Really Struggling.

[JordonBrooker]

Hey guys,

As the title says I've been really struggling with just about everything. My main issue is keeping the pipe lit. I'm lucky to get 1-2 slow, light draws on the pipe after a light before it goes out. Here's my process:

1. Pack the first 1/4 light, the second 1/4 firmer and the last 1/2 the firmest.
2. Keep my flame away from the tobacco as a light it for the charring light.
3. Try to keep the charing light going as long as possible and then tamp down when the tobacco swells.
4. Repeat the charing light again.
5. Light it properly this time taking 5-6 small puffs until I can feel the smoke getting hot in my mouth.
6. I then stop a wait a second before taking a 6 secondish long draw.
7. I pause for 10-15 seconds.
8. I go to take another draw and... nothing.
9. Tamp down using the weight of the tamp and start again at step 5

I'm kind of at a loss. Any idea what else I can do? I see people say relights are fine, but doing 20+ relights per bowl isn't particularly enjoyable, all I end up with is a burnt mouth and a big lighter fuel bill. There's gotta be something I'm missing or doing wrong. Something else I've noticed is that no matter how hard I pack, the resistance of the draw really doesn't change at all.

• I've tried:
• Three stage packing
• Franks method of packing
• Drying my tobacco for 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 6 hours.
• Aromatics, English Blends, Virginia's.
• A MM Cob.
• A Peterson Briar.
• A Erik Nording.
• The Breath Method.
• Packing really light
• Packing really tight
• Trying to pack inbetween the two.

 

[anotherbob]

well you just haven't developed the knack yet. That's how it works. Try some different tobaccos would be my suggestion at this point.

 

[JordonBrooker]

well you just haven't developed the knack yet. That's how it works. Try some different tobaccos would be my suggestion at this point.

Any suggestions?

I've tried:
Nightcap
EMP
G&H Cherry and Sherry
G&H Whisky
G&H Kendal Gold
Century Buttered Rum

 

[olkofri]

Methinks you're packing too tight. They say 'pack looser than you think you need, smoke slower than you think you should'.

I hear you, I had the same problem. PITA really. I still have to relight like crazy, guess I have just taken it as part of the sport.

Try looser packing with EMP, which is a very fine ribbon with a fast burn rate. Report back with results.

 

[jaytex1969]

The G&H stuff can be stubborn to light. Maybe set it aside for now.

Spread out enough EMP or Nightcap to fill a briar. Let it air for 20 minutes.

Forget about Frank and his friends. You can play around with various techniques later.

Pack it looser than you "think" you should, initially. You can always make it denser with the tamper, if necessary. Fill the bowl to the top loosely and press with the pad of your finger just enough to compress it maybe an eighth inch below the rim. Even up with some light, judicious tamper work. About the amount of pressure needed to dent a marshmallow is all it should take, initially.

When charring, "circle" the flame around, to make sure you hit the whole surface. The bits will likely spring up in an unorderly fashion from the heat. That's normal.

After that, GENTLY retamp the surface back into a somewhat uniform surface. Reapply flame across the whole surface enough to get it going. Don't worry about drawing very deep, as much as getting "wide" coverage.

Use small puffs to coax it into staying lit. The longer, 6 second puff you described may be too much for the fledgeling ember to keep up with.

If it goes out again and you get annoyed, don't hesitate to sit it down for a minute before trying again.

Three years ago, I was in your position. Now, it only takes me 47 relights to finish a bowl.

You are about to get 500 differing sets of instructions. Try them all, try none. Have fun and welcome to the forum!

 

[jerseysam]

The density of the pack is one of the trickiest things when starting the pipe. You can pick up a shag cut, such as Penny Farthing, which typically dry/burn easily. Try filling the pipe with small pinches, press down to half when filled and then re-fill/top once. Give the shag-cut 15-20 minutes out to air dry before you fill. Once lit keep a steady, sipping drawl. Play around with the pack method once you can go a bit between relights.

Many pipe smokers, and yours truly, often re-light....sometimes a bunch of its a wet blend. It is very frustrating when learning to pipe for sure. Again, my humble advice would be search for a shag cut and try the above.

 

[tokerpipes]

Personally I just stuff and puff. But yeah sounds like it to tightly packed. You could try using a pipe tool to run a draft hole to the shank hole.

 

[JordonBrooker]

Thanks for all the replies and advice, I'll give them all a shot and report back.

 

[diamondback]

You’re going to get a lot of different answers. It’s hard to get a good feel unless we’re right there with you.

• Soldier on, it will come.

• Dry your tobacco out good.

• Pack on the loose side. Even the ‘topping off’ packs shouldn’t be pressed in too hard. Just on the beginning side of firm.

