Vey Frustrated

[profpar]

Recently, No matter what I do I cannot seem to keep a pipe lit without continuous puffing, and even then it keeps going out. I have tried following different methods of packing, pay attention to how loose or tightly I am packing, try to keep the ember in contact with the tobacco. All apparently to know avail. In leu of giving up I solicit help and advice

 

[smokeybear]

It helps to know this
Pipe?

Tobacco?
What are you smoking and have you tried different pipes and blends?

 

[latbomber]

Dry your tobacco out more. See how it works when its bone dry and then experiment with it having more moisture until you hit the right balance between burn rate/flavor.

 

[profpar]

Today I was using Westminster in a Savenelli Hercules,

 

[cobguy]

+1 on drying tobacco more and also trying a different pipe.

 

[lonestar]

My first guess would be humidity playing a part.

 

[johnnyiii]

I have some harder burning aros that are that way. I found with them once you get them going to check there tamp more often. After several minutes of smoking one I find it will tamp 1/4 a bowl sometimes.
Thats in addition to the three stage pack and initial few relights.
Hope it helps.

 

[taerin]

Try a corncob, beginners find it much easier to smoke from them due to the open draw.

 

[smokeybear]

For me it depends I cube cut HH ODF in my Caminetto Dublin last night and it kept going out on me. You really just need to find the right pipe/tobacco Combo and stick to it cause my experiences differ greatly. But that is the fun part in pipe smoking trying to find that balance. Takes time and patience but it will come.

 

[crazypipe]

Got this from the Pipe Rack.
So you are having trouble keeping your pipe lit are ya? Well take comfort that there is help, that its nothing unusual, and you are not alone. Here are some basic tips to help if you are new to pipe smoking.
#1: Make sure you are packing your pipe correctly. See articles on this blog about methods of packing a pipe. After learning a proper packing method then you just need practice. You do not want the tobacco packed too tight or too loose both are bad. Make sure the tobacco after being packed is still spongy to the touch.
#2: Char the packed tobacco before lighting also called the False Start. I think you will find you will have to do less relights if you scorch before lighting. To do this light the bowl and take a couple nice even draws. Let it go out and very gently tamper it down. Make sure you do not apply force just ever so slightly. Then repeat by lighting and taking another couple of nice even draws. Let it go out and tamper again. If the top of the tobacco is blackened evenly you are now ready to do the final light or True Start.
#3: DO NOT puff so hard. If you are a cigar smoker or former then this especially applies to you. Cigar smoking, for me, was about big volume and tasting big billows of smoke roll off the tongue. However, if you come to the pipe and do that you are gonna tarnish the taste of the tobacco, the opposite of cigar smoking. And by puffing so hard the tobacco is gonna burn too hot and scorch your tongue with steaming hot smoke, "tongue bite." Drawing out the flavors in pipe smoking is more about "sipping" the smoke out of the bowl. Just flip flop your methods of cigar and pipe. It takes practice and time to learn. Do I always have to "sip"? No. You will learn eventually nuances and certain puffing techniques will draw out certain characteristics of the various tobaccos in a blend, etc. The key is to start slow and rhythmically but do not start off puffing like a cigar or a train you will not last long and will have missed all the glorious subtleties of pipe smoking, and we don't want that.
I'm getting gurgles of sour spit coming up the stem of my pipe...help! It is most likely not spit but "dottle" caused by either puffing too hard or the tobacco is considerably moist in the bottom of the bowl. It maybe saliva if you are a "wet" smoker or you are blowing excessively into the stem. You can either stick a pipe cleaner down the stem to clear some of the excess dottle out. DO NOT remove the stem to clean while pipe is hot. You risk breaking the pipe at worst and at best the stem will no longer fit snug as it should. If it is becoming too much for ya put it down and fill a different pipe and start over. No need to keep going cause dottle ain't no fun!
*** Stir occasionally with the stir stick portion of a pipe tool this will move the ashes around and loosen them up so that they collapse nicely on the unlit tobacco.
#4 Final thoughts - Your pipe is new. A new pipe can cause your tobacco to not stay lit. You got to break it in first, develope some cake in the bowl before she will start staying lit for you. Also you may want to try putting a portion of your tobacco you want to smoke out on plate to dry for 1-2hrs or up 24.
Other helpful thoughts:
#1: Take advantage of the wide community of knowledge You need to find what works for you within the arena of shared knowledge among the pipe smoking community. Find online forums. Talk with your local tobacconist. Get involved and experiment to find what works for you.
#2: Pipe smoking is organic in that you, your instruments, and your ingredients are always in flux and you will learn to adapt and work the little subtleties of each. So relax. You will not always have a bowl that you never have to relight and that's okay if you got the basics down. (see 1-3)
#3: Remember to always love it. That is really important! You have entered a very special hobby and lifestyle that will continue to surprise you with depth each day you learn more about it. Your goal is not to become a pipe snob but to fall more in love with the peaceful nuances of your new found hobby. Goal isn't to have zero relights but to enjoy yourself.
I hope this helps and until next time may your pipes be lit and your cellars full!
*The entire contents of this article are written by Chris Rehers ::

