Pipes Magazine » General Pipe Smoking Discussion

1. 

   jayh
   

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   Wanted to put this in the Lighters thread but it would have been a hi-jack.

   I started using matches a few weeks ago and it's been an amazing discovery for me. I was without a lighter and I found a free pack I got with the cigars I bought for a recent wedding. I was a fish to water, no fumbling, no rushed feeling with lighting it...seemed really easy. Much better intial light and better flavor for whatever reason also. Cooler smoke start to finish and fewer lights all together.

   Who else uses them? Any better choices than the strike on box supermarket brands?

   I'm not a purist in anyway but i was blown away by how much better my tobacco smoked and burned and wondered what the consensus is.

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   igloo
   

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   I like the Diamond Safety Kitchen Matches , a little bigger stick .

   “There was an awful suspicion in my mind that I'd finally gone over the hump, and the worst thing about it was that I didn't feel tragic at all, but only weary, and sort of comfortably detached.”

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   daveleitz
   

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   I started with a cheap lighter. It was a hassle. Now I just use matches. I think they work just fine, either wood or paper.

   It's amazing how you can do without the necessities of life provided you have the little luxuries.

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   cortezattic
   

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   I use stick matches any time I can. The lighter only comes out when I'm doing something that precludes using a box of matches; mainly driving. I don't much care for book matches though.

   I find myself sitting idly on the line dividing past and future,
   as if I could kill time without injuring eternity. -- Thoreau

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   Lawrence
   

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   For general use I prefer a cheap butane.
   However; over the last month or two I have endeavored to use matches for the char and true. The temperature of the flame seems to much lower than with a butane, and the flavor comes through much better. And, I kind of like the sulfur smell as well, it tells me that a truly great experience is to follow.
   The only draw back, for me occurs when I set the pipe down several times during a bowl.
   I will end up with a scale model of burned down lumber yard in the ash tray.

   
   My Pipe Slide Show
   

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   jrtaster
   

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   i reaaly prefer matches.
   my walmart carries two sizes of the diamond brand strike-on-box matches. i prefer the "large kitchen matches" at least for the initial charring light. the smaller size is adequate for relights.
   "strike anyhere" matches are apparently illegal in new jersey, but i found them freely in florida, for instance.
   for those who dislike the sulphur smell of the diamond brand could opt for the swan vestas, sulphur -free, but they are not widely available. recently i did see them listed at pipeworks & wilke.
   i use matches mainly at home but when disposal of the used sticks is a problem, i revert to my imco butane lighter.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   hobie1dog
   

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   Since I smoke on the back deck, or in the truck, there's just no good place to dispose of them right away, so they have to get laid down, then the tip breaks off, then blackens something up it shouldn't, etc.

   Marry the right person, this one decision will determine 90% of your happiness.
   
   Does a culture based on seperation and competition, of scientific sophistication and mideval religion, offer happiness even as it ravishes the Earth that sustains it?

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   wallbright
   

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   I only use matches when smoking my pipe. However, I don't own an ash tray so I end up with a small tree on my front porch haha.

   Posted 1 year ago #
9. 

   strongirish
   

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   With the high humidity in Houston area, matches are worthless. I am and always be a Zippo man. Plus I collect antique lighters so it could be any one of those.

   Posted 1 year ago #
10. 

    wallbright
    

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    Strongirish, do you have any zippo pipe lighters? I have been looking into getting one and wondered about their quality. I currently use matches as they are cheap and supposedly offer a better smoke (though that is debatable by some peoples accounts).

    Posted 1 year ago #
11. 

    Collin Dow
    

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    Zippo pipe model all the way!
    I experimented with matches and just didn't like it as much.

    
    The best gift to give a woman is what she told you she wanted when she thought you weren't listening.

    Posted 1 year ago #
12. 

    surfmac211
    

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    I have started to use matches more lately and can definitely tell a difference in flavor, BUT nothing beats the convenience of a zippo or some type of pipe lighter.

    Posted 1 year ago #
13. 

    papipeguy
    

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    Lately, I've been using my Blazer torch lighter for the char light and then switch to my Zippo pipe lighter. Sounds like a lot of work but the torch does make the charring process quick work.
    As for the Zippo, its a workhorse. Not fancy but entirely reliable and works well in the wind.

    Posted 1 year ago #
14. 

    hobie1dog
    

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    Nope don't like them.

