Romijn pipe ashtray

Hello and good day to you! Today's post is about a very cool and new addition to my pipe collection:

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

A Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray!

I'm already a proud owner of a stone Romijn pipe tamper for about six years. It's a greenish tamper made out of Onyx that I've bought from my friend Martin Romijn on the first big(compared to today's meetings it wasn't that big!) pipe smokers meeting of the Duch/Flemish Pipe Smokers Forum in Leerdam.

PRF pipe smokers meeting 2010, Leerdam, The Netherlands

Our meetings are huge nowadays and on the last one I went to were about 50 pipe smokers! Lots of new faces, but also a lot of old friends. I'm always looking forward to these days...

About the Onyx tamper. I was sold immediately when I saw it! Because of its green color and darker, vertical stripes it gives a sort of cactus-like impression. I can't explain it well with words, so I'll convince you later with some photos!

Half a year ago I was using my Onyx tamper again and came up with the idea that it would be awesome to have a stone ashtray with a desert-like appearance and some space in it to hold my stone tamper! I had already seen a lot of Romijn ashtrays on his website and in real-life, so I knew it would be possible. I've contacted Martin and asked him about the possibilities and if there was a type of stone that could fulfill my plan. He came up with the idea to use a sort of marble/limestone with the name 'Bianco del Mare' and sent me a photo of it. It was exactly what I was looking for, so: yes!

Making tampers, pipe stands and ashtrays out of stone isn't an easy job and acquires a lot of talent, creativity and craftsmanship. I've said it before: photography simply can't show the real beauty of this art and what I'm about to show you is ten times prettier in real-life than it is on a screen. It's almost impossible to make a photo that shows the true, natural and clear pureness of this ashtray and tamper, but here they are:

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Poul Stanwell Collection 925 - 15

I've also made some other photos to show you how handy this ashtray is and that almost any pipe fits!

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & PRF - Missouri Meerschaum - Patriot

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & PRF - Missouri Meerschaum - Patriot

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & PRF - Missouri Meerschaum - Patriot

Do you guys see what I mean with the cactus like tamper and desert like ashtray or is it just me?! It's exactly what I wanted and I'm very satisfied with it!

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Peterson - System 303, my favorite Latakia pipe!

And if you're worried about if that huge pipe you have with that life threatening size bowl will fit, check out this Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur Emperor pipe (with the name and date of birth of my son Arthur written on it: check out one of my older posts HERE):

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur Emperor

Romijn 'Bianco del Mare' ashtray, Onyx tamper & Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur Emperor

I really recommend Romijn's stone products to everyone. If my blog post hasn't convinced you and you're afraid to take the "risk" buying an ashtray, just buy yourself a tamper first and you'll see all the beautiful details of it and realize that it's worth much more than the decent price you've paid for it.

Nowadays almost everything is produced in fabrics. It's all mass production and the reason for that is to make as much money as possible in a very short time and because of this, everything looks alike.

Right now I'm almost at the end of my pipe... I'm smoking Germains Mixture No 7 out of a pouch that I've bought in Germany earlier this year in my Poul Stanwell - Collection. I've read some positive, but also a lot of negative reviews online and although it's not a heavy and complicated blend, I do enjoy it. It's neutral and easy to smoke. It's tobacco that tastes like tobacco and has a little flavor that I can't describe very well. An easy-go smoke for when you're doing something else next to it, like writing a blog post!

The End

Now let me see... Ah! Here's a link to Martin Romijn's website:

• Romijn Stone Tampers

Just check it out and don't hesitate to contact him and tell him about your wishes. He might have something for you!

Next blog post will probably be about cacti again. I'm already changing my plans about what I'm going to sow and I'm adding more and more species to my list... It's terrible! I just can't help it! =P

Till next post!

Missouri Meerschaum Pipes

Beware before you read forward; this article contains a lot of tobacco smoke. Wooo.... DANGER! DANGER!

I've written a big story full of facts and wrote down my strong opinion about some whining idiots, but I've decided to backspace it all to hell and just mention that we smokers (here in Holland) pay € 2.500.000.000 special taxes a year next to the normal taxes on our tobacco and that they who eat fast-food and consume other processed products aren't any more healthy. Suck on that!

