Problem while lighting ?

[caa55]

Hello guys,
I know this may sound like a silly question but it's bothering me and I need to figure out something along these lines.
The bottom line is I can't allow the smoke to get too far back in my throat. It irritates my throat and causes me to cough (and cough etc).
I've determined as long as I'm smoking a nicely lit bowl and I use the 'sipping' technique that all is well. The smoke enters and leaves my mouth without any problems. I can even 'puff' in a bit and not have the smoke get too far back.
The problem comes in when I'm trying to light (or relight for the 10th or so time). My puffing technique (i.e. a very short/staccato inhale) while lighting is apparently too strong and eventually the smoke gets to the back of my throat. I realize this is likely not a problem for most but it's pretty important to me.
So is there some tip or technique you can recommend to me when lighting to assure the smoke doesn't get back to the throat?
Thanks for any suggestions.

chuck

 

[pinem]

Are you using matches, butane or a zippo? I find that it is pretty hard to do the false and true lights with a zippo, as you really have to suck a lot of air through the pipe to get the flame to move. A match can be more difficult as well due to the lower temp. For this reason, I find a butane pipe lighter to work the best in this case, as the heat is higher and I can put it closer to the tobacco, and as such, don't need to pull too much air through the pipe to get the tobacco lit.

 

[newbroom]

I can't imagine not being able to access the throat area while smoking. A retrohale (blowing it out of your nose) requires that you allow the smoke to travel from throat to nasal passages.

Retrohale is a big part of MY pipe enjoyment. That, and smoke rings, of course.

 

[hawke]

I think I know what he means newbroom, hes speaking of bit of deeper inhale almost. I'm sure I inhale accidentally at times. I might even sneeze a couple times when first starting a bowl. Maybe that's whats happening to me. Its not irritating to me however.

caa55 its not recommended by many, especially with an expensive pipe, but I will use a torch lighter turned down real low to get some blends started. Flakes will often take a little more to get going. I don't like to use any more heat from even a match than I have to. Do the two finger close and opening of the bowl to get things going maybe. I will use a zippo at times and hold it on top as a carburetor to get things going. I have dropped on top a bit of easy starting tobacco like Carter Hall. It lights very easy.
Practice that out your nose thing. It is possible to create a vacuum in your mouth and puff it out your nose as you see in my avatar(that's right after the initial light), never allowing it to reach the throat. A bit similar to drinking from a straw, you draw it up, then swallow. Just don't swallow, just ease it out your nose. Hope this helps.

 

[perdurabo]

Some tobaccos irritate the back of my throat. Burley being the main culprit. What tobaccos are you smoking?

 

[caa55]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the responses. Thru practice and really trying to analyze what was going on I finally got it figured out.... so I'm able to light without irritating my throat. I can now use matches, butane or a zippo -the most difficult one) on any tobacco though I'm still not fond of tobaccos requiring constant relights. The little trick of taking a glass of water and practicing breathing thru the nose while sipping water thru a straw really helped me in several areas I was struggling in.

Thanks again.