This thread has inspired me to take one of my bent Petes off the rack for a smoke tonight. It's not in my rotation for the week, but I know it's going to smoke nice and dry. :mrgreen:
"Wet" Smoking?
- Thread starter sparrowhawk
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Every smoker has a "stroke," or how much air you can draw in; this is related to lung capacity, your size as an individual, etc.
My guess is that Petersons work for people with a certain stroke, and work less well for others. If you are a leprechaun, you'll have no gurgle at all.
My guess is that Petersons work for people with a certain stroke, and work less well for others. If you are a leprechaun, you'll have no gurgle at all.
My 2016 St. Patrick's Day 211 shape pipe gurgled horribly on me. Now in general I'm a wet smoker. I can get any of my pipes to gurgle I swear. Not sure why, but I just produce a lot of saliva when I smoke, so I use pipe cleaners regularly to help with any excess moisture. With that said, my St. Patrick's Day pipe was just as bad as my Czech made basket pipe when it came to a gurgle, so I sold it. Definitely not what I would expect from a $100 pipe.
Now my Peterson Sherlock Holmes Squire Bulldog, and my two meerschaum Peterson's smoke just fine. I think its just a hit and miss thing.
Now my Peterson Sherlock Holmes Squire Bulldog, and my two meerschaum Peterson's smoke just fine. I think its just a hit and miss thing.
:clap:
I am a dry smoker, so I never get gurgles. I tried the same blend in my Peterson System 31 and in another straight pipe. While there was no sign of moisture in my other straight pipe, my Peterson somehow managed to squeeze last bit of moisture from the smoke and trap it.
No Systems Petes but several bent Petersons, including full bent. They all do well for me, not a quality glitch in the bunch, about eight without counting. More to the point, no gurgles. I get a gurgle about once or twice a year, and not just in Petes, that I attribute to wet tobacco, maybe in some cases to high humidity. Pipes don't seem to re-offend in my experience.
I exaggerated a bit above when I said I never have a gurgling issue. It's just very rare. As for bent Peterson's, I rarely smoke full bents (the Nordings in my stable are semi-bents) but I have a 221 Dracula that's served me well for three years, and I got this year's lovely Christmas full bend huge Dublin/Calabash that smokes like a champ save for a mild gurgeling, which I suppose can't be avoided with a full bend. But all of my Pete's are great smokers except stems tend to be set too tightly in the mortice, an easily solved, even ignored problem. Except for a burn through with a churchyard once (which can't be prevented if there's an invisible flaw in the wood) and a glossy finish that started bubbling (I had the same issue turn up in two other marques), and lastly a crack in a rim that just mysteriously appeared after two years -- again an invisible problem with the wood that can't be detected -- my Pete's haven't presented any preventable problems. So I'm a little at a loss to understand the hostility toward this marques. Certainly other brands have the same problems from time to time (I've had similar problems with Stanwell and Sav, not to pick on anyone in particular--these things can happen to any pipe). There is one marque I am very fond of, but must be very careful when buying because the maker tends to value aesthetics over smoking quality; if I keep these defective pipes, they go to have draught holes refilled. But I basically learned how to smoke pipes with Peterson's, because they are more than adequate smokers, and their trademark robust architecture. Pipe smokers new to the art shouldn't pass by Peterson because of mixed comments about their virtues--find out for yourself.
Agreed. I can't help but wonder how many people hear the negative comments about Peterson (all over the place on Facebook too) and simply believe it to be true. I'm not calling out any members here, because I believe most of the members are stand up gentlemen here, and it sucks if they've had a bad experience or two with Peterson. But for many others, I wonder if it's simply herd mentality... "Oh my goodness! What's going on? All the other horses are running I better run like hell too!" Or in this case... "Everybody seems to hate Peterson, I better hate Peterson too!" Meanwhile I hear so many stories similar to my own. I have a number of Petersons of various price points that all seem to be drilled just fine and smoke just fine. So that being said, I agree with Sparrow. If you're new to pipe smoking, don't pass up Peterson just because you've heard horror stories about them. But if you are concerned about one, if you're buying online, contact the seller and ask them the following... How's the drilling? Does it pass a pipe cleaner? Any major flaws? Whatever might be a deal breaker for you.
I wonder why there seem to be so many horror stories about Peterson. Is it because they have such a large market share that the possibilities of duds happening subsequently increase? (Which is to be expected.) Or is it because those who have problems are more likely to comment on their experiences whereas most who never have issues never say anything (not even a positive review)? I wonder...
Never smoked a Peterson myself. I've eyed some of their models, though.
Never smoked a Peterson myself. I've eyed some of their models, though.
I found my own way to prevent gurgling on Peterson pipes that have a moisture trap. I get a small piece of kitchen roll and scrunch it right up and force it into the moisture trap being careful not to block the draught hole. I then insert the stem, load up and have a gurgle free smoke as all the moisture is soaked up in said tissue.
Once the smoke is over it's a simple job with narrow tweezers to remove the now sopping wet plug and clean the pipe normally for next time.
Try it...I guarantee it works!
Regards,
Jay.
Once the smoke is over it's a simple job with narrow tweezers to remove the now sopping wet plug and clean the pipe normally for next time.
Try it...I guarantee it works!
Regards,
Jay.
After getting my first Pete from online, And having my own issue with them, I was hanging out at The Briary while they were sorting through a new batch of Petes. They were rattling them and checking the drill on them, and they had to send back almost half of them. This was like five years ago. To hear a retailer cuss a brand like that stuck with me. Someone had mentioned on here that Peterson had a rough go for a few years, but suggested that They had the issues resolved. But, we can still expect dip staining and possible drill issues on the cheaper models. I am no Peterson expert, I only know what I see and hear and my own opinions. I would expect fantastic top end pipes from them, but I would be very critical of the lower end pipes, which is the range that most forum members will be looking at. YMMV
I bought a Savinelli 2614 Dry System and liked it so much I ordered another right away!
I also have two older Pete full bent systems that I smoke a lot.
I also have two older Pete full bent systems that I smoke a lot.
I see. Yeah, I would be leery too after watching something like that, especially if I'm staying in the $75-125 range.
Half my Petes are low-end and half mid-range. I don't have any high enders. I've not had problems and see no difference between low and mid-range priced pipes. I admit I have been lucky, and I think mine are probably all made back before quality slipped for a while.
I am truly bewildered by the number of smokers dissatisfied with Peterson. Two/thirds of my collection are Peterson's. How popular is Peterson compared with Stanwell and Savinelli? Surely there is some reason why they are so unpopular here. Would it have anything to do with the type of tobacco?
I was just smoking my 150 Irish Harp, and it smokes very well in all aspects(as expected after a few smokes bowl laquer finish went dullish but I can live with that, prior to first smoke I got rid of the whole innerbowl precarbonizing.Surpricingly The mortise was free from any dipstain.
I think Cosmic gives the reason and context correctly. It points at the mid & entry range pipes and their finishing and engineering:
The 2 newer Peterson pipes I bought within the last 2 years both had "Monday-morning" drilling problems (the draw being too tight and off-center) so that passing a pipe-cleaner required a 5th degree black-belt in pipe-smoking to soak up moisture. Both required fixing. The other issue with both of these newer Petersons is the time they took to season.
My problems are just that. But I share Cosmic's caution against the newer $140 and less Peterson pipes; when there are so many great alternatives at that price point, buying an entry level Pete doesn't seem like a good gamble especially for a new piper (I wouldn't wish my frustrations on them). If a new piper wants a Pete, I'd recommend going the estate route or paying more for one of their top-end pipes just to avoid the 'Peterson gamble'.
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