My first pipe was a great little briar, a drug store pipe, a Dr Grabow Omega. I bought it when I was in college back in 70's. It's a good smoking little pipe that I still have to this day. They don't make them like this any more, just look at the quality of the Dr Grabows now. I put my pipe down for about 25 years, that is until a couple of years ago I started back up with a group of friends who are avid cigar smokers. Since then I have started to collect unique pipes that capture my personality and style. I have since picked up a generic sand blasted, dark stained Oom Paul, a one of a kind Italian Lorenzo Poker Pipe with built in sitter stand and a large built in moisture trap, a Dutch Cobalt Blue Big Ben, and a large bowl hand carved briar Churchwarden. I prefer bent stem pipes as a personal favorite.