Have a pipe that won't stay lit no matter what??

I just have a hard time imagining what it could go wrong with making a pipe that would cause it not to stay lit. Especially Grabows, as they've been the codger pipe for choice for decades. All of my Grabows are excellent smokers. Not much to look at but smoke very well.
Pipes work very well made out of pear wood, olive wood, horrid designs, extreme drilling angles... etc.
What do you mean by not staying lit? Does it just not take the flame? Go out immediately when you stop puffing? Goes out while you are puffing?
I have some that won't keep a lingering ember when I stop drawing, so I just have learned to smoke it in a clench, with a steady, constant but slow circular type of draw. It's called breathsmoking. The reason that I think this pipe does this is the angle the bowl is canted and the narrow but deep chamber.
What is the description of this pipe, and is there anything about it to you that suggest "different" in design than some of your easier to keep lit pipes?

Ahhh, then keep puffing, ha ha. I have some like this, and as said, I have learned to breathsmoke it. I am a firm believer that there are no bad pipes, just some require smoking differently. However, if you don't want to smoke it like that, pass it on to someone who would enjoy it. Although, being a Grabow, I bet you'd have a hard time getting rid of it. And, if letting go of your Granddad's pipe is not what you want, then just place it on a special rack or holder to commemorate him and his pipe. Maybe get a little placard engraved and stuck to the rack explaining this pipes origins, so that others later on will understand the significance. I have a few that were passed on to me that I have no intention of ever smoking.

Try this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o8Sfg6EH9k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Breath smoking is a good technique, I find the hardest part is dealing with the looks you get when you repeatedly point your finger up and forward. I find it best to tell people that it is a pipe smoking thing and they just wouldn't understand.
Edit: I should also add that I find this technique especially helpful when I am clenching a pipe. Almost seems to come a little more naturally too since you have to breathe sometime and the clenched pipe will still be in your mouth when you do.

Have you tried a gravity fill to slightly over the top of the bowl, then lightly pressing down to just below the rim? It has worked for me on briars that weren't broken in well enough to stay lit.

I like breath smoking as the pipe almost smokes itself once you get the technique down. I also like chasing the ember with a tamper in a downward spiral for a more contemplative smoking session.

Just a note on the "Frank" method of packing, it's been discussed mainstream since the Internet took off and all I can say is this. If it works as great as it sounds, everyone would use it. It's a method, plain and simple and if done correctly it can deliver a trouble free smoke as will the Air Pocket method. My suspicion is that you may have tobacco that needs a little drying or the pack may be a bit too tight. Test draw before lighting, always, there should be little to no resistance and if there is more than what your experience sucking soda through a straw, do it over. I used the the three step fill and pack for a long time and now have enough feel to just pack from the pouch using my index finger but I've smoked thousands of bowls. With practice it will get easier and more efficient but it does require patience. If your tobacco stays clumped together when you pick up a pinch and let it go, it needs to air out some before loading and then it'll take the flame well.

Yeh, I found that breathsmoking works best for me when I just focus completely on something else, like a task before me or driving or walking. Then, it just happens naturally, but as soon as I become conscious of the pipe, I tend to stumble on what I am doing and start puffing.

This being a Dr. Grabow we're discussing, and your having trouble with its staying lit, I have to ask about the status of the filter. These are set up to take a 6 mm filter, and they will take a Dr. Grabow filter, a Medico, even a Savenelli balsa, or for that matter, if you don't like the filter, a Savenelli adaptor to eliminate the filter. Some smoke them without a filter or adaptor. Likely you've checked out the filter, but if not do so. If it is impeding the draw and the burn, perhaps trying some other of the filter or non-filter permutations I mentioned might improve the pipe staying lit. I don't want the pipe to smoke me, I'd prefer to smoke the pipe.

It could very well be that the draw is too restricted and the pipe may need to be opened up a tad.

Yes and this is it. A Jansen,s N. O. Oom Paul. This pipe is very comfortable to hold and smoke, but because of it's narrow and deep bowl, it's hard to keep lit. I smoke it from time to time, and I have another Jansen's pipe that I bought at their store in New Orleans in the mid 80s, but it is a bulldog and it smokes fine. The Oop Paul is a cool looking pipe, but is hard to keep lit no matter what tobacco I put in it because of the bowl size. It'll stay lit for about 8-10 min. than I have to relite. It's so deep, it will take 4-5 relites per bowl. Still, I don't want to get rid of it.

My suspicion is that you may have tobacco that needs a little drying or the pack may be a bit too tight

Click to expand...

+11 ... especially with an Aro.
Have you tried any other tobacco in that same pipe?

I think it's more the tobacco than the pipe. Aromatics are usually wetter and more difficult to keep lit. You might want to let a bowl or two air dry outside the bag/tin for a bit then try it.

How about other pipes? Do they stay lit for you? If so, it would seem to be the pipe, but I don't know why that might be. I have had hundreds of pipes and the only time one did not stay lit it was when the tobacco was too broad. When this happens I tamp then chop up the top surface with a pipe tool and relight. It works.

The name of the fellow above is Alan Kerslake. His breath smoking technique is easier than that explicated in the quote below, from GL Pease's website.
I've always meant to try the technique below but gave up, given the difficulty. But Mr. Kerslake's method would seem to be a great way to start, and perhaps I will go to the second later. My reasons for being attracted to breath smoking are two. One, I smoke too fast and have slowed down, but if I were practicing a technique such as this, I would be forced to slow down more. Two, both techniques require calm, regulated breathing, and being a pranayama practitioner and knowing that concentrated states of mind that can be evoked through it, breath smoking would be a welcome adjunct for my favorite past time, smoking! If I get results and have something worth sharing, I will report back. This is my find of the day!
The Breath Smoking Technique

Contributed by Paul Szabady
[Paul has graciously allowed me to put this up here for all to see. Thanks, Paul! -glp]
This was taught to me by my pipe-smoking guru, an insufferably grouchy old curmudgeon. He DID know pipe smoking, though..
He called it 'breath smoking' and while it works with all tobaccos it is particularly effective with virginia flakes. It requires a relaxed setting, preferably sedentary and a very slow and calm breathing pattern. The pipe bit is held to the lips continuously and all breathing is through the nose. Every 2nd or 3rd slow breath through the nose, a tiny puff is taken through the stem, held in the mouth and slowly, very slowly, discharged back through the stem, raising but the faintest wisp of smoke from the top of the tobacco bowl, and then re-drawn back through the stem. One does NOT inhale the smoke, but if one gets very good at it, one does not even have to puff: the slight vacuum created in the mouth by nose breathing will draw the finest of puffs through the stem. The blowing back through the stem is alternated with regular, but very slight puffs (sips and kisses) so that the whole process of smoking seems as natural, regular and effortless as breathing.
I'm sure many smokers have discovered this technique, or variations of it, on their own. The advantages are that mastering it will produce the coolest and most flavorful smoke possible, and the slow regular breathing will invoke the calmness and clarity of mind to perceive the results at their fullest.