Bad Good Advice

[Rolling Smoke (Stu)]

I have been thinking lately, how much "good" advice actually held me up in my pipe journey. For many years I struggled to get the enjoyment I expected from my pipes, whilst being frustrated at doing everything by the book.

I checked my tobacco with the pinch test for the perfect level of moisture. I packed with the 3 stage method exactly as all the wise masters described. I then tried every other well regarded variation of cube cut, 2 stage, fold and stuff etc. I packed lighter, I tamped less, I sipped gently. I really was a top grade student! Except I still had nothing but disappointment and dissatisfaction. And a sore tongue.
I couldn't keep it lit, I suffered with steam burns and tongue bite. I had periods of time when I just didn't bother.

Over time I have developed my own understanding, and I believe I have found that the old wisdom, when applied to the letter, was the source of my misery. Now I let my tobacco dry out fully. And then dry it a bit more. I pack it down harder, and give it an extra little poke to be sure. Then I tamp it with a firm hand whilst taking longer draws. And now generally it stays lit, tastes better, doesn't leave my tongue like an old leather rag, and I have never enjoyed my pipes so much.
This brings me to muse, how many others have walked away from this gentle pastime because of following the rule book too literally, when surely we are all different?
Anyway, back to my OGS in a little "Stone haven" basket billiard.

 

[The Benedictine]

Pipe tip: pack it and smoke. Nothing simpler than that. Too much thinking causes too much pain.

 

[sablebrush52]

I have been thinking lately, how much "good" advice actually held me up in my pipe journey. For many years I struggled to get the enjoyment I expected from my pipes, whilst being frustrated at doing everything by the book.

I checked my tobacco with the pinch test for the perfect level of moisture. I packed with the 3 stage method exactly as all the wise masters described. I then tried every other well regarded variation of cube cut, 2 stage, fold and stuff etc. I packed lighter, I tamped less, I sipped gently. I really was a top grade student! Except I still had nothing but disappointment and dissatisfaction. And a sore tongue.
I couldn't keep it lit, I suffered with steam burns and tongue bite. I had periods of time when I just didn't bother.

Over time I have developed my own understanding, and I believe I have found that the old wisdom, when applied to the letter, was the source of my misery. Now I let my tobacco dry out fully. And then dry it a bit more. I pack it down harder, and give it an extra little poke to be sure. Then I tamp it with a firm hand whilst taking longer draws. And now generally it stays lit, tastes better, doesn't leave my tongue like an old leather rag, and I have never enjoyed my pipes so much.
This brings me to muse, how many others have walked away from this gentle pastime because of following the rule book too literally, when surely we are all different?
Anyway, back to my OGS in a little "Stone haven" basket billiard.

I never use the “pinch test”, never have in the 53 years I’ve smoked pipes. If you’re primarily a Virginia smoker, drier tobacco, just shy of bone dry, offers the deeper flavors.

I also don’t use “methods”. Over the years I experimented, and still do, to find out what works best for me.

 

[JoeW]

I’ve been smoking pipes for a little more than a year now. For the first month I tried all the “methods”, searching for the One True Way to have the perfect smoke with ultimate flavor after only one light, and found myself frustrated that I never found it. It wasn’t a very enjoyable time.

Then I gave up on methods and techniques, and decided to relax, figure it out for myself, and enjoy each bowl for what it is, rather than what I expect it should be. Pipe smoking is much more enjoyable now, and I’ve learned more through experience than I ever did with methods and techniques.

 

[sardonicus87]

I make it no secret that I think most of the advice is bad advice. The idea behind the methods is to try to get the person asking to not over-pack, but no method will do that... because there's no way at each step to indicate how much is too much pressure, it's trying to socially engineer it, and it doesn't work. It also leads to too much over-thinking.

It's super common to see this sentiment ("I stopped worrying about it and suddenly my smokes are better").

There's no replacement for getting a feel for it. And these days, people get instant quit syndrome when they "do everything right" and it doesn't work, which is also not an uncommon thread to see ("I did everything right and it was still crap, I don't, understand...").

I smoke tobacco that ranges from dryer than granny's coochie to wetter than a horny dolphin without issue. Many others do too. Yet people will still say "you MUST let it sit out in the sun for a month to be dry enough to smoke or otherwise it's impossible, you couldn't light it with the sun and you'll actually get negative flavor" or "you must develop cake or else the pipe will explode and blow up your whole house" and other various dogmatic nonsense.

There's no "right way", and too many new people think there must be and demand "the one true way", and too many are happy to oblige with what they believe is "the one true way".

The only good advice in my opinion is: "stop over-thinking it and relax".

 

[warren]

"stop over-thinking it and relax".

This!

 

[Sig]

It's more about technique than any method. When I started there was no internet or pipe master in my world. I watched my friends step-dad push, cram, stuff and twist tobacco into his pipes. Light it and relight if it went out. He seemed to enjoy them immensely.
When the internet pipe experts came up with all the "put honey in the bowl", the Frank method, three step packing, tamp often, charring light...false light, then the REAL light.....I thought I was doing everything wrong for years. Even though I enjoyed my pipe as much as Dave(friends step-dad).
Put tobacco in your pipe, light entire top, puff slow and keep your pipe relatively clean....kinda foolproof....or I'm just a pipe smoking savant.
It's all pretty much muscle memory now. You may need to adjust your puffing cadence if the tobacco is too moist, or too tight or too loose.....but it ain't rocket science.

