alumasc will help you create a green roof that not only looks attractive but is low maintenance too. The fabric works double duty to ensure surface water drains away and that no roots penetrate through the roof.

Which landscaping membrane do I need?

Different fabrics suit different projects, and some work extra hard by controlling weeds, stabilising the ground and improving drainage all at the same time. Here&#;s a look at some of the common uses of landscaping membranes, and a suggestion of which type of landscaping membrane will work best for your project.

To control weeds

You will need: Weed control fabric

How it works: Weed control fabrics are designed to keep weeds from sprouting up through the soil. They allow air and water to pass through, whilst stopping weeds in their tracks.

Suitable for: Each product differs slightly (so you&#;ll need to read the label) but, in general, weed control fabric can be used to line flower beds and borders, or can be placed under timber decking, block paving and patios.

How to install: To put weed control fabric in a flower bed, cut the sheet to the right size and shape, and then cut holes where you want the plants to go. Secure the fabric in place with landscaping pins, then cover over with a thick layer of mulch. That way, the plants that you have intentionally planted will have access to the nutrients in the soil, but weeds aren&#;t able to sprout up through the protective layer.

Which weed control fabric to choose: There are several different options available, depending on your budget.

• Proweed Control fabric from Drainage Superstore is extremely cost-effective and labour-saving. Made of non-woven polypropylene, you can buy it in a size to fit your project. Used with a top layer of mulch, bark, decorative stone or gravel, it can be used in flower borders, under timber decking and for gravel paths and patios, but you can&#;t use it under the turf.
• Market leader DuPont has a range of products, but for weed control where land is flat, you can&#;t beat its Weed Control & Landscape Fabric. The choice of professional landscape gardeners, not only does it provide an unbeatable weed growth barrier, but it can also give you stable foundations, prevent the mixing of soils and add drainage, making it the perfect choice for patios, block paving and timber decking.
• If you&#;re planting in a new build site, try the DuPont Plantex Cocomat which is finished with aesthetically pleasing natural coconut fibres instead.
• Another multipurpose weed control fabric that doubles up as a ground stabiliser is the range from Groundtex. Made of tough woven fabric, it has excellent strength and tear resistance when used below driveways and paths, yet it can also be used as a heavy-duty weed barrier.

Not sure what weed control fabric you need? For more information, check out and read our guide to which weed control is best or contact our super team for help and advice.

To control roots

You will need: A specialist root barrier

How it works: A non-permeable root barrier is used vertically to prevent particularly aggressive roots such as bamboo from encroaching on the rest of a garden or disrupting the structure of a road or pathway. You can also use a root barrier to contain a planted area by placing a barrier in a circular structure around it.

Suitable for: Used around aggressive plants where the roots may threaten paved areas, roads, lawns, patios or building foundations.

How to install: You&#;ll need to dig a 70cm deep trench running around the diameter of the plant whose roots you wish to control. Then install your root barrier vertically, lining the inside of the trench including up the sides. Fill up with soil, leaving a 2cm overlap of root barrier above the surface.

Which root control fabric to choose: Drainage Superstore stocks two products that deal with root control:

• One of the strongest products on the market, Dupont Root Barrier is a technically advanced fabric that prevents and contains invasive growth, even from aggressive plants like bamboo and hypericum. It encourages the roots to grow downwards, while also protecting them from pollutants.
• For controlling roots on roof gardens and green roofs, try the specialist Rootbar product from Icopal. It stops roots from penetrating and allowing water to get in, and it can be used on either flat or sloping roofs.

For ground stabilisation and soil separation

You will need: A strong geotextile membrane. This could be woven, but sometimes a non-woven membrane may be chosen to add extra drainage capabilities. Alternatively use a pre-made gravel grid, as pictured left.

How it works: Different types of soil can have different consistencies. When soil mixes in the rain, the ground can become uneven and even sink as small particles get washed down in between the larger soil particles.

Geotextile membranes prevent this from happening. They keep different layers of soil separate, meaning any hardscaping built on top will be strong and secure.

Suitable for: Perfect for use under roads or driveways, paths or patios.

How to install: Prepare the base by removing large stones or debris that could cut or tear the fabric. Then roll out your chosen geotextile over the prepared area, keeping overlaps to a minimum. Secure in place using fixing pegs, then put the sub-base over it, compacting it with a roller.

