packing a pipe

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benmarcum

benmarcum

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I must still be doing it wrong. I have a heck of a time keeping the pipe lit. I use the gravity fill and light packing method but I feel like if I am not puffing a fair amount it goes out. Any tips would be awesome.

Thanks yall
 
I have the same problem sometimes, and figured out that packing a little tighter helped, as well as tamping occasionally. It can be difficult to keep a pipe lit sometimes, but re-lighting is also normal. I found myself trying harder and harder to keep from having to apply more flame, often to the detriment of the smoking quality. It became a competition to see how long I could keep the tobacco burning, even when I should have allowed it to go out. It has definitely been a lesson in patience.
 
My suggestion would be to adjust the pack for pipe, tobacco cut, flavor, draw, and burn rate. Basically everything except keeping it lit...lol. It's far more rare for me to have a bowl with no relights than it is for me to have a great smoke. The burn to the bottom with no relights is more the exception than the rule I think. Fun to try for maybe, but for me at least it's probably the least important aspect of the smoke. Apologies if that really doesn't help you at all. Just keep chasing the flavor and eventually you will probably stumble upon that elusive relightless bowl or two.
 
First of all, it's not uncommon. We all have to relight sometimes. This is isn't cigarettes we're talking about here.

Second, packing might not necessarily be the culprit. It could be the tobacco or the pipe or an ill-fated combination of any of these factors. If you're smoking an aromatic that's been sweetened with a casing (which is what aromatics are), the tobacco burns away while the liquidy residue remains behind. This doesn't help at all. Also, if your pipe has a bad draw, then you have to puff harder and more frequently to keep it lit, and you'll have a pipe that's going to go out more often (in addition to tongue bite).

Speaking of tongue-bite, I suspect that if your tobacco is too dry and also causing your tongue to burn, it would be harder to keep puffing the proper amount to keep the pipe lit.

Also, try blowing--gently--into the pipe a little on occasion. And tamp.

Accept that the constant relighting is something we all have to do, though it is also something that we all get better at too. Experiment with other pipes and tobaccos is probably the best thing you can do right now. Packing could be the issue, but it would be the last thing I'd suspect and not the first.
 
Frost":xfhnm9yf said:
My suggestion would be to adjust the pack for pipe, tobacco cut, flavor, draw, and burn rate. Basically everything except keeping it lit...lol. It's far more rare for me to have a bowl with no relights than it is for me to have a great smoke. The burn to the bottom with no relights is more the exception than the rule I think. Fun to try for maybe, but for me at least it's probably the least important aspect of the smoke. Apologies if that really doesn't help you at all. Just keep chasing the flavor and eventually you will probably stumble upon that elusive relightless bowl or two.
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I totally agree!

Yes, relighting is par for the course. It doesn´t necessarily mean you´re doing anything wrong either. Some cuts and blends are just more of a challenge to keep going. Also moisture content will have an effect. I´ve been smoking McC Dark Star lately and I constantly have to keep relighting that one. Even pretty dry it´s just do dense that it´ll go out in a heartbeat. Nonetheless it´s an awesome smoke.

Not a hard fast rule, but ribbon cut tobacco is a little easier than flakes to keep burning without constant attention. Over puffing just for the sake of keeping it lit is not always the best flavor strategy either.

Just puff it, enjoy it, and relight it when it goes out! :D
 
gentlemen...thank you. sounds like i have been doing ok and was just thinking to much...i gotta learn to stop doing that ;)
 
I'm a newbie, and I have a heck of a time keeping aros lit.

figured out that it helps to let them dry a bit before smoking.

best success I've had so far is with Carter Hall or Prince Albert... MUCH easier to keep lit [tastes better too IMO]

I "fill" the pipe rather than "pack" it...just sprinkle, tap, sprinkle, tap, all the way to the top...tamp VERY lightly...char light...tamp VERY LIGHTLY...true light, then tamp VERY lightly again, whilst puffing. I tamp LIGHTLY at about 1/2 way down, then again before the bottom 1/3.

stays lit pretty well, and taught me a ton about the mistakes I was making [overpacking/overtamping/overpuffing]

I'm finding "light=lit" when it comes to tamping/packing.

