Instant Out Pipe

[kyriefurro]

This has happened several times during the last few days - I'm puffing along contently when, with no warning whatsoever, my pipe goes out. I'm not flaking about it gradually tapering off and going out. It's like a switch. One puff gives me a generous mouthful of smoke and the next gives nothing - not even a dribble. It's not specific to one type of tobacco, either. It happens no matter what I put in my bowl.
I'm assuming I'm it's got something to do with how I'm packing my pipe, but what? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[mso489]

Possibilities are damp tobacco, uneven pack, moisture in pipe other than from the new tobacco, tobacco is

settling and pieces are getting caught in the draw, you're not careful in getting the fire going so you get

a mouthful of smoke off the top but don't get the bowl lit. Or, your pipe has been inhabited by a poltergeist

who is just doing this as the first stunt in a series of pranks that will have your pipe eventually flying around

and chasing you.

 

[kyriefurro]

I suspect it's mainly my packing technique. I've was having trouble with packing too tightly so I tried to loosen things up. I suspect I overcompensated

 

[jah76]

In addition to all that, I find that in a wider bowl I really need to get a good first and second light. A lot of time Latakia can be stubborn for me, until I get an even solid lighting.
I still screw the pooch on pack jobs sometimes.

 

[haroldt]

Great topic - this answered a few issues for me.

 

[kyriefurro]

Hi Harold,
It's kind of funny that my first thought when I saw you'd bumped my post was "holy crap, that was an old post!"...all of six days ago :roll:
But, in a way it has been a while ago, since I've changed up quite a few things, so I'll throw out a quick follow up. First, it was most definitely caused by poor bowl packing. My three step technique had evolved into a four step technique, and every other method I tried got screwed up because for some strange reason I could not resist the urge to put just a little bit more tobacco in and mash it down. I've finally loosened things up quite a bit. It's still not perfect, but it helps.
The other thing that I was having issues with was that I simply wasn't getting a good light on the pipe. My Zippo pipe lighter and I don't seem to get a long well. I know others have great success with them though so YMMV. I used a cheap Bic a couple of times, and then, as I related in another post, I picked up a Xikar - sort of the Cadillac of pipe lighters. I find that I'm not having to work so hard to get the pipe lit, suffering less tongue bite, and getting a much more thorough light, which really helps keep the pipe from going out.
Last, I discovered Breath Smoking which tends to keep a constant soft stream of oxygen going through the pipe. Make it harder for the pipe to go all the way out, without making it smoke hot like constant puffing will do.
So, long story, short - I still have a long way to go, but I'm not nearly so frustrated as I was those six long days ago.

 

[lostandfound]

I'll tell ya what... It just happened for me fairly recently, so the experience, or set of ever evolving experiences if you will, is still fairly fresh in my mind. It's almost as if you hit an invisible wall and just keep going. You suddenly realize... Okay, maybe not suddenly, but at some point you realize, "Hey, I think I've got it!" You'll still have some smokes that are just shit, but they happen less frequently. I've been smoking a pipe for three-ish years, and can vaguely remember this happening in the last year+ or so. Needless to say, this has been a good year for piping so far.