Smoking a pipe, especially lighting a pipe, is an active sport, a little like flying a kite. You have to accept its challenges or it's no fun. Walls, trees, even pillars or posts can be wind breaks. A deep bowl packed about 2/3 full helps. I haven't tried the metal pipe covers, but that looks like a good idea. I usually keep my hand cupped around the top of the bowl. If you work it right, the burn doesn't accelerate that much and you can have a pretty good smoke. However, you can't always tell visually, because the smoke dissipates so fast, so you have to judge by taste, and that changes in the wind too. All this is more fun in a moderate wind. In a gale, it's just a game, not really much of a smoke, but sometimes fun to try.