Clear Up Some Confusion?

[toddryan84]

I love how helpful and honest everyone on this forum is! I've never been part of a community so accommodating and welcoming.
I must share my experience tonight, because if "reignited" my passion a little bit more. So, tonight I smoked some

Peterson Old Dublin in Munich Rattrays Bulldog, I "dried" my tobacco by lightly rolling it in a napkin for a little. Then I gravity filled the bowl, did a charring light, and then a full light. I only ended up having to relight 4 times and for the most part the smoke was cool and I got a lot of flavor! I used a technique I read about where I gently tap my finger on top of the bowl as I puff and this helped the tobacco stay lit. During one of my lights I did puff a bit too hard and got some tongue bite but that was probably due to my wrong doing.
I am having trouble drawing the flame into the bowl when the tobacco smokes a good distance down though, I notice if I keep the flame above the bowl I can't really draw it far enough into the bowl to light the remaining tobacco any advice?

 

[toddryan84]

@briarblues
I'm only gravity filling and I'm not over tamping either, my issues might be with overpuffing or the ambient humidity. I have to continue smoking and trial and error to see what I can and can't fix

 

[deathmetal]

1. What is the tried and true method of breaking in a pipe?

In my view, start smoking it. Do not overdo it for a few weeks: smoke slowly, do not let the pipe get hot, and consider sweeter blends.

2. Dedicating a pipe to tobaccos?

Depends on how ghosty the tobacco is. Some tobaccos leave temporary ghosts, like La Brumeuse; others will leave a ghost from this life into the next, like certain Lakelands.

3. How do I keep the smoke cool?

In my view, smoking a pipe always meant breath smoking. You let capillary pressure smoke it for you, which occurs between breaths. You want to be blowing out smoke every seven seconds or so, roughly two breaths for someone concentrating. Here is the classic video on the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o8Sfg6EH9k

 

[jpmcwjr]

I "dried" my tobacco by lightly rolling it in a napkin for a little. Then I gravity filled the bowl, did a charring light, and then a full light. I only ended up having to relight 4 times and for the most part the smoke was cool and I got a lot of flavor!

Good! But "drying" your tobacco that way in FL ain't gonna make it. Better than nothing, but I am wondering if your house is cooled down the RH inside might be good for overnight or 24 hours drying.

 

[jndyer]

If you are having trouble relighting once you have smoked through half a bowl, I would suggest dumping a little of the ash and then attempting to relight. I often do this by using the pick portion of my pipe tool to loosen a bit of the ash at the top and then turn the pipe upside down over my ashtray and let gravity remove the bit of ash that has been loosened.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

As far as dedicating pipes go, I only try not to mix (Ennerdale with anything) Aromatics and English blends. Aro's and VaPers go together well, English and VaPer go together well, but something like Frosty Mint with a hint of Latakia just sounds nasty.

Lots of people still seem to end up dedicating a pipe to English or Virginia blends exclusively, once you've had enough lapses in judgement to have more than 10 pipes it's not hard.
As far as keeping your pipe lit goes, I hate to say it but you need to start categorizing your blends by how well they burn. "Over The Counter" (OTC) blends didn't sell multiple orders of magnitude higher quantity than any other pipe tobacco in the 20th Century for no reason. Dunhill blends also tend to be formulated to burn well.

I've basically come to the conclusion that Virginia flakes are never going to burn well.

Rope tobacco burns about as well as filling your pipe with damp leaves no matter how long it's dried or how finely you chop it. If I were to get a good coffee grinder I've heard that those can pulverise some stubborn blends into something that burns better, but for now I just assume that I can't smoke any flakes except in a disposable pipe that I can burn to a crisp with a butane torch.

