Breaking in Period for basic Peterson pipes

PaulTheScandinavian · Mar 30, 2017

Ok, as many of you may have notice,roughly half of my new pipes are Peterson med.priced pipes,those from such serie like Kildare/Aran/shannon line-ups,this kills me,I can not afford buying more high-end models)but in reality I'm pretty happy with what I've already gotten(though the say,you get what you pay for,,)Now I'm getting to realize these med price Peterson are pretty stubborn type of pipes where it comes to breaking in period.This is a somewhat confusing When comparing,say between,Savinellis/Stanvells/Chacoms which right of the bat seem offer much softer dryer smoking experience,whereas these Petersons tend to smoke hotter/wetter and the briar itself has somewhat harder/stiffer/sturdier feel on it(real workhorse feeling pipes. Previously and more than once,I've been told Peterson pipes require a bit longer break in time versus aforementioned popular brands, any thoughts?Perhaps some members here have had similar experience in their pipe-practice' I appreciate your time and thank you for your comments,Paul

alexnorth · Mar 30, 2017

I've only ever had one Peterson and that one needed a few smokes to start mellowing out.

jensen · Mar 30, 2017

In my younger days I liked the Orlik 23 shape, so over two years or so I bought six in sandblast finish.

Did they behave in the same way during the breaking period. No, they did not.
I have no problems with Peterson pipes, low or high end.

unkleyoda · Mar 30, 2017

I have 23 Petersons, most were purchased new by me in the last year. All are mid line, similar to yours. Most have been decent smokers within 1-3 bowls. But I have one that took many 15+ bowls to mellow and become a good smoker.

philobeddoe · Mar 30, 2017

The main reason that I have found newer Petes harder to break in, is due to stain inside the bowl. If you dip a q-tip in Everclear and swab out the inside of the bowl (before you even smoke it once), just keep using q-tips until they come out clean and that should really cut down on the nasty break in taste quite a bit.

kirkland · Mar 30, 2017

I only buy the older estate pre-smoked Peteys. If it's dipstained you have to "try" to clean it out or just smoke through it. SMH.
If it's not dipstained thee's really no telling how long before she breaks in. Some guys says certian tobaccos assist in breaking a pipe in faster. Others only smoke half bowls to keep them from overheating. In the old days some guys would coat the inner bowl with honey with the thinking that it would carboxylate and char the briar quicker. And then came the various "bowl coatings" that were supposed to assist the break-in period as well. Often a lot depends on how the briar was cured. Any briar coming from a guy name Mimmo in Italy is well-cured and top-notch stuff. I'm not sure where Peterson gets their briar from or where their pipes are fraissed these days. I do know some of the independent pipecarvers are contracted with Mimmo and get all their briar from him.
I've always disliked breaking in a new pipe thats why I went to buying used estates 20 some years ago. And I really like getting a 300-400 high end estate Pete for 100-150 bucks on ebay. Some of the best Peterson pipes I've seen (new or used) are from Al Pascia's website in Milano Italy.
Good luck and I hope she breaks in quick and becomes a great smoker for ya.

kirkland · Mar 30, 2017

I've seem some old school carvers pre-char the bowl by holding it into a propane torch for a few seconds. Blakemar maybe ? Off topic a bit, sorry.

jpmcwjr · Mar 30, 2017

My experience with mid range Pete's in the last few years suggests the briar in those pipes wasn't fully cured. Thus, smoking many many bowls drove out some of the moisture to make for a good smoker eventually. Mind you, this is theory only.

toobfreak · Mar 30, 2017

All of my Petes have smoked fine from the first bowl. Last one bought was 2008.

fitzy · Mar 30, 2017

I have one Pete and I refuse to buy more until they stop with the stupid dip staining. Why should I have to clean stain out of the inside of the bowl when I can buy a dozen other brands that are just as good without having to make them smoke-able.

fitzy · Mar 30, 2017

I do have to say though that the one Pete I have smokes great and I've had it for about 20 years.