 

[mrenglish]

Do what I do, quit worrying about it so much. Pay attention to your tobacco, pipe and loading technique and let it go from there. I found that when I quit worrying so much about keeping a bowl lit and focused on the above, the bowls I smoked stayed lit longer.

 

[stbruno70]

There is nothing wrong with a bowl going out - practice makes perfect.
As others have suggested, drying the baccy a bit will help as well.

 

[captainsousie]

First thought is moisture. Whether moisture in the tobacco or in the air itself. My other thought is to make sure you are getting a good, even light. I have made the mistake of not putting enough flame to my tobacco to get it properly smoldering and that has caused it to refuse to stay lit. Either way I wish you good luck and hope you get it worked out soon.

 

[phred]

Some days are just like that - I sat down for a bowl on Friday that just would not stay lit. Tobacco was plenty dry, pipe was in good shape, packing may have been off... I repacked twice, trying to get the airflow just right, but nothing seemed to make a difference that day. Will try again this week and see what happens.

 

[salewis]

It all depends on what tobacco you are having trouble keep lit. I smoke a lot of McClelland's flake or cake Virginias which are tough to are a bear to keep lit. For flakes I use the tearing method whereby I peal each flake into smaller pieces and then tear these pieces and stuff into my pipes. Cakes are actually more difficult then flakes. For cake tobacco I place the pieces on a cutting board and cut the cake pieces into about a 1/16 of an inch and place back into my jar. It works for me and the cake pieces stay lit considerably easier than the cakes tobacco uncut.

 

[spartan]

A veteran of the pipe is having trouble keeping his pipe lit?
The apocalypse is nigh.

 

[woodsroad]

Get out of the shower. That helped me.

 

[rmbittner]

I'll add my voice to the chorus of folks saying, "Don't worry about it." Pipes go out. There's no reward for a two-match smoke -- either in the bowl or in the world-at-large. In fact, it's very rare when I use fewer than three matches on a pipe -- two to get started and one at the bottom of the bowl. But depending on the tobacco, time of year, my attention span, I might need five or more matches for a bowl. (And for certain dense flakes, I've used many more than that.)
Westminster is one of the roughest-cut blends I've ever tried, with all different kinds of pieces large and small in the bowl (including some broken flake, if I'm remembering correctly). By virtue of its cut, it's not going to be the easiest tobacco to keep lit.
Bob

 

[numbersix]

I think this happens to everyone now and then. I will offer the 3 main components that work for me:
1. If smoking loose tobacco, make sure it is in small enough pieces. I sometimes will take it out of the tin and place some on a table and then re-mix it, removing any overly large pieces.
2. If smoking a loose, ribbon tobacco, pack it tighter than you think. At least in my experience, too much air/space between the ribbons of tobacco will prevent it from staying lit.
3. The first couple of draws should be strong - to really pull in the flame. As well, move the flame around the entire top of the bowl. Then tamp it, and do it again, making sure the flame reaches the middle of the tobacco. If you only scorch the top, it will continuously go out.
Good luck!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Just my 2 cents, I have the Sav Hercules in a pot shaped bowl. As cool as this pipe looks, it is my worst pipe to smoke. It is way to wide for the depth of the chamber. It would make a better spoon than pipe. Every time it leaves my lips it goes out, and it never burns the entire bowl leaving half the chamber unburned. I only smoke it when I need to raise my blood pressure or to punish myself for some unforgiven self-guilt.