The cliché question: why can't my pipe stay lit?

[jjjarhead]

Hi everybody, new to the forum. So here the deal, I wouldn't ask about it if it's something through out my pipe smoking experience. But it isn't. I used to smoke pipe about 5 years ago and it was fine: I could light the pipe easily and maybe relit it for 3-5 times which I can live with. But when I picked up the hobby seems like I got lost completely: my pipe won't stay lit bla bla bla...

I've been thinking about it: when I started 5 years ago I used a vauen 9mm bent with some various aromatics; and now I smoke some english and virginia a/o burley based tobacco with two straight and two church-warden. I wonder if my problem comes from certain pipe shape a/o tobacco type, but I very much doubt it.

Also I'm trying the breath somking technique, it would be great if anyone can share some tip.

 

[condorlover1]

Let the tobacco dry out a bit and don't pack so hard but instead feed the pipe with the top layer gently pressed down. Char well on the first light, tamp and then hit it again and you should be good to go!

 

[wilson]

Welcome to the forums. This is a common problem and there have been a thousand threads about struggles to keep a pipe lit. The usual, and it seems best, advice is to let your tobacco dry for a bit before you pack your pipe and then to experiment some with your packing. For drying, try letting some tobacco sit out for 1/2 hour before you pack your pipe and see if that helps. Packing too firmly or too loosely can both lead to problems. I would recommend trying to pack less firmly and see if that helps. And, if not, more firmly. The good news is that most of us struggled with this in the beginning and it is not rocket surgery -- with a little practice and some trial and error, you will get the hang of it in pretty short order. And, you need to tamp once in a while. Not too firmly and not too often, but you do need to ensure good contact between the ember and the un-burned tobacco beneath.

 

[jjjarhead]

Thanks to both pipesters above. I'm beginning to experimenting with pack loose/firm now but it did little change: I try to pack with what I'd call 1stage method and just like 2/3 stages it's now doing me much good. But I do notice that by packing more loosely the tobacco burning condition is better, as the ash is more white than black. I'll keep my trail and error. :D

What I do find helpful is the breath smoking method and I'd like to thank cosmicfolklore for mentioning it. I find it quite interesting that using that technique, even the pipe goes out it bothers me less and the relight is not as bitter as my normal puff smoke.

 

[bulldogbriar89]

welcome to the forum. as the others said let your tobacco dry out a bit, do a half hard then gentle pack until full, when I first started pipe smoking I did what condor suggested and do the char tamp and light and it worked great. also don't puff to fast, or hard, and every now and then gently breath into the pipe to keep it lit .

 

[warren]

I cannot stress enough that the charring light and the relight must be even across the top surface of the tobacco. Then it is simply a matter of keeping the embers fed with enough air so as to keep combustion going. Some prefer a slight mounding (more surface area smoldering) of the embers others, including myself, prefer flat. I give the tamper, finger or otherwise, a bit of a spin, or twist, as I tamp so the embers are nestled into the unburned tobacco so that the lighted material is distributed evenly. You're trying to keep the burning surface well distributed across the pack, open to the air. If you let your fire bury itself into the pack less oxygen is wafting across the embers, starving the fire.

 

[condorlover1]

That sounds about right Warren as well - it's all a matter of personal preference. As I have said before some ropes need a blow torch to keep them running regardless of how fine you cut them and let them dry whilst others burn just fine. I never given this whole area any deep thought but I am sure there is a reason for it.

 

[billypm]

As far as drying tobacco goes, remember that there is no way to tell you how long you need to leave your blends out. The level of moisture in your baccy to start with, its cut (flake, rubbed out or not, ribbon, cube), the humidity of your house-- all are variables that make a huge difference. Dry your tobacco til it FEELS right (for me that's dry to the touch but still pliable- ymmv), NOT for any given amount of time. In the summer a whole flake of FVF may take two days to dry properly, while in the wintertime a fine ribbon blend like Tilbury might be ready in ten minutes.

 

[curl]

I use a tamper a few times during my smoke, tamping around the edges so I don't snuff out the cherry. But still have to relight a few times, too.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hey cool, this just happened to be the first thread that I read this morning, and my name was mentioned. I hope that one of my suggestions isn't the problem. I have noticed that since we've started importing fire from Canada, it doesn't burn tobacco nearly as well as good Ol' fire made right here in the deep South. You used to be able to have bonfires, fire places, and even setting off fire crackers without ever having to re-light. Now, this cheaply made Canadian fire is just to weak to keep things burning. It's a shame that you just can't get fire like you used to. ::
Really though, good suggestions above. I switched to breath smoking after going through the same stuff as everyone else in getting started, tongue bite, packing issues, bad tobacco choices, and wasting a lot of tobacco. What helped me was preparing for my first slow smoking contest and watching other guys smoke at the B&M while hanging out. You grind your gears a bit when first learning to drive a standard transmission, but before you know it, you're shifting gears without ever even thinking about it. I still have days when I seem to keep my lighter in my hand, but more often than not now I forget that I'm even holding a pipe in my teeth.
...and see if you can find some good Ol' red dirt Southern fire. Heck, we've still got things burning down here that were started 50 or more years ago, ha ha.