Which geotextile membrane to choose: Drainage Superstore stocks a variety of products that are perfect for ground stabilisation and soil separation.

• Drivetex is a professional driveway fabric used specifically for ground stabilisation, yet it also has excellent filtration and drainage properties too. It can prevent sinking and potholes caused by the settlement of aggregates into the soil beneath and does not lose strength when used below ground, making it the perfect choice for areas that are subject to a lot of stress and strain.
• Groundtex is made of tough woven fabric and has excellent strength and tear resistance when used below driveways and paths.
• Earthworx is an extra heavy-duty, non-woven geotextile widely used for roads, car parks, foundations and retaining structures.
• TCS Geotechnics provide both woven and non-woven products and are a leading provider of specialist geotechnical products for the construction and civil engineering industries.
• Terram is so famous within the industry that many people call all geotextiles &#;Terram&#;. Its non-woven geotextile is particularly robust, making it suitable to use even when the potential for installation damage is high. It can take high levels of stress and strain without the risk of puncture.
• Wallbarn is widely known for its durability. Its non-woven geotextile products can be used to stabilise soil and sand under patios and decking because it makes even notoriously unreliable building surfaces more stable.

For drainage or filtration

You will need: A non-woven geotextile.

How it works: Non-woven geotextiles are excellent at allowing water to pass through whilst keeping fine particles of soil out. One of their most common uses is the wrapping and protection of soakaway crates and land drains, but that&#;s not all they do. Non-wovens are also used beneath domestic patios and block paving bases, keeping the granular layer apart from the soil whilst still allowing the water to drain away freely.

Suitable for: Ideal for use in soakaway systems and land drains, and beneath domestic patios and hardscaping.

How to install: To use non-woven fabrics in a soakaway system, wrap every side of your crate in the geotextile fabric and fix it in place with staples or strong tape.

Which drainage of filtration fabric to choose: Drainage Superstore stocks a number of products that deal specifically with drainage.

• Draintex is a standard-duty, non-woven geotextile fabric with excellent drainage and filtration properties. It&#;s perfect for lining trenches when constructing a French drain and for wrapping soakaway crates. It can also be used as a ground stabilisation membrane in many hard landscaping projects.
• ACO make products specifically for lining soakaway crates. They also sell a protective fleece that can protect the geomembrane from mechanical damage.
• Wallbarn sells products targeted specifically at drainage. They allow the flow of water through the soil without any clogging.

Do I need a woven or non-woven geotextile?

Ensuring you choose the right geotextile fabric for your project means understanding the basic differences between them. So, should you choose woven or non-woven?

Woven geotextiles

What are they?

Woven geotextiles are made by weaving polypropylene tapes together in a crisscross pattern. This makes the fabric super-strong.

What they&#;re used for?

Their high tensile strength makes woven geotextiles suitable for use under patios, paths and parking areas.

Advantages vs Disadvantages

Strong and economical, woven geotextiles are a little cheaper than non-woven and because of their extra strength woven geotextiles have a greater load capacity. However, woven geotextiles offer only limited drainage and filtration capabilities compared to the non-woven variety, and they can lose strength over time.

Below is the woven membrane to the left and the non-woven to the right.

Non-woven geotextiles

What are they?

Non-woven geotextiles feel a bit like felt. They&#;re made by thermally bonding polypropylene which is then finished by using needle punching.

What they&#;re used for?

Although non-woven fabrics have lower tensile strength than the woven variety, they&#;re still strong and durable. Their main advantage is that they offer excellent drainage capabilities, making them ideal for use beneath driveways and roads where long-term ground stabilisation and filtration are required.

Advantages vs Disadvantages

Easier to cut, durable and strong, non-woven fabrics provide excellent drainage and filtration without losing strength over time. This type of geotextile does however have lower tensile strength compared to woven.

For more information on the types of geotextiles available, read our Geotextiles Explained guide.

How easy is it to fit landscaping membrane?

Landscaping membrane is easy to install, provided you buy the right size you need for the job. It&#;s good to keep overlaps to a minimum, so looking for a roll that&#;s nearly the same size as your project is a great start.

For paths, choose a narrow, long roll (for example, one that&#;s 1m wide and 15m long). For a square area such as a patio, look for packs that are wider and shorter, like 2m wide and 10m long, for example. For large surface areas, some maxi rolls can be 100m long and come in widths of up to 4.5m.

Don&#;t wait to dive into our range of landscaping products and start off your latest gardening project as soon as possible.

