GuyanaBoy
HAPPY SMOKES!!
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2002
- Messages
- 826
How To Pack & Light A Pipe
Pipe smoking requires a little practice and technique to work well. For this reason, many people quit on the hobby before they have mastered the techniques to make it an enjoyable hobby.
The number one complaint of new pipe smokers seems to be that they do not know how to correctly 'pack' their pipe, resulting in a bad start. Improperly packing and lighting a pipe can cause several things to happen. Either you end up with lots of “left over tobacco at the end of the smoke, or a hot smoke and the dread tongue bite, or a pipe that is hard to draw on. So, below we will outline a step by step approach to how to pack your pipe and light it to enjoyment. Packing and lighting a pipe, much like smoking a pipe, is an artform, and this technique may take some time to master, but once you have it down pat, one of the major stumbling blocks to pipe smoking bliss will have been removed.
First off, if you don’t have all the things that we laid out in the “Getting Started” article, then go back to the “drawing board” and get all those items. You are going to need them before we proceed. Once you have done all that. . . then read on to the Procedure of How to Pack and Light the Pipe.
Procedure:
(1) First, it is important to make sure that your pipe is ready to smoke. Run a pipe cleaner through the stem, dump out any “left overs”, and gently blow through the stem to expel any leftover ash. It is probably best to do this over a trashcan, large ashtray, or other such receptacle, pointing the bowl of the pipe upside down to avoid spewing what is inside your pipe into your own face. Make sure that nothing is in the pipe from previous smokes.
(2) Select the tobacco that you want to smoke and open the container.
(3) Loading the pipe should be done in Thirds. Fill your pipe loosely about halfway, and gently tamp it down to about one third. This should be a very loosely packed portion of the pipe, and if you do a test draw of the pipe, it should feel almost like nothing is in the pipe. It should draw freely and easily. If it doesn’t draw easily, dump it out and start again.
(4) Now, repeat this process until you have the pipe two thirds full. The tightness of this section of the pipe should only be slightly tighter than before. The tobacco in the bowl should have a very springy, almost soft consistency. The draw should also still be very “free and easy”.
(5) Once again, trickle loose strands of tobacco into the bowl until it is once again full, perhaps even a tad over-full.
(6) Again, tamp the tobacco down gently with your tamp. The tobacco in the bowl should feel springy. The level should be almost full after this step. There should be a tiny bit of resistance when you test draw, but you should still be able to draw the pipe with ease. If it is too tight, you won’t be able to draw properly, so dump it out and start again.
(7) After tamping, the level of the tobacco should be right at the rim of the bowl, looking as if it needs a haircut. Return any left-over tobacco to its container for future use.
(8) Using your tamp again, pack this tobacco down until it is even with the top of the bowl. This will take a bit more pressure than the first two tamping operations, but take care not to overdo it. The tobacco should still feel springy, only slightly less so than on the second tamp.
Now, if all of the above steps have been successfully completed, your pipe is properly packed and ready to be lit and smoked. Get ready, you are about to enjoy yourself!
LIGHTING THE PIPE
Lighting a pipe seems to be a very straightforward operation. You apply open flame, whether from a match, lighter or other such contrivance and puff on the pipe until it is lit. That is the way it would seem. . . .but that is not particularly how it will work. In factl, to get maximum enjoyment out of your pipe, and to minimize the need for mid-smoke relights, it is important to pay attention to your technique here, as with any other aspect of smoking. Here are a couple of easy steps to ensure a nicely lit pipe.
1. First comes the 'charring' light, the purpose of which is to expel any extra moisture from the tobacco and prepare a nice even bed for the 'true' light. To achieve this, light your match or lighter and apply it to the tobacco, moving it in a circular motion around the entire surface of the tobacco. While doing this, take a series of shallow puffs on the pipe. It may be that the tobacco swells up in a spot or two and seems to unravel. That is the purpose of the charring light, to balance out the tobacco moisture and density.
2. Allow this light to go out and tamp the tobacco back down even with the top of the bowl. You may find it useful to twist or spin your tamp in a circular motion while doing this. This is the point where many pipe smokers ruin a good packing job by tamping too hard. You should use a very light touch, wanting only to return the tobacco to the level it was before the charring light.
3. Fire up again and apply it to the tobacco, moving it in a circular motion around the entire surface of the tobacco. While doing this, take a series of shallow puffs on the pipe. This time the tobacco should not unravel and puff up as it did before. Extinguish your source of fire, sit back, relax and enjoy your pipe.
Hopefully, by following these instructions, you have successfully lit your pipe and are enjoying it. Here are a couple more tips to consider:
• It takes time and practice to master this technique, but you should see steady improvement in your form and in the ease with which you can pack your pipe as you progress. It is not uncommon for it to take a while for this technique to become second nature.
• Don't worry too much about relights. Relighting your pipe is a fact of life, and only rarely, if at all, will you have a smoke where you do not have to relight at least once. You will probably find that as your smoking progresses, you will relight less and less frequently. (When I first started doing this, I was relighting all the time. . . now I seldom have to relight.)
• Tamping helps you more than you know. Gently tamping the tobacco throughout the smoke helps as you relight to have a solid lighting surface. As you tamp and relight, you are going to find that you don’t have to relight as much. Tamping goes a long way to a longer, more enjoyable smoke.
• One of the “rookie” mistakes in smoking a pipe is the constant puffing to keep from having to relight as much. Don’t do this. Puff about once a minute, and if it goes out, tamp and relight. If you are constantly puffing the pipe, then the pipe gets too hot, and the dreaded tongue bite rears its ugly heard. Relax, take your time, and relight if you must.
More to come later! ! !
HAPPY SMOKES! ! !
