Windy Smoking

[TheIdahoan]

It's very windy sometimes here in Idaho, and makes it hard to enjoy a good smoke. Alas, the only places I can enjoy a smoke is either 1) outside
2) in a car

I'm not always in a car and my family has taken to after-dinner walks where I enjoy a smoke. Some days though are so windy the ash will blow into my face and make the bowl too hot.

Are the wind screens my only option?

 

[bullet08]

Or you can use your hand to cup the top of the pipe. When it's too windy, I just don't smoke.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I smoke a lot in the wind. It's never gonna be as good as a smoke in still air. I do use windcaps, which help, and when I take the pipe out of my mouth, I cup my hand over the bowl, as mentioned above. If there's a place to get out of the worst of the wind (by a building or something) I go there. As for technique, I don't draw much on the pipe, if at all, when it's windy. I just clench and let the wind "do the work." This slows down the burn a little. I also believe a slightly tighter pack can help--but I smoke dry ribbon cuts and sometimes shags.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Folded flakes work better for some, slower burn. I rarely smoke outside but turn my back to the wind when I do.

 

[monty55]

^^^^
This!
Folded flakes and walk down wind.

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

Wind is easy to overcome if a pipe is desired.

For lighting…. cupping your hand around a bowl with one hand and lighting with the other is pretty straight forward to do. And, with a match it is even fairly easy to cup and light with only one hand.

For smoking, loosely covering the lit bowl with fingers or palm will limit the effects of wind. And if you feel especially fancy…wind caps work well also.

 

[warren]

Gotta protect the bowl from the wind. Proper holding of the pipe helps.. A cap can be useful also. Most importantly, cap or not, deflect the breeze/wind away from the top of the bowl. It's not rocket science. You shouldn't build a campfire without protection from the wind.

Ash in the face shouldn't happen. If it does you are in danger of burning you pipe with a super heated ember. You simply can't let the wind roar across the tip of your pipe. Again, simply common sense and an awareness of what is happening around you. You most certainly do not to simply rely on a wind cap and let the wind blows across it.

Think! Fire loves moving air. Use your hand, wide brimmed hat, coat collar, whatever is available to deflect the breeze from contact with the ember.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

This is why I rarely smoke outside. The wind feeds the ember and just makes the smoke unpleasant for me. Sometimes it's calm out with occasionally gusts (always a breeze here in the mountains). When this happens, I turn my back and cup my hand over the bowl. It doesn't protect the ember completely, but enough until the wind dies down.
I can't stand a pipe in the wind, or while walking. I simply have no cadence in these situations.

 

[anotherbob]

caps and using the hand as a cap. And wait till you learn how to use matches in the wind

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I live on the prairie. Wind is a constant. Using a cap is a must, and I have several pipes with caps which work very well. They may otherwise not be the best pipes to smoke, but a cap built for the pipe is superior on a windy day.

When removing the cap to tamp or light, put the wind on your back. I use a Zippo exclusively when lunting.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I live on the prairie.

Wouldn't be in a little house would it?

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I got 6 kids. It feels little.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

I don’t think you’ve been able to smoke in a Wendy’s in years…

 

[Hillcrest]

I agree with above advice but would add that I do not load the pipe to the top --- only about 2/3rds in wind. I also tamp the ash to prevent blowback and back to wind and collar raised.

 

[keith929]

I smoke a lot in the wind. It's never gonna be as good as a smoke in still air. I do use windcaps, which help, and when I take the pipe out of my mouth, I cup my hand over the bowl, as mentioned above. If there's a place to get out of the worst of the wind (by a building or something) I go there. As for technique, I don't draw much on the pipe, if at all, when it's windy. I just clench and let the wind "do the work." This slows down the burn a little. I also believe a slightly tighter pack can help--but I smoke dry ribbon cuts and sometimes shags.

When I commuted back and forth to New York I used the same technique and it served me well except I found flake was best for me In windy conditions.

 

[fishmansf]

It's very windy sometimes here in Idaho, and makes it hard to enjoy a good smoke. Alas, the only places I can enjoy a smoke is either 1) outside
2) in a car

I'm not always in a car and my family has taken to after-dinner walks where I enjoy a smoke. Some days though are so windy the ash will blow into my face and make the bowl too hot.

Are the wind screens my only option?

Something that I learned from the movie The Lighthouse, is that you can flip your pipe upside down. Wind nearly always blows at either a downwards diagonal so by flipping your pipe, you're minimizing wind contact on your chamber. Nice part is too, is that ash will will out periodically rather than in one flurry of grey.

 

[mingc]

Careful smoking in a strong wind. I burned out a pipe that way once. A nice Benton paneled billiard.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Careful smoking in a strong wind. I burned out a pipe that way once. A nice Benton paneled billiard.

This is important. I'm always wary about smoking in the wind, for fear of this happening.
Last weekend we experienced a tropical storm for three days. The rain was coming in horizontally, specifically in my usual smoking area. I told my sig' other that I'm going to have to smoke in the scullery (I had to explain what that is) anyway, that's the only time she's allowed me to smoke inside the house.

 

[AJL67]

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Snap-Tobacco-Screen-Cover/dp/B073RKWL19

 

[kcghost]

Seems like the inevitable result of this will be don't smoke outside if it is windy.