Tips For Keeping The Pipe Burning.

I wouldn't worry too much about re lighting the pipe. Slow smoking pace can lead to re lights but it also can increase the flavor of the tobacco. If anything, you might be packing the tobacco too tight. Plenty of youtube videos on various packing methods are available.
Mike S.

Just for fun as a beginner try packing your pipe as shown in this video:

https://youtu.be/0XHYPso7TXs
Let us know how that works for you, I find that little empty air pocket this method leaves in the bottom of the bowl helps the burning process..

I find that too much air in the pipe can cause the tobacco to burn too fast and too hot. As much as we can tell you how to do it, unfortunately we can't do it for you:/ it's just trial and error. Re-lighting is a common thing, even among the pros, it just happens sometimes, enjoy the journey and welcome to the forums.

I may have up to 10 relights at times. I putter with my pipe. Put it down, pick it up, etc. Don't worry about it.

While relighting is no shame, keeping the pipe in your mouth is the way to keep it lit. I HATE being interrupted while smoking, with stupid questions or inane conversation. (This is why I prefer the forum to smoking arround Chatty Kathys). Just stick with it, and don't worry. No rules in this hobby, but if you want to ask me something where I'd have to take the pipe out of my mouth, then bugger off, ha ha!

Re light? You ask yourself, why did my pipe go out? Was it because of inattention, lack of providing draw to the ember?

Was it because you packed it too tightly? (that's the one I think we beginners manage most often)

Many bowls I will allow to self extinguish, and return to them later.

There does seem to be a critical mass required for a 'productive' re light. Once you've had to restart your pipe toward the heel portion of your tobacco, it tends to become more frustrating than it's worth.

So? Dump it out and start over! ::

Despite what you may have heard, having to relight a few times is not a capital offense. Do you dry your tobacco before lighting up? Many blends are tinned with excess moisture. Try letting you tobacco dry a bit so that it feels dry to the touch when squeezed, while still pliant. Then pack in your usual way and see if there is any improvement. Cosmic's point about keeping the pipe in your mouth, is a good one. But you can also hold the pipe in your hand and keep it going just as well, it just requires a bit more attention.

When you are new to the pipe, you have to may a bit of attention. It'll become second nature in a month or so, depending on how many bowls as day your smoke. If you are a one or two bowls a day or less hobbyist, it'll take longer.

When I started I had to relight more often than I do now. I had no idea you had to use a tamper and had to pack it in any particular way. I thought it was just stuff light and go.

Like the man says, let the tobacco dry a little or a lot. Tamp before you relight, but just lightly; don't muscle it down into a wad. Sometimes covering the bowl with your fingers when the smoke gets thin will bring it back to life, but don't cover it tight, just lightly, leave a little breathing room. Four or five relights isn't unusual, so don't worry about it. When it burns down to ash on one light, enjoy it, but just don't expect it. With moist tobacco, you'll re-light more, so don't sweat it. Old pipers don't get embarrassed about a re-light, they do it with a flourish, dramatize it, and use it as a conversational embellishment.

Old pipers don't get embarrassed about a re-light, they do it with a flourish, dramatize it, and use it as a conversational embellishment.

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Love it!! :clap:

It depends on what you are smoking as well, If you are smoking flake expect more relights than if you are smoking a ribbon cut. In the end though as long as you are enjoying your pipe everything else will sort itself out.

I've been smoking a pipe for just shy of five years, and I've never worried about how many re-lights I've had during my times of puffing on a pipe. The whole idea of lighting a pipe with just 2 matches and keeping it lit for the entire bowl etc. means nothing to me. I smoke a pipe for the pure enjoyment of the tobacco and the relaxation the experience gives me. Whether I'm involved in conversation, or I'm doing something (ie reading, watching TV, doing yard work etc.) or just not paying attention to the pipe and it goes out; I relight it without worry. If it takes 2 or 20 re-lights during the bowl I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. If you're worried about re-lights and are desiring that perfect bowl and experience... well, it may never come; however, with anything practice makes perfect so practice. ::

I was thinking about this recently.

The requirements for getting a pipe burning aren't much different from a campfire.

As far as packing goes, if you spread a bunch of sticks across the ground, you're not going to make a very good campfire. If you just take a log and plop it in in the fire pit, you aren't going to have any success either. One doesn't have enough density, the other has too much.

If you want a decent fire to start burning quick, it needs to be mostly small pieces, mostly in one place. Fire needs to be able to spread from one piece of wood to the other, and have air flow between them.

The requirements for packing aren't terribly strict, tobacco needs to be tight enough to spread embers but loose enough to allow air movement, which I'm pretty sure is a fairly broad range.

But, stacking wet logs together still doesn't get you a campfire.

As an example of how far this can swing in the other direction, sawdust in the right particle size and air mixture can be explosive, and chances are the same could be accomplished with tobacco. Not that we want to create an explosive pipe smoking experience, but the point remains, the more surface area your tobacco has, the better it will burn. The more leaf fibers are exposed to the air, the more fibers will burn when you set fire to your pipe. Rubbing out your tobacco is an important step.

Some of the most experienced Pipesmokers on this forum use of a small blender to do the "rubbing out" for them. I haven't tried it just yet but it sounds like a great time saver. just make sure it's an implement you can dedicate to that purpose, tobacco is probably not a flavour most people would appreciate in their milkshake.

If you swing all the way back to the wrong end of the spectrum and try starting a campfire with wet logs, but this time with no restrictions on your starting methods, "More Power" is still sort of an option. If all you have is a pile of logs, they can be made to burn, a large Propane torch will work wonders. Not for your pipe, don't use Propane on your pipe, but I can stuff a flake in my pipe and make it go using a Butane torch if I want to. It smokes just fine as far as I can tell, but it does take a little longer to get going, and using a Butane torch runs the risk of scorching the rim of my pipe. So on some pipes a Butane torch might be everything you need, other pipes not so much (it also depends on what company you keep, burnt rims being equated to "wanton violence" by some).
Unfortunately moisture is a subject all on it's own. Sometimes you want more and sometimes less, but it's probably best to concentrate on getting a bowl burning properly before worrying about getting the most flavour.

For what it's worth, five or six re-lights sounds pretty good. I wouldn't worry too much.

Frozen... Ha ha... My experience with starting a fire when it's time to burn off the gathered brush is that I try traditional methods a few times, then get out the chainsaw fuel and pour it on, then start using propane torches... to no avail. The leaves all burn leaving a huge pile of charred sticks. Yet, the news will tell me of someone thumping a cigarette butt out the car window starting forest fires. :::sigh:::

While relighting is no shame, keeping the pipe in your mouth is the way to keep it lit. I HATE being interrupted while smoking, with stupid questions or inane conversation. (This is why I prefer the forum to smoking arround Chatty Kathys). Just stick with it, and don't worry. No rules in this hobby, but if you want to ask me something where I'd have to take the pipe out of my mouth, then bugger off, ha ha!

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Boy! You just wait til I see you again....I'm gonna be like a small boy and ask you all kinds of questions. LOL!

Ha ha Jason, don't make me set you in a corner. Hopefully, I Will see you on the 20th.

Lucky for you I've never been a chatter box. Yes, you will see me on the 20th.

Have Fire!