    Posted 1 year ago #
15. 

    funn
    

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    Diamond matches from the dollar store and my Zippo when the tobacco gets halfway and the matches don't give me that "Ring of Fire".

    Posted 1 year ago #
16. 

    peace
    

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    I only smoke outside, so matches are useless to me as soon as there's a bit of wind. I'm a Zippo man. I know a lot of pipe smokers dislike Zippo because they claim they can taste the fuel, but if you use the Zippo brand fluid (doesn't smell as strong as the others) and let the flame on your lighter lit for about 5 seconds before lighting your pipe, the fuel won't come out as strong.

    Posted 1 year ago #
17. 

    Bubba
    

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    I use matches all the time but just the other day a friend of mine had the zippo pipe lighter. I used it and I loved it, I am hopefully going to pick one up this week.

    Mason jars and bale top jars, mason jars and bale top jars.... that is all!
    
    "There’s truth in the statement that pipe tobacco will never be any less expensive than it is today, so think of your cellar as a cost averaged investment" - G.L. Pease

    Posted 1 year ago #
18. 

    fred
    

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    I enjoy the wooden match for the low combustion temperature, that translates
    to better blend flavor. The Old Boy is convenient for me while driving around in
    the truck, where the wood would pile up in the ashtray. I have a Zippo but
    just don't use it much these days, but it's reliable and useful in the wind, to
    which the match and the Old Boy are poor performers. For emergencies, there
    are matches and Pipe cleaners in the truck's glove box. If you want to smoke
    a Pipe, it's a good idea to keep more than one source of fire available.

    Posted 1 year ago #
19. 

    wallbright
    

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    Some of you guys mentioned smoking in a windy area, I heard somewhere that this is bad forthe pipe? I only smoke outside win or no wid and I was wondering if this is true.

    Posted 1 year ago #
20. 

    flanative
    

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    Matches whenever possible, butane lighters when necessary. I always have about 3 boxes of the strike anywhere matches. Also great with cigars!

    Posted 1 year ago #
21. 

    explodingpenguin
    

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    My favorite matches are sold at one of the pipe stores in the mall called Arango Sportsman. I am not sure what kind of wood they are made of but they do add a slight hickory/sweet flavor to the char and true.

    Wallbright I have always been told that if you smoke your pipe in the wind you have to be careful of the wind making the tobacco burn to hot and the ash flying out. Almost all the burnout stories I have read stem from smoking in high winds and not noticing just how hot the bowl has become.

    Posted 1 year ago #
22. 

    wallbright
    

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    Thanks for the info Explodingpenguin, I will be sure to take care when smoking in a windy area. I definitely don't want a burnout to occur. I guess my cob can be my designated wind smoker.

    Posted 1 year ago #
23. 

    colonelmcmuf
    

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    When I first started smoking I used Matches, but Laziness has gotten the best of me. I find myself using a Bic most of the time. It doesn't help that my pipe store stopped giving me free matches when I'd buy my tobacco.

    "Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight. Gotta kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight!"

    Posted 1 year ago #
24. 

    bytor
    

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    Same boat as colonel.... I used matches almost exclusively when I first picked up the pipe, but switched to butane somewhere along the way. Might be time to give matches another try.

    Posted 1 year ago #
25. 

    Bubba
    

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    Same story here bytor... I gave up matches and moved onto a bic lighter.

    Posted 1 year ago #
26. 

    unclearthur
    

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    Wall , several online smokeshops offer cheap windcaps that you can pop on a pipe for outdoor smoking.

    If at first you don't succeed you are running about average.

    Posted 1 year ago #
27. 

    krgulick
    

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    Only used matches occasionally when I smoked "coughin nails". Using a Bic lighter since coming over to the light side.

    Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are small and crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Posted 1 year ago #
28. 

    wallbright
    

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    Looks like I will be buying some cheap Bic lighters while I wait for my Zippo to return with the pipe insert.

    Posted 1 year ago #
29. 

    unclearthur
    

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    OH! Zippo de do dah! OH zippo de aye!

    Posted 1 year ago #
30. 

    classicgeek
    

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    I started with matches, but was getting frustrated with the amount of "work" involved. Got a dedicated pipe lighter and used that for a while, but I ended up switching back to matches. I just liked the flame better. Gives me a light that I can judge better. Means fewer relights in the long run.

    Lighting in the wind is nigh impossible. But when the wind is up, I'll be in the garage or will skip the smoke.

    Simon

    Posted 1 year ago #
31. 

