Balandis Direct from Poland?

I guess I should also discuss Road Town. They are not, themselves, a pipe manufacturer. They are a broker/dealer for Chinese pipe makers, just like HS Studio.

I'm not willing to just crap on Chinese pipes as an idea, but I have no reason to have any confidence in Road Town. The distributor's brand doesn't mean anything to me. I'm perfectly sure that both utter shite and high quality pipes are peddled with the same "brand" name.

   Be careful of the language before you get a warning.....put ** between some letters!!!

    The ONLY wood pipe I ever burned a hole thru the wall with under 50 uses was a Mr Brog. Sent off two emails with pictures, no response! Now ask me how many Mr Brog Pipes I smoke???

I’ll make it easy....NONE👍

Yup, it is...we have a few ladies as members. I’m a former member of two other forums, by now a Mod would have warned you. The Mods here are easy going but no need for the full spelling of any foul language. Example...nobody would complain if you used the word $hit in this manner, we all know what is meant. This way ALL remain cool and happy. It’s no big deal really, you’ll fit right in👍👍👍

Although we are a pipe forum with adult members, we do work at maintaining a PG discourse.

A quick browsing of the site will reveal that though we do enjoy lively and spirited dialogue, we do reign in the profanity.

No one is trying to censor your speech here smells, but do keep in mind that we do have several ladies that are members of the forum.

First of, thanks to everyone for self-moderating. We don't just have ladies here. There are also gentlemen here who would prefer not to read language that makes them uncomfortable. That's not to say, in the heat of the moment, people don't express themselves in such a way, but it's a rarity.

Censoring our language just helps to keep everyone happy. Nobody complains about the lack of swearing.

... But don't let that put you off contributing. It's just how we roll.

Back to the topic at hand... I've used these guys a few times. They are good and I've never had an issue. They are mainly a Mr Brog stockist, which aren't high end pipes by any means, but affordable and some can be good smokers. Most of them are made from pear wood, but there are some briar too.

OK I should have known better -- google dredged up a history page on Mr Brog's own web site.

www.mrbrog.co/history.html

They were founded to make fruit wood pipes during the communist era, when presumably the supply of imports would have dried up.

"Golden Gate", I've heard makes some fine pipes...a friend has several and he is thrilled with them. On language, I've slipped a few times, but I feel that the quality of the membership here deserve better language....and I try to follow suit.  JMHO.

Good point - my 78-year-old mom swears like a banshee, and my wife is no slouch, either.

Still, good that this was brought up because I had no idea it was a forum rule, either, and I've been here a while....

The problem with HS Studio and Road Town isn't that they are Chinese.  It's that you don't know exactly what you're getting.

Li Zhesong is a well-known artisan pipemaker.  You buy a Li Zhesong pipe, you get a Li Zhesong pipe.

HS Studio is a distributor.  They buy pipes from untold numbers of artisans, some good, some bad, some crooked, and then sell them under the HS Studio name.  When you buy an HS Studio pipe, what are you getting? Nobody knows!