Peterson Freehand

[chevy5759]

Evening Brothers,

I found this pipe and it is calling my name. Have any of you smoked or owned a Peterson Freehand? It is a sizable chunk of change. Any thoughts?



http://store.pipesandcigars.com/peplbrpl2.html

 

[beebiz]

I've not smoked a Peterson... yet! But, I do love those big beautiful freehands. And, this one is a real beaut!

Robert

BTW, meant to say that I love my big ole Nording freehand!!!

 

[Muddler]

I know this is not what you want to hear but right now I'm staying away from Pete's - they've had some quality problems over the past year or so. Yes, I know I just bought a 2010 POY but I collect POY's. In any case, it has a fill in it. I kind of expected worse.

 

[LL]

If you are into Pete freehands, Cup-a-Joes has a fleet in stock:

http://www.cupojoes.com/cgi-bin/dept?dpt=H&srch=KW&search_text=pthpl

 

[LL]

I know this is not what you want to hear but right now I'm staying away from Pete's - they've had some quality problems over the past year or so. Yes, I know I just bought a 2010 POY but I collect POY's. In any case, it has a fill in it. I kind of expected worse.

Muddler ---

Pete has never claimed their POY pipes were fill free, though some are.

The only lines which are true "firsts" are Gold Spigots, Supremes, and Silver Caps. (no fills or sand specks)

Army spigots, DeLuxes, and Rosslaires are allowed specks but have no fills.

For the full info, email Tom Palmer at the Sallynoggin shop. He owns and runs Pete, and is a completely stand-up guy. If you want a fill-free POY he'll hand pick one from the line. (Or, alternatively, now that you know they can have them, make sure your Net buys are returnable for that reason.)

 

[Muddler]

Thanks LL - I'm aware of the grade/ fill thing with Petes. The point I was making is that one can buy a Pete high grade & it can have multiple fills. I'm actually quite happy with my 2010 POY - it's a nice piece of wood & smokes well. Here's a thread on SF from a guy who was disappointed with his POY: http://www.smokersforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=88888

 

[Anonymous]

I know this is not what you want to hear but right now I'm staying away from Pete's - they've had some quality problems over the past year or so. Yes, I know I just bought a 2010 POY but I collect POY's. In any case, it has a fill in it. I kind of expected worse.

Muddler ---

Pete has never claimed their POY pipes were fill free, though some are.

The only lines which are true "firsts" are Gold Spigots, Supremes, and Silver Caps. (no fills or sand specks)

Army spigots, DeLuxes, and Rosslaires are allowed specks but have no fills.

For the full info, email Tom Palmer at the Sallynoggin shop. He owns and runs Pete, and is a completely stand-up guy. If you want a fill-free POY he'll hand pick one from the line. (Or, alternatively, now that you know they can have them, make sure your Net buys are returnable for that reason.)

LL Point taken, I too have the new poy but opted for the rusticated one.
I have however noticed that the grade of briar is slipping a bit over the last few years. EG. I have 5 Arans from the 80's or early 90's all of them have no fills and they are by all means not high end Pete's
Maybe there is a world briar shortage or good quality wood may becoming more scarce as time passes. This too I have noticed in the new mid range Savinelli's.
Pete Still seem to be holding ground tho'. In some cases I have seen some pipes with more putty than Wood in the mid range order!
I now tend to opt for blasted or rusticated pipes to avoid disappointed especially when I invest in mid ranges!

 

[LL]

Here's the wood grade lowdown straight from Peterson's:

----------------------------------------

Dear George,

...

... we have hundreds of different pipe shapes and from
say 100 pieces of shapes, say 03, 3-5 pieces would be deemed "fill
free". These special pieces would then be finished with the following
series:

Straight Grains
Supremes - Silver and Gold Mounted

In addition the following series could have small root marks but no
putty, namely:

De Luxe System
De Luxe Classic
Army Spigot
Celtic Natural
Rosslare Natural
Grafton
Hinged Lip Cap Natural
Silver Caps

I trust the above information is of some help and wish you many hours of
smoking pleasure.

Kind regards,

Tom Palmer
Peterson of Dublin
Peterson House
Sallynoggin
Co. Dublin
IRELAND

 

[puros_bran]

You were lucky bro... that's all... I have old Pete's full of putty and old ones that look flawless..same with new stock, its very much luck of the draw.

Back on topic... as much as I pull for the P.. ain't no way I'm giving what the ask for one of those... its too much. I try to avoid making purchasing recomendations but check out
http://www.thesmoker.com you can probably find a gold spigot or some such for about the same or cheaper if you want to buy a Pete.. if you want to expand out to other brands I think you'll be suprised just how much 300 will get you. Mel is one of DPG'S buddy's.. his written English sucks worse than mine but you can't beat his prices anywhere.

