Kirsten Pipes - I happened into what remains of the retail shop.

[doccaliban]

My introduction to Kirsten pipes was in 1996 when a girlfriend's father gave me his decades old pipe. He had been a longtime Boeing employee which is where, of course, he came across the brand.

Not long after, I purchased another used one, 1967, on eBay. A few years later I visited the retail shop that was still at Fisherman's Terminal is Seattle at the time, and bought a couple of new ones.

I have not smoked for 15 years or so but have thought about starting again. I had a bowl from one of my old Petersens and found that the ashtray taste on the tongue was a huge deterrent. I'm going to try one of the Kirstens to see if that helps clean up the smoke a bit before it getting to my now-uncured tongue.

Anyway, I'd love to hear about your experience with these fantastic and unique pipes!

-Doc

 

[El Capitán]

Ream the Peterson and clean it with spirits and let it dry completely.

 

[doccaliban]

Ream the Peterson and clean it with spirits and let it dry completely.

I need to look into proper cleaning, so thank you. I have around a dozen pipes and they are all in various states of needing to be cleaned/restored.

 

[doccaliban]

I forgot to follow through with the post titled... interrupted by a work call.

I was doing work in the SODO area of Seattle and saw what looked like a cool auto club of some kind, so I stopped in. As I was walking to the door, I saw a little sign for Kirsten Pipes! The setup is basically a small glass counter/case, and a display case behind that, and a tobacco/cigar room. Nothing like it used to be, but at least it is still around!

 

[EchoPlex]

I forgot to follow through with the post titled... interrupted by a work call.

I was doing work in the SODO area of Seattle and saw what looked like a cool auto club of some kind, so I stopped in. As I was walking to the door, I saw a little sign for Kirsten Pipes! The setup is basically a small glass counter/case, and a display case behind that, and a tobacco/cigar room. Nothing like it used to be, but at least it is still around!

Stacy Thrasher still runs it. She's a feisty little gem. I know she had been trying to get some new parts made for Kirsten pipes, but I don't know where that stands and haven't been in there in a few months.

Btw, if you are into cigars, you can get some great aged unbanded Davidoffs there for a good price. I don't buy pipe baccy there, but have gotten some amazing sticks over the last couple years. The food next door is pretty awesome too.

 

[jonasclark]

First, they lost the Fisherman's Terminal shop due to rising rents, but had a smaller, newer shop on Denny. They had enough parts & bowls to last "a long time," and when those ran out and they tried to have more produced, all their machinists had retired. The remaining Kirsten family were going to just let go, but Stacy Thresher said, no, I'll take it up. She's gotten three more production runs made, and is trying to get a fourth going.

Rising rent also closed the Denny shop. The small shop inside "The Shop" (a place people can rent spaces to park high-end cars) is mostly about cigars, which was most of their business at the Denny shop too. They do have a bunch of nice non-Kirsten pipes in there, though. And I agree that the food at Derby is good. I grab their brussels sprouts dish any time I go to the Kirsten shop.

 

[doccaliban]

I knew of the Denny shop but I don't think I ever visited. I lived outside the US for a good portion of the time they were there. I have been smoking my '67 Companion lately. I hope Stacy manages to get another run done... I don't think I need any more, three is enough for me, but I'd like to see them continue to be made.