 

[ssjones]

I fill and smoke as described above. At the end of the smoke (I'm careful to not keep lighting the dottle), instead of dumping out the ash, I use my tamper end to work it into a very fine ash, than work that all around the interior of the bowl. I dump out the loose ashes, and run a cleaner through it. A layer of fine ash still clings to the bowl. I'll do that for 5-6 bowls. I think that helps start to develop a cake.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Honestly, I didn't read all of the other responses, except Deathmetals, but I was just making sure that he wasn't breaking any rules, ha ha ha.
I just smoke my pipes the same way from the day I get it till... I accidentally run over it with the tractor. Ha

I do dedicate my pipes somewhat, I have pure Virginia pipes, and VaPer/Latakia pipes, and aromatic pipes. But, I will crossover sometimes and smoke a latakia in my aromatic pipes and vica versa, except for my Virginia pipes. I don't even smoke some brands of Virginias in my straight VA pipes, because they don't meet my expectations for a straight Virginia.

But, it is nice to get some latakia flavors in some aromatics, and such. It gives me a whole new flavor pattern which is interesting and sometimes better than just the blend by itself.
As to smoking slow... I just need to keep a file ready to copy and paste, but after the initial lighting, you would have look closely to ever see any smoke coming from me. I just let the smoke lazily drizzle into my mouth slowly and naturally leave my mouth as I breathe. The idea is to keep the smoke in my mouth long enough to soak up as much of it's nicotine goodness as possible, and not just blow money and nicotine into the air. I smoke on the verge of it going out, not like cigarette puffs, but just a constant slow flow. Look up "breath smoking." We had a member named Kashmir that had a few fantastic posts about it years ago. I think it helps. And, I hope this helps. ::

 

[toddryan84]

@jpm
RH in my house is about 47% so it's relatively low. I also keep the house at around 75 degrees. Most of my tobacco is over 2 years old as I took a long hiatus and didn't smoke for a bit. The tinned tobacco is either sealed in it's tin (unopened, I have several tins I still have yet to open) and the ones that I opened are in jars.
Now, I do have a large freezer bag filled with small sample bags....the humidity of some of these ranges, for instance, my Haunted Bookshop is dry as a bone, it sounds like dehydrated grass when you touch it. Some of the others in that bag (all sealed away in their original sample bags) are wetter than others and others are just right.
So how dry is too dry? and how long should I be drying my tobacco for? Rubbing it in the paper towel seemed to help a bit...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So how dry is too dry?

There's no law or rule on this. In fact, most of the hardcore pipe shop lounge lizards will tell you that you don't have to dry at all. I like mine bone dry or close to it. It is really all about appeasing your own taste buds. Try different things till you know what you enjoy most. The humidity is so high in Alabama, that leaving a tin open, will just make it moldy and sopping wet, I keep the lids on, just to keep the water out. So, I will put my tobacco that I am going to load on a coffee filter (or something like that) and nuke it in the microwave for 5-12 seconds, depending on the tobacco.
YMMV

 

[toddryan84]

@deniz
You and me sound exactly the same in our puffing style and cadence. My bowl gets hot too, not TOO hot, but it gets hot...I did the face test and it didn't burn me, but I also have a high tolerance to pain as I am tattooed on a large portion of my body lol.
I feel like perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but yesterday was one of the better experiences I had...so I have hope.

 

[deathmetal]

I just let the smoke lazily drizzle into my mouth slowly and naturally leave my mouth as I breathe. The idea is to keep the smoke in my mouth long enough to soak up as much of it's nicotine goodness as possible, and not just blow money and nicotine into the air. I smoke on the verge of it going out, not like cigarette puffs, but just a constant slow flow. Look up "breath smoking."

This is the method I have seen endorsed by most highly proficient pipe smokers and some cigar smokers.

 

[toddryan84]

@cosmic
Yeah, I live close to Miami...the humidity and heat here are unbearable. It doesn't help either that this is our rainy season so it'll rain for a good portion of the morning, then the sun comes out and heats everything up and the humidity is so high that your body and clothes are literally wet when you step outside. It's pretty awful
For instance, I was on my patio smoking yesterday around 8pm the sun was just about done going down....my face was sweating, my upper lip drenched in sweat....at one point my smoke tasted salty because I had gotten a bit of my swear on the stem.
It's difficult, the winter isn't any better either....it's just not as hot....but humidity can still be rather high during winter.

