Landing - Pipe Story
The Making of the Session Pipe.
For many of us, a glass pipe was one of the first smoking devices we ever owned. Small, compact, simple in function, but almost always over-the-top in decoration. More often than not, glass pipes look like a series of bubbles and swirls fused together with a carb and bowl to smoke out of. They were easy to handle and take with you for those on-the-go, back of the parking lot, smoke sessions — often left over ash would end up in our bag after a smoke or that tie-dye padded carrying case got funky after a few uses. Inevitably, the pipe was dropped and exploded into a handful of resinated broken glass pieces and some fond memories of a few good highs. This thing was an essential accessory you always had with you, but could never show it off or wear outside of your backpack.
After the launch of the Session Bong, it was a logical next step for us to design a pipe — one of the most basic and most classic tools in the smoking repertoire. We approached its inception and its design with just as much meticulous and thoughtful consideration as its older sibling. Unlike the Bong, it needed to go with you anywhere, look good doing it and of course, needed to deliver the same smooth rips, but in a much smaller footprint. Discretion, style and functionality were top of mind from the beginning. Could we design a modern take on the traditional hand pipe? Could we design something that does the job, while also complementing one's personal style like any body-adorned accessory should?
Once again, we spent ample time with pen and paper sketching, making and refining our design. We built off the iconic, conical silhouette of the Bong and the dark smoked glass of the bowl pieces. When it came to the details we wanted to solve as many of those little problems we learned about from our experiences and the people with whom we did research. How do we make it as easy as possible to take on-the-go while at the same time protecting it from damage? We designed a protective silicone sleeve with a metal keyring that snuggly holds the Pipe and attaches to any belt loop or bag strap. The silicone sleeve has kept the glass safe in many’o drop tests and failed cross-the-room tosses to stoned friends (who often wouldn’t catch it). The sleeve itself served a few more convenient purposes, allowing you to store a bowl to go before you head outside. It also keeps your bag or pocket clean by containing any ash or resin after your session and can easily be cleaned with soap and water.
As far as smoking goes, this little guy delivers a pretty hefty punch. The chamber is designed for maximum volume while remaining compact. We noticed that pipes often roll when set down or being packed so we made it easy to stand the Pipe on its end or set on its side with two built-in roll-stops for easy packing. After some feedback, we improved our design and added a small ash catcher to block any hot ash from getting in your mouth (Scooby snacks) while inhaling and angled the bowl to directionally guide the smoke into the back of the Pipe chamber. It’s the little things that matter, and no design is ever really complete.
We imagined this piece to be a functional fashion accessory of the most indulgent kind. This Pipe is the modern smokers perfect go-anywhere piece. Part fashion accessory, part discerning smoker paraphernalia, the Session Goods Pipe we think is the best contemporary upgrade on the classic spoon pipe we’ve seen in a long time ... but we might be biased.
That's the story of the Session Pipe. We hope you enjoy smoking it as much as we did making it.