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Due to popular demand, we hired pipe enthusiast and maker Steve Morrisette to write a guide about pipes, Enjoy!

I am a pipe maker. This piece is about tobacco smoking pipes.

&#;When loves grows cool, thy fire still warms me; When friends are fled, thy presence charms me. If thou art full, though purse be bare, I smoke and cast away all care!&#;

German Smoking Song

Brown tones with black bowler, flowery shirt and pipe Steve Morrisette &#; Pipe Maker Nashville, TN Ethan Desu in beautiful triple check three piece suit and pipe

Pipes and thoughtful contemplation have been good companions to each other, and Man, for many centuries. I love pipes and pipe smoking and find little to rival the sublime experience of sitting, smoking and thinking. Indeed, some of my fondest memories are of sitting at a sidewalk cafe, smoking a good blend and being &#;present&#; to experience life unfolding all around me. I have done this on four continents and never tire of it, nor will I ever lose my enthusiasm for time spent with a clan of pipe smokers, invariably engaged in a fine conversation. These small, ancient, and revered objects, thus employed, have fostered great friendships, delighted the senses and soothed souls for millennia. Currently, and much to my delight, pipe smoking is enjoying a resurgence of popularity.

Over the past twenty years I progressed from an avid pipe smoker, to collector of high grade hand made artisan pipes and on to creating pipes for others to enjoy. I have formed, revised, and re-formed many opinions and conclusions about the smoking, collecting and the making of pipes over the years. I am still enthusiastically learning today and it is my great privilege to share with you a bit of what I have learned and absorbed. I am happy to see that pipe smoking seems to become more popular again. Tn the following I will briefly discuss the history of pipes, explain the mechanics, buying options, how to clean it, and of course how to smoke a pipe.

John Rolf and Pocahontas Clay Pipes

The History of the Tobacco Pipe

The history of the tobacco pipe is long and quite fascinating and could fill many volumes. As it is the purpose of this piece to cover many and several aspects of pipes and pipe smoking, a limited and general look at that history seems the practical course here.

I suppose we can all be grateful to John Rolfe who had the inspiration to plant tobacco seed from Trinidad in my native Virginia soil &#; just a few miles from my birthplace &#; in . His first crop of tobacco ( nicotiana tabacum ) found great favor at court back in England, as it was a far tastier smoke than the rough native North American species introduced in London some years before. And popular it was, as just over a ton of Virginia tobacco shipped to London in the year spanning -.

And by , some 40,000 lbs. of tobacco made it&#;s way from the banks of the James River in Virginia across the Atlantic and up the Thames to London docks. Much of this tobacco was consumed by &#;drinking&#; the smoke from a pipe. So, some four hundred years ago pipe smoking was taking England and Europe by storm.

The pipe itself, as a means of smoking tobacco, had a much earlier appearance. Some 3,000 years before Englishman John Rolfe&#;s fortunate experiment at Jamestown, Native American tribes         were smoking pipes in the Mississippi Valley area of the U.S. Ancient relic pipes found there were adorned with figures of animals and other decorative markings and were mostly made of porphyritic and other hard stone. Early English and European pipes were generally made of clay and were the simple long stemmed pipes that many know today as the clay tavern pipe.

Most clay pipe making was done in London and Bristol in the &#;s using clay from the abundant nearby deposits in Devon. Though adequate, clay pipes were fragile and were frequently broken, often leaving the smoker with tobacco and no way to enjoy it. By the early &#;s, meerschaum from Turkey and Africa was beginning to be employed to fashion tobacco pipes.

Carved Meerschaum Pipe from the Dr. Sarunas &#;Sharkey&#; Peckus Pipe Collection as seen in Collecting Antique Meerschaums by Ben Rapaport

Meerschaum, from the German for &#;foam of the sea&#;, is mined from deposits of the skeletal remains of microscopic sea creatures that settled to the bottom of ancient sea beds and was compressed over millions of years. The highest quality meerschaum is found in Turkey near Istanbul. This attractive chalk white material has the consistency of soft cheese when first extracted. This facilitates the ornate and often beautiful carvings one associates with these pipes. As the material is warmed by the sun, or in a warming room, it hardens and can provide a very pleasant, cool and dry smoke. Because of it&#;s capacity for accepting ornate carving, meerschaum pipes became quite popular with the upper classes. It did, however, share the unfortunate trait of the fragility that plagued the clay pipe, still smoked by most commoners of the time. As a result, pipe smoking was in decline by the turn of the 19th century, being replaced by the cigar and the cigarette. There was a growing need for a robust, serviceable and economical material for pipe making.

