I recently had the privilege of speaking with a special guest, Erik Stokkebye, about one aspect of the 4th Generation brand that we have never spoken about extensively: a wide range of accessories. Watch the full video for an insider's look at all the pipe and tobacco accessories Stokkebye offers and explore these functional bags, tools, and more on-site today.

[Shane Ireland]: Hey everyone. I'm here with a special guest today, Erik Stokkebye of Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation. Thanks for being here.

[Erik Stokkebye]: Thank you.

[SI]: So, in the past, we've talked a lot about the tobacco and the pipes from your brand. One thing about your brand that I think is unique within the pipe and tobacco industry is that there is a wide breadth of accessories that you offer.

[ES]: Yes.

[SI]: I'm curious how you started making accessories. Did you start with leather goods? How early on in the brand was that?

[ES]: I'm a tobacco man, so I decided to have a line of pipes with my tobacco. It was the same thought process for accessories. In 2012, I was at the Dortmund show in Germany, and I met up with this company at the show, and I really liked what they were doing. It's a family company out of India, and their claim to fame is creating ladies handbags for the European market. They were very attentive to detail.

[SI]: Interesting. There's definitely stiff competition in that market, yeah.

[ES]: Yeah, exactly. There were very quality-minded people with this company. And so I asked them, "Have you ever done anything on the pipe side, pipe bags, and so forth?" And they said "No." "All right," I said, "Would you be interested?" And they said "Yes." So I decided to give them some directions.

They sent me samples and we went back and forth for about nine months, and came up with some different bags and pouches. That was around 2013, and it's been a success since then.

[SI]: Fantastic.

[ES]: So over 10 years I worked with the family company: a father and two sons. They're great people to work with. And again, very quality- and detail-minded. It's been really good.

[SI]: It's really interesting that as pipe smokers, we really need more accessories than a cigarette smoker, a cigar smoker, really anybody else would need. I'm not talking about your basic tamper and lighter. Specifically, how do you transport your pipe? How do you transport your tobacco? What if you want to take a rotation of pipes with you?

I think an often overlooked aspect of being a pipe smoker is being equipped with the proper accessories. Everybody's seen a rollout pouch, everybody's seen maybe a one-pipe combo pouch or whatever. But how do you elevate the experience, not just through the quality tobacco and the pipes, but also the accessories?

[ES]: Exactly, and I think that in today's world it is more difficult to smoke everywhere, so you need something to carry the pipes with you, because I know I can smoke there, but I can't smoke there. So I need something like this when I want to smoke and travel with it. So I felt that it was important for the pipe smokers to have something to carry.

[SI]: Yeah, it's functional, beautiful, and maybe a little more well thought out than the kind of tobacco pouches that our grandfathers had.

[ES]: Exactly, you're making a little bit of a fashion statement.

[SI]: I do want to dive back into the leather here in a bit. But let's talk about some of the smaller accessories first. So tell me about the lighter line.

[ES]: Okay, the lighter line we started a few years ago. In 2022, we had a 10-year anniversary of the 4th Generation brand. And so I talked with IM Corona in Japan, who makes an incredible pipe lighter. For me, bronze is a big thing, and I asked them, "Can you do something in hammered bronze?" They said, "Well, we've never done that before, but let's work on it." And they created our 10-year anniversary lighter in the hammered bronze as I envisioned.

[SI]: And these are technically a limited edition, right?

[ES]: They're limited edition. We're basically out of it now, but working on a new one in a different color and so forth. They do a fantastic job. And we have one we call Tobacco. It's a brown color in a satin sort of finish also made by IM Corona. It's been a good ride with them.

[SI]: Yeah, almost every pipe smoker either has heard of or has experience with the Old Boy design, the reliability, and the functionality of it. They also include a tamper and a pick, as well as a lot of fuel capacity. There's a slanted, angled flame. I do love the proprietary colorways that you have for the 4th Gen brand. I think everybody's probably seen me use it, not this exact one, but I have that lighter. I've used it quite a lot. It looks even better after it's been worn.

[ES]: Exactly.

[SI]: I've carried it around the world quite a lot and I used it quite a lot. But yeah, I love that. Definitely the IM Corona quality you can depend on, and rendered in some unique colorways as well. What about tools?

[ES]: We also have tools. We have tools like tampers, picks, and blades in Blackwood and Redwood, as well as beautiful stainless steel tools. Very high quality.

[SI]: So, again, we can't overstate the importance of a good multi-tool for a pipe smoker. And this is very pocket friendly and very durable.

[ES]: Yeah, exactly. We've got our new ashtray with a tamper stand/knocker for the pipe as well as a tool area. It can serve as a handy little ashtray for your back porch, your desk, or wherever you want to put it.

[SI]: This is the kind of thing that I get really excited about. I have, for years, just tried to stand the tool up in the corner of any ashtray I've had. Or if it's a cigar ashtray, the little notch there. So this is awesome. A dedicated place for your tool is really handy. My desks are covered in ash all the time because I just let my tampers kind of roll around on them. So yeah, I really like that. It's a nice compact size too. I think as pipe smokers, we don't really need the capacity for ash that a cigar smoker would need. It's a handy size with beautiful branding and it's definitely functional.

