Sandblasted Acorn with Mammoth (577) Tobacco Pipe

Professing to Micah "Yeti" Cryder's penchant for pocket pipes, this Acorn measures under four and half inches in length, offering a comfortable, hands-free smoking posture and easily toted form. Like the American carver's other nosewarmer renditions, though, it features a pleasant amount of substance through the stummel — the shank quite stout in its outward flare and the bowl squat and wide-set. Almost Tomato-like, said bowl exhibits a slight flare from the heel, and its widest portion is set closest to the rim, which features a rugged array of craggy plateau. Shaping and practical convenience are, then, coupled with an equally alluring finish and color palette: The briar's crisp sandblast is subtle of texture yet still reveals a tight-knit pattern of growth rings rippling up the bowl, and the presentation is my personal favorite aspect of this piece — the ebony stain and vulcanite stem drawing handsome contrast to the tan wedding band of mammoth ivory. The contrast is evident and stark; however, it's not as dramatic as, say, silver, lending this piece a more reserved, rustic air that I find quite appealing.