Hi guys...been smoking the pipe for a few weeks now and I do better on some bowls/smokes than other. The other night I smoked a whole bowl of Captain Earl's Reflections all the way to the bottom without relighting but had to tamp the ash down during the smoke a bunch of times. Since then, I've had trouble replicating that 'success'.
Anyway so my questions:
1) Smoke production...I understand that a pipe won't product thick clouds like a cigar and that's all well and good. When that's what I'm after, I can just smoke one of my cigars. BUT, often times, after the pipe is lit, I'll draw and can visually see the ember glowing but almost 0 smoke comes out. I have to take several sips in quick succession to get it smoking and then it's easy for me to end up with a hot pipe......What might cause this? I pack using the 3 step method but am really not sure if I'm too tight or too loose.
2) Similar to question 1, when I get the pipe smoking decently, sometimes even if I maintain a moderate cadence, it just goes out....is that common? To clarify, I'll be sipping away with a cadence of a sip ever 5-10 seconds getting good smoke and then suddenly each sip produces thinner and thinner smoke until nothing....then I have to tamp, stir, and/or relight.
3) Sometimes to remedy the situation in question 2, I either have to keep tamping the ash down a bunch of times, or get in there with a poker and really stir up the tobacco and re-light. Is this indicative of a problem with the way I packed or am smoking?
Thanks in advance. I continue to read around the forum and search for answers, but the search function is a bit wonky. I really enjoy the aromoas and tastes of pipe tobacco (really digging GL Pease Quiet Nights the most so far) and just want to try to fix some of my issues to keep the frustration down so I can focus more on just enjoying the smoke.
Anyway so my questions:
1) Smoke production...I understand that a pipe won't product thick clouds like a cigar and that's all well and good. When that's what I'm after, I can just smoke one of my cigars. BUT, often times, after the pipe is lit, I'll draw and can visually see the ember glowing but almost 0 smoke comes out. I have to take several sips in quick succession to get it smoking and then it's easy for me to end up with a hot pipe......What might cause this? I pack using the 3 step method but am really not sure if I'm too tight or too loose.
2) Similar to question 1, when I get the pipe smoking decently, sometimes even if I maintain a moderate cadence, it just goes out....is that common? To clarify, I'll be sipping away with a cadence of a sip ever 5-10 seconds getting good smoke and then suddenly each sip produces thinner and thinner smoke until nothing....then I have to tamp, stir, and/or relight.
3) Sometimes to remedy the situation in question 2, I either have to keep tamping the ash down a bunch of times, or get in there with a poker and really stir up the tobacco and re-light. Is this indicative of a problem with the way I packed or am smoking?
Thanks in advance. I continue to read around the forum and search for answers, but the search function is a bit wonky. I really enjoy the aromoas and tastes of pipe tobacco (really digging GL Pease Quiet Nights the most so far) and just want to try to fix some of my issues to keep the frustration down so I can focus more on just enjoying the smoke.