Yeti: Partially Sandblasted Blowfish with Bakelite Tobacco Pipe

When working with the Blowfish shape, many artisans tend to extend the design's inherent disc-like panels outward along the flanks, framing them with more pronounced, fin-like ridge lines to visually separate the bowl from the transition and shank. But let's face it: that's not the only way to do it. The Blowfish, after all, is quite a flexible design — that's part of what's made the shape so popular among independent artisans.

Here, for example, Micah Cryder seems to have taken the opposite approach to that common style, considerably compressing the flanks and making for a crisp, cinched cross-section when viewed from the smoker's perspective. The result is an almost Opera-style bowl, with pronounced ridges flowing down the fore and aft of the bowl and very little flare around the transition. All of this, in turn, works to produce a sharper, more forward-thrust silhouette in profile, especially when paired with the upward-curling shank.

What's more, Micah has finished this piece in a crisp, extra dark, subtly warm contrast sandblast, unveiling an array of ring grain and blasted birdseye alike. It's also a great example of Yeti's signature accent stemwork; the cobalt blue inlay within the stem base was actually crafted from an antique bakelite poker chip, incorporating non-pipe related Americana into modern pipe design. Recommended.

- Andrew Wike