Title Edited for caps. See Rule 9.
Hi there guys,
This morning I smoked some Squadron Leader out of a cob and it was fantastic.
It was rather windy outside and I found myself needing to relight the tobacco 3 or 4 times (I had dried the tobacco out for 10 mins or so pre-smoke).
My smoke lasted about 25 minutes, although the cob was relatively small.
Here is everything I do, and I am open to advice on my process/methods.
Tldr: I have italicised my concerns and problem areas.
Drying the tobacco
I open the container and feel the tobacco by pressing it together. If it sticks, I put some of the tobacco onto kitchen roll and leave dry for 10-15 minutes prior to packing.
Packing
I have no real method in packing my pipe except for:
- Filling it to just below the rim lightly and tapping so the tobacco falls in.
- Tidying it up, by which point its normally filling around half of the bowl and is relatively loose.
- Taking some more tobacco and topping it up to just below the rim again this time adding very little resistance.
- Repeating the last step with a little more resistance until the draw is equivalent to a McDonalds shake through a straw.
- Tidying up loose tobacco
First light
I hold the pipe in my mouth, light the tobacco with my lighter in a circular fashion until mostly black with some bits of white ash, whilst taking a puff or two and then I tamp this down with little resistance to flatten it.
I find here I am always unsure of wether I have perhaps burnt the tobacco unintentionally or not. Also sometimes the tobacco will rise even further even after tamped down when I go in for the true light.
True Light
I literally just take a flame and circle it around the flattened ashy top until smoke starts coming out while I puff. I puff 3 or 4 times and the pipe appears to be lit, I then tamp down nearly immediately.
Sometimes struggle here, not sure if I need to be puffing more or tamping less or both. More frequent puffing to get it lit initially or deeper draws?
Cadence
I try to be very conscious of my cadence, and while not clenching I try to puff every 3-4 seconds.
While clenching I seem to fall into a natural cadence that works well.
Sometimes I feel like I'm tamping too often or sometimes not enough during a smoke and that's why I require relights.
Hi there guys,
This morning I smoked some Squadron Leader out of a cob and it was fantastic.
It was rather windy outside and I found myself needing to relight the tobacco 3 or 4 times (I had dried the tobacco out for 10 mins or so pre-smoke).
My smoke lasted about 25 minutes, although the cob was relatively small.
Here is everything I do, and I am open to advice on my process/methods.
Tldr: I have italicised my concerns and problem areas.
Drying the tobacco
I open the container and feel the tobacco by pressing it together. If it sticks, I put some of the tobacco onto kitchen roll and leave dry for 10-15 minutes prior to packing.
Packing
I have no real method in packing my pipe except for:
- Filling it to just below the rim lightly and tapping so the tobacco falls in.
- Tidying it up, by which point its normally filling around half of the bowl and is relatively loose.
- Taking some more tobacco and topping it up to just below the rim again this time adding very little resistance.
- Repeating the last step with a little more resistance until the draw is equivalent to a McDonalds shake through a straw.
- Tidying up loose tobacco
First light
I hold the pipe in my mouth, light the tobacco with my lighter in a circular fashion until mostly black with some bits of white ash, whilst taking a puff or two and then I tamp this down with little resistance to flatten it.
I find here I am always unsure of wether I have perhaps burnt the tobacco unintentionally or not. Also sometimes the tobacco will rise even further even after tamped down when I go in for the true light.
True Light
I literally just take a flame and circle it around the flattened ashy top until smoke starts coming out while I puff. I puff 3 or 4 times and the pipe appears to be lit, I then tamp down nearly immediately.
Sometimes struggle here, not sure if I need to be puffing more or tamping less or both. More frequent puffing to get it lit initially or deeper draws?
Cadence
I try to be very conscious of my cadence, and while not clenching I try to puff every 3-4 seconds.
While clenching I seem to fall into a natural cadence that works well.
Sometimes I feel like I'm tamping too often or sometimes not enough during a smoke and that's why I require relights.
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