But he makes awesome pipes... Ladies and Gents, I give you...the Sasquatch Professor: Before the new year was here, I asked Todd Bannard (aka, our very own Sasquatch) to make me a...um....(ahem)...early "Christmas present (to myself)." At the time, I was thinking about getting a new pipe (as in, New new, not just new to me) and after looking at a bunch of different, really nice, factory pipes and liking bits and pieces of each one, but no one that I liked enough to buy, I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be better to have one hand made for me, custom, by someone I know, who makes awesome pipes???" The answer was (and is) yes and the man for the job was (and is) Todd Bannard. This is now the pride of my collection and, in addition to being the nicest looking pipe of the bunch (don't believe Todd when he says he doesn't make pretty pipes), it is without a doubt the most comfortable and best smoker I have. So much so, that I have dubbed this "The Professor." I call it that because it hangs in your mouth so easily: kind of like a freshman girl with a crush on her professor hangs on his every word. It's got a nice, open draw, beautiful shaping and sandblast, and even though it's size is ample, it's weight comes in at a nice, light 1.5 oz (42.5 g), which tells me the briar he uses has been seasoned really well. There's also a lot of attention to detail on the cumberland, and the shaping of the stem REALLY makes this a comfortable pipe (Seriously, I hardly even notice it when it's in my mouth--and, my jaw never hurts from clenching, even after a long smoke--something I hadn't experienced until I got this pipe). The silver spigot just ties everything together very nicely, aesthetically and, well, although the thought of bequeathing this to one of my nephews on my death bed is nice...it's likely I will have to be buried with this one...pipe still going, with 3 Oaks Syrian still in the bowl (I have dedicated this beauty to that blend, one of my favorites). Thanks, Todd, you really do amazing work and I truly do feel honored to have one of your beautiful pipes. I will have to have another sometime soon (so I can give the Professor a break). If anyone is interested, you can see a picture of my mug, Sasquatch Professor in mouth, with my trusty mascot, Sawdust, at my side, in the forum post: "Picture of You Smoking a Pipe." All the nice stuff above being said, you really are a crap photographer, Todd. (Haha!) Here is the photo Todd sent me, people (notice the huge Yeti mitts still dirty with pipe stain--I love it!): And even though this still looked pretty to me, despite that Todd took this picture inside of his underlit pipe making cave, the pics I took show how nice this really looks (and I didn't really re-touch those pics either). But like Todd says, he can't be great at everything! True. Stick to making great pipes, my friend. That's where your true talent lies. P.S. I'm so glad I didn't buy a factory made pipe. Sure, there are some great ones out there, but this is so much better.
WOW !! Youre right . SAS , yer pictures suck The above photos are the best I've seen of yer stuff . Sweet lord , SAS ... that pipe is Masterfull !!
Oh...I looked at the thread and thought he actually went out and took artistic photos of crap. I was like "Huh, well I guess that's a new medium that hasnt really been explored yet." Kind of like the Ansel Adams of dung
Thanks, guys! It's amazing how much a custom made pipe really makes a huge difference. Then again, this is my only custom made pipe (haha!) so, maybe it's just Sas's skills! More and more I find myself reaching for this one, more than any of my other pipes (like, right now).
Sorringowl, congratulations on the beautiful pipe and welcome to the club! On a side note: When I first saw the picture above, I thought how strange of Sorringowl to post a picture of his new Sas pipe on a slab of leftover Christmas ham! Yikes!
