Sandblasted Reverse Calabash Poker Tobacco Pipe

Given Werner Mummert's penchant for minimalist shaping, when first seeing this pipe I assumed it was simply, well, a simplified Poker shape, accentuating the taper-less nature of the shank by giving that portion extra breadth, then balancing it out with a very subtle forward lean to the bowl. I guess it is all that — it just happens to also be a reverse-Calabash as well, Mummert having hollowed out that great length and considerable width of shank in order to provide quite a good amount of cooling chamber.

Often when I've seen a reverse Calabash rendered in a straight shape layout, tobacco chamber depth has been sacrificed by running the cooling chamber through into the lower half of the bowl, then setting the tobacco chamber on top of it (i.e. with a draft-hole tapped straight down). With this long-shanked approach, Werner's made space for plenty of cooling chamber volume, while still offering a more traditional, full depth tobacco chamber arrangement.

- Eric N. Squires