 

[ThermionicScott]

My smokes improved quite a bit after I joined this place and unlearned a lot of crap that had been fed to me when I started. It's sad that so much of it is still circulating out there.

 

[dottlejockey]

Glad you found what works best for you. Not overthinking is sound advice. Cheers and happy smokes!

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Back in 2011, when I first started out I took the advice of the tobacconist where I acquired my first pipe and some tobacco. I then got on YT and watched some how to video's, and after a while I just did my own thing. While applying some of the old school techniques I tweaked them to what worked best for me, and over time I just got better and better. I figured out that what works well for others may not work for me, so I'd adjust and adapt to something worked for me. Like anything with time and practice you get better at it. It's all part of the process and enjoying your pipes and tobacco's.

 

[PipeWI]

Um... what's a pinch test?
Self-taught and happy here

 

[Zeno Marx]

to each their own is the mantra of the pipe smoker. it's the unfortunate darkside to the "I want it all...yesterday" internet mentality. Getting pointed in directions is very different than wanting someone else to take the journey for you, and piping is very much a You journey. Getting there is everything. "I want to be there already" is not your friend with this pastime. The questions aren't bad. The advice isn't bad. Ask and thou shall receive is the problem. Don't ask. Just do.

 

[BingBong]

I think pipe maintenance is more important than any packing method - at least, when it comes to troublesome smokes. Keep them usable, the rest follows.

 

[PaulRVA]

I started back in The day when there was no advice or rules and thank gosh no internet
The only tips you got were from someone at a B&M or a Codger Scoop lesson from some hippie dude.
Trial and error was your only option!
I honestly think that’s what works the best. You only fail so many times before you learn what works and what doesn’t.
You either stick with it and enjoy it
or fail so horribly bad that you give up. Unfortunately I think Aromatics
are the cause of most of the beginners failures.
I also think that figuring it out like you did makes for a better smoker in the end as it’s a right of passage or progression through the ranks. Stuff and puff and do it until it’s worry free and instinctive and stay away from aromatics until you have.
That’s the best advice I can think of.
The videos, opinions etc only seem to confuse folks and make something that should be simple extremely complicated.
This “Thing of Ours” should be meditative and enjoyable not work or worry.
Just my 2 cents

 

[VDL_Piper]

I’ve never seen anything worth having come easily.

 

[peteyhan]

I have been thinking lately, how much "good" advice actually held me up in my pipe journey. For many years I struggled to get the enjoyment I expected from my pipes, whilst being frustrated at doing everything by the book.

I checked my tobacco with the pinch test for the perfect level of moisture. I packed with the 3 stage method exactly as all the wise masters described. I then tried every other well regarded variation of cube cut, 2 stage, fold and stuff etc. I packed lighter, I tamped less, I sipped gently. I really was a top grade student! Except I still had nothing but disappointment and dissatisfaction. And a sore tongue.
I couldn't keep it lit, I suffered with steam burns and tongue bite. I had periods of time when I just didn't bother.

Over time I have developed my own understanding, and I believe I have found that the old wisdom, when applied to the letter, was the source of my misery. Now I let my tobacco dry out fully. And then dry it a bit more. I pack it down harder, and give it an extra little poke to be sure. Then I tamp it with a firm hand whilst taking longer draws. And now generally it stays lit, tastes better, doesn't leave my tongue like an old leather rag, and I have never enjoyed my pipes so much.
This brings me to muse, how many others have walked away from this gentle pastime because of following the rule book too literally, when surely we are all different?
Anyway, back to my OGS in a little "Stone haven" basket billiard.

I'm fairly new to smoking pipe and sought similar guidance when beginning my own journey. The best piece of advice I heard I can't even credit the source unfortunately but at the forefront of my vision is remains.
"If you're enjoying yourself you aren't doing it wrong." Cheers

 

[geoffs]

I hate when people overcomplicate things to seem fancy.

 

[Peterson314]

In my experience, most new pipe smokers pack too tight and smoke too hot.

Best good advice I got was that your draw on your packed pipe should be the same as your empty pipe.

Once you can control your ember, try to smoke as low-temp as you possibly can. That's how you learn to find the flavor.

The rest of it is up to you. Pipe smoking is your own journey.

 

[mortonbriar]

Well sometimes a bowl is so good i have to pinch myself...is that the pinch test?

 

[Rolling Smoke (Stu)]

In my experience, most new pipe smokers pack too tight and smoke too hot.

Best good advice I got was that your draw on your packed pipe should be the same as your empty pipe.

Once you can control your ember, try to smoke as low-temp as you possibly can. That's how you learn to find the flavor.

The rest of it is up to you. Pipe smoking is your own journey.

That sounds excellent advice and no doubt has helped many people. It is also exactly the kind of advice I mean in my OP that meant I was so obsessed those years ago with an open draw that the pipe wouldn't stay lit, causing excessive puffing, a burned tongue and much frustration. I guess all advise is subjective to the receiver and how they interpret it. Personally a draw with a little resistance works better for me.