My no-relight technique

[frozenchurchwarden]

I will follow Frank to the end of my days:

After a while if you understand the principle this is mostly an "air pocket" packing method and you can load the pipe in one motion.
Just grab a plug appropriate to the size of your pipe and shove it in the top.

 

[PipeIT]

I stopped at;

• Remove the paint from the interior of the bowl with hot water and a cloth until it's gone AS NEEDED.

I’m not sure what sort of pipes you are smoking from, as I have no pipes with paint inside the ‘Chamber’. The interior is known as the ‘Chamber’.

This is all you need to do. (This is like Frank’s method)

1. Dry tabac out, give a pinch between index and thumb, should feel little to no moisture, tabac barely clumps together.

2. Gravity fill the chamber, dropping a little pinch at a time inside, and tapping the the pipe to help settle each pinch you drop in.

3. When reaching the top of the chamber, don’t pack the tabac in with a tamper, or pressing a finger down inside the chamber. Slide your thumb across the chamber, pressing with only the heal of the thumb going inside the chamber slightly. This is like Frank’s method, except he places a tin of tabac over the chamber and moves it around.

4. After filling the chamber, if you feel a need to pack slightly, let the heal of your thumb rest inside the chamber and twist the pipe 1/4 or 1/2 way around spinning the tabac, which will pack it slightly.

5. Light the tabac, after it’s charred you can then use a tamper to pack, but only allow it’s weight to press the tabac down.

When smoking, all you have to do, is blow back gently at times into the pipe, use the tamper only under it’s weight to keep the ember in contact with the tabac. You can also place your fingers over the chamber, covering it, then uncovering it, up and down, to also help keep it lit.

That’s about it.

P.S. @frozenchurchwarden I do Frank’s method, I just substitute my thumb in place of the tin he uses.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm surprised it didn't end with suggesting we should call our gathering here a "Mantel".

 

[Misanthrope]

…Paint? In the chamber? No proper pipe has paint in the chamber. If that’s a common problem for you, maybe look into other vendors besides AliExpress for pipes?

That aside, I’ve never really had relighting issues. Drying the tobacco a bit and avoiding overpacking the bowl does the trick for me.

 

[PipeIT]

…Paint? In the chamber? No proper pipe has paint in the chamber. If that’s a common problem for you, maybe look into other vendors besides AliExpress for pipes?

That aside, I’ve never really had relighting issues. Drying the tobacco a bit and avoiding overpacking the bowl does the trick for me.

I was scratching my head at ‘Paint’ too, and didn’t read any further, because there’s nothing to all of this, as I pointed out.

It’s great to want to share, but just remember it’s whatever works for you, is all that matters, there is no correct way, but there are certainly things you might not want to do, like smoking moist tabac, etc...

But it’s not this complicated at all to dry tabac, pack and smoke it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

…Paint? In the chamber?

Probably chamber coating. We'll, unless it's a Peterson.?

(runs away)?‍?

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

My Peterson holds fire like a good soap stone stove. It’s common to set it down for half a minute and find it still smokes when puffed, all while not being hot on the exterior. Pretty cool pipe

 

[sablebrush52]

Now, now, don't be snippy. It's a very detailed and well intentioned piece of writing. I especially appreciated the diagram of the pipe as I had never known what all those parts were or what they did.

As for the image of two women going at it, brings back memories of some of my college escapades in the '70's.

 

[OSOBUCO]

This is rich! You guys make me laugh

 

[PipeIT]

This is rich! You guys make me laugh

Well the thing is, now I am being nice here...

It’s not an exact science we are dealing with, different blends, different cuts of tabac, then casings, toppings, different pipes, sizes and materials, briar, clay, meerschaum, environmental variables, humidity etc., all change things in various ways.

One blend in one pipe, doesn’t necessarily mean you can treat and smoke it the same way, in another pipe.

For me personally I have to dry, pack and smoke strong Red forward VaPers in a different way, where trying to simply follow a particular method like there is a one size fits all here, doesn’t always work.

You do whatever that particular pipe and blend calls for, and that is something you gain with experience and time, it’s not something you can simply say this is always the way to do it each time.

 

[Duck]

When lighting a pipe with a match you let the head burn off, then you let the flame spread put it over the pipe and move it in a circular motion while drawing down the heat onto the tobacco. The goal is to get a good strong ember that covers the whole chamber. Once you have the pipe fully lit you slow down, but if you don't get that good initial ember you'll need to constantly relight. Here's what a match looks like after lighting.

 

[sablebrush52]

When lighting a pipe with a match you let the head burn off, then you let the flame spread put it over the pipe and move it in a circular motion while drawing down the heat onto the tobacco. The goal is to get a good strong ember that covers the whole chamber. Once you have the pipe fully lit you slow down, but if you don't get that good initial ember you'll need to constantly relight. Here's what a match looks like after lighting.

View attachment 125969

So that's what a match looks like. Fascinating.

 

[Duck]

So that's what a match looks like. Fascinating.

Yeah yeah, very good. You can see what's going wrong here though.

 

[sablebrush52]

Yeah yeah, very good. You can see what's going wrong here though. View attachment 125973

Well no wonder there's a shortage of timber to build housing.

 

[PipeIT]

Here’s the other thing that has to be seriously considered, unless your pockets are deep, and money is no object, but even though you have expensive tastes. You don’t have expensive tastebuds.

So what are we talking about here, well smoking a $5 pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh, how to smoke and treat it, vs, smoking a $75-$100 tin of McClelland, that has an immense range of nuances going on.

Fire and heat destroys flavor/taste, the longer you burn, the less pronounced flavor is going to be. Granted, a lot of tabac can handle staying lit and giving good flavor, but then how rich is the flavor profile of the tabac you are smoking.

If we are talking about smoking a very rich profile tabac. with let’s say 10 different flavors to be experienced in the blend, the longer you keep a flame lit to the tabac, more likely the average person is not going to experience this range of flavors the way Jim does.

The only way the average person is going to experience like Jim, is to use less fire and heat, only light the tabac as little as it takes to get it burning, then enjoy a few sips, then let the tabac go out, let the pipe cool down, and repeat. By the way, this is for that very rich profile tabac, you want to experience as much as possible from.

So it all really gets down to how complex the blends are you are smoking and how good your taste is.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Yeah yeah, very good. You can see what's going wrong here though. View attachment 125973

I should have let the heads burn off?

 

[jpmcwjr]

As to painting the chamber, I think it's likely most coatings are painted on, probably automatically.
A thoughtful piece, but perhaps too much to absorb by someone starting out. Thank you.

 

[sablebrush52]

The only way the average person is going to experience like Jim, is to use less fire and heat, only light the tabac as little as it takes to get it burning, then enjoy a few sips, then let the tabac go out, let the pipe cool down, and repeat.

Maybe we should avoid lighting it at all, and just chew it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Suck it! Yes, just like sugar cane sucking, we could get the stems and large veins and suck on them. Now, try to unsee that!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Maybe we should avoid lighting it at all, and just chew it.

Now you're in my court.?