Pipe Smoking 101?

Joined Sep 2003
6K Posts | 0+
Wilmington, DelaWhere?
Filters, yea or nay?

Do you break in a new pipe by smoking progressively larger bowls?

How hot should the outside of the bowl get?

Bubbling/blistering of the finish on the outside of the bowl is caused by what exactly? (I know it's too hot but...)

How long does your average bowl last?

Thanks in advance,

ejs
 
No filters for me. Just one more thing to fool with although I have heard they can restrict moisture.

I break a new pipe in by smoking a half a bowl and then a couple days later I smoke a full bowl all the way down. You want to promote even cake building up on your pipe and smoking full bowls slowly and evenly will do the trick.

The outside of the bowl will get warm but should not get uncomfortable. If your pipe is getting that hot slow down and take it easy.

Blistering is caused by heat. Your pipe has a nice coating of polished wax on the outside of the bowl and once it heats up it can get funky.

The average bowl really depends on the size of the pipe your smoking. Anywhere from one to two hours I suppose.

Not that you asked but my advice would be to really smoke as slow as you can. You will enjoy the taste much better and wont have any of that gurgle that comes from fast and hot.
 
One to two hours! :shock: I thought I was doing well to get 20 minutes! I think the key here, as you said, I need to SLOOOW down!
 
I promise you that it will be more enjoyable if you slow down. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can let a bowl die out and come back to it later.
 
Much better already! I've applied the "low 'n slow" attitude that I do with BBQ. The main reason I took up the pipe again after several years was because I needed help slowing down and thought that it would be a good way, sort of a physical meditation. I guess I got excited and forgot my original intentions. :oops:
 
Ok, I read this and some other things but....

Since I am smoking a pipe for the first time, how often should I puff and how do I puff?
What I mean is on a cigar about every min, two to three short puffs followed by a long one.

Any idea how long a bowl in a corn cob should last?
Just to guage how I am doing.

Any tips on how to pack a bowl is also appreciated, I know there will be a learning curve, but the more info the better.

Thanks in advance!
Tom
 
NJsmokey

You will find that each pipe is different and will want to be smoked differently.

With that being said. Everyone has there own method of packing a pipe.
Here is mine: A pinch of tobacco in the bottom, lightly pack it down. This is the cushion that all the rest of the tobacco will rest on and is a resevoir for fluids. This bottom layer should generate no resistance to the draw. Try it, and verify that you can feel no resistance to the draw. Then, another larger pinch of tobacco and lightly tamp it down. This layer should give you just a little resistance to the draw. Try it and adjust the pack as needed. Repeat as required to fill your pipe. When you get to the top of the bowl, the last pinch should be just under the top. Check the draw. Adjust the pack, again, as needed to get just a little resistance to the draw. Now light the tobacco, get an even burn on top. you can bolw on the top and see the burn, just like a cigar. Tamp lightly, relight as required and tamp again, relight as required. Sit back and enjoy!!

Gentle puffs, sip the smoke, savor the monment, relax, taste the nuances in the tobacco. Watch the eddys of smoke and enjoy. As always, the best things are better shared.

If you get a gurgle, run a pipe cleaner down the stem and remove the fluids. That stuff tastes horrible. Remember the resevoir? If necessary tamp and relight as needed.

There are contests to see how long a pipe can be smoked without relighting but, that is a whole 'nother thread. So don't worry about how long a bowl will last. If it goes out, relight it. If you'r down to dottle, clean it out and have anothor bowl.

I wil smoke the same pipe three or four times a day. When I am done for the day, I clean the bowl out, run a pipe cleaner down the shank and wipe the outside of the pipe with a soft cloth and set my old friend back in the rack to rest for at least three days.

Any tips on how to pack a bowl is also appreciated, I know there will be a learning curve, but the more info the better.

Be careful what you ask for, you may get it.

DaninDayton
ilurkalot
 
got to agree with dan,,, basicly dont sweat it. smoke slow, if it goes out relight.

a pipe is nothing like a cigar were if a cigar sits for a while unlit it has bad tates, you can put a a pipe down and come back to it hours later a relight and still have great flavors.
 
I grabbed some plain pipe tabacco to try and figure out packing and such before doing the reviews. I could not keep it lit! Everytime I went to puff it was out. I went through a whole box of mathces, I did try packing it a second time after the first bowl would not stay lit. It really ruined it for me last night, but I am going to try again soon.

My question is, did I pack it too tight or too loose?

It was very rarely lit 30 seconds later for me to puff on. I do not have a tamper so I used my fingers, is that a big deal?

Thanks in advance.
 
When I started with a pipe it was recommended here to use the Frank Method. I do a modified Frank for my packing and it works good. Use the link and in the left column there is a tab for "Frank Method" which is the process. Good luck

http://www.pfeifenstudio-frank.de/
 
Ypu can use anything for a Tamper. Grab a screw or a nail or something like that.
 
NJsmokey

Tell me about the draw. After you pack your pipe and before you light it. How does it draw? Take a puff and there should be some resistance to the draw before you light it. The amount of resistance will depend on the pipe and the tobacco. Some pipes like to be tamped harder than others.

Pipe tobacco should be slightly moist. I'm willing to bet that what you have is dry. If it is a pouch like Borkum Riff or Amphora, just sprinkle 3-4 drops of water in the pouch and put the pouch somewhere warm. In a couple of hours, the tobacco will be rehydrated. Then pack your pipe and try again. Remember to tamp after lighting, check the draw, relight and tamp as needed. As the tobacco burns down, tamp and knock the ashes out of the pipe. I have found that, sometimes, I get a better tamp if I draw on the pipe as I tamp it. I get a better feel for how the pipe is drawing and it seems to keep the pipe lit better.

I use a tamper more than anything else when smoking a pipe. Fingers are ok for packing the pipe. But, they get burned and dirty after the pipe is lit :D . Just about anything can be used as a tamper. As long as you can get it into the tobacco chamber and it won't burn or melt. (ask me how I know) :megrim:

Remember, this ain't rocket science. You haven't ridden this bicycle before so it will take time to figure it out. So, relax, experiment with your pipe. Pack it a little tighter, puff a little more often, light it a little more aggressively. The best way to learn this is sittin on a porch on a lazy saturday afternoon with an old geezer, traden stories, watchin the world go by, sippin somthin highly alcoholic

There are a lot of variables that need to come together for a pipe smoker. Time, place, pipe, tobacco, lighter, tamp, attitude. When they do, it becomes a bit o' heaven in your hand.

DaninDayton
ilurkalot