Big Problem with Pipe Drawing

[balsarunas]

Hello everyone. Recently I joined to pipe smoking community because I wanted to feel something new and enjoy this relaxing hobby, but I encountered with a problem, I don't know am I drawing a pipe properly?
I used to watch dozen of youtube videos and read many articles and comments where everybody says same: "When you packed your pipe, try to draw it. If it draws like an empty straw, you packed to loose, if it draws like a milkshake, you packed to tight. It is best if draws like a soda. Then you packed properly". Now from a begining I smoked a pipe 5 times and about 15 times I packed a pipe just to learn to do it properly. The problem is, that no mater how I packed a pipe (loose or tight), I don't feel a resistance like a drawing a soda. For me it's more like drawing almost an empty straw. To inhale it's not big deal for me, because I am ex smoker and vaper. I just want to enjoy a pipe like others, without inhaling. So please tell me experienced pipe smokers what I do wrong?
I tried to pack a pype by different ways, I event try to draw a water from glass end then compare a pipe drawing, and there not even close same feel... I tried even pack a pipe as hard as I can, the result, almost empty straw... When I cover a bowl with finger then I feel a resistance of water drawing.
So what I do it wrong? Maybe it doesn't should be drawing a pipe 100% same as drawing a water by straw? Please, help me, because I don't want to give up and throw away this hobby. I know, that requires a lot of patience. Also I don't have any pipe smokers around me, so there isn't any examples, which could show me or help.
Further more, I wanted to ask, why surroundings smells campfire and ashed then I tried to smoke a pipe at home? Do I burnt tobacco or there is other reason?
P.S My pipe is MM Corn Cob Legend and tobacco is Mac Baren Original Choice (blend of Virginia and Burley tobaccos and mixed with Mac Baren Cavendish)
Thank you all of you for any help and advices.

 

[Chasing Embers]

If it draws like an empty straw

This is how I always do it, but you can always adjust the draw with the tamper when lighting.

 

[workman]

The comparison to a straw is just an attempt to give inexperienced smokers an idea of how it should be. It is never really the same.

When I started about a year ago, I read everything I could find about packing, drawing etc. Now I don't use any of the advertised methods. I make sure my tobacco is dry. Really dry. Then I shove it in and smoke it. Ribbons, flakes, coins, I cram it in, not to tight, light it and smoke it. I always need relights and I am OK with that.

What you need to do is keep trying. After a while, you'll get better at it, but only if you keep trying. And dry your tobacco.

 

[ignaciojn]

MM Cobs have a very open draw, especially if you, like me, throw away the filter.

If you try with a briar unfiltered pipe, I'm sure you'll find the difference.
The question is, are you enjoying your smoke, or is it giving you trouble?

 

[slowroll]

Thère is an axiom, "dry the tobacco more than you think is necessary, and pack more loosely than you thought necessary." If you are getting a satisfying smoke that s not too hot and gives you the smoke you can taste, you're in good shape. My smokes are always packed just slightly, if at all, tighter than what an empty pipe draws like. And, the drier the tobac, the tighter you can pack with no ill effect.

 

[bnichols23]

Good rule of thumb from slowroll. Hard to go wrong there!

 

[seacaptain]

 

[mso489]

Pack it full but so it still has some give. Do the initial light, whether it stays lit or not, then settle the bowl with a little gentle tamping. As you repeat this process attentively, I think you will find a nice balance between fully packed and too-tight. To the degree possible, put your cigarette smoking, vaping, and cigar smoking if any, out of mind. Pipes are somewhat different.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

First and foremost know that pipe smoking is very personal. The reason why pipe smoking is so difficult is there isn't really a cookie cutter way to do it. It's not like cigarettes where you just light it and go. It's not even like cigars where you just cut the drawing end char the opposite end and go. There are a lot more factors involved. Bowl chamber depth and diameter, draft hole diameter, how the stem is cut (more pronounced button less pronounced button).
Some people like a tighter draw some like a looser draw. Sometimes people will change up the packing based on the blend. For me personally I have to pack Semois a lot tighter than a Mac Baren flake.
I would say try different packing methods, but make sure to test the draw before lighting the tobacco. If it's too restrictive then empty it and reload it. If it tightens up throughout the smoke from tamping you can use the poker of the pipe tool to break it up a bit or try putting a cleaner through it. There's been many times I've saved a bowl by putting a bit of an air pocket by poking a cleaner from stem to bowl.