The nosewarmer trend and a Peterson pipes success story.

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Puff Daddy

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I think the first nosewarmer mention I recall was many years back when Greg Pease posted photos on his website of the Castello shape 10, and then in the forum buzz that followed. I really liked those but never managed to get one (back when I was buying pipes of that pay grade). Since then it seems everyone has put out a nosewarmer. Some very nice, some failed mutations (imho). There have been some I really admired but a lot of them fell quite short of the mark. Most artisinal carver nosewarmers I couldn't afford anyhow. A couple years ago I noticed Peterson had put out some Outdoors pipes (as they called them) which were just their standard bowls but with short stems. I didn't like them, thought they looked like a weak attempt. There are still some of those around today on the big US Etailer websites. Big bent billiards, brandys and pots with weak little looking, too small stems, everything out of proportion. I didn't really pay them much mind.

I forget where it was but I saw a few comments somewhere about the Petersons released in the EU markets as being of much higher quality than the pipes released here in the states. This has been a bit of a sore spot for me because I truly love the look of a lot of the Petes and have purchased quite a few of them, but they always fell short of the mark in smoking quality once the honeymoon period had worn off and I sold almost all of them. Forget the gripes about dip stain and paint coming off the colored pipes and the deep well on every pipe and the off center airways in the stummel. With a well made mouthpiece that allows for a good airflow a lot of those other sins can be forgiven in pipes selling in the price range the US Petes were selling for (not that you couldn't get a better pipe for that kind of money). But the mouthpieces Peterson was  making were drilled with an airway too small and the bents all seemed to constrict badly at the bend, they were not fluted at the end or with a decent V cut into the bit and inevitably the pipes would gurgle from turbulence and a too tight draw. Add to that the fact that most mouthpieces were cheap vulcanite, and finding a nice acrylic one with a good draw was like trying to hit the lottery. I basically gave up and was down to just a couple Petes in my collection.

But as I said, someone had mentioned the better quality in the EU market and I went looking. Lo and behold, there were straight nosewarmers on a couple of Italian websites that looked good, the pipes and stems were to scale, and they had very nice sandblasts on them. Very, very nice sandblasts! I couldn't help myself. I bought a Peterson Outdoor pipe in shape 87 (straight apple) in the black and tan sandblast with military mount stem. When it arrived it was lovely, but I was almost certain it wouldn't smoke good. Wrong! Been smoking it for some time now. I take it to work and smoke it in the truck while driving. It's a little jewel, a treasure! The fit and finish is better than most of what I've seen in the US Petersons, the stem, though ebonite, is holding up wonderfully and the pipe does not gurgle at all. It smokes wonderfully. This led me to searching more and I found that Peterson had released other nosewarmers in Italy that bear the stamping of totally different pipes here in the US. The Hunter, the Golfer, the Fisherman - not the same shapes and styles of those samely named pipes here, but all nosewarmer sand blasted pipes (Golfer and Fisherman having acrylic stems) and all head and shoulders above the pipes sold in the US as far as quality of build, finish and level of sandblasting goes. I had to get one of each, and all I can say is, Peterson, if you're listening, why haven't you been doing it like this all along?

Finally, as to the nosewarmer trend, I like em. Mine are all straight, the length isn't an issue, in fact I prefer it. They travel better whether in my Maxpedition bag I carry to work or in a small pipe bag I carry when I go out.

Here's a little slideshow of them.

https://s1113.photobucket.com/user/briarsmoke1/slideshow/Peterson%20nosewarmers
 
I feel they don't cool the smoke enough before it hits your tongue and then just bites. I like them in astetics but not function. That's just my feelings on them.
 
I don't own any nosewarmers as I just don't care for the short length. Not anything to do with performance, real or perceived. Guess it's just not my thing. More power to those who enjoy them.

I've liked the design of the Devil Anse but it's too short for my liking.

In any case it's good to hear Peterson has stepped their game, at least on these.



Cheers,

RR
 
Great post, PD. Thanks for taking the time. Those are great looking pipes; the sandblasting looks as though it's really done right and I'll take your word on the engineering. So North America gets the crap rustication and similar of the last few years? Confirms my suspicions.
 
Richard Burley":3a099mmh said:
Great post, PD. Thanks for taking the time. Those are great looking pipes; the sandblasting looks as though it's really done right and I'll take your word on the engineering. So North America gets the crap rustication and similar of the last few years? Confirms my suspicions.
Remember, what we get over here is what the US distributor thinks the US market WANTS. So far, from whats offered over here, THAT'S what US buyers WANT. Seems the Europeans are just a bit more discerning than we are as far as what they will buy :twisted:
 
ZeroContent":q46rdn4w said:
I feel they don't cool the smoke enough before it hits your tongue and then just bites.
An interesting point and one I've heard before. I have several little Danish made Stanwells that couldn't be much more than group 3, with delicate little slender stems and shanks that are no longer than some of the nosewarmers being sold, maybe 4.75-5 inches long. Plenty of Dunhills floating around in group 2 and 3 that aren't but 5 inches long. These are not historically noted as being hot smokers or biters. These 4 Petersons range from 4.7 to 4.9 inches according to the sellers specs, and they are either 20 or 21 mm in bore. I honestly think it has more to do with airway diameter to bore diameter and the overall engineering and materials used rather than just length of the airway. But, as in all things, YMMV.
 
