Tom Eltang: Smooth Tubos Tobacco Pipe

When Tom went back to revise his Tubos shape to include a reverse-Calabash cooling chamber, he made a big change: he made the shank longer. (For a shape this minimalist, that is a big change.) Then he made some that had shanks which were quite longer, really playing up the fun oddness of his signature, as he once described it to Sykes, "pipe-shaped pipe" design. He has also, however, made some shorter again, like this one - closer to the original non-Calabash Tubos proportions, but still with enough length and breadth to the back-end for plenty of smoke-cooling and moisture-condensing action. One thing he's never made a lot of, however, is smooth examples of the Tubos, this shape, like his Poker and Cutter, usually getting the Eltang deep-rustication treatment. This charming pipe-shaped pipe, in fact, is only number five to come our way.

- Eric N. Squires