Blog Posts

Public Service Announcements:
THE PETE GEEK NEW ERA MLB BALL CAP EVENT

and–THE NATE LYNN PIPE RESTS are almost here!
(see end of post)

Nate Lynn’s Pete Geek pipe rests are on their way to me and should be shipping out to you late next week. I’m also crazy excited for a 10th Anniversary Pete Geek Event our own “Abba” Mark Hunt suggested at the Chicago Pipe Show–an MLB New Era 59FIFTY LOW PRO Pete Geek ball cap. These are the pinnacle as far as ball caps go, as New Era has been the hat maker for Major League Baseball since the beginning. More about this at the end of the post. But now, something amazing that I’ve never seen in the Pete Multiverse before–

A 305 Dublin System Transformation
by Nate Lynn CPG

After 2024’s dismal St Patrick’s day release I started thinking about taking an estate pipe and adding some St Patty’s day flair to it. I found this 305a (the dublin version made from c. 1979-84) on eBay for a great price and other than the oxidized stem and a slight bit of rim darkening it was in amazing shape.

I polished up the band first then removed it and started the process of stripping the finish. I did this by an alcohol soak, rubbed it down with some steel wool then did an acetone soak. I also wet sanded with acetone and 1200 grit to get the old stain out.

Finally ready for stain. I used Fiebing’s green and soaked it thoroughly.

I buffed the stain off with a cloth while it was wet as I didn’t want it to dry almost black.

Then I buffed it with polishing compound and carnauba wax and glued the band back on.

Then came the really fun part, could I mold, and cast a resin stem? I used a pipe cleaner to suspend in the middle of my  the mold box.

After the mold cured I removed the stem to find a bunch of air bubbles, but I was not discouraged as I was knew there would be some clean up and polishing that had to happen anyway, what I most excited about was the Peterson “P” emblem showed so my future stem would have that as well. I mixed up some small amounts of orange and white resin, ran a scotch taped covered pipe cleaner in the middle of the mold to hopefully keep my future airway clean, poured it in and said a prayer to the Almighty God. When I opened the mold I was decently happy as I had a stem with an airway. What I wasn’t happy about was the amount of air bubbles that got trapped even though I vibrated mold for quite some time. So will be recasting the mold and the stem at my friends house who owns a vacuum chamber. That will remove the bubbles from it.

THE NEW DO-IT-YOURSELF MERIT BADGE

NATE LYNN’S PETE GEEK PIPE RESTS
WILL BE SHIPPING LATE THIS WEEK!

ELIJAH ROBERTS CPG is now companioning this incrredible Apple 132 System. When he wrote me asking if I could help with dating, I was stymied. It certainly isn’t the 86 Apple System from the 1950s! And I thought and thought, then finally put the matter on the back burner to let it come to boil on its own. And–it did!  This shape number is originally from the Irish Free State-era, as seen in the mid-1920s brochure by Phillip Weiss & Sohns. How the shape survived into the Early Republic beats me, but there it is.  Also, quite curious, notice the K&P in shields Maker’s Mark.  As I’ve remarked in the Nickel Hallmarks blog post,  during the IFS K&P was still using this second set of Maker’s Marks–the ones in shields as above–on nickel.  They would soon reserve these for sterling only.  So what gives here? I have no idea. Anyway, it’s certainly a rare Pete, and however it came to Elijah, to find it with that incredible tenon extension unbroken and intact–truly special.

THE NEW ERA 59FIFTY LOW PROFILE
PETE GEEK 10th ANNIVERSARY BALL CAP EVENT

There is nothing under the sun like a day at the ball park. Whenever I go, it’s like time stretches out while we’re sitting in the bleachers, a zen kind of experience. When Mark Hunt CPG suggested a ball cap for the Pete Geeks, all of us at the Chicago Show got excited. But which one?  As we did our research, it became obvious that there is really only ONE ball cap–that made by New Era. And as far as the fasionista are concerned, the 59FIFTY Low Pro is THE hat for style, quality, and durability.

Above are the two options in digital pre-mockups I’ve made using New Era’s designs. New Era will provide a final digital preview that I’ll post when we place the order.

COST:
Price is $49.95 each including US Shipping for orders in the US
Price is $69.95 each including International Shipping overseas (this does NOT include any customs/import fees) 

Fill out the GOOGLE FORM if you’re interested.

TIME: About 12 weeks from the time we place the final order.

MEASURING: It’s really, really important that you get a good measurement because these are FITTED caps. There’s a New Era measuring video below. Don’t rely on hats you already have; please take a fresh measurement. We had really good luck with the Dubliner Flat Caps last time.

Official New Era Sizing Chart–reference top line:

Watch this MEASURING VIDEO for more information.