Pipe Tins Can Be Useful - But What About Pipe Socks?

ghostsofpompeii

That pipe you ordered has finally arrived! After ripping open the cardboard box and tossing aside fistfuls of Styrofoam packing peanuts you gently remove that small rectangular box like an archeologist handling an ancient artifact. You gently open the flap, reach inside, and pull out the contents meticulously housed in a cloth, felt or leather sack. You unfasten the string and reveal the pipe in a slow tease, exposing a little at a time like an exotic dancer in a high class Gentlemen's Club - until fully revealed in all it's naked glory! And there you stand in wide-eyed wonder, holding a magnificent new addition to your pipe collection in one hand ... and that stupid pipe sock in the other.

In a recent discussion devoted to collecting tobacco tins, members offered practical uses for an empty tobacco tin. But consider the pipe sock. Now that it has served it purpose and safely transported your pipe in perfect condition - and assuming once removed from the sock the pipe will now be properly displayed in a pipe rack or cabinet - what practical use might you have for that pipe sock. And considering the size of pipe collections many members have - I imagine you've acquired a surplus of pipe socks over the years. With the exception of some of the more attractive leather pipe socks with the name of the manufacture inscribed which are worthy of collecting as well - what are some practical uses you've discovered for the lowly pipe sock? 

Woodsman

I keep my pipes in them when traveling,  I keep some in them and put them back in the box standing up.

thebadgerpiper

I keep my pipe socks and will stick pipes in them when I'm traveling and the pipe bag is full. I like the surprise of opening a box, seeing the pipe sock, and removing it to get my first glimpse of the pipe.

PappyJoe

The pipe socks are there to protect the finish of the pipe.

I keep the pipe socks and will put the pipes in them when I'm traveling. It may have been a bit pretentious but I in the past I made sure to put my best pipes in their socks when going to a pipe club meeting. 

Now I just take 4 or 5 pipes off the rack and put them in a bag with the tobacco I'm taking.

Topaz75

I use an old Peterson pipe sock to hold the sunglasses that I keep in the car. The glasses are protected, fit nicely into the sock, and in a pinch the sock can be used as a cloth for cleaning the glasses.

xDutchx

I too use the pipe sock when transporting a particular pipe, but sometimes it can be difficult and time consuming to locate the original sock for a particular pipe. Sometimes I feel lucky, if I can find a sock with the brand name that matches a particular pipe.

I don't have personal experience, but I have heard that some folks who need to smoke in exile outdoors due to SWMBO, sometimes use them for ear warmers during the colder winter months.

glohman

I assume if the pipe didn't come with one, it is a cheap pipe.

ghostsofpompeii

Actually that's not always true. Someone on YouTube bought a dirt cheap Chinese pipe on EBAY, swearing it was so bad he's be afraid to actually smoke it. Wasn't even sure what material it was made out of. But the pipe did come in a box. Had a pipe sock on it. And even had a little pipe stand with it. I think it was under $5.00. So you can find a cheap pipe with a sock ... but that's the exception and not the rule.  

tomsales16

When I elect to thin my pipe herd and offer them to an Estate buyer I always offer the pipes with the original sock and box if available.  This makes for a more satisfying purchase for the prospective buyer and proves that a specific pipe was an original purchase by the seller.

ghostsofpompeii

Back when I was a kid I remember buying gum that was suppose to resemble gold nuggets sold in little cloth packets resembling pipe socks. Next time I go to the movies I'll fill one of the pipe socks with Jujubees or jaw breakers. Forget about the Milk Duds ... they'll melt.