• Light across the full top of the bowl. Draw in while gently tamping down the bloom. Let it go out.

• Light it again and gently tamp down the bloom. Draw and tamp, gently, and she should take off. Burning good? Put your tamper down. Sip.

• Can’t emphasize enough on drying your tobacco out. Get out a little over a bowl’s worth and spread it flat on a paper plate or something similar to let it dry. It varies: 20 minutes... ish? Some wet blends much longer.

• Once it’s going don’t tamp too much and be very gentle. I know that’s vague but it’ll soon be second nature. Too much tamping will compact your tobacco into a tight cylinder that’s difficult to keep lit. Same situation if you’re packing the pipe too tightly.

I would try a simple burley blend like maybe Haunted Bookshop. Stick with that blend only for a while.

Hope this helps!?!?

?

 

[JMcQ]

Pack looser and stop over-thinking the process. I tried to over think it too. Now I've developed the following technique:

1. Put tobacco in bowl. Keep it loose.
2. Light tobacco on fire.
3. Puff/inhale/breathe and relight as needed
4. Fucking relax.

 

[Drew72]

I am very new to piping as well, so take this for what it’s worth. But I have had good luck with few relights, no tongue bite, etc. thus far. When packing, take intermittent draws on the pipe to ensure the resistance is what you like, and not too tight. A light milkshake kind of draw is what I go for. I always smoke with a filter (usually 9mm charcoal), but don’t imagine that really changes any of this except for maybe helping with tongue bite.

I only tamp when I feel the draw getting too loose. Then I tamp to get it back to where it was when I first lit up.

Cheers
Drew

 

[wolflarsen]

Don't be scared to put the flame to that sucker. Sometimes I think new smokers get carried away with cautious char lights, gentle puffing, etc. My advice is not to overthink it. Do what you need to do to get a decent ember going and roll with it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

With most tobaccos that are properly dried down, I find I do not need a charring light much of the time, and I use the finger shovel and stuff. I don't press down until it reaches near the top of the chamber.

I don't count puffs nor time them; they seem to happen automatically, which will happen eventually for everyone.

As to drying, time can vary widely depending on where you live, and obviously, the nature of the tobacco you are drying. Are you on the coast? What's your ambient humidity?

 

[mingc]

You're getting lots of good advice.

Don't be afraid to pack it looser than you think is appropriate.

No need to get uptight about the number of relights. That's what matches/lighters are for.

 

[seanv]

Don't be afraid to pack too loose, it is better than too tight. If you pack too loose you can always fix that with tamping.

 

[Bowie]

Don't be scared to put the flame to that sucker.

I'm sort of new but have success now in minimizing relights, and this advice is solid, in my opinion. I was initially concerned about "scorching" and ruining the entire bowl. Just suck some flame in and get 'er going.

1. Put tobacco in bowl. Keep it loose.
2. Light tobacco on fire.
3. Puff/inhale/breathe and relight as needed
4. Fucking relax.

My technique now, too. I don't tamp 1/4 or 1/2 or whenever when packing bowl. I just put some in until it's full, mush it down a bit, and sprinkle some more on top, then light.

I found that like fly fishing, you can really overthink this process. There are "right" ways to cast a fly, but sometimes trout do things that the books say they are not supposed to do and take the sloppiest casted flies. Same with tobacco and fire.

To mix metaphors, grip it and rip it.

 

[verporchting]

Lots of good advice here.

I’m going to recommend something a little different although I absolutely don’t disagree with anything above.

Buy a pouch of Prince Albert or Carter Hall. Loosely scoop some into the bowl and very very lightly push it down with your finger once or twice. Do not “pack” it down. Sprinkle a bit more to top it off. Light. Relight a time or two before tamping again and then just smoke until you need to relight again.

The OTC blends are great learning blends because they don’t require much fussing about with.

Good luck. Enjoy yourself. It’s not a competition.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Another vote for too tight. Here's a video I made for different cuts.

 

[troutface]

How long have you been at it ? If it's been weeks or only a few months you shouldn't fret, it could take the better part of a year. I also agree to go with a lighter pack and also make sure you really get that thing going to start off. Keep at it, before you know it you'll be loading and smoking without thinking about it.

 

[bullet08]

if you take a look at videos for every single one of how to pack pipe, they all say the first pinch or what-not should be loose. there's reason for that. way you are doing it, it will push the tobacco down very low. when there is no space at the bottom of the chamber, it would be very hard to smoke the pipe. don't jam the tobacco into the chamber. even the last bit. firm, but not pushing the tobacco all the way down. also, test after each time you push on the tobacco. draw air from the stem and make sure you have almost free air movement.