Dunhill pipe courtesy Uptown&#;s

Nearly every pipe one encounters today is fashioned from briar. It is a nearly perfect material for a pipe bowl. Though fine grained and quite hard and heat resistant, briar is reasonably light weight, non &#; toxic, and often can be quite beautiful. And best of all, it is far more durable than either clay or meerschaum.

Some may say that the advent of the briar pipe saved the pipe smoking pastime from being supplanted by cigars and cigarettes. In the &#;s artisans from the French town of St. Claude in the Jura Mountains, renown for their wood carving skills, began to produce pipes with bowls made from the burl of the white heath tree. (erica arborea) This wood was called &#;bruyere&#; and through the years has become known as briar.

The Mechanics of a Pipe

The mechanics, or engineering, of a good pipe is all about what is not there. The tobacco chamber, draft hole, smoke channel and slot determine the smoking qualities of a pipe. Collectively, these drillings, more so than shape, size and component materials, are the factors that yield a well smoking pipe. Just as in a well tuned high performance engine, good airflow is the critical factor for a pipe to smoke well. Unrestricted airflow, of optimal volume from bowl to button, insures the best conditions for modulation of the burn. This, in turn, allows an easy pace or regulation of puffing without undue concentration and effort required of the smoker. Optimal airflow is achieved when the smoke channel maintains a consistent &#; Goldilocks &#; diameter &#; not too small and not too large.

This means that as the height of the smoke channel must decrease to accommodate the mouthpiece tapering down to the button, the smoke channel should increase in width, gradually transitioning from a round cross section to the flattened oval opening of the slot. Think of a long, thin cone of paper that you flatten gradually from the point to the base. The ideal is to have the area of the opening along the entire length of the smoke channel consistent.

Factory brands and most high volume pipe makers generally cannot take the time to focus on this fine, but important factor. The better artisan pipe makers consider this attention to airflow requisite. That is not to say you cannot find a factory or high volume maker&#;s pipe that smokes well, only that a highly skilled artisan&#;s work is more likely to yield a good smoke.

Pipe diagram credit- the pipeguys.com

&#;Is that wood?&#;

 This is often the first question I am asked when I show my work to a non &#; pipe smoker. Though it may strike some as an odd one, this question usually comes from someone unfamiliar with high grade artisan pipes. Many under the age of thirty, have never encountered a proper smoking pipe &#; in the wild &#;. They are truly an endangered species. As the pipe stummel, or body of the pipe can be made from numerous materials, I will just briefly discuss those that have been used most often.

Birdseye Pipe by Steve Morrisette Vintage Corn Cob Pipes, All Labeled Missouri Meerschaum Co., Washington, MO

As mentioned above, by far the majority of pipes are made from briar. The second most commonly used material is meerschaum. Finding one with excellent airflow and a thin comfortable stem can require some effort as until very recently most meerschaums were produced as souvenirs for the tourist trade around Asia Minor.

Corn cob pipes are quite popular and have a long history in the U.S. Also simply called &#;cobs&#;, they are actual dried corn cobs crafted into pipe bowls and inserted with a wood shank affixed with usually a plastic or acrylic stem. Most cobs are machine made. Often used by tobacco blenders to judge new blends, they do not affect tobacco taste and are inexpensive enough to be tossed when they begin to burn out.

 There are many alternatives to briar and meerschaum such as fruitwoods, bog oak, clay, ceramic and metal. Currently bog oak and strawberry wood are popular among some artisan pipe makers. Both have interesting grain patterns that can be brought out further with sandblasting. Unlike briar, most fruitwoods, bog oak and strawberry wood will not accept color stain well, nor do they achieve that beautiful patina of a well smoked briar.

Vintage Pipe Drawings courtesy Uptown&#;s

Pipe Shapes

There are more shapes and variations on shapes that one could possibly list and talented artisans create more every day. On the accompanying shape charts you can see many of the most common and classic designs.

Generally, pipes fall into two broad categories that are defined by the course of the smoke channel. These are simply straight and curved. From there, one can jump off into an ever expanding realm of marvelous and creative shapes. As to the smoking characteristics of straight versus curved pipes, there is an ongoing debate. My experience and the modest trend of opinion seems to indicate that straight pipes tend to offer a slightly better smoke. I should point out that this may be due to the fact that straight pipes are less likely to collect moisture in the base of the shank at the draft hole.

