I read, watched you tube, read some more started out with a knock off sitter remembering getting the bowl extremely over heated with a off-brand vanilla blend and using a old masonry nail as my first tamp. Here it is 10 years later and I still seek advice and ask questions, each blend and pipe has its on way. However I just recently obtained one of my grandads pipes that I remember walking around with when I was around 4 years of age. The taste of the stale tobacco being drawed through it takes me back to days of my childhood and the smell of a wood stove burning. So I guess it really escalated from there for me.