Welcome back to another episode of All Pipes Considered. Today we are joined by my good friend, Mr. Glen Whelan, Managing Director of Kapp & Peterson, who is here to talk about something super special: Peterson's Halloween pipe for 2025.

[Andy Wike]: We are currently in the very spooky basement of the Peterson of Dublin shop on Nassau Street. Of course, what a fitting setting for the introduction of the 2025 Peterson Halloween pipe.

Black-Out Pipe Execution

As I understand it, Glen, this year's Halloween pipe is your baby?

[Glen Whelan]: Yeah, this is one I've been trying to get out there for five years since we reintroduced the Halloween series back into the line in 2021. This has been something that I've always wanted to do and I'm really excited to get it out because it's like nothing we've ever done before.

[AW]: Nothing. This year's Halloween pipe is a black-out pipe, so it is an entirely black pipe. These will all be System shapes. What's really cool about this is that it features a black acrylic army mount, which I think, when you're looking at it, you might seriously underestimate the work that went into actually executing that.

[GW]: Yeah, there's a huge thought process that has to go into developing this. As everybody knows, every pipe is unique. Every single pipe, especially when you sandblast them because some pieces of briar are softer than others. You can end up with micro dimension changes that are between pipes, and that then affects how the mount needs to be with the shank.

We've had to do a lot of development in the engineering just of the mount alone to be able to execute this project. It's kudos to the guys in the factory on how they problem solve, in real time, with over a thousand pipes that are going through production of one series.

[AW]: Yeah, that's crazy. Aspects like that really just underline the fact that yes, Peterson is a factory, but it's really more of a workshop.

[GW]: Yeah. We're full of craftsmen.

[AW]: Every single craftsperson who works in the factory is highly specialized in the task that they're doing. All of the processes are really ubiquitous to pipe making across the globe. A lot of the stuff that we're doing in the factory is nearly identical to what artisan carvers would do in their own shop.

[GW]: In our factory, it's the pipe that's moving, not the people. That's how we get such valuable feedback from the people who are working in each station because they're dealing with the same kind of things every day, hundreds of times a day, while pipes are going through their area. When they come to us with feedback, we take it on board really seriously because, at the end of the day, they know the most about their areas.

[AW]: They're the experts.

[GW]: Exactly. When they told us about the challenges that were potentially gonna come with the acrylic mounts we really listened and then we brought Giacomo in so he could do some drawings of how the mount should look. Once we got that all ironed out, they made it look so easy because of all the work that went into the mount before they even got to production. That's why the research and development phase is just so important.

[AW]: So important. For a factory, there's a difference in making something once and then applying it to an industrial design perspective. The best industrial designers take highly individualized, very specialized craftsmanship products and then their job really is figuring out how to scale it beyond one individual piece and how to replicate it.

[GW]: And just because they can do it in five minutes doesn't mean it's easy. It's the 20 years experience that they have that's allowed them to be able to do it in that five minutes. It's really a testament to the people in the factory.

An All-Black, Formal, Workhorse Smoker

[AW]: I think an all-black palette really is reminiscent of Halloween, but I think what's really cool about this year's is that it goes beyond just a thematic Halloween pipe. You see all black in the EDC community quite often, like tactical black gear, whether it's cameras or pocket knives or watches.

[GW]: It's just in vogue at the moment, black.

[AW]: It's very much in vogue and I think it fits with pretty much any aesthetic, and any style you want. A lot of my own pipes, Peterson or not, are black textured pipes.

[GW]: We joked in the factory about this. It's always a running joke that black is very slimming. But the Halloween pipe actually holds the muscular aesthetic Peterson is known for, even in black. That was one thing we were worried about in the factory.

[AW]: Yeah, let's not slim Peterson too much, right?

[GW]: No.

[AW]: I'm super excited for this release. I think it's one of those pipes where it's definitely commemorative of Halloween, but it's something that you could keep in your rotation all year long.

[GW]: Yeah, it holds its own place.

[AW]: Yeah, there's even an almost formal element to it. It's not a dress pipe; there's no silver, there's no markings that you would traditionally associate with a formal gathering, but the all-black palette lends itself to any occasion. I think, paired with the System configuration, it's just a really cool thing to take Charles Peterson's finalized patented System pipes and dress them like this.

[GW]: It's gonna be a workhorse for people.

[AW]: Yeah, definitely. I think that it also ties into the tactical nature. I've often talked about Peterson System pipes as being utilitarian field tools. If you take good care of them, they'll last generations. Mark Twain's pipe, for example, which is a Peterson System, is heavily well used.

[GW]: Yeah, we even have Charles Peterson's pipe in the factory. It could be smoked today.

[AW]: We probably won't.

[GW]: No, I don't think we will. I wouldn't trust myself to smoke it.

[AW]: Yeah, exactly. But the Peterson System configuration is already a very utilitarian, very tactical, engineering style paired with an all-black, black-out, EDC aesthetic.

[GW]: I think Halloween is the perfect opportunity as well to do something like this. We get to have fun probably twice a year with a series where kind of the reins are off. It's usually St. Patrick's Day and Halloween. This year, St. Patrick's Day, we went with a very traditional aesthetic, so I think we had to do something a bit bolder.

[AW]: Yeah, why not?

[GW]: I think it's bold, but it's not too far beyond any threshold that would be acceptable.

Artisanal Sandblasting

[AW]: For sure. Finishes wise, it's just available in a black sandblast.

[GW]: I think we've done such a great job with sandblasting that we've pushed it into a premium tier at Peterson.

[AW]: And for good reason too. I really don't wanna beat a dead horse here, but in the past several years, Peterson has completely overhauled their sandblasting set up. Even Giacomo Penzo, a very talented artisan pipe maker in his own right, describes the Peterson sandblasting process as equivalent to what he would do in his own shop.

[GW]: It's artisanal sandblasting.

[AW]: Each pipe is sandblasted individually in the blasting cabinet. Nothing's tumbled.

[GW]: It's sandblasted before we even know what series that bowl is gonna be used for. We sandblast a hundred bowls at a time, and then they go back to the grading process. They've already been graded to be sandblasted, then they go back after they've been sandblasted to Willie who will grade them into four buckets. Then he'll have a fifth bucket where he says, oh, I think we can push the grain further on that and he'll go back in again for blasting. That's how we're getting these fantastic results.

To be honest, the black is my favorite. Everything about a black sandblast screams classic. We've done some excellent jobs at other finishes in sandblast, like the Rua and the Iora, but black is just timeless. It never goes out of fashion.

Limited Release Celebrating Halloween

[AW]: This Halloween pipe is the fifth iteration in its modern context. We used to have the Samhain pipe and then we reintroduced the line as Halloween in 2021.

[GW]: It was one that kind of fell away, and then with the acquisition, we felt like we really needed to bring it back. Halloween is such a celebrated holiday in Ireland and the US as well.

[AW]: Globally really, yeah.

[GW]: It's fun. People enjoy it. It's getting bigger and bigger every year. I think adding Halloween back in as a staple to the various series that we release every year was hugely important.

[AW]: It's another opportunity for Peterson to flex its creative muscles and I'm really happy with what we did this year. I think everyone out there will be too.

[GW]: Yeah, me too. It's also very limited as well. We have just about 1400 pieces in total.

[AW]: Make sure to find your favorite on-site now and we'll catch you next time.

Glen, thank you so much. Thanks, everybody at home. We appreciate y'all.

[GW]: Thanks, Andy. Pleasure as always. Thanks, everyone.