First invented in 1936, each Kirsten pipe has six basic components – mouthpiece, radiator body, valve, bowl, bowl screw and bowl ring.
Kirsten bowls come sandblasted, carved, smooth and rusticated bowls and combinations thereof. There are even corncob bowls!
A Professor Frederick K Kirsten who arrived in the US from Germany back in 1902, and who eventually ended up at the University of Washington to become a Professor of Aeronautical Engineering, is the inventor.
Rightly called the coolest pipe in the world, the Kirsten pipe came about when a doctor advised Professor Kirsten to switch from cigarettes. He quickly dreamed up a way to trap the moisture, tars and tongue-biting acids which attack the users of briar pipes.
And the rest, they say, is history.
A Kirsten pipe comes in several finishes – black, silver and gold.
Thanks Daniel for gifting me with one on my 60th birthday.