Pipe Smoking Basics

The Hill Billy

Well, I've gone & bought myself a pipe. The lovely lady in the shop gave me great advice on what I should consider for a starter pipe and all that.

So I'm sitting here having a beer with my pipe & my Dominik 15 tobacco & wondering "What next?" How much do I put in the bowl? How tightly packed should I pack the tobacco? Is there any particular technique for keeping the tobacco lit?

Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

Ta,

tHB

mattjack

I,m planning on buying one next week

murrayp4

Walked by a young guy on college green last week who had a pipe. They seem to be making some sort of a comeback..

BeerNut

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

Smoke it and find out what works for what tobaccos and what pipes.

I've tried to follow pipe packing and smoking instructions I've read before and they never work out.

As a third generation (at least) pipe-smoker, it feels a bit wrong to follow instructions. I'm sure my ancestors got along fine by themselves

mattjack

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Well, I've gone & bought myself a pipe. The lovely lady in the shop gave me great advice on what I should consider for a starter pipe and all that.

So I'm sitting here having a beer with my pipe & my Dominik 15 tobacco & wondering "What next?" How much do I put in the bowl? How tightly packed should I pack the tobacco? Is there any particular technique for keeping the tobacco lit?

Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

Ta,

tHB

Would you mind me asking roughly how much was the pipe and tobacco...and did you buy in Dublin

The Hill Billy

Well I got her going & she's staying lit.
There's two other pipe-smokers drinking on the terrace so I don't feel that self-conscious.

The Hill Billy

I bought it in Bern. Pipe was 45CHF (€39) & 50g of tobacco was 8.50CHF (€7.40).

mattjack

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I bought it in Bern. Pipe was 45CHF & 50g of tobacco was 8.50CHF.

thanks

OldGoat

I read some online packing instructions. I'll try and find the link again for you but basically it said crubble in enough tobacco to fill the bowl then compact that down to about half a bowl. Fill the bowl again and then tamp that down to 3/4's. Fill and tamp again. It works for me.
One thing I did as a noob thats probably a bad idea was to smoke the pipe bowl after bowl in quick sucssion. Pipe stem filled with tar.:o

P. Breathnach

The alea is well jacta by now.

Many people make a big deal of preparing a pipe before use, with one popular recommendation being to fill the bowl with whiskey and leave it overnight. I don't bother.

The first few times I smoke a new pipe, I don't fill the bowl: I use about half my normal fill. When a pipe is broken in, I load in three wads. The first I pack very lightly (little more that a touch with my finger); the next I pack a little more firmly; the third one more firmly again - but still not very tight. With a new pipe, it's likely to be just two wads.

It's difficult to describe here how firmly a pipe should be packed, but if you draw on it before attempting to light it, you should not feel a need to suck very hard. If its hard to draw, loosen up the tobacco with a reamer, and tamp it down again.

I rotate my pipes frequently, usually once a day. You get to recognise when a pipe is not smoking as nicely as you would like.

In my opinion, a regular pipe-smoker needs at least six pipes.

del_c

Just want to say lads (I'm assuming), the thoughts that there are men out there devoting time and energy to smoking pipes and chopping tobacco is warming the cockels of my heart...a great pastime, should be exempted from the smoking ban IMO.

rokossovsky

<mod snip - read the forum charter>

the_syco

Found this lad to be useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G2Pdu5UXUk&feature=BFa&list=PL44D39EAB85D7A671&index=21

Also, get yourself this: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/stainless-steel-pipe-cleaner-17173 I find this tool is VERY useful when smoking & cleaning the pipe.

Oh, found this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjyXyIL9-sY

Note: the point where you relight it at 00.33 is sometimes called the "2nd light", as well, you're lighting it a second time. I find this helps to ensure that it stays lit to the end.

BeerNut

Remember to check regularly that the carbon lining in your bowl is no thicker than 1.5mm :rolleyes:

P. Breathnach

BeerNut wrote: »

Remember to check regularly that the carbon lining in your bowl is no thicker than 1.5mm :rolleyes:

You might find many to disagree with that suggestion. Some pipe-smokers are not happy until the bowl of a pipe is like a heavily-clogged artery.

I ream my pipes periodically.