Bring Back the 309!!

[simong]

Edited title: No all caps, please!

I think I'm right in saying 'smokingpipes.com' now own Peterson's In Dublin. So hopefully one of their chaps might see this & have a word (One can hope at least Lol). This shape went missing from their line up nearly ten years ago now. Withdrawn due to low sales numbers apparently. I for one would love to see it back & I suspect many others would too. With the decline of the B&M shops (here in Britain at least) & the huge increase in online shopping over the last ten years, can't help thinking Peterson's are 'missing a trick' by not making this one anymore. For me, the prettiest looking out of all their bent pipes & the chamber size perfect for what I smoke. So, if anybody from Peterson's/smokingpipes is listening I'd like two please. Both deluxe versions, one smooth & one sandblasted would suit me. Thankyou so much.

 

[mycroftholmes]

They should also bring it back with the AB stem as smoked by Basil Rathbone in some of the Sherlock Holmes films

 

[mso489]

May your dream come true. That is a handsome Pete.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Never could get into the look of those. The stems not fitting flush just always looked cheap and unfinished.

 

[autumnfog]

I like the looks except for the stem gap.
Frankly, I don't see the point with an intentional gap.

 

[kilroyjune6]

My first Peterson was a rusticated estate 309. It still is, I guess. I have a soft spot for that shape, and wouldn't mind a smooth one to keep the other company.

 

[paulfg]

I have 2 both about 100 years old
1922 hallmarked with a Made in Ireland COM

Patent era shape 4 grade 2

 

[tobefrank]

I agree with you on bringing it back, but isn’t the 309 the shape number for the normal system pipe, not the deluxe version with the stem gap?

 

[burleybreath]

I like the looks except for the stem gap.
Frankly, I don't see the point with an intentional gap.

Supposedly it's to account for wear, over the years. I believe Mark Twain's was worn down until the gap disappeared, making the stem flush with the shank. But that requires heavy, and probably not too respectful, usage. I don't think it looks as weird as the ubiquitous saddle bit.

 

[paulfg]

I agree with you on bringing it back, but isn’t the 309 the shape number for the normal system pipe, not the deluxe version with the stem gap?

yes it is,4s is the deluxe version

 

[tobefrank]

Supposedly it's to account for wear, over the years. I believe Mark Twain's was worn down until the gap disappeared, making the stem flush with the shank. But that requires heavy, and probably not too respectful, usage. I don't think it looks as weird as the ubiquitous saddle bit.

I’m not sure I understand how the tenon is meant to wear down from heavy use. What sort of use/abuse are we talking about? Is it just me? I don’t see how just smoking the pipe would make the gap disappear.

 

[ophiuchus]

If brought back, it‘s got to have the long stem. Preferably vulcanite …

 

[hauntedmyst]

I’m not sure I understand how the tenon is meant to wear down from heavy use. What sort of use/abuse are we talking about? Is it just me? I don’t see how just smoking the pipe would make the gap disappear.

It wasn't meant to wear down. It's simply a Peterson take on a military stem so that it could be easily taken apart and cleaned. The gap would narrow with extreme abuse but under normal circumstances it would only narrow marginally.

 

[burleybreath]

I’m not sure I understand how the tenon is meant to wear down from heavy use. What sort of use/abuse are we talking about? Is it just me? I don’t see how just smoking the pipe would make the gap disappear.

I always thought it was common knowledge among pipe cognoscenti that the gap was made to account for heavy usage--not smoking directly, but the wear from constant removing of the stem for cleaning a system pipe. Like a lifetime of wear. But what do I know, other than what I read or absorb from pipe talk, whether accurate or someone's hallucination. That someone may well be the Peterson company itself, I suspect. For what it's worth, here's an old and a "new" Mark Twain. I have one of the latter, and it has a way to go before matching that of Twain's. Perhaps it never will--I'm not in Twain's league, as far as usage goes. Maybe it's a mere marketing ploy. Maybe Twain's never had the gap. Your guess is as good or bad as mine.

 

[tobefrank]

Maybe it’s a challenge put to the smoker. See if you can abuse this pipe enough to close the gap… ?

 

[captpat]

I don’t care for the looks of those models where the stem doesn’t fit flush, strikes me as unfinished.

 

[burleybreath]

I don’t care for the looks of those models where the stem doesn’t fit flush, strikes me as unfinished.

Disclaimer: MY OPINION ONLY

All "military" style bits look unfinished to me. I know their purpose, but it's like the maker couldn't take the time to make a flush fit with stem-to-shank mating, and stuck a generic tube into the shank and called it good. Petersons like the above are the least offensive, as they at least pay lip service, so to speak, to the stem eventually mating up with the shank. At least they look as though they would. Plus, the first time I ever saw one I thought they looked cool. An anthropologist (possibly Richard Leakey) was smoking one in a photo in National Geographic many years ago. The gap, I suspect, causes consternation among those fighting OCD, and others. Each to his own, blah blah.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Never could get into the look of those. The stems not fitting flush just always looked cheap and unfinished.

It’s always driven me nuts, honestly.

 

[Alex.Jr]

That’s mine