Blog by C.W. Hawes

The Falcon pipe was invented in 1936 by American engineer Kenly Bugg. The same year a German-American engineer, Frederick Kirsten, invented the pipe that bears his name.

While the Kirsten Pipe Company appears to be on hiatus, no new pipes having been made for several years now, the Falcon pipe continues to be a top seller worldwide, having sold 44 million pipes as of 2006.

I smoke at least one of my Falcons every day. They have become my go to pipe.

What I especially like is the simplicity of the design from the user’s end. A single unit stem, or frame, and a bowl that threads onto the stem. That’s it. Which makes the Falcon one of the simplest metal pipes I’ve seen.

Recently, I purchased a vintage Falcon and several vintage bowls from Steve Laug. And I eagerly added them to my collection of modern Falcons.

The beauty of the Falcon is not only its simplicity, but the interchangeability of bowls and stems. Giving you hundreds of bowl and stem configurations.

So, imagine my surprise when I couldn’t get a draw on a vintage bowl and modern stem combo. Quite frustrating.

There was obviously a leak somewhere, but where?

I set out a vintage bowl and a modern bowl, along with a vintage stem and a modern stem.

The stems appeared to be nearly identical. The major change being a narrower central post in the modern humidome.

The bowls, however, have gone through a more significant change.

Modern bowls have gaskets and are flatter on the bottom than their vintage counterparts.This change allows for the use of a dry ring, which absorbs moisture in the humidome.

Vintage bowls, having an extended bottom, sit nearly flush with the bottom of the humidome. Vintage bowls have no gaskets. They sit right on top of the humidome.The modern bowl sits higher due to the gasket.When a vintage bowl is screwed into a modern stem, it also sits higher.And it was that observation that lead me to test how well the vintage bowl seals.

I covered the top of the bowl very tightly with a booklet and sucked on the stem. I got air. Lots of air. But testing the same vintage bowl on a vintage stem — no air.

Apparently, with the introduction of the dry ring and the gasket on the bowl, the stem threads were machined to accommodate the gasket.

To use a vintage bowl on a modern stem, one must add a gasket to the vintage bowl in order for it to seal properly.

I’m frugal. I simply use a rubber band. The improvised rubber band gasket works like a charm. I get a tight seal and can smoke my favorite vintage bowls on my favorite modern stamps. A win–win.

I have used Vaseline as a gasket. It works, but is rather messy. I prefer the rubber band.

If you are a Falcon smoker and have a mix of modern and vintage bowls and stems, let me know in the comments if you’ve solved this little problem in a different manner.

Falcon pipes. Made in England, but a great American invention. Smoke on!