That being said, I would like to say that I also don't like cigarette smoke when I'm eating and any smoke when I'm sleeping. And yes, I think people should be able to decide for themselves whether they inhale smoke or not (read this very carefully; if you hate it to be in a smokey bar, then just don't go there and let the bar owners decide whether smoking is allowed or not!).

Back to happy talk! My son Arthur has born! There are no words for all the joy and happiness that we experience and I think I can say the same about all the sleepless nights, but it's all more than worth it! I won't try to explain our experience and feelings here, because if you have a child, you already understand what I mean. If you don't have a child, it's just too hard to imagine. I'm not being arrogant here and I respect everyone's choice, but this is my own experience. You think that you know how it's like, but it's completely different! All I can say is that it's a huge enrichment of my life, a different understanding and a change of priorities.

What does Arthur have to do with smoke?! Well... For this special occasion, I've ordered a special pipe: the Missouri Meerschaum - MacArthur 'Emperor' pipe with my son's name and date of birth as the inscription on the stems. Stems? Yep, I've ordered two of them at Aristocob.com!

Package from Aristocob.com

'One, two, three..... Hey!' Ah, I see. I've ordered three extra pipes; the 'Missouri Pride' (bottom right), the 'Diplomat' (bottom left) and the 'Country Gentleman' (in the middle). Those two big guys are the MacArthurs. They're all Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes, famous for their low prices and great smoking abilities.

Check out my favorite, the 'Country Gentleman':

Scott from Aristocob has convinced me to buy at least one 'Country Gentleman'. I mean, he sells a lot of MM corncob pipes each day and has the opportunity to try them all. His favorite can only be a good choice! Of course, choosing a pipe is very personal, but I have to say that I really like the 'Country Gentleman'. For me, it's a combination of factors: the classy look, the nice grip, the dry and cool smoke. I've smoked this pipe only once and I'm looking forward to the next smoke! Simply a great pipe! Definitely worth to try and it'll only cost you a couple of bucks.

I have also smoked all the other pipes from the package and I have to admit that they all smoke very dry and cool. Like every natural material (including briar), the corncob adds a little extra taste that I find pleasant. The reason that they're cheap is because they're cheaper to manufacture; corncobs grow a lot faster and are much easier to control than the Erica arborea. The only "negative" thing about corncobs is their durability, although I know people that have smoked their cob for more than hundred times without even one crack. Nowadays a lot of Missouri Meerschaum pipes come with a wooden plug in the bottom to prevent burn-through, so that "problem" is also solved. I can imagine that the chamber walls are a little bit weaker, but believe me, when I say that they're very decent pipes. In the USA you can buy ten 'Country Gentlemans' for the price of one good briar pipe and even twenty 'Missouri Prides'. I mean, that's SUPER-CHEAP! And besides, they look freaking awesome!

Beware and use your calculator well before ordering online from another country; the import taxes may be zero, but can also be higher than expected. For example: if you live in the Netherlands (like me) and order something from the States and the total costs (including the shipping costs!) are between € 22 and € 150, you'll have to pay 6% import tax plus € 17,50 to cover the administration costs... What I recommend is to order a lot at once or take care so that the total price is below € 22. I prefer the first. For example:

$ 180 : Pipes

$ 20 : Shipping costs

______________________

$ 200 = € 145

€ 145

€ 8,7 : 6% taxes

€ 17,50 : administration costs 

_______________________

€ 171,20 in total

And what do you buy for that amount of money? 23 'Country Gentlemans' (€ 7,50 each) or 60 'Missouri prides' (€ 2,85 each). Now that's doing business! Of course, you should buy all your corncob pipes only at Aristocob.com and if you ever decide to buy a cob somewhere else, be sure that you buy a Missouri Meerschaum and not some Chinese rip-off (no offence to the Chinese, I know they also have high-quality products and I love their food!). These MM look-a-likes are made of younger and weaker cobs and don't have the same quality.

I won't bother you anymore with corncob pipes for now. You should check Scott's Youtube channel instead. I've seen most of his videos and can assure you that you'll find them interesting!

Ow! I will bother you one more time! The guy who presumably invented the corncob pipe and has started the company that is now known as the Missouri Meerschaum Company was the Dutch immigrant woodworker Henry Tibbe, what up!

Aren't we missing something here? Hmm.... Cacti! That's for the next article, to be written soon. I've sown some seeds at my son's birthday. Those who read my blog frequently will probably get which species I've sown!

Later dudes! Keep it smokey!