Peterson System Standard: A Closer Look at the System Pipe

Peterson System Standard is the most common and plainest version of "System," the best-known design of the Dublin firm Kapp & Peterson. The brand owes much of its worldwide reputation to this mechanism: a reservoir meant to catch the moisture in the smoke before it reaches the smoker, paired with a specially shaped mouthpiece that directs the smoke toward the palate. In Peterson's catalogue, System pipes still stand as a separate family.

The Sequence of Patents

The system's present form is not the result of a single invention but of several patents that build on one another. According to records, the first patent dates to 1890 and covers the moisture reservoir carved into the transition area between shank and bowl; the reservoir is created by raising the smoke channel higher than usual, leaving an empty space beneath it. The stepped mouthpiece bore is cited to 1891, and the mouthpiece tip known as P-Lip to patents from 1894 and 1898. Added to these was the army mount, the metal band wrapping around the shank, and the mechanism arrived at its present-day identity.

How the Mechanism Works

Smoke leaving the bowl does not go straight from the shank's channel to the mouthpiece; it first descends into the reservoir. What makes this happen is the extension at the end of the mouthpiece that fits into the pipe: it passes through the transition bore and hangs down into the reservoir, circulating the smoke at the bottom. Part of the condensing moisture is thus caught in the reservoir before it ever reaches the mouthpiece. On plain models such as the System Standard, this extension is turned from a single piece of vulcanite together with the mouthpiece; on upper-tier System pipes it is a separate metal part screwed into the mouthpiece. On older examples it is brass, on later ones aluminium. Because its appearance resembles the condensation needles of other brands, it is often removed by mistake; in fact the extension is the working part of the mechanism, and removing it disables the reservoir.

The mouthpiece's internal bore is also not a constant width from end to end; it changes in steps. It is known that after a narrow section at the entrance, the channel widens, then narrows again as it nears the tip. It is accepted that smoke slowing down in the widened section sheds its moisture more easily. At the tip of the P-Lip, the hole is not centred but sits on the upper face; this directs the smoke toward the palate rather than onto the tongue. The aim is to reduce tongue bite.

Use and Debate

The P-Lip is one of the few details that divide opinion within the pipe community. Some smokers praise the grip it gives when held between the teeth; others complain that hot smoke concentrates at a single point on the palate. Cleaning is a similarly contested topic. A pipe cleaner is expected to go in one end and come out the other without catching; on small-scale, sharply curved System examples this is not always possible. In practice, working with thin cleaners and wiping the reservoir separately by removing the mouthpiece is considered sufficient. For details, see the pipe cleaning and maintenance entry.

The System Standard series is made from good-quality briar, and offered with a nickel mount and an army-type push mouthpiece. The series is known for smooth and rustic finishes together with tones ranging from dark walnut to red and ebony black. Nearly all the shapes are bent (curved), and the catalogue contains a single straight model. For the brand's design experiments outside of System, see the Peterson Darwin series and the B42 shape entry.