My Aragorn pipe arrived today!
Today my
Official Aragorn Pipe arrived via Express Mail. It came with a black felt draw-string bag with the words "Der Herr Der Ringe" on it. It also came with a box of filters, a bag of extra-long pipe cleaners, and instructions in both German & English. Beginning pipe-smokers would do well to read & follow the instructions, which give good advice for the care and maintenance of the pipe (you can ruin a perfectly good pipe if you smoke it too hot, for example). One piece of advice that isn't mentioned, is that ideally you should let a pipe rest for at least 48 hours before smoking it again. This is why pipe-smokers are often also pipe collectors; the more often you smoke, the more pipes you need.
Those of you who intend to smoke this pipe & who like me would rather do so without the use of a filter, should also be aware that the pipe comes with a filter already in place. To remove it, you have to separate the stem from the shank (never do this while the pipe is still hot). It comes free with a slight twist... but if you do this, hold both ends as close to the joint as you can or you risk breaking the long, delicate stem. This also applies when you separate the stem & shank in order to clean the pipe, which you should do after each smoke, once the pipe has fully cooled. Also, if you do smoke with a filter, you should replace it after each smoke.
This pipe is well-made and smokes like a dream. However, it is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. I'm a pretty small guy, but I'm not exactly a hobbit. Still, smoking this pipe made me feel like one. Maybe I should buy
Bilbo's next!