STEVE
Pipe smoking requires a little practice and technique to work well. For this reason, many people quit on the hobby before they have mastered the techniques to make it an enjoyable hobby.
The number one complaint of new pipe smokers seems to be that they do not know how to correctly 'pack' their pipe, resulting in a bad start. Improperly packing and lighting a pipe can cause several things to happen. Either you end up with lots of “left over tobacco at the end of the smoke, or a hot smoke and the dread tongue bite, or a pipe that is hard to draw on. So, below we will outline a step by step approach to how to pack your pipe and light it to enjoyment. Packing and lighting a pipe, much like smoking a pipe, is an artform, and this technique may take some time to master, but once you have it down pat, one of the major stumbling blocks to pipe smoking bliss will have been removed.
First off, if you don’t have all the things that we laid out in the “Getting Started” article, then go back to the “drawing board” and get all those items. You are going to need them before we proceed. Once you have done all that. . . then read on to the Procedure of How to Pack and Light the Pipe.
Procedure:
(1) First, it is important to make sure that your pipe is ready to smoke. Run a pipe cleaner through the stem, dump out any “left overs”, and gently blow through the stem to expel any leftover ash. It is probably best to do this over a trashcan, large ashtray, or other such receptacle, pointing the bowl of the pipe upside down to avoid spewing what is inside your pipe into your own face. Make sure that nothing is in the pipe from previous smokes.
(2) Select the tobacco that you want to smoke and open the container.
(3) Loading the pipe should be done in Thirds. Fill your pipe loosely about halfway, and gently tamp it down to about one third. This should be a very loosely packed portion of the pipe, and if you do a test draw of the pipe, it should feel almost like nothing is in the pipe. It should draw freely and easily. If it doesn’t draw easily, dump it out and start again.
(4) Now, repeat this process until you have the pipe two thirds full. The tightness of this section of the pipe should only be slightly tighter than before. The tobacco in the bowl should have a very springy, almost soft consistency. The draw should also still be very “free and easy”.
(5) Once again, trickle loose strands of tobacco into the bowl until it is once again full, perhaps even a tad over-full.
(6) Again, tamp the tobacco down gently with your tamp. The tobacco in the bowl should feel springy. The level should be almost full after this step. There should be a tiny bit of resistance when you test draw, but you should still be able to draw the pipe with ease. If it is too tight, you won’t be able to draw properly, so dump it out and start again.
(7) After tamping, the level of the tobacco should be right at the rim of the bowl, looking as if it needs a haircut. Return any left-over tobacco to its container for future use.
(8) Using your tamp again, pack this tobacco down until it is even with the top of the bowl. This will take a bit more pressure than the first two tamping operations, but take care not to overdo it. The tobacco should still feel springy, only slightly less so than on the second tamp.
Now, if all of the above steps have been successfully completed, your pipe is properly packed and ready to be lit and smoked. Get ready, you are about to enjoy yourself!
LIGHTING THE PIPE
Lighting a pipe seems to be a very straightforward operation. You apply open flame, whether from a match, lighter or other such contrivance and puff on the pipe until it is lit. That is the way it would seem. . . .but that is not particularly how it will work. In factl, to get maximum enjoyment out of your pipe, and to minimize the need for mid-smoke relights, it is important to pay attention to your technique here, as with any other aspect of smoking. Here are a couple of easy steps to ensure a nicely lit pipe.
1. First comes the 'charring' light, the purpose of which is to expel any extra moisture from the tobacco and prepare a nice even bed for the 'true' light. To achieve this, light your match or lighter and apply it to the tobacco, moving it in a circular motion around the entire surface of the tobacco. While doing this, take a series of shallow puffs on the pipe. It may be that the tobacco swells up in a spot or two and seems to unravel. That is the purpose of the charring light, to balance out the tobacco moisture and density.
2. Allow this light to go out and tamp the tobacco back down even with the top of the bowl. You may find it useful to twist or spin your tamp in a circular motion while doing this. This is the point where many pipe smokers ruin a good packing job by tamping too hard. You should use a very light touch, wanting only to return the tobacco to the level it was before the charring light.
3. Fire up again and apply it to the tobacco, moving it in a circular motion around the entire surface of the tobacco. While doing this, take a series of shallow puffs on the pipe. This time the tobacco should not unravel and puff up as it did before. Extinguish your source of fire, sit back, relax and enjoy your pipe.
Hopefully, by following these instructions, you have successfully lit your pipe and are enjoying it. Here are a couple more tips to consider:
• It takes time and practice to master this technique, but you should see steady improvement in your form and in the ease with which you can pack your pipe as you progress. It is not uncommon for it to take a while for this technique to become second nature.
• Don't worry too much about relights. Relighting your pipe is a fact of life, and only rarely, if at all, will you have a smoke where you do not have to relight at least once. You will probably find that as your smoking progresses, you will relight less and less frequently. (When I first started doing this, I was relighting all the time. . . now I seldom have to relight.)
• Tamping helps you more than you know. Gently tamping the tobacco throughout the smoke helps as you relight to have a solid lighting surface. As you tamp and relight, you are going to find that you don’t have to relight as much. Tamping goes a long way to a longer, more enjoyable smoke.
• One of the “rookie” mistakes in smoking a pipe is the constant puffing to keep from having to relight as much. Don’t do this. Puff about once a minute, and if it goes out, tamp and relight. If you are constantly puffing the pipe, then the pipe gets too hot, and the dreaded tongue bite rears its ugly heard. Relax, take your time, and relight if you must.
More to come later! ! !
HAPPY SMOKES! ! !
STEVE
With the pipe, YOU are the Bunchers and the Rollers, as well as the lighters and the smokers. 
I only smoke outside though, so I just tip out onto the grass.