 

[ravkesef]

Hi jj -- or do we call you "jarhead?" First of all, and most important: welcome to the forum. We're glad to have you here. Thanks so much for asking what may seem like a very basic question right at the beginning, but it's good to get things like that settled early on in the game. Please pay attention to what has been said above--it's all good advice from those who know what they're talking about. Here is a kernel of advice that I give to all new smokers:
1. Pack the tobacco much looser than you think it should be packed.

2. Smoke the pipe much slower than you think it should be smoked. Sip – – don't puff.
Try these two techniques for starters. The pipe should always feel comfortably warm in your hand. If it feels too hot, that's often a sign of improper packing or improper smoking technique. Even a Virginia tobacco should smoke comfortably warm in your hand. And keep asking those questions – that's how we all learn.

 

[billypm]

I've heard it said that novice smokers try for the most smoke they can make-- veterans try for the least.

 

[seagullplayer]

What is this "breath" smoking you are talking about?

 

[billypm]

Breath smoking as I understand it, is where the pipe remains in the mouth with the lips closed but is not consciously drawn upon. The gentle changes in air pressure in one's mouth while breathing normally through the nose will softly draw and release just a bit of air-- enough to keep the pipe going but only just. Every so often you puff out the smoke in your mouth, but never do you puff in.
That's what I think it is, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[philip]

I used to smoke pipe about 5 years ago...

That's what you get for staying away so long.

If you only called on your girlfriend every five years would you expect a warm welcome?

 

[phred]

Welcome back!
I've only been smoking for a couple of years, but I've had to essentially start over from scratch at least once - relearning all of the lessons about packing, slowing down, drying out, differences between pipes, differences between tobaccos, etc. I'm currently on hiatus due to a nasty upper respiratory infection, so I may wind up starting all over yet again by the time it clears up!
The good news is, it didn't take me nearly as long to remember as it did to learn in the first place, so you may discover that you've figured it out unconsciously by the time you read this... :D

 

[jchaplick]

My pipe never goes out. Unless it does. when that happens I just relight it haha. There are a lot of good suggestions above mine. Just dont get discouraged, keep experimenting on dryness levels and packing and tamping techniques. Also try 'carbing' your bowl. Lay a finger over the bowl to restrict airflow while you breath in, it can bring some life back to a dying bowl. Good luck
John

 

[okiescout]

Philip:

"That's what you get for staying away so long.

If you only called on your girlfriend every five years would you expect a warm welcome?"
So that is what she got peeved about?!? :worship:

 

[jjjarhead]

greetings and big thanks for everyone above. just installed the router so finally I'm back to the internet or as I call it,: the modern world LOL

Thanks for all your suggestions I feel much better about smoking my pipe now. The biggest change I made is not to rush, not to get frustrated when the pipe goes out. I'm amazed how it works for me: I sip instead of puff, or at least I try to, and leave it for sometime instead of grab a lighter and relight it immediately so the result is my bowl/smoke get way cooler. Although I still got problems with a Mastro de Paja (low-end) pipe but I'm doing better with my other pipes. So there is that.

Packing/Filling: Now I'm more and more cautious about it. It would seem that for the loose ribbons the two step method or my variation (one step: fill the pipe until full, knock the bowl to let gravity do its work, and push it gently to 2/3 or 3/4 of the bowl) work very well. About flakes...well I'm still experimenting on it but I WILL say this: Samuel Gawith flake is not what you want to choose when you want to try the flakes. I've dried a FVF for a day and fold&stuffed it, but it was still hard to light. Gotta keep working on it.

And that leads us to the next topic: Humidity (OMG I almost spelled humility...). Normally I don't worry about the ribbon cuts and I don't prep it unless I feel it's damp. I open a new tin and in few days it will prep itself, at least that what my opinion. Dense cuts like coin/flake I will treat with more respect but that's still a long way for me to go. :D

Breath smoking: REALLY interesting metod. Personally I breath both with my mouth and my nose as it's more natural for me, and the small sips of smoke gathering in your mouth is a really fun experience. Although it comes with side effects. I need to prepare a paper towel to wipe the salivas every now and then and as Micheal mentioned on the other post clench your pipe in different spots is crucial as in other case you WILL have a sour tooth. And another fun fact is that I found out is that when you look at a certain pipe, you think it's comfortable to clench but it's not and vise versa. I have a peterson churchwarden dublin, and you'd thought it's not for clench right? Well that's what I thought as well but I was wrong! Not only does it holds well in the mouth, but also when I lean back it stands comfortably on my chest and I just have to use the strength to hold a cigarette to hold it.

So there are some of my new experience with pipe after I took some advices and did some research. Do correct me if you see anything that I'm doing wrong.

P.S. You can call me jarhead if you like, it just a silly thing that comes with forum registration and I'm used to that ID.

Happy puffing!

 

[jjjarhead]

And Michael, I'm not sure what you were referring about with the Canadian/south fire thing. Care to elaborate? :D