Over the centuries many styles of pipe shape have appeared and faded. in today&#;s pipe world they are generally thought of in terms of classic English shapes and Danish, or sometimes freehand shapes.

Classic English shapes encompass the silhouettes that we are most familiar with and mostly originated in France and England. The ubiquitous billiard shape and it&#;s straight and bent shank variations, the long stemmed Churchwarden recently re &#; popularized by the Lord of the Rings films and the venerable cutty shapes descended from the clay tavern pipes of the &#;s are all in this group.

The classic English shapes held sway for several hundred years until about the early &#;s when in Denmark pipe makers began to experiment with alternative shapes in an effort to inject more individual artistic expression into creation of a new and less regimented style of shapes. Many of these early creations, shaped by hand tended to incorporate the natural shape of the briar burl and direction of the grain.

Pipe shape chart credit tobaccodays.com

This was a big move forward toward the mostly universally accepted approach to fine pipe making; working with the natural attributes of the wood to allow the pipe to reveal itself much as sculptors speak of revealing the figure in a block of marble.

Most pipe historians point to Sixten Ivarsson as the pioneer of the Danish movement and style and his shapes form the core of what many refer to as &#;classic&#; Danish shapes. Ironically, Sixten was born Swedish and moved to Copenhagen where he started this Danish revolution.

Today the classic English shapes still dominate the world&#;s production of pipes, though artisan pipe makers on every continent incorporate Sixten&#;s influences and continue to create more and more interesting and beautiful shapes with seemingly endless variations in color, surface treatments and unique combinations of materials.

Viktor Yashtylov pipe S. Bang pipe from Uptown&#;s

How to Smoke a Pipe

Pipe smoking, as contrasted with cigar and cigarette smoking, is considered a more relaxed and contemplative pursuit. Cigar smokers may dispute this, but I&#;ve never witnessed a group of pipe smokers standing in a knot in animated discussion, as is common at cigar events. Perhaps this is because of the required accoutrement of the pipe smoker. Having need of tobacco pouch, lighter or matches, pipe cleaners, extra pipes, ashtray and a tamper, the pipe smoker is better accommodated in comfortable seating with adequate table space for his requisites. The need for preparation of these items, as well as the attendant rituals of the pipe and a comfortable spot for smoking all tend to promote a relaxed and unhurried state of mind.

For more videos, take a look here.

Pacing is very important in pipe smoking and essential to appreciating all the flavor and qualities afforded by the blender&#;s art. A slow and deliberate pace of puffing should be cultivated into habit so that one may soon be free of the conscious effort to regulate the burning tobacco in the bowl. This is to say that patience and perseverance are required to become a successful pipe smoker; one that can discover the joys of the hundreds of different blends currently available. Patience and perseverance are also necessary to pass through the nearly universal challenge of the beginner&#;s &#; tongue bite&#; period. This brief span of the first few bowls of tobacco often produces some minor irritation to the tongue and is responsible for many novices giving up on the pipe before progressing on to have the fully enthralling experience of a great bowl of superb tobacco. Just as with fine liquors and wines, there is a brief period of adjustment required in order to totally appreciate the consumption of fine tobaccos. It is therefore very important that mild, unflavored or lightly flavored tobacco blends that are not too moist be the the choice blend for introduction to the pipe. A properly engineered pipe is also of great benefit. These two factors alone recommend that a beginning pipe smoker seek advice from an experienced piper when setting out to acquire a first pipe and blend.

Blode Rhodesian pipe by Steve Morisette made with birds eye, celluloid and elephant ivory

It is unfortunate these days that such knowledgeable counsel is difficult to find in most smoke shops, as their primary focus is so often on cigars. One should not ask for advice when buying a new bird gun in the fishing dept. Again patience and deliberation are called for at the very beginning of a pipe smoker&#;s odyssey. What is fortunate is that experienced pipe smokers are pretty much universally pleased to help, advise and mentor those who wish to take up the pipe and join our venerable ranks.

How to Buy a Pipe

There are two main categories of pipes offered for sale: new and estate.