PaulTheScandinavian · Mar 30, 2017

Thank You Gentlemen all for your comments, Much appreciated, I'm seeing French make pipes usually come no dipstained free of precarbonation

kirkland · Mar 30, 2017

I never saw a dipstained Petey until Palmer took over the Peterson company, and even after I contacted him he assured me they no longer dipstain. But I still continue to see and hear about their pipes being dipped. I just cringe every time I read that someone has to go through some ridiculous process of trying to get the stain out of a brand new pipe. As a diehard Pete lover for many years their QP has soured me and I no longer buy their newer pipes. IMO a legendary pipe company has gone to shit.
That should stir the pot..although it's nothing more than my opinion.

fitzy · Mar 30, 2017

Paulie I like the french pipes I have but the downside seems to be a pretty tight draw.
That doesn't appear to be the case with most of the Italian made pipes.
Unfortunately I missed out on an opportunity to buy a Sebastian Beo pipe from smokingpipes.com before they were all gone as they had a more open draw. He's gone back to work for Genod.

ashdigger · Mar 30, 2017

I have a brand new Pete Sportsman 87 (Nosewarmer) that I have about 8 smokes into and from the very first smoke it performed very well. I'm not much of a new Pete guy until I saw this one. My other three Petes are all Pre-Republic Bulldogs, so I can't comment on newer system or other shapes.

ravenwolf · Mar 30, 2017

I have a variety of pipes - including probably a dozen Petes. They're kind of like the people of Ireland to me - kind of stubborn, but really quite wonderful and warm in their own way.
Is it the briar Peterson uses? I don't know if the exact sourcing of their briar is of public knowledge or not. Is it the curing from the briar supplier(s)? Is it various techniques used in turning briar into different levels of pipes? Do human beings all react to briar and chemicals in the same ways universally? There's a lot of variables. It's part of the mystery. It's probably different for everyone.
If you like 'em as they come, that's awesome. If you prefer to modify them in some way that seems beneficial to you, go for it. If you'd rather smoke a noncoated pipe, you can sandpaper out the bowl carefully, or use a Q tip with everclear as suggested above. Sometimes you might have to smoke them into submission no matter what you do. I can say that once I've got a Pete seasoned from a bit of smoking, they are all good puffers, I haven't had one that I found disagreeable.
Petes intrinsically are robust, working pipes to me. I'm a lot more apt to take one out and about with me into the dangerous world where drops could happen than a fancy handmade. Same with Morgan Bones pipes. Petes fill a needed niche for me perfectly, hope you enjoy yours!

didimauw · Mar 30, 2017

Both of my mid range Petes took me a long time to break in as well. Its as if the cake refuses to stick to to the bowl. But they also have larger bowls than I'm used to, so that might be why it seems to take longer than my other pipes.

PaulTheScandinavian · Mar 31, 2017

Buddies, Tell you what, I love these Peterons for one particular reaon and only:for their robustness,and traditional shapes, Mr Ravenwolf put it here just right, and whats more important, I did try out to get rid of that dipstan using my Acetone, and guess what,rigth away it did something improve my smoking experience(during the years I have developed what they say hate&love relationship with my Petersons,sometime they do seem to hate me and I reciprocically them-Thats the way it goes)

ravenwolf · Apr 1, 2017

paulie66scandina, you're totally right - robust and traditional shapes. Even browsing ALL of the shapes online, I like all of the shapes - and I know it's going to be a tough friend.
Love/hate relationship is hiliarious - pipe gives you a hard time, you give the pipe a hard time until it comes around :lol:

bigbee · Apr 1, 2017

broken in 30+ petes of which about 12 basic ones (system standard, aran, kildare...). (more virgin petes are staring at me, convincing me to take them for a first smoke, I try to break in 1 pete every 2 months)

My findings: dip-stained bowls take a few smokes more than non-dip-stained bowls, as the stain burns down pretty quickly, unless you are the 1/3rd 2/3rd 3/3rd kind of break-in guy/girl. Each time you add some more tobacco in your bowl you get some of the initial taste. For me the major issue are stained shanks as they take a lot longer to break in. I now run a few cleaners with alcohol through them until they come out clean (the first ones come out as a mess), dry them out and it shortens the break-in in my humble opinion.
higher end are usually not dip-stained, so both problems do not occur.
To me they remain decent pipes (including recent ones) in classic shapes at a decent pipes. But to each his own, if you find a better brand/maker for a better price: good for you (and so maybe more petes for me

)

Breaking in Period for basic Peterson pipes

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