ZeroContent":6r6smnns said:
I feel they don't cool the smoke enough before it hits your tongue and then just bites. I like them in astetics but not function. That's just my feelings on them.
I had the same concern as you. I just couldn't believe that a pipe that short wouldn't fry my tongue when smoked. However I saw a Colja rusticate poker that was only 4 1/2" long that I just had to have. I was certainly pleased that I bought it. It smokes as well and as cool as any of my full size pipes. So if you see one you like go for it. I don't think you'll have any regrets because of length. I'd post a picture but it might serve to hijack PD's thread and I don't want to do that. :)

AJ
 
Hijack away AJ! :D I've always found that the best conversations were those that started at one point and just wandered wherever the wind (or smoke) took them.
 
Puff Daddy":25vh46jt said:
Hijack away AJ! :D  I've always found that the best conversations were those that started at one point and just wandered wherever the wind (or smoke) took them.
OK PD. Because I'm in agreement your thoughts about nosewarmers I'll post a few pics of my best nosewarmer a Colja Poker. Besides I like showing off a good looking pipe. :)

AJ




 
ZeroContent":5ukldv44 said:
I feel they don't cool the smoke enough before it hits your tongue
I just saw this video posted over on the pipes mag forum. It's Jess Chonowitsch talking with the LA pipe club, very interesting stuff. Just so happens, at about the 9 minute mark in the video, Jess goes into the subject of length of airway versus diameter being responsible for coolness of smoke. His comments are that (para), if you draw normally on a pipe, the speed at which the smoke travels is such that the difference between a very short pipe and a long pipe is completely negligible. It makes no difference at all. A short pipe will not give a hot smoke and a long pipe will not give a cooler smoke. An airway that is too narrow or constricted will, however, force you to puff harder which increases the heat generated and causes a hotter smoke. With an open airway you can easily smoke cool by adjusting your puffing. I defer to the master.

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/23-minute-conversation-wjess-chonowitsch-never-seen-before-today

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d6MLq-y_fd0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen ></iframe>
 
image.jpg3_zpswenebtrf.jpg


Where did you find that? That is the best looking Peterson I've ever seen.
 
joshoowah":ok1xry2v said:
Where did you find that? That is the best looking Peterson I've ever seen.
Indeed. Check out the button, even. That's my favorite type.
 
joshoowah":pb8shdrw said:
Where did you find that? That is the best looking Peterson I've ever seen.
lepipe.it There are still a couple left, last time I looked. That pipe is the Fisherman pipe, aprox 4 7/8" long, sterling silver band stamped "Fisherman" with the usual hallmarks. The stem is acrylic in a black and reddish color swirl pattern. I chose mine because the blast was gnarly and the stem was mostly black with just a little red here and there (very subdued, not like the Dracula or Magma pipes). It is extremely comfortable to clench, absolutely no gurgle, and weighs only 35 grams. I bought the 87 at danishpipeshop, the other three all came from lepipe.it. I've purchased from a few different Italian sites in the last couple of years, Alpascia, Novelli and LePipe. No problem with any of them.
 
Puff Daddy":oactdvuk said:
...at about the 9 minute mark in the video, Jess goes into the subject of length of airway versus diameter being responsible for coolness of smoke. His comments are that (para), if you draw normally on a pipe, the speed at which the smoke travels is such that the difference between a very short pipe and a long pipe is completely negligible. It makes no difference at all. A short pipe will not give a hot smoke and a long pipe will not give a cooler smoke.
This has been my experience for sure.  The distance smoke travels in...say...a 4.5" pipe vs even a large 7" pipe doesn't leave a noticeable impression upon me.  The diameter of the airway absolutely does.  To get sidetracked a little here, and to throw a diatribe into the mix, I really cannot stand the trend of huge airways.  I remember a beautiful Boswell rhodesian (I bought here, and then sold here) that had an airway the size of a McDonald's straw.  That thing smoked cool as a refrigerated cucumber, but the consequence to that was a less dense smoke and less condensed flavor of smoke.  Didn't matter what I put into it, I could barely taste it.  No hyperbole.  Personally, I'd rather a traditional --dare say, more restricted-- diameter of airway.  Pull a slow, dense, condensed, robust column of smoke that is cool by nature because I'm not gasping at trying to find flavor.  What I'm not so succinctly saying is, give me flavor over coolness eight days a week.  If the diameter is overkill, there's nothing I can do to find that flavor.  I can never pull slow enough.  However, in a smaller diameter airway, I can adjust my pull to find a balance between flavor and coolness. Technique vs engineering.

One of my fears...yes, fear...is the possibility of all those great smoking pipes of years past being bought by the new smoking crowd on the estate market, and then them modifying the airways into the fast-food straws of today.
 
I agree, I've had pipes with airways too open and it does't work. There is a minimum but definitely a maximum as well. I think the answer is just enough for a good draw, and it must be unrestricted ( which opens another can of worms regarding widening the V airway at the bit end to compensate for the loss of height due to flattening of the bite area).
 
Puff Daddy":armttngp said:
joshoowah":armttngp said:
Where did you find that? That is the best looking Peterson I've ever seen.
lepipe.it  There are still a couple left, last time I looked. That pipe is the Fisherman pipe, aprox 4 7/8" long, sterling silver band stamped "Fisherman" with the usual hallmarks. The stem is acrylic in a black and reddish color swirl pattern. I chose mine because the blast was gnarly and the stem was mostly black with just a little red here and there (very subdued, not like the Dracula or Magma pipes). It is extremely comfortable to clench, absolutely no gurgle, and weighs only 35 grams. I bought the 87 at danishpipeshop, the other three all came from lepipe.it. I've purchased from a few different Italian sites in the last couple of years, Alpascia, Novelli and LePipe. No problem with any of them.
I so wish I could swing it right now, but medical bills come first. Shame, shame.
 
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