New pipes are just that: un-smoked and never sold before. On the other hand, estate pipes are pre-owned and offer a great opportunity to get a very good pipe for half or less of the normal price at retail. These estate pipes can be smoked or un-smoked. Pre-smoked pipes offer the greatest chance at an excellent bargain and, when properly cleaned and sterilized with any potable alcohol, can be truly marvelous acquisitions. I have been able to smoke pipes made by some of the finest pipe makers in the world by purchasing their creations on the estate market. Imagine finding a pre &#; war top of the line John B. Stetson, or a real Ferrari Dino for pennies on the dollar. Estate pipes represent such an opportunity. If you have no issues with  using restaurant silver and glassware, you should have no problem smoking an estate pipe once it has been properly cleaned and sterilized with alcohol.

Assortment of Estate Pipes

How to Sanitize a Pipe

1. Buy Pipe cleaner &#; you should have soft ones and hard ones &#; and sanitizing grain alcohol, NOT isopropyl alcohol. Optionally, use an ultrasonic cleaner with warm water to remove resin and tar from the estate pipe, speeding up the entire cleaning process tremendously. However, on some pipes it might weaken the epoxy joints of horn, ivory or metal band editions.
2. Separate the components of the pipe by sliding or unscrewing the stem from the bowl.
3. Dunk a hard pipe cleaner into the alcohol and clean the pipe stem by running it back and forth. If you think it is clean, insert a dry pipe cleaner. If it comes out clean, you are done, otherwise repeat this step. Never reuse pipe cleaners but they are so inexpensive that you won&#;t mind throwing them away.
4. Remove resin and tar build-up on the inside of the bowl with a scraping tool.
5. Fold an alcohol drained pipe cleaner in half and Clean the bowl and the tenon (the air hole inside the bowl of the pipe) by gently rubbing the sides of the bowl and sticking the pipe cleaner into the tenon. All residue should be wiped off with a dry pipe cleaner.
6. Rub and wipe the outside of the bowl with alcohol on a paper towel or cloth and let it dry.

Sources for pipes

There are many ways to find yourself a pipe. Pipe shops, online retailers, artisan web sites, Ebay, pipe shows, antique stores, estate sales and flea markets all offer the opportunity to purchase a fine pipe.

Most cigar shops also sell pipes but you will hardly find any standalone pipe shops anymore. Due to the anti &#; smoking movement and the Draconian increase in federal excise tax on tobacco in the U.S. enacted in , many excellent small shops have closed their doors. Most of those that remain have pared down their pipe offerings to lower and mid market factory brands. There is a handful of pipe shops in the U.S. that still stock a good selection of pipes ranging from lower end factory pipes to the ultra high end pipes created by the world&#;s finest pipe makers. Such retailers are also knowledgeable about their pipes and the tobaccos they stock. Among these are:

Iwan Ries Logo

U.S. pipe shops

Iwan Ries, Chicago, IL

Uptown&#;s Smoke Shop, Nashville, TN

Low Country Pipe and Cigar, Myrtle Beach, SC

International pipe shops:

James J. Fox, St. James, London

Peter Heinrichs, Cologne, Germany

FF Pipes, Randers, Denmark

Pipe and Tobacco shop Keigai Tokorozawa, Saitama City, Japan

The internet is a great boon to the pipe smoking enthusiast hoping to purchase an excellent pipe or locate some rare tobacco. One can directly contact many of today&#;s very best artisan pipe makers, online retailers, most brick and mortar shops and there are literally tens of thousands of items under &#; pipes&#; on Ebay. However, a huge percentage of them are, if not junk, then at least not to be recommended. Purchasing pipes or anything on Ebay can be fun and the possibilities of finding a bargain on a jewel are frequent, but such purchases are best postponed until one has gained the experience to be a savvy buyer.

Pipes & Smoking Lounge at Iwan Ries

Many fine online retailers offer a huge variety of pipes and many of the finest pipes made today are sold online by very reputable, knowledgeable and service oriented vendors, such as:

Nick Miller&#;s Quality Briar

Per Billhall&#;s Scandpipes

Smokingpipes.com

A good reputation is vital to these vendors so they pay careful attention to provide good service and often go above and beyond the usual return privileges one can expect from any good retailer. Most online retailers also offer estate pipes.

