Packing too lightly?

[carpart67]

Can packing too lightly make it hard to keep your pipe lit? I had a bowl of Eileens Dreams tonight and had difficulty keeping it burning. I'm still very new to pipe smoking, so it's not too surprising, just trying to figure out what I may be doing wrong. I let the tobacco sit out to dry aprox 45 minutes before I smoked it. Is that a good amount of drying time? I read that aromatics should be packed lighter, but in hindsight it was probably packed quite lightly.
I'm wondering if I'm over doing it on the light packing. My first time smoking a pipe I knew nothing, I put some Captain Black in the bowl, crammed it down with my finger, lit it,no tamping, and it stayed lit pretty good.
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[bigvan]

Trust your gut. If you think it's too light, then it probably is. But light packing is easily fixed with some light tamping.
As far as drying, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I don't smoke aromatics anymore, but when I did I never felt the need to dry out tobacco very often. Personally I think it's a "tweak", not a necessity.

 

[nsfisher]

Packing too tight or too loose will do it mate. If you are just starting out you should think about the Gravity fill method. Pinch a finger full of baccy and let it trickle into bowl, do this untill bowl is full. Press down gently on baccy then repeat process. When you are done the baccy should be a little springy. Light pipe and allow to go out. Press down again, gently on baccy. Relight and enjoy.

 

[vegasblue]

I learned with the three step method. Gravity fill full, lightly pack down to half a bowl. Fill again, then pack a little harder to 3/4 full. Fill until a little above the rim, then push down to top of bowl. I thought i would never get it right but with practice it got easier. Now i still use the three steps but I'm at the point when imm done that i can just feel when the tobacco feels right. Just don't give up cause I did several times at first thinking I would never get it.

 

[gwynclan]

I have had the same issue with another cao blend. Let it dry out on a paper towel for 30min+ then try.

 

[smokenscotch]

You'll get the hang of it. Tamp a little more to keep the fire burning, it takes a little practice but eventually you become the tobacco and can feel what it needs at the time to keep lit.

 

[tokerpipes]

Just keep playing with it. Don't get frustraited. Dry time is really up to you. Best to not let it get crunchy. Pack less than you think looser than you think. Tamp less often and its ok to relight. Being a FNG is not as bad as you think. Eventually it becomes second nature and you will get down to just a stuff and puff. And hey even some of the experienced guys make mistakes... just remember the important thing about smoking a pipe is to relax ang get enjoyment out of it. If you make it into to much work its pointless. And welcome to the forum, read as much as you can and keep asking questions. There is no dumb questions just dumbies that don't ask questions.

 

[puffy]

This works for me.Don't know if it does for anyone else.As I light my pipe I listen for the sound of air.If it's packed too loose I can hear too much air beeing sucked into the pipe.A little tampipg can remedy that.

 

[spartan]

Ka me ha me HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_u0umPXMGY

 

[carpart67]

That was a great video. I certainly don't have my tobacco packed as tightly as in the video. I'm also tamping quite lightly compared to that. These could be some of my troubles.

 

[smokey422]

I pack in several stages, pressing down lightly on each one, then pressing the top one firmly so it just has some spring back in it when I let loose. This seems to work pretty well for me. I tried the Franck method for a while and it worked pretty well but was entirely too much trouble.
Smokey

 

[shawn]

I do like nsfisher. I tried the thre step methord for a while, then played with the Frank method and in the end I do like nsfisher and things are peaceful.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I think the major thing when starting out is to remember to check the draw before lighting up, that way you know if you've packed the pipe too tight or too loose. The other thing that tends to help when starting out is to remember to tamp the ash down during the smoke. Depending on the blend, a bowl can typically use a tamping every 3-5 minutes. Just let the weight of the tamper gently press down the ash while taking a puff. As for packing methods Bob has some really good how to videos of numerous packing methods which are great to give a look and try out a few. It's very helpful in finding out what works best for you. Continue at it and enjoy piping.