Howdy. How's it going?
I came here to see if I can't get some help and info on pipe smoking.
I've been smoking cigars for years now, and have always been curious about pipes.
Recently I took the plunge, and bought a pipe, some tobacco, and a few other things.
...And man, am I struggling.
For starters, here's the pipe I bought:
I also got a tin of Eileen's Dream from there, and a different tobacco from the local shop here.
As well as a lighter, pipe tool, and pipe cleaners.
So now, the basis of my problems--I can't seem to keep the pipe lit. Heck, I can barely get it lit in the first place.
I've watched several videos online for packing and lighting pipes, but still I can't seem to manage it.
I'll pack the pipe, do a charring light (in which only the center of the tobacco seems to light, no matter what I do with the lighter), lightly tamp it down, and light it again.
After I do that, I get next to no smoke from the pipe, and when I do it's very very hot.
I'm not drawing on the pipe very hard, nor am I going overkill with the lighter when lighting it, so I'm not sure why that's happening.
As for packing the pipe, I've tried several different methods from several different videos/sites. All have yielded the same results.
So in short I can barely get the pipe lit to begin with, when I do get it lit I have to puff on it constantly or else it goes out instantly, and the smoke gets very hot.
I'll point out, the smoke gets super hot, but the bowl is barely even getting warm, which seems odd.
Another issue I'm running into is that there's a horrific ashy smell from the bowl. Which is after trying (and failing) to use it just 3 or 4 times.
And that transfers into the taste of the smoke, too. It tastes like licking the inside of a lifetime cigarette smokers lungs...
So I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong there, as well.
I have been cleaning the pipe, though I've not used any sorts of chemicals or anything, if that's suggested.
If you managed to read through all of that and have some advice to give me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Edit:
I will point out, the pipe isn't quite the same as the pictures of it. There's a silver ring around the stem, which is absent in the pictures, but most importantly the stem protrudes into the bowl.
With the stem going into the bowl like it does (goes about 1/2 way in), it makes it pretty hard to clean. Tobacco likes to get pinched and stuck in the corners of the stem, and it's very hard to get them out.
I came here to see if I can't get some help and info on pipe smoking.
I've been smoking cigars for years now, and have always been curious about pipes.
Recently I took the plunge, and bought a pipe, some tobacco, and a few other things.
...And man, am I struggling.
For starters, here's the pipe I bought:
Missouri Meerschaum Cobbit Dwarf Corncob Pipe
The smallest of the corncob Churchwardens, choose your Missouri Meerschaum Cobbit Dwarf from TobaccoPipes.com where it ships for free!
www.tobaccopipes.com
As well as a lighter, pipe tool, and pipe cleaners.
So now, the basis of my problems--I can't seem to keep the pipe lit. Heck, I can barely get it lit in the first place.
I've watched several videos online for packing and lighting pipes, but still I can't seem to manage it.
I'll pack the pipe, do a charring light (in which only the center of the tobacco seems to light, no matter what I do with the lighter), lightly tamp it down, and light it again.
After I do that, I get next to no smoke from the pipe, and when I do it's very very hot.
I'm not drawing on the pipe very hard, nor am I going overkill with the lighter when lighting it, so I'm not sure why that's happening.
As for packing the pipe, I've tried several different methods from several different videos/sites. All have yielded the same results.
So in short I can barely get the pipe lit to begin with, when I do get it lit I have to puff on it constantly or else it goes out instantly, and the smoke gets very hot.
I'll point out, the smoke gets super hot, but the bowl is barely even getting warm, which seems odd.
Another issue I'm running into is that there's a horrific ashy smell from the bowl. Which is after trying (and failing) to use it just 3 or 4 times.
And that transfers into the taste of the smoke, too. It tastes like licking the inside of a lifetime cigarette smokers lungs...
So I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong there, as well.
I have been cleaning the pipe, though I've not used any sorts of chemicals or anything, if that's suggested.
If you managed to read through all of that and have some advice to give me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Edit:
I will point out, the pipe isn't quite the same as the pictures of it. There's a silver ring around the stem, which is absent in the pictures, but most importantly the stem protrudes into the bowl.
With the stem going into the bowl like it does (goes about 1/2 way in), it makes it pretty hard to clean. Tobacco likes to get pinched and stuck in the corners of the stem, and it's very hard to get them out.