Bowl Packing

[jsiddle]

I need some advice on bowl packing...
It seems to take me about 4-5 lights to get it going... then it keeps going for most of the bowl...
I feel that I am not doing something right.
What happens when a bowl is too tight?

What happens when a bowl is too loose?
How long should a bowl stay lit if I set it down?

How often should I need to take a puff/drag on a pipe to keep it lit?

 

[numbersix]

Sounds like you're on the right track jsiddle
I usually light once—spreading the flame around, take a puff or two, then tamp it a bit and light again and sometimes it needs a third light. The trick is to pack is as densely as you dare, but still allowing for an easy draw (a little more densely for wetter tobacco, like aros)—then it will stay lit.
I tried all of the various packing methods, but I was over-thinking it in the beginning. Now I just pack it loose at the bottom, and densely packed at the top. A few lights in the beginning I think is normal for loose cut tobacco.
Also - if you're lucky, you can go one minute between puffs, but at least for me, I usually puff every 10-15 secs.

 

[voorhees]

I mostly get it right, but there are times I pack to tightly and have to adjust. Its the nature of pipe smoking.

if the bowl is too tight, I will take my pipe pick and loosen it up a bit. I usually clench my pipe, so I puff more, but slowly.

 

[cynyr]

Practice will get you there. Too loose and you can tamp, but too tight is a little trickier. Stick your spike down at the back of the bowl, all the way to the draw hole. This will at least get that part moving freely, and once it burns down a bit you can stir.
Or, avoid the problem completely by testing the draw before you light. Too tight means a repack!

 

[sjfine]

I am only smoking pipes since the early Spring of '12, but since I am an addict (with everything that I try twice - and like), I have packed what seems like thousands of pipes. I have read, watched and practiced. I have tried the three step method, the Harry method, the Frank method and the Air Pocket method.
I smoke aromatics, exclusively.
For me, the ability to light a pipe "the first time" depends on the pipe and how much attention I am paying to lighting it.
For example, I usually pack a cob when I walk the dog. I don't light it until I am out of the house - walking. I find that I have a serious problem lighting it, often taking five lights to get it going. I haven't figured out why, except all evidence points to the fact that I'm walking since I have few problems lighting cobs in general.
I have a Kaywoodie 95B pot that I can't seem to light right, no matter how much I tinker. I am confident that I will one day figure out how to keep a pot happy, but that day hasn't come.
I find that the Air Pocket method works best for me most of the time; again, this depends on the pipe. I am also not very careful about whether there is an actual air pocket or not. What I am careful about is a draw that is the same as an empty pipe. Sometimes I am able to fix this with a pipe cleaner stuck all the way into the draw hole if the draw gets too tight after tamping.
I tamp very lightly. I am not upset if I have to relight. If I sip, I can taste the top of the tobacco even at the very end of the pipe. And, most significantly, since I have started to sip, really sip, I am getting almost no backwash when I smoke. (I also tend to lean the pipe step-up when holding it.)
It seems to me, after this rambling exposition, that keeping a pipe lit is, in large part, dependent upon the ability to get air into the bottom of the packed pipe. So, by extension, getting it lit "the first time," must also be dependent upon that, coupled with the embers being in contact with the next layer of tobacco.
So, for me, it is a dance between keeping the pipe tamped, but not tamped enough to block the bottom of the bowl.
And, it is still a great deal of fun working it all out. My pipes actually have personalities at this stage of the game for me.
How cool is that?

 

[captainprophesy]

use the swirling palm method... been doing it for years now and never have a problem with re-lights... unless I set it down for a while.