 

[toddryan84]

@deathmetal
A little embarrassing but, I drool a bit too much to do that :/ I tried that with cigar smoking when I was avidly into it and it never worked. I can tell you though, I am a pro at cigars....I worked for a Cigar shop, attended several seminars, and collected some highly esteemed sticks over the years....which I haven't touched in 5+ years :/
I do prefer pipes to cigars, but I just want to be able to get it right....trial and error is proving to be difficult

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Todd, check to see if there is a pipe club in your area. Florida ought to have lots of retired people playing chess in the park with black socks and sandals smoking pipes. Just find a spot with some pipe smokers and set down and smoke with them. Here in Alabama, there are still enough pipe smokers about that we can get together in a parking lot at the grocery store and smoke while our wives shop. This is just a part of my Sunday routine now, black socks and all. Setting with a pipe smoker, just smoking, spare the jibber jabber, taking a pipe out of your mouth to talk is just no way to enjoy a smoke. IMO. Smoking along with another pipe smoker is the absolute best way to learn. Plus, no need to think of stupid crap to talk about. Just enjoy the world and the tobacco.

 

[deathmetal]

A little embarrassing but, I drool a bit too much to do that

No reason to be embarrassed. Might just carry around a spit cup and periodically remove the pipe from the mouth, spit, and resume.

Here in Alabama, there are still enough pipe smokers about that we can get together in a parking lot at the grocery store and smoke while our wives shop.

This sounds brilliant.

 

[toddryan84]

@cosmic
You'd think there would be, but there aren't any. We don't have any good Tobacconist's here either. If you do a quick google search in my area (I live in Broward County and about 15 min from Dade County) all the "pipe" and tobacco stores cater to....well, another form of "pipe" smoking.
One store I went to a few years ago to look for pipes, had to pull their pipes out of this small area tucked away in the corner and all of their pipes smelled like weed....I kid you not, they had a few Savinelli and a few Stanwell but they all smelled like weed and looked like they hadn't been touched in 10 years.
Broward/Dade County does not have as many retiree's as you would think, idk why there is always this misconception that Florida is filled with retiree's it really isn't...the West Coast of Florida is....like Fort Myers and Naples, but not here....here it's predominantly latin/hispanic and relatively young (I myself am 33)

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm not sure how far south they are, but we have quite a few embers down that way. Another moderator, Zack, and Harris (AKA Cigrmaster) just to name a couple. We even have a guy growing pipe tobacco down your ways. You might do a search for pipe clubs. They don't have to be associated with pipe shops. In facts, some of the best pipe clubs meet up at various places each month. Google or check Facebook. I wish I could help more. Good luck

 

[toddryan84]

@cosmic
I did a search and it actually lead me here, but it seems that club doesn't meet anymore, that or they aren't responding to the thread. It was a thread I resurrected because it was about 4 years old. The last post was over a year ago. Other than that, I haven't seen or found anything.
I'm a member of the German American Club of Hollywood and there are a few guys who smoke pipes there, they are old enough to be my grandparents lol, but they don't seem to be a member or any pipe clubs, I think they just smoke alone at home.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Dear Mr Todd and Deniz, no worries often I'm facing the overheat problems with my pipes similar to yours, only thick walled seem be less prone to this issue, and those my pipes with high glossy schellac tend to overheat to a degree I must put em down for cooling,but I'm getting used to this phenomenom,and wont pay too much attention to this,if they getting hot, I'll make a little pause and then relighting, what causes this I donno, and I do avoid overpuffing ,perhaps my tobacco is either too wet, or it may be wrong packing method or something alike,only time will tell, now Best Greets boys , Paul