Lighters vs Matches
- Thread starter TheOccasionalPuffer
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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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Moving from a butane Zippo to wooden matches (Strike on Box) was the secret sauce for me. After a few weeks, I discovered that I had banished tongue bite. With the lighter flame, I was scorching my tobacco. With the match, I was only getting it smoldering.
At first, I was going thru 20 matches per bowl. But, after a few months, I became pretty adept. Now I can light a bowl with a match outdoors with a breeze.
I still bring a lighter for really windy days, but 99% of my bowls are match lit. I do have glass pipe ashtrays on both porches, in the sunroom and garage. Sometimes I forget to dump them, which is a sure fire way to anger Mrs. Jones.
Practice makes perfect with the match. I did score several boxes of "Strike Anywhere" matches down here at a old time hardware store.
At first, I was going thru 20 matches per bowl. But, after a few months, I became pretty adept. Now I can light a bowl with a match outdoors with a breeze.
I still bring a lighter for really windy days, but 99% of my bowls are match lit. I do have glass pipe ashtrays on both porches, in the sunroom and garage. Sometimes I forget to dump them, which is a sure fire way to anger Mrs. Jones.
Practice makes perfect with the match. I did score several boxes of "Strike Anywhere" matches down here at a old time hardware store.
I keep reading that matches are cleaner, but the chemicals that allow them to combust when they are struck is much dirtier that pure butane. If you wait long enough for them to burn off the chemicals you’re risking charred nubs. I still maintain butane lighters are the cleanest.
Ranked from cleanest to dirtiest (used properly):
It’s gotta be true, I read it on the Interwebs!
Ranked from cleanest to dirtiest (used properly):
- Quality butane lighter
- Wooden matches (allowed to burn off first)
- Liquid fuel lighters
It’s gotta be true, I read it on the Interwebs!
You let the sulfur at the top burn off for a couple seconds before bringing it to your pipe.
Admittedly, I smoke too much. At least six bowls a day. In all of my years of pipe smoking I have used about every available lighter. In the last six years or so, I have started only using a zippo with the pipe insert. Inside, outside or a high winds it lights every time. I start my day by giving it a few squirts of lighter fluid and I'm good for the day. I've had the same zippos for at least 10 years. They were gifts from my kids. I never understood the problem with the taste of the lighter fluid. I let it burn off a few seconds and if I do taste anything, it goes away in a matter of seconds.
Forgive me for nerding out, it’s the engineer in me. For those that are tasting chemicals when you light your pipe, this might help.
For combustion to occur you need three items: oxygen, fuel (tobacco), and a heat source (matches, lighter, lit pasta, etc.). It sounds like some of you are trying to suck start a Harley.
The temperature range that matters
Most pipe tobaccos begin to pyrolyze and smolder (the chemical breakdown that produces smoke) at roughly:
For perspective:
What actually lights the tobacco
Pipe tobacco doesn’t “burn” like paper. It:
Why overheating ruins a smoke
Once the ember creeps past ~450–500°C, bad things happen:
For combustion to occur you need three items: oxygen, fuel (tobacco), and a heat source (matches, lighter, lit pasta, etc.). It sounds like some of you are trying to suck start a Harley.
The temperature range that matters
Most pipe tobaccos begin to pyrolyze and smolder (the chemical breakdown that produces smoke) at roughly:
- ~200–250°C (390–480°F): onset of pyrolysis
- ~300–400°C (570–750°F): stable smoldering combustion
For perspective:
- A match flame is ~600–800°F at the tip
- A zippo flame is -800°F
- A butane lighter is ~1,900°F at the flame core
What actually lights the tobacco
Pipe tobacco doesn’t “burn” like paper. It:
- Dries at the surface (moisture boils off ~100°C)
- Pyrolyzes (sugars, cellulose, and oils break down)
- Smolders as oxygen feeds the ember
Why overheating ruins a smoke
Once the ember creeps past ~450–500°C, bad things happen:
- Sugars scorch → bitterness
- Proteins degrade → tongue bite
- Bowl temp rises → wet, acrid smoke
This is the kind of “nerding out” I’m here for.
To me, understanding the “why” behind anything helps me to better practice technique. Same with a lot of areas of life even outside of pipe smoking. Thanks for taking the time to write this all out
when I had long hair once it got blown into my pipe ember. That wasn't fun or tasty.