Lighters vs Matches

[SlowDraw Tex]

I've used matches, butane lighters, and Zippo fuel lighters.

Since I smoke mostly outdoors, The Zippo is what I reach for 90% of the time. However, when using a Zippo, you have to learn to let the initial lighter flare burn down a bit, for a few seconds, before touching flame to leaf. If you don't, you'll get the naptha taste on the charring light.

However, nothing at all wrong with the other two methods at all.

Love

Hello all,
I took up pipe smoking a few months ago and have been enjoying it thoroughly. However I’ve been wondering what people prefer when it comes to lighting, matches or lighters.

I’ve been using matches as they are quite cheap and my friend told me they are superior for pipe smoking but I find I’ve been using a pile of matches every smoke, still getting my loading method down I guess lol, and I was wondering if lighters have some better advantages and if so what would you recommend?

Sorry if this thread already exists.

Picture: my cob on a little stand I made out of some black walnut

Love the stand. Great job!

 

[SlowDraw Tex]

Like most of the others in this thread, I agree that it is what you are most comfortable with, and can be a product of what you first used and what works.

For me, I started smoking pipes with my dad, and we would always smoke outside in the evenings. He would use a safety lighter, which he had for lighting the barbecue. They always work for me and you don’t have to worry about wind and burning your fingers.
Then my wife introduced me to the candle lighter version, which is similar but has a shorter extension. I really like them as it also produces a soft flame and keeps from burning the fingers.

 

[TheOccasionalPuffer]

Love

Love the stand. Great job!

Thank you! I’m thinking about making some more our a multiple pipe stand.

 

[DesertDan]

I use a lighter either a Bic or a Zippo, I carry both.

 

[Sea Lord]

I really prefer lighters to matches. Not just for practical reasons (carrying a box of matches vs. a lighter when I step out of the house).

 

[SonofaMac]

I use a Zippo with a pipe insert, and that's been working like a charm. You need to let the wick burn for three to five seconds before lighting your pipe, if you don't like the taste of lighter fluid. I still use matches from time to time but I find them unreliable since I can't use them during winter or autumn, here in Québec.

Now this is a tip I’ll be remembering. I’d guess this same method would count for those “forever matches” as well since it’s the same thing more or less.

Had a customer back in my smoke shop days who would only smoke with a hemp wic by lighting it first and then using it in order to reduce the “butane taste” they described. Was debating trying this out with my pipe, and might still - for science - but from what I gather from your comment, it sounds like kerosene removes that need as long as you’re willing to wait a couple seconds.

 

[SlowDraw Tex]

Thank you! I’m thinking about making some more our a multiple pipe stand.

I have some monkey pod wood that has been sitting around. Now I have an inspiration for what to do with it. Please share if you make another stand. I think it’s cool.

 

[SpuddsBuckley]

Matches are the cleanest light. I use matches exclusively. Take a brand new pipe that you've never smoked from, drop a lighter into the empty bowl and take a few draws, as if you were lighting your tobacco. Do this with a butane lighter and with a kerosene wick lighter. Enjoy the pleasant chemical flavors of butane gas and lighter fluid? If you don't want that in your tobacco, go with paper or wooden matches. You can get 50 matchbooks (1000 matches) on Amazon for like $7.