Pipes

S. Bang pipes are made by Ulf Noltensmeier and Per Hansen in Copenhagen, Denmark. They've been making pipes for 40 years and are dedicated to producing the best pipes possible. If a defect appears during shaping, the stummel is discarded. Per and Ulf no longer even sandblast pipes; only smooth pipes now receive the attention necessary for the S. Bang name.

The founder of S. Bang, Svend Bang, started in the tobacco trade in 1941, and after the war, he took a job with W.O. Larsen, where he was tasked with starting the famous Larsen pipe factory. In the late 1960s he started S. Bang, and in 1970 hired Per Hansen, who was at that time working for Preben Holm. Ulf Noltensmeier also worked for Preben Holm, but didn't last long. He asked about reducing the noise level in the factory and the 23-year-old Holm told him to deal with it or leave. Ulf left to work with Anne Julie for a little more than a year before also joining S. Bang in 1971.

From the beginning, Per and Ulf insisted that high quality was paramount. They stamped their initials on the highest grades. Svend, however, dreamed of having a workshop like Preben Holm and wanted high production numbers, an impossibility at the level of craftsmanship that his two carvers insisted upon. It was a constant struggle, but Svend took great pride in the quality of the pipes with his name, despite the disappointedly low quantities.

When Svend retired in 1984, Per and Ulf took over management of the shop, and they agreed that quality would always exceed quantity. That's the philosophy they've followed since, and they've taken it even further now. Every Bang pipe is the best possible rendition.