First smoke tonight. Reflections and questions

[timmay]

Hey everyone, been doing lots of reading here and love it so far...
Had my first smoke tonight. I bought a used Medico Gold Crest (you can see the pics in the auction I won here click here
Anywho, I smoked some kind of house blend recommended to me at my local B&M. I believe it is some kind of Virginia cased with a brandy flavor. I really enjoyed the flavors and the smells and loved the process, but dang if I had trouble keeping it lit! I probably had to light the dang thing 12 times or more. I think I may have packed it too loosely, since I could kind of hear the suction through the bowl when I puffed on it. Does that sound like a culprit for it going out frequently? Just trying to get some guidance so I can enjoy the next time I light up even more.
Also, how long do I have to rest my pipe before I can smoke it again? I'll likely be a weekend only smoker, so I'd really like to smoke again tomorrow, but hate to harm the pipe or degrade the experience some how if it needs to dry out.
Thats all for now, sorry for the long post.

 

[sirbogglesworth]

Welcome timmay!
I am a newbie as well, but from what I have gathered a 24hr rest is suggested for briar pipes. I could be absolutely wrong, but no need to worry, members will definitely chime in on this
As far as the continuous relighting, again from what I have gathered in the short time I have been smoking, it could have been loose packing of the bowl, but tamping could have fixed that. Someone please correct me if I am wrong (thanks!).

 

[cortezattic]

Hi and welcome to the fraternity timmay! You're right to suspect packing technique as the culprit in your burning problems. But then again, bad inappropriate packing can explain more than 70% of all pipe smoking related problems -- really! :lol:

Near the bottom of the left hand column of this page is a 2 part video on packing techniques. That should save us both a lot of typing. In the meantime, don't be overly concerned about your pipe going out all the time. Sometimes I have the same problem, and it varies with pipe, tobacco choice, relative humidity, my lack of attentiveness, etc. (no end of variables... so don't get hung up on it, it's not an indication of your sophistication.)
Rough rule of thumb for briar pipes: rest it as many days as bowls of tobacco you've smoked on a single day. It helps enormously if you wipe it out with a pipe cleaner after every bowlful.

 

[sockmonkey]

And there it is. A much better answer from Cortez than I could've mustered.

 

[sirbogglesworth]

rest it as many days as bowls of tobacco you've smoked on a single day

Thank you for that cortezattic, a new rule of thumb that I will definitely be following.

 

[timmay]

Cortez - Thanks thats very helpful. I guess the good news is that since I only smoked 1 bowl I can have another tomorrow evening? I'll give those videos a gander tomorrow and see what I can see. Its hard for me to know how "springy" my pack should be.

 

[romeowood]

Just comes with practice, timmay. I had a lot of trouble knowing what to do when I first started, chugged like a freight train and torched the bowl with a flamethrower. Lots of leathery tongue ensued. :mrgreen:

Now I've found my rhythm, and can adjust it within one bowl for different kinds of tobacco / pipes / environments, for the most part. Just learn to know when it *feels* like you're getting a good smoke, and stick with it. It is, as lawrence has stated, a largely intuitive exercise that you just need to spend some time with.

Cheers, welcome, and enjoy!

 

[pipetrucker]

packing is very important, as already mentioned. Also, being an aromatic, I suspect that perhaps the tobacco was too moist. I am in the habit of allowing the tobacco to dry a bit before smoking it.
Also, as for the time a pipe needs to "rest", that is something of an on-going debate between pipe smokers of different philosophies. Some claim a pipe needs to rest 24 hours or longer between smokes (something I suspect was started by pipe makers LOL). Others, myself among them, do not believe this to be true at all.
Remember, at one time a man was likely to own only a single pipe and smoked it all day long every day.
I do think it is good to own at least a couple of pipes and alternate them between smokes, but other than moisture build up which can be removed with a pipe cleaner, you aren't going to damage the pipe by smoking it repeatedly.
I own a pretty decent number of pipes, but some days I may smoke only one or two of them all day long and have never suffered any ill effects.

 

[timmay]

Very helpful information every body. Hopefully I'll get out for another smoke today.

 

[admin]

Threads like this are one of the things I like best about this place.
You guys are all awesome.

 

[simpledesign]

Just make sure the pipe is smoking cool and let it cool down completely before you take the stem off for cleaning...other than that I think most of it is just a precaution.

 

[timmay]

How intensive should I be cleaning it between smokes? I ran a pipe cleaner through it after I was done last night and it came out pretty clean.

 

[unclearthur]

I shoot a cleaner through after each smoke.

 

[pipetrucker]

How intensive should I be cleaning it between smokes? I ran a pipe cleaner through it after I was done last night and it came out pretty clean.

There are no hard rules when it comes to pipe smoking. Do what works best for you. Running a pipe cleaner through the pipe after a smoke is not a bad idea.