Dr. Grabow: Omega Smooth

The secret to getting a good Dr. Grabow is selecting one with a decent size bowl with app 3/16" or 1/4" walls. They will smoke cool and with the filter --dry.Any pipe has to be broken in properly and smoked properly--. A Dr. Grabow can be burned up just as easily as a $500.00 pipe.The small bowl Grabows with the thin walls are not very good pipes. The Omega bowl is a little toward the small size but the walls are thick enough to ensure a good smoker.I have two billiard shaped Grabows with decent sized bowls and 1/4" thick walls. They smoke as well as my English and Italian pipes. Rest assured Grabows--like all pipes--need to be broken in properly and taken care off.

I've just received this pipe and cannot remove the stem! it's stuck or glued or something. I'm afraid that I can break the stem or my fist. Any ideas on how could the stem be easily removed?

The packaging was open when I got it. There was no filter holder but the tenon diameter didn't look like it could hold one, and it was snug enough to hold the filter by itself. However, the draft hole is at a steep angle, so the top of the draft hole is fairly high up, and the bottom filter sits far below it. As a result, the filter sits in a pool of "pipe juice" and just acts as a wick for the stuff. Within a single bowl, my filter would be fouled up to the base of the tenon. Maybe I got a defective pipe? Or maybe it was opened up and someone removed the filter holder portion, although there's no grooves or markings to imply it ever had one. It smokes fine without a filter though. Wonder if I got Ildar's return? Ah, well. It wasn't expensive.

Ordered through 4Noggins' Amazon store, was delivered to Canada in 4 days, very fast. The pipe is similar in design and construction to a more expensive Peterson. The inner construction is a smaller Peterson System and coupled with the filter makes for a very smooth and cool smoking pipe.

Although the "PLIP" on this is not like a Peterson, it still does an excellent job of drawing the smoke toward the palate.

I've started breaking it in with a Brigham's Cavendish (English Blend) tobacco. The bowl is smaller than what I expected, but still packs a good amount of tobacco.

The fit and finish is as good on this as on my Brighams & Peterson. This makes it a great, lightweight pipe option for my days out in the wild, and less worried of losing/breaking my pipe.

For the price, this is a great option for someone starting out in pipe smoking, someone looking for an inexpensive outdoors activities pipe, or a nice extra "beater" pipe.