As far as the pipe being groken in, I'm aware of that, and I've actually got my grandad's pipes to smoke. A couple of briar pipes and a couple of meerschaum pipes.
I've got a good tobacanist, and I do smoke cigars about once a month or so, and I'm planning to replace them with the pipe.
I wasn't expecting such a negative response to this, kinda surprising honestly. But thanks for the input I did get.
Onslow, thanks for the link, I'll take a look at it.