Tobacco Pipe Packing Methods - Part 2 (Videos)

By Bob Tate

This is a companion piece to my article, Tobacco Pipe Packing Methods. I apologize that it took me so long to get this piece up, but here it is. It is the video tutorials on how to do the methods described in Part 1.

I am not going to repeat the written directions as you can read them in Tobacco Pipe Packing Methods – Part 1. I am just going to post the videos in this article so that you can see visual instructions that go along with the written instructions. I am going to post the videos in the same order as the methods are listed in Part 1.

So, here they are! Read the rest of this entry »

Flake Pipe Tobacco Preparation

By Bob Tate

Flakes are one of the ways that pipe tobacco is made. Flake tobacco is made by pressing tobacco under extreme pressure for a period of time forming a cube. The cube is then sliced into strips called flakes. When you smoke flake tobacco it has to be packed differently than loose cut pipe tobacco. You can not simply fill the pipe and smoke it; you have to prepare the flakes first. There are many ways that flake tobaccos can be prepared. The way that you prepare a flake will have an effect in the taste of the tobacco and the way that the tobacco burns.

The larger you leave the pieces of flake, the stronger the flavor will be and the harder it will be to get the tobacco burning. Leaving the flakes whole or in large chunks will make the tobacco burn slow. This is a good technique to use when you are going to smoke outside as the wind will have less of an effect on the tobacco. Smaller pieces will make the flavor a little lighter and the tobacco will be easier to burn. It will also burn a little quicker as well. In this article I will describe a few of the different methods on how to prepare flakes for smoking. I have also included short videos of how to do each different method. Now onto the methods! Read the rest of this entry »

Reading Between The Lines - Pipe Smoking Tips

By Bob Tate

I would like to talk a little about the information that novice pipers will come across. The reason that I named this article “Reading Between the Lines”, is because I want to impress upon the readers that you should read between the lines and take all information about pipe smoking with a grain of salt. This even includes anything that I have written. Everything that I read or hear, I always take with a grain of salt. This even includes the so called ‘Professionals’ that work at B&M’s, but I will talk a little more about that later.

There is very little in pipe smoking that I consider hard set ‘rules’. Yes, there are some ‘rules’ that should be followed very closely. Such as cleaning your pipes after every smoke and having a good rotation, but even that is debatable. Does cleaning your pipes after every smoke and having a good rotation help the enjoyment of pipe smoking? In my opinion, yes it does. But back before pipe smoking became a hobby and there were a lot more people smoking pipes, a lot of them smoked the same pipe every day and did not clean them after every smoke. They certainly seemed like they enjoyed their pipes just as much as I do. Am I right and they were wrong? Or were they right and I am wrong? The answer is neither. Pipe smoking is all about enjoying YOUR pipes, tobacco, and smoking. Read the rest of this entry »

Pipe Smoking Tips

By Bob Tate

When I first started smoking a pipe, I had no mentor to talk to and nobody to show me tips on how to make pipe smoking more enjoyable. I had to learn a lot on my own from reading, online message boards, asking questions at B&Ms, and experimenting. I thought that I would share some of the tips that I have acquired with all of you. Most of these tips are more for the beginners, but maybe a few of them will help out some of the seasoned pipers as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Tobacco Pipe Packing Methods - Part 1

By Bob Tate

There are a lot of different ways to load your pipe for smoking. Here I will list a few different methods that I know of and give a brief description of them. Remember that there is no exact set of rules for packing your bowl. The goal in packing your pipe is to get a proper draw, it doesn’t matter how or which method you use to do it. The most commonly accepted draw should feel like you are drinking through a straw. When it feels like that, you should not have any problems. I prefer my draw to be a little looser than that.
Read the rest of this entry »

Is That A Gurgle I Hear?

By Bob Tate

Most of us pipers have heard it before, gurgling sounds from your pipe while smoking. In my experiences, pipes will gurgle for a few different of reasons.

Some of the reasons are:
•Smoking too fast
•The tobacco is too moist
•The pipe hasn’t been fully broken in
•Condensation has built up when the pipe has gone out and allowed to sit and cool
•Bad pipe construction
•Sometimes a pipe will gurgle for no reason at all

In this article, I will break down the reasons and explain each one a little bit. Read the rest of this entry »

Pipes: They’re Not Just for the Wealthy

By Bob Tate

There is always going to be a raging debate in the pipe world about the cost of a pipe. Some people swear that a more expensive pipe is better than an inexpensive pipe and others will say that price doesn’t matter on how a pipe smokes. I would say that both sides are correct, to an extent. I will admit that I do not own any really expensive pipes. The most expensive pipe that I own cost $150.00 and that is a meerschaum so I can not weigh in on the quality of briar on an expensive pipe. The most expensive briar that I own, I paid $110.00 for it new. But I will say this; in my experience, the more a pipe costs, the better it is constructed. Read the rest of this entry »

My Christmas Pipe

By Bob Tate

You are probably wondering why I named this ‘My Christmas Pipe’ when May has barely begun. Well, read on and you’ll find out.

The summer of 1996 was the year when I started to really want to get into pipes. I was 22 at the time and for reasons that I can not explain, I was really attracted to pipes and pipe smoking. I always have been. Maybe it was my grandfather who smoked a pipe or all of the old advertisements of pipe smoking and Norman Rockwell pictures that just screamed of a simpler time when a man could relax with his thoughts and a good pipe and let all the troubles of the world slip away. Read the rest of this entry »

New Pipe Blog

I wanted to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Bob and I go by Python on the boards. I know Kevin, the owner of this site for a couple of years. I used to be a moderator on his old cigar site. He asked me to be a moderator in the forums here and I gladly accepted. Read the rest of this entry »