Musings on a new Peterson...

[user 5438]

I would have returned it too. I’ve had issues with Pete’s, having returned more than I kept. I do like that shape though, I have an XL02 that’s not quite as deep as that and love it!

 

[Scallywag]

One really has to look close at the photos when buying new Petes now. A lot more sub par pipes are making it through final inspection that shouldn’t. That said one can definitely still find good Petes but you have to be much more vigilant now.
I agree with the above about the new heritage stain. It’s a really low effort line made to get away with using low quality briar. I think this is to increase the bottom line. Even the PSOI pipe this year was pretty low effort resulting in many going unsold. The st Patrick’s day pipes however look promising!
Peterson had a great manager around 2010 but his name is escaping me and it’s annoying ! Sykes did an interview with him …

 

[Sturdy Papa 359]

One really has to look close at the photos when buying new Petes now. A lot more sub par pipes are making it through final inspection that shouldn’t. That said one can definitely still find good Petes but you have to be much more vigilant now.
I agree with the above about the new heritage stain. It’s a really low effort line made to get away with using low quality briar. I think this is to increase the bottom line. Even the PSOI pipe this year was pretty low effort resulting in many going unsold. The st Patrick’s day pipes however look promising!
Peterson had a great manager around 2010 but his name is escaping me and it’s annoying ! Sykes did an interview with him …

Scallywag is 100% correct.

 

[Idlefellow]

The photos of the SH Heritages I looked at were so dark and so much alike that it was a waste of time. I think you'd have to see them in person to be able to tell anything. One of the downsides of buying online.

 

[Sturdy Papa 359]

The photos of the SH Heritages I looked at were so dark and so much alike that it was a waste of time. I think you'd have to see them in person to be able to tell anything. One of the downsides of buying online.

Smokingpipes usually has really good photos, so if everything looks dark, it is dark. They have a lighter stain they call Oak, but it’s not on all models. As Scallywag stated, there are a few that have much better stain if you take the time to search them out. Terracotta or Natural will have the best visible grain.

 

[Idlefellow]

Yeah, I looked at nearly a dozen to see if there was one I'd exchange for and I couldn't see any difference in any of them so I gave up. So Peterson's excuse that the one I got should have been buffed out more doesn't really hold water; if that's true, then Smokingpipe's entire inventory of Heritage finishes should have been buffed out more .

 

[Idlefellow]

I'm convinced that someone, somewhere does not want me to own this pipe. Maybe they're trying to tell me something and I should listen and just give up. I received the dark Professor from the UK today. It's indicative of those I already own - serviceable if not remarkable. But there's a tiny fissure or crack inside a dark spot in the grain. It's not a fill; you can feel it with your fingernail. Hard to see in the photo, but it's there. I doubt it goes in very far, but I'm concerned that it will grow or burn out somewhere down the line when it's been to long for anything to be done on my behalf. I've sent an email to the UK company; we'll see, Sigh.

 

[Musicus]

If you are unhappy with it you should try to return it. My impression is that P is a reputable company.

 

[Zeno Marx]

There's no way to know if it will burn out, and that in itself is a problem in my opinion. The unknowing would make that pipe a constant NOT-FUN thing to own and use. I recently had a Nalgene bottle replaced (lifetime warranty), and the replacement had a big chunk of foreign plastic molded into the side of it. It holds water fine, but I could not use this bottle with confidence if I was backpacking anywhere where water is scarce or a concern. I would not feel safe taking it into the desert etc. Psychologically, it would be a burden. That is not why I buy things. If their purpose is to bring levity and joy to my life, this is not it. Money notwithstanding, it's a failure prior to being utilized as a tool. In short, it's essence sucks. I could not not return that pipe. Good riddance.

I mentioned this a day or two ago. A pipe maker on another board ran into a bunch of pits and cracks on a pipe he was making. Rather than dumping it in the woodburner, they finished the pipe and made a little experiment out of it. He had 10 smokers sign up to abuse and try to burn out this pipe. This piece of briar had some serious pits and cracks. He put up some photo updates the other day, and none of the fissures or pits had grown. The briar had taken on some serious color, too. It was clear these smokers smoked the heck out of it. Smoking it with the car windows down. Puffing away on it like a manic cigarette smoker. Probably knocking it out on brick walls. No burn out yet.

 

[JimInks]

I'm convinced that someone, somewhere does not want me to own this pipe. Maybe they're trying to tell me something and I should listen and just give up. I received the dark Professor from the UK today. It's indicative of those I already own - serviceable if not remarkable. But there's a tiny fissure or crack inside a dark spot in the grain. It's not a fill; you can feel it with your fingernail. Hard to see in the photo, but it's there. I doubt it goes in very far, but I'm concerned that it will grow or burn out somewhere down the line when it's been to long for anything to be done on my behalf. I've sent an email to the UK company; we'll see, Sigh.

I don't think it'll burn out, but for the money you paid and it being a pipe in the Sherlock Holmes series, you shouldn't get a pipe with that defect. If they will pay shipping back, you may well consider returning it.