Hi Mechanic, welcome to the Forum, where you’ll find several thousand of your closest friends willing to give advice, support, and just plain, simple friendship. Herewith the advice I give to all new smokers. It really works. I’ve been smoking a pipe for 59 years, and I have a slight idea of how th3ese things work.
1. The tobacco should be drier than you think it should. Some smokers actually like it crispy dry, though that’s just a shade too much for me.
2. The tobacco should be packed much looser than you think it should. A pipe that’s packed too tightly will be hard to draw, and will yield an uncomfortable smoke.
3. The pipe should be smoked much slower than you think it should. Sip, don’t puff. This will give you a smoke where the wall of the pipe will be comfortably warm to the touch.
As to lighting methods, here they are in ascending order of temperature:
1. Beeswax impregnated string burns ~250C
2. Zippo 575 F or 301C
3. Match, 1100F or 600C
4. Butane 3590F or 1977C
Please note, a butane torch should never be used to light a pipe as it scorches the tobacco and very likely the pipe itself.