Now, let's get back into discussing the leather goods, because I think this is where the 4th Gen brand has made the biggest splash in terms of accessories.

[ES]: Yes.

[SI]: These bags have a modern feel to them. This one is really classic. I really like the leather; it's very supple. I would say from a design perspective, this is the tried and true functionalism that you would want and expect. There's a pocket here for a tamper or lighter, a dedicated and lined tobacco pouch, and a space here for a single pipe. So you have a variety of finishes and sizes that are more or less how many pipes you need to carry with you.

[ES]: We've got a single pipe bag, we also have bags for two pipes, three pipes, and four pipes as well; the latter is a portfolio-style carrying case with a dedicated tobacco pouch, roller pouch, and a little area here for pipe cleaners, accessories, and any other tool you'd like to carry with you.

[SI]: Fantastic.

[ES]: Yeah, and we do two finishes. The brown, which is a suede leather. And then the Kenzo black, which is a really high-quality black leather with simple elegance. We do the orange lining or the zipper orange, and it's one of my favorite colors.

[SI]: Orange thread, yeah. I really like that there's variety, with multiple choices for leather, depending on your personal taste, as well as multiple options of what you need in terms of size. So all of that is lovely, and again, very popular.

Now, what sets the 4th Gen brand apart from some of the other stuff that we're used to seeing on the market in terms of pipe accessories is the next accessory we will be talking about, and that is the backpack. We do not see a lot of these on the market. So tell us a little bit about the backpack.

[ES]: Well, I thought when pipe smokers are traveling, like everybody else is traveling these days, you need a larger bag to have your pipe tobaccos, pipes, and so forth, as well as room for a few other things, like cigars or accessories that aren't related to smoking. I asked the company that I worked with, "Can you do a backpack?" And they said, "Yeah, let's give it a shot." So we went back and forth and came up with this model right here, which has beautiful brown leather. It's kind of a suede-ish type of leather here, also with the orange stitching.

[SI]: And you've got canvas on the back here.

[ES]: Canvas on the back for durability, comfort, and also to protect the bag when you sweat. And that will hold pipes as well, like I said, and two front pockets for tins of tobacco, your passport, whatever. And then on the inside, there's actually two compartments also.

[SI]: Yeah, we've got a rucksack-style cinch to open and close the backpack here.

[ES]: Here you can actually store an iPad, a small laptop, whatever, and then there's a bigger space here as well. There's room for a cell phone, pens, business cards, etc. We thought about everything that you needed for a weekend trip when designing this pack.

[SI]: Yes, exactly. It's nice to be able to have a dedicated backpack for traveling with pipes, tobacco, and all the accouterments.

[ES]: Yeah, exactly.

[SI]: It's unique, and it doesn't scream pipe accessory. But the functionality is there. I think for those of us that do like to make sure that we have what we need for a weekend trip or whatever on the smoking front, we can certainly appreciate some thought being put into not just retrofitting a regular backpack or something like that to fit our needs.

[ES]: We have something similar on a smaller scale. We call it the mail bag, because it almost looks like an old-fashioned mail bag. And here, there's actually room for five pipes and a tin of tobacco. There's five straps, as well as a little room here for odds and ends. Then there's a pocket in here for your cell phone and so forth. There is also a zipper on the back for pipe cleaners, tools, anything you might need on the go. Very functionable, not too big, and it even has an adjustable strap.

[SI]: Again, I really like the leather. The grain is very prominent on the leather. It looks great with the signature orange stitching. I really like the lining as well, it's plaid, almost a tartan kind of a lining here. But yeah, if I was actually going away for a weekend, camping, hopping on a plane for business travel, or a day out for a pipe-club meeting or something along those lines, this is absolutely perfect.

[ES]: Exactly.

[SI]: Yes, you can squeeze in a wallet, cell phone, tablet, eReader, all that kind of stuff, but still in a relatively small package. There's a really high capacity for pipes, tobacco, and accessories. I really appreciate the thought that goes into the leather goods in the 4th Gen line. You know, the feedback we get from the customers who end up with these products is also very positive.

[ES]: Yeah, I mean we had really fantastic success with the whole line, and I think that it's the company who makes them, like I said, they're really into details and quality, and that's important, obviously.

[SI]: Yes, absolutely. It's clear that they're designed and made to really serve you for a long time and to last, and that's good because, again, maybe not all pipe smokers, but I think a lot of us are pretty hard on our accessories, I will say. I mean, we use them, right? That's what they're meant for.

Anything else that we should know about the 4th Gen line of accessories? Anything new you guys are working on?

[ES]: We are working on a new lighter, as I mentioned, in the same hammered finish, and it will be in black. So that's coming out here in 2024.

[SI]: Fantastic.

[ES]: That's pretty much it for right now.

[SI]: Great, and I'm sure you've got the wheels turning with more in the works.

[ES]: Exactly, yeah.

[SI]: Fantastic. Check out the Erik Stokkebye 4th Gen line of accessories, lighters, tools, ashtrays, leather goods, backpacks, mail bags, pretty much everything you will need for your optimal smoking experiences. Thanks so much, everybody. We'll see you next time.

[ES]: Thank you.