I've been wanting to learn to play the bagpipes for some time now. I recently discovered that my friend Greg is in fact a piper, and he has offered to teach me. Naturally, the first thing I want to do is to get a practice chanter.

I have heard enough about Pakistani bagpipes and chanter etc. to know to stay away from them. I have, however, found a store call the "Harp and Dragon" (http://www.harpanddragon.com/) which supplies, among other things, beginning bagpipe supplies.

I was looking through their website, and the long chanters they sell seem attractive. I also noted the "practice pipes" they sell, which include: "synthetic bag, plastic blowstick, plastic long chanter, two small drones, all synthetic reeds." The blowstick and the chanter detach and join together to form a practice chanter.

My questions are these:
Has anyone dealt with this company or their products before?
What do you think of their "practice pipes"?

Also, I am a college student, and have a very limited budget, so if you recommend any alternatives, please keep in mind that I have at most $200 to invest in this, and I probably won't have much more until next semester. I would like to keep as much of it as possible until then.

A pre-emptive thanks to everyone whom I sure will chime in on this.