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Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri Origami Keychain - Olive/Dark Brown
Novel and Useful Tobacco Accessory
Love this thing! No more drying my tobacco on a paper towel at the lounge, this unfolds to provide a nice tobacco drying square. The stand part of it works well for even larger pipes. I managed to balance a calabash in it, but probably not convenient for regular use for a pipe that large. The keychain hardware is high quality - though, I'll never attach keys to this, so I removed it. Def will be picking up a couple more of these to keep with each of my kits.
Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri Italian 4 Pipe Roll Up - Dark Blue/Chestnut
Excellent Quality, Expensive, Could Use More Accessory Storage
I think at this point, I own almost all of CA's leather products sold here on SP, and while some are hit and miss, this one is very much a hit. The leather is very high quality - supple and with neat grain. Stitching has been off in some of CA's prior offerings, but it's perfectly done here. The ergonomics of the pipe storage work well - providing quicker access than his 'cube' bag does, and a lot more space than typical 4 pipe storage bags/rolls, allowing you to fit larger or very bent pipes easily. One unfortunate bit is that there is only a single accessory slot. The description claims: "one center pocket for lighters, tampers, pipe cleaners, and other essentials". I contend that if you're the type of person to buy a pricy high quality bag like this, chance are you aren't going to want to cram your nice lighter and tamper into the one pocket to scrape against each other. The outside buckle is actually a functional buckle, and not one of those faux buckles with a magnetic back for quick access. Depending on your preferences this is either a pro or a con. I'm undecided thus far, most of my other accessories use the faux buckles. Overall, if you can stomach the price, I don't think you'll be disappointed. This is a solid luxury pipe roll.
Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri Leather Cleaners Holder - Olive
Functional, But Poor Ergonomics
I own several other pieces in this line, and this is a miss in my eyes. It looks great, and is well constructed. The issue is with the 'design'. The leather backing is incredibly stiff, and the front olive covered leather is tight against it. The upshot is that it's annoying to get pipe cleaners into it. Pushing them in resulted in several bent, or strongly scraping the interior as they were pushed in. Due to this it's also hard to get the tops aligned, so it looks a bit jumbled. So it technically does work, but I don't see myself using it over other solutions I've got.
Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri 4 Pipe Case - Cube Olive/Chestnut
Bigger than it Looks, HUGE Improvement, Best in it's Class?
My favorite feature on this are the large pipe socks. My pipe collection is mostly large and irregular shaped pipes, and it's nice to have a good quality case to carry them in. I don't really care about the removability much, but I can see why it was designed this way. It's also got enough depth that you could easily fit another 4ish pipes in with their own socks. I wish they would make separate pipe socks in this style and color scheme for this purpose. The soft leather looks, smells and feels great in person. Improvements in this bag over the last generation 4 pipe bag: 1. The stitching is all flawless and aligned. This was my major gripe about the last generation. 2. The handle wrapper on the previous generation felt like it was on backwards, with the seam facing your palm. This simpler handle is much nicer imho. 3. It's much less 'floppy' than the previous generation due to the shorter but deeper dimensions. It appears to be the same leather, but the tall, narrow aspect of the last generation made it always appear 'droopy'. I think this aspect is a substantially better design, and works with the 'strengths' of the soft leather rather than against it. There are a few of things that would have been nice to have, but not deal breakers. Maybe for the next generation? 1. Pipe cleaner storage. There is a separate pipe cleaner sleeve in this line, but it would be nice to have one in the bag. Having them up against even the non-rigid walls could help prevent bending and poking. 2. A flap for one of the integrated pockets, like his single pipe rollup has, but maybe with invisible magnets? Helps keep the lighter in place. 3. Tobacco storage. I get that this is a hard one these days with the different shapes and sizes of tins and pocket jars, etc, but would love to have them 'organized' in here as well. Tbh, the previous generation's solution wasn't great, so maybe less is more in this case? 4. The back interior wall feels empty. A large interior pocket in the brown leather for the back wall would be welcome for phone/tablet/book/whatever storage. To conclude, though quite expensive, this case is a gem in the 'luxury 4+ pipe case' segment.
Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri Italian Leather Roll Up Tobacco Pouch Olive/Chestnut
Expensive, but Excellent Quality Tobacco Pouch.
I bought this to match my chestnut roll-up, and have really enjoyed using it. Construction quality is excellent, and the little 'flair' on the end is a nice touch.
Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri Italian Leather 4 Pipe Bag Black/Dark Blue
Disappointing Construction, Perhaps a Design Flaw
I own a number of Albieri products and this is the only one I've been disappointed in. You can see the problem in the picture actually - the small snap pocket that's snapping at a diagonal angle is doing so because the stitching on the bottom piece is misaligned - so that's the best it can do. It looks worse when you've got an old boy lighter in there. I was also not impressed with the handle wrap. In person that ridge is pretty tall, and not comfortable to grip. Unfortunately the pipe tin pocket doesn't really securely hold the tin as well - I've had it slip out a couple of times and bang against the pipe heads when closed. The whole bag is also a lot more 'floppy' than it appears here in the photos. This may be par for the course with these sorts of quality leather bags, but doesn't work well here IMHO. The new generation of this case seems to be an entirely new design - so hopefully they've taken the lessons from this one and applied it to the new one.
Stands & Pouches - Claudio Albieri 1-Pipe Roll Up - Olive/Chestnut
Expensive, but High Quality Pipe Roll
I'll be honest, I own 3 different categories of the Albieri pipe products types, and have had mixed impressions of quality, construction and design issues. This roll up, however, is the best of the 3 categories I've tried. I liked it so much I bought a second in black. As the other reviewer mentioned, this is also my go to roll up. I always have it ready to go to toss into the car for a day out. Ergonomics and quality on this guy are off the charts. Solid stitching, bigger than usual pipe storage and protection, exactly enough pockets, and excellent quality and supple leather. Though it's quite expensive, IMHO it's in a class of its own in the pipe accessory world. Perhaps the one downside is that the soft Italian leather is easier to scuff than some of the cruder versions of the same, so I probably wouldn't toss it 'naked' into a backpack or suitcase without some form of protection. Recommended.
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