    Bubba
    

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    WHAT?!? Skip the smoke? Thats just horrible!

    Posted 1 year ago #
32. 

    dudleydipstick
    

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    I don't use matches very much, but every time I do it makes me think I should do it more often. Nothing seems to rival the first light of a match; certainly not my Zippo.

    Posted 1 year ago #
33. 

    krgulick
    

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    Missing a smoke is like not getting 3 squares a day.

    Posted 1 year ago #
34. 

    onizuka
    

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    I personally can tell the difference when lighting a cigarette with a match or a lighter - there's a definitive taste from the lighter fluid that is off putting. If you don't believe me, try roasting a marshmallow with a lighter, it's disgusting

    Posted 1 year ago #
35. 

    smooth
    

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    wooden kitchen matches work well at my deskat home, but a butane lighter is just flat safer to use in the car.

    Posted 3 months ago #
36. 

    jaysin
    

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    matches
    all the way for ohio blue tip usere start looking for new old stock same with diamond the new green matches suck

    When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

    Posted 3 months ago #
37. 

    jpberg
    

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    As mentioned earlier, Swan Vestas are the cats pajamas.

    Posted 3 months ago #
38. 

    Jud
    

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    I'm a confirmed user of matches. Swan Vestas are nice if I can find 'em. Otherwise, it's regular old Diamonds.

    Thought in the early morning, solace in time of woes,
    Peace in the hush of the twilight, balm ere my eyelids close
    Rudyard Kipling

    Posted 3 months ago #
39. 

    acme
    

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    I only use matches. Couple of reasons.
    I like them.
    I have never had good experiences with lighters because of losing them. confiscation at airports, mechanical failures.

    Last, I always buy strike anywhere. Used to get them from supermarket, but they quit selling them in Kansas. I now go to the hardware store, but I get any place that sold grilling or fireplace products would have them.

    Agree with lowered usability of the new "green" matches. The aspen that they are making them out of burns much faster.

    I have heard that there are still great stands of trees that they were making matches out of extant in Australia. Where is an entrepenure (Wish I could spell French.) when you need one.

    anthony

    Posted 3 months ago #
40. 

    winton
    

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    Favorite is Zippo.

    Posted 3 months ago #
41. 

    Spartan
    

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    I can always taste the fluid of the lighter. Liquid or gas, it taints the tobacco and stays on my tongue for several minutes. Matches deliver a cooler flame and allow you to experience only tobacco flavor.

    I only use lighters when I am forced to.

    "I was born to lose. So I'll die to win." -Breaking Benjamin

    Posted 3 months ago #
42. 

    Uberam3rica
    

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    I prefer matches. But I don't use them when I smoke with my dad. He hates the smell of them, so I only use them when he isn't not around

    As long as I got a pipe full of baccy and a nose full of snuff, I'm a happy camper
    Cigarettes are an addiction, cigars are a hobby, pipes are a religion

    Posted 3 months ago #
43. 

    Spartan
    

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    @Uberam3rica

    Sometimes when the scratch wears off the box for me to strike the matches against i'll have to use my lighter to light the match. It's kind of silly but if it avoids me having to taste the fluid in my tobacco then I welcome it.

    If you prefer using matches and want to avoid tasting lighter fluid then just bring your matches and a lighter with you and snap off the head of the match and light the wood with a lighter so you can get a clean burn and with no match smell!

    Again, it's kind of a hassle... but that's what I would do in your shoes if I was smoking around someone that didnt like the smell of a freashly striked match.

    Posted 3 months ago #
44. 

    schmitzbitz
    

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    I have heard that there are still great stands of trees that they were making matches out of extant in Australia. Where is an entrepenure (Wish I could spell French.) when you need one.

    Redhead (the big name wooden match in Australia) are actually made from Aspen, so I have to wonder about said stands of trees being turned into matches downunder. Add to that the costs inherent with importing a dangerous good in large quantities from Australia, and the added costs for selling said imported good, and suddenly your matches shoot up to a couple of bucks a pack. Personally, I am a fan of Redbird Strike Anywhere matches, likely because that's whats most readily available here in Canada...and although a couple may break, and they may burn quickly, and if you leave them outdoors, the tips turn to goo, but I can buy 'em at the cost of $2.50 / 500 matches, so I don't sweat it too much. Of course, unless I am sitting at home, I reach for the Zippo more often than not.

    Entrepreneur; that was a damned good guess man!

    Posted 3 months ago #

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