Chicago Pipe Expo (Photo credit: The Pipe Guys.com)

Pipe shows

My favorite way to secure a new addition to the &#;herd&#;, as pipers often refer to their collections, is to do so at a pipe show. Pipe shows are held all over the globe these days and are very much like any sale and show event such as antique shows, gun shows, jewelry shows and craft fairs. At these ( usually ) weekend events like minded collectors, pipe and tobacciana vendors, factory reps and individual artisans gather to sell, trade, swap and revel in all things &#;pipe&#;. One of the best aspects of the pipe smoking community is that it is made up of some very fine, friendly and discerning folks and they like nothing better than to get together at a pipe show.

Along with very pleasant activities of commerce, one will find a great deal of socializing, catching up with old friends and people making new friends from all points of the compass. Most shows are annual affairs and the largest and perhaps oldest and best known is the Chicagoland Pipe and Tobacco Expo held each year in St. Charles, Il which is just outside of Chicago. Pipe aficionados from all over the world converge on the Pheasant Run Golf Resort and for three or four days the hotel is virtually taken over by the hundreds of happy attendees. I can recall several years ago at the &#; Chicago show&#; as it is known, sitting in the packed bar smoking my pipe (which was permitted at the time ) , looking around and seeing men and women of all ages and socio-economic, ethnic and political backgrounds. I heard conversations in Japanese, French, Italian, Austrian, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese and English; all well fuelled by alcohol, and I could not detect one unpleasant exchange or untoward look. It is an experience I shall not forget. And, it is one that has been repeated often in variations at many, many pipe shows since. Though the smoking and drinking now take place in well appointed tents erected a few steps away from the show hall, the atmosphere of comradeship and fraternity ( and sorority ) still abound at pipe shows. For the true pipe smoker and aficionado, such events are not to be missed.

Beautiful Custom Pipe by Steve Morrisette

Buying from a Pipe Maker

Another very fine, though quite different, buying experience can be purchasing or commissioning a pipe directly from an artisan pipe maker. While pipes of all levels of quality and price can be found among the artisan makers, they all seem to share the same friendly and approachable attitude. One does not become a pipe maker to become wealthy. As with most artists, theirs is a labor of love and showing interest in their work is a gratifying experience for them. I found this to be equally true of fledgling craftsman and the grand masters of the art. They are passionate about their efforts and are happy when others show an interest. In this regard one should be aware that time spent away from the briar is unrecoverable and each piece is individually hand crafted by the artisan himself, so it is not only polite, but wise to be considerate of his or her time when conducting business. It is also well to keep in mind that while artisans are indeed in business, they are not factories or mass suppliers of goods. Stocks of pipes are not kept on hand and commissioned work takes time to produce. The themes of patience and perseverance arise in this aspect of the hobby as well as in the honing of one&#;s smoking technique. Direct interaction with artisan pipe makers can be extremely satisfying and has often led to many lasting friendships. I have a collector &#; now friend &#; that told me he only buys pipes from makers he knows and likes. This is a truism among collectors and again points up the friendly social aspects of pipe smoking and collecting.

Pipe brands and makers

Very high quality artisan makers:

Lars Ivarsson

Tom Eltang

Jess Chonowitsch

Rainer Barbi

S.Bang

H. Tokutomi

Former

K. Gotoh

Smio Satou

Roman Kovalev ( Doctor&#;s pipes )

Viktor Yashtylov

Palo Becker

Cornelius Manz

Quality Factory/ high output handmade pipes:

Castello

Dunhill

( older ) Stanwell

Defunct marks that are still widely available:

W.O. Larsen

James Upshall

Charatan

Barling

Saseini

Becker y Musico

Because I am a North American pipe maker, I shall not even try to list all of them in fear of leaving out a deserving friend. I may be able to dedicate a future posts just to North American pipe maker&#;s, so stay tuned.

Recommended Reading

If you now want to learn more about the topic of tobacco pipes, I recommend you buy the book In Search of Pipe Dreams by Rick Newcombe and to take a look at the magazine Pipes and Tobacco magazine.

Conclusion

Impossible to recreate for comparison or measurement any aspect of pipe smoking for objective observation. Tobacco blend, humidity, altitude, ambient temperature, pace of puffing, pipe shape, pipe materials and pipe condition are just a few factors that affect the smoker&#;s experience. Judging food, liquor, or even cigars is far less challenging. The good news is that smoking your blend, in your pipe, your way, is truly a unique and sublime experience in today&#;s frequently rough, often uncivil and contentious society. It is a true luxury that thankfully is available to virtually any adult. For now, that is.

For more information, please visit pipe fabric manufacturer.