 

[LL]

All high-volume pipe companies produce some specimens that are better than others. (Hell, many artisan makers do too, for that matter.) Peterson puts out around 350,000 pipes per year, the vast majority of them around $125 retail and below, so they get something of a bad rap reputation-wise, imo. Since those lower end lines are all that most people ever see, the assumption follows naturally.

But good specimens of their better lines are the equal of any numbered shapes made anywhere, in my experience. These five are perfect in every way, and would be among the last I'd ever get rid of were I forced to reduce my collection for some reason. I absolutely love them.

From top to bottom is a 1905 patent replica, #105 Army Spigot, 2003 POY, #999 DeLuxe, and a 9S Deluxe.

I tweaked the stems a little to fit my teeth, and removed the bowl stain before their first smoke, but that's it. They are all spectacularly good smokers and extremely rugged.

 

[LL]

... The point I was making is that one can buy a Pete high grade & it can have multiple fills.

Hm. One of the defining characteristics of a "high grade" in the shape number world is that it doesn't have fills. They used to be commonly called "firsts." So what you said is a contradiction in terms.

I think you are including too many lines in what you consider to be Peterson's high grades.

I've never understood why they don't make their three distinctions more widely known. They'll tell anyone who asks without hesitation or runaround, but the info is not on their site or (apparently) told to their retailers.

--- May have fills

--- Never has fills, but there may be sand specks

--- No surface flaws of any kind

This subject comes back around regularly, and publishing the information would save both the buyers and sellers a lot of grief.

 

[Muddler]

Beautiful quintet of Petes, LL. Personally, I love the marque - I have about 30 of them & most are great smokers.

 

[Anonymous]

LL
I am impressed, you managed to get a personal response from The big cheese himself!!! Wow bro. I have written to them on 2 occasions with no response back.
Those are real nice pipes you have there and I appreciate your detailed responses, this has been most informative, thanks.

PB
Thanks for sharing bro, that is interesting info you are sharing, guess I was lucky with my scores.

Food for Thought!!!!!!
....... LL, your opinion on this.
The new 2010 Poy is sold and advertised as a sitter. $200.00 ex shipping, neither Mudd's nor mine sit. loaded or empty.
This is really frustrating.
I Must say,they are both flawless smokers though, as a matter of fact, they are bloody brilliant!
:cheers:

 

[LL]

LL
I am impressed, you managed to get a personal response from The big cheese himself!!! Wow bro. I have written to them on 2 occasions with no response back.
Those are real nice pipes you have there and I appreciate your detailed responses, this has been most informative, thanks.

PB
Thanks for sharing bro, that is interesting info you are sharing, guess I was lucky with my scores.

Food for Thought!!!!!!
....... LL, your opinion on this.
The new 2010 Poy is sold and advertised as a sitter. $200.00 ex shipping, neither Mudd's nor mine sit. loaded or empty.
This is really frustrating.
I Must say,they are both flawless smokers though, as a matter of fact, they are bloody brilliant!
:cheers:

Unfortunately, the people who write catalog and website copy aren't always (or even often) pipe smokers themselves, and haven't a clue. A flat bottom does not necessarily a sitter make, obviously.

As for Tom Palmer, he's just a regular guy. Just a smoker like us who loved Petersons so much he bought the company rather than have it drift into corporate hands a few years back, not knowing if it was even a viable idea in the 21st century. Plenty of people thought he was daft, but he felt that Passion Could Conquer All if there was enough of it.

So far, he's managed to do it brilliantly.

If you haven't gotten through to him, I'd imagine it's for some practical reason, not because he's suddenly started putting on airs. (Like his accessability became so widely known that after a while all he was doing was answering phone calls and emails instead of running the company, and something had to change. He probably assigned someone to handle routine inquiries.)

 

[Anonymous]

Point taken, Thanks for sharing your wealth of info LL, appreciated brother!!
BTW, if you check out the Pete website the Poy's do sit. Weird! ....I'm ok with it tho!

 

[puros_bran]

Take the stem out, it'll sit.

 

[Anonymous]

Take the stem out, it'll sit.

Clever Boy!!!!! :lol!: :lol!: :lol!:

 

[chevy5759]

Hi Fellas,

I gave up on the Peterson, just didn't want to pay that much. I picked up This Preben Holm instead.

https://secure.smokingpipes.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=71045

 

[beebiz]

Hi Fellas,

I gave up on the Peterson, just didn't want to pay that much. I picked up This Preben Holm instead.

https://secure.smokingpipes.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=71045

Dang, bro... that's one beautiful lady!! I hope she smokes like a dream for you!!!

Robert

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Fellas,

I gave up on the Peterson, just didn't want to pay that much. I picked up This Preben Holm instead.

https://secure.smokingpipes.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=71045

Nice score brother!! :cheers: :cheers: