Pipes are available in a wide variety of classic shapes, well over a hundred in fact. Each classic shape has its own name, for instance a billiard is a simple pipe with a classically slender bowl, while an apple is similar, but with a more squat, slightly rounded bowl.

Bent pipes all feature a bent stem, or mouthpiece, and have different names depending on the shape of their bowl. For example, there can be bent apples.

The choice of shape is a matter of personal preference; some pipe smokers have a single favorite shape, others have dozens of different shapes in their collections.