Bic Lighter or Wooden Matches?

jenssenkuek23 · Aug 10, 2017

Bic lighter or wooden matches? What is your preferences/struggles?
From my own preference, using a Bic lighter will cause the tobacco/bowl to be real hot.
Where else, I would prefer using wooden matches where it is much cooler to burn.

pipesmokingtom · Aug 10, 2017

BIC 99% of the time. If it's making your bowl too hot, hold it farther away from your tobacco when you're lighting. Matches are fine, preferable even, but fussy and I don't mess with them these days.

jenssenkuek23 · Aug 10, 2017

Maybe I need more practice using BIC!

warren · Aug 10, 2017

Both seem to work well for me. Never had the heating problem with a Bic though. One shouldn't directly apply the fire to the tobacco. Hover the flame and pull it to the tobacco.

Chasing Embers · Aug 10, 2017

Bic.

64alex · Aug 10, 2017

Lighting up always Swan Vesta matches. Relights pipe lighter with angled flame or hemp wick which is very convenient particularly at the end of the bowl.

madox07 · Aug 10, 2017

I have been pondering this for years now .. conclusion: whatever works for you, man. I personally use matches at home, a lighter on the go - be that gas or butane.

poppabear · Aug 10, 2017

If it makes fire I will use it. Pipe lighter, bic, zippo, matches (generally in that order)

bigpond · Aug 10, 2017

I use an old boy to light used match stubs. Nothing like using 2 stones for 1 bird. That said, the cooler the temperature, the greater the perception of flavor ime.

jpmcwjr · Aug 10, 2017

Any source of flame can be used just fine. The hotter the source, the further away from the tobacco to get an even, cool light. It's the super heated air off the tip that does the trick.

mawnansmiff · Aug 10, 2017

"From my own preference, using a Bic lighter will cause the tobacco/bowl to be real hot."
How can that be? You should only hold the flame to the pipe long enough for the tobacco to ignite. Anything after that which makes the bowl hot is down to the smoker puffing too hard.
The temperature of a properly simmering pipe is not determined by the source of ignition.
Regards,
Jay.

ray47 · Aug 10, 2017

If I'm smoking inside, which is 99% of the time, I use matches for the first light and then switch to a Bic or similar lighter. I use a Zippo after a third of the way down. If outside I'll use a Zippo from start to finish.

cosmicfolklore · Aug 10, 2017

using a Bic lighter will cause the tobacco/bowl to be real hot.

This always baffles me. Are you holding the lighter upside down to put the actual flame inside the bowl? This is where not having pipe smoking men around you as you grow up is a disadvantage. You do not put the flame in the bowl. You draw the heat down into the bowl (not the flame) to ignite the tobacco. I guess most people either never paid any attention to how men lit their pipes, or have never been around guys who smoke pipes, ever. And youtube is no help, because the first requirement of being a youtube smoker is to not have a clue.

Plus, we have those stupid misleading pipe lighters that turn the flame downwards. I think these were made by pipe companies for suckers, so they'll cook their rims and bowls, so you'll have to buy more pipes.
However, if you mean that using a hotter heat will cause a hotter ignition of the tobacco, well... I just giggle. Too bad the physics of this world don't work this way.

mawnansmiff · Aug 10, 2017

"Plus, we have those stupid misleading pipe lighters that turn the flame downwards. I think these were made by pipe companies for suckers,"
Michael, if by that you mean the angled butane lighters then not quite so. I use these exclusively due to arthritis as the type that sends the flame straight up I cannot bend my arm enough to use them.
So a sucker I must be

Regards,
Jay.

bluegrassbrian · Aug 10, 2017

Lately I've been using matches for the charring light as it's a small flame that grants the user much control to avoid hitting the rim.

From there, all it takes to get the bowl rolling is to quickly hit it with the Bic or Djeep..or whatever else you have handy.

aldecaker · Aug 10, 2017

I prefer to use matches whenever possible, but a Bic is damned handy for when you're out and about. No more heating issues with one or the other in my experience.

cosmicfolklore · Aug 10, 2017

So a sucker I must be

Well, you didn't have to tell everyone. Ha ha. : puffy

:

cosmicfolklore · Aug 10, 2017

But really, I don't blame you if it helps you. But if you stick the flame inside the bowl... then you hit the sucker spot.

toddryan84 · Aug 10, 2017

Maybe I need more practice using BIC!

I use matches and a BIC bc I just cannot afford those fancy lighters. I notice issues when using the bic too with my bowl getting very hot, then if I hold the flame farther away, I don't get very accurate relights.
I use matches usually for my charring light, and then switch to the bic, or sometimes if I just want to light it a bit I use a match. I alternate, I do the bic usually because I'm impatient lol

poppabear · Aug 10, 2017

i will say that i have been using a zippo pipe lighter. they are like $13-$15 on amazon. what i like about it is that fact that you cant really touch the flame to the tobacco. you have to hold it over it and pull the flame to the bowl. works really nicly after a char and a tamp. only prob. is keepin that sucker full of fluid (which i dont think really imparts a taste)

Bic Lighter or Wooden Matches?

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