Skip to main content

ABOUT US

The United Pipe Clubs of America (UPCA) was organized in 2002 as a national federation of pipe clubs in the United States. Its purpose is to promote and protect the interests of the American pipe smoking community by encouraging and assisting in the formation of local pipe clubs and actively supporting their activities, including pipe shows and pipe smoking competitions.  The UPCA annually sponsors national and regional pipe smoking contests.
Learn more . . .


ANNOUNCEMENTS

Our Website is undergoing a bit of a redesign.  Please pardon our dust as we work to make a better user experience for you.

2025 Champion

The Vernon Vig National Pipe Smoking Contest on Saturday featured 28 participants. It was exciting to see the final two participants, Eric “Toby” Cabrera from the Long Island Pipe Club and Barry Tannenbaum of the Great Northern Pipe Club, sitting at the same table, going for 20 minutes longer than the third place contestant, before Barry finally went out. Congratulations to Eric “Toby” Cabrera for winning this year’s contest with a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 39 seconds! Furthermore, Toby has already agreed to represent the UPCA in the World Championship of Pipe Smoking later this year in The Netherlands. More on that in the next few months! We would also like to congratulate the winner in the International Division, Guoqing Zhang, with a time of 34 minutes, 20 seconds. And Jules Ewart was this year’s winner in the Woman’s Division at 27 minutes, 05 seconds. Congratulations, Jules! The Merchant Service contest pipes were well-received. We thank them for their high quality work. The UPCA will be selling all remaining contest pipes. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if interested. We would also like to thank Iwan Ries for donating the Spilman Mixture. And a huge thank you to everyone who donated to the prize table. Once again, we were able to ensure that every contestant went home with a prize. The generosity of the community amazes us every year.


On Sunday The Karloski National Fast Smoke Contest was a direct competition between new UPCA Secretary Michael Bergstrom of the Seattle Pipe Club and Greg Polla of Merchant Service and the Hudson Valley Pipe Club. It was also a direct competition between corn cob and briar, as Mike used the contest pipe provided courtesy of our always generous sponsors at Missouri Meerschaum and Greg brought his own table pipe. The tobacco was Frostika 1800. In the end, the mighty cob was victorious, with Mike finishing in 7 minutes, 14 seconds.


Full list of finishers and times can be found in the documents page. www.unitedpipeclubs.org/content.aspx?page_id=86&club_id=90797

BROKEN PIPE


Vernon Vig, prominent and internationally renowned pipe collector, founder and first President of UPCA, and former President of the New York Pipe Club, passed away Thursday the 13th of February 2025. Vernon was inducted into the Confrerie des Maitres-Pipers de Saint-Claude (Brotherhood of Master Pipe Makers), the pipe version of the Hall of Fame, in 2012. He received The Doctor of Pipes at the Chicago Pipe Show in 2017. His influence on our community was deep and his knowledge was beneficial to any fellow pipe smoker lucky enough to spend time with him. With International Pipe Smoking Day coming up this week we invite you to pause a moment and reflect on Vernon, a man deeply committed to our shared hobby.

Vernon

BROKEN PIPE


It is a heavy heart that I have to announce a broken pipe for the passing of Eric Karloski. He passed January 11th at 3:30 pm. He died peacefully with his Mom and Wife by his side in his home. Please take a moment to remember a fallen friend, and enjoy a bowl of your favorite tobacco in his honor. 


(Photo Courtesy of Kayla Himmelman)

2025 CPCC SHOW RECAP

Details Coming Soon!

NEW CLUBS

The UPCA welcomes our newest members.

PSPC_Logo_clr.jpg


Prairie Smoke Pipe Club

Green County, WI



More Info

Diogenes_Logo.jpg


The Diogenes Club

Virtual Club, NY



More Info


OUR SPONSORS

UPCA is funded through nominal dues by participating clubs and by contributions from businesses and organizations within the pipe smoking community. We thank and recognize our contributors by displaying a logo and a link to their website. Please patronize these generous folks.



Daughters & Ryan Tobacco
 

ThisPipeLife.com
 
LePipe.it

 We would also like to thank the wonderful folks who donate prizes for our UPCA National Pipe Smoking Contest.  Please check them out in our Donors page.

Meerschaum Market 
 

SaveSave SaveSave Save Save

Copyright © 2018-2025 Account Questions?

United Pipe Clubs of America Call Club Express Toll Free Hotline: 1-866-HLP-CLUB 1-866-457-258

All rights reserved. (between 6:30 am to 3:00 pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday)