Cracked shank?

[Hillcrest]

I did have to sand off some dents from dropping it, also this is stem #3 one from biting to hard and the other from sitting down with it in my back pocket, used to smoke this pipe every day multiple times for like 10 years! I have learned so much over the last 20 years.

Someone said on this forums that you can steam out the dents with a damp cloth and an iron but I don't know the specifics. That Peterson looks like good old briar. You might try rubber or silicone bits to prevent biting the stem. I use silicone straws that I then cut to length (because I'm cheap !).

 

[Wesley pipes]

for the most part I don’t bite so hard anymore, when I was in my twenties I didn’t take as good of care of my pipes.