I think aros are tougher to smoke for newcomers than the often disdained "codger" burleys... give some CH or PA a try, I'm glad I did.
 
Carter Hall in a cheap basket pipe was the only time I've ever gotten the elusive, for me, one match bowl.
 
There do seem to be a lot of variables for new pipe smokers, like myself, to get to grips with. In the 'good old days' a grandfather would hand down these skills to the next generation and so on, but now we have the online brotherhood to help and assist :D

I am still having problems getting the right pack in my other Lorenzo. I seem to get too much heat, a lot of dottle, and gurgling. I have to puff away of the thing goes out :( I am going to experiment with looser packing and see if that helps.
 
Gumball":kpbe1wpb said:
I am still having problems getting the right pack in my other Lorenzo. I seem to get too much heat, a lot of dottle, and gurgling. I have to puff away of the thing goes out :( I am going to experiment with looser packing and see if that helps.
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That sounds like a classic case of not enough air going through the pipe. Combustion requires sufficient oxygen, and if the airway doesn't supply it the result is a vicious cycle of hard puffing, condensation, and tongue bite.

Unless there's some sort of object stuck in the airway, or an extreme misalignment/offset at the bottom of the mortise, the only way to fix such a problem is by enlarging the airway over its entire length. Not a DIY operation unless you feel adventurous and have the proper tools, though.
 
Thank you for the advice LL. I am taking that pipe out of rotation for a while :|
 
It's all a fine balancing act between the leaf being too dry and in turn burning too hot and fast or too damp and it constantly going out (and gurgling), and packing it just right for the specific tobacco. I prefer my tobacco probably a little more moist than most. I use the gravity sprinkle and pack half way, then sprinkle the next layer and pack half way between the top of the bowl and the top of the previous layer , and repeat until full method. Seems to work well for me so that layers are packed tighter at the top and looser at the bottom so as you smoke each layer and tamp it into the next while smoking each layer is just about right. Obviously this is easier said than done depending on the specific tobacco. For some reason I find Lane Q-1 the easiest to pack just right, everything else since to be hit or miss and just feeling my way through it.
 
A few tips or rules of thumb...not written in stone.
1. When drying tobacco, it should be damp eough to spring back when squeezed between thumb and fingers.
2. It's better to load too loose than too tight. If too loose, you can fix by tamping. If too tight, you have to empty the bowl and start over.
3. while smoking, SIP the smoke,do not puff.
4. A properly loaded bowl should give resistance similar to that experienced when sipping milk through a straw
5. Different "cuts" of tobacco have different burning characteristics. Ribbons and shags will burn quicker than broken flakes; broken flakes will burn quicker that cubed and flakes.
6. Different genres of tobacco have different smoking traits. English and Latakias seem to produce more smoke than Virginias.
7. The ideal is to have the tobacco to the stage that it smolders, with out going out.
8. There is no such thing as too many relights.
9. Pipes should be "sipped" not puffed.( Iknow this is a repeat, there's a reason for that :D )

As I states in the beginning, nothing is written in stone, find what works for you, that you enjoy and stick with it.
 
My suggestion is twofold, bearing in mind that relighting is nothing to be concerned about. Also you should always just sip the pipe without really trying to puff it. First, and probably most significant is tamping technique. When you feel that the pipe is starting to go out, let your tamper just gravity drop softly on the crown and you should note that it will fire up again just fine. Secondly I would try a quality English tobacco blend rather than a wet aromatic to see the difference. My suggestion of a good English blend would be Sterlings 1776 Bostonian. It is mild, and moist but not wet and I'll bet you will like it. Get in touch with Jack Peterson at Sterling Tobacco and request a sample. I'm sure he will gladly accommodate you.
 
Lighting is something I believe everyone is going to think about too much. I did, and as a result pipe smoking wasn't half as enjoyable as it should've been at least half the time. It probably takes a lot of people a lot of practice to master the three-layered "Traditional" method, which I say because for me it's usually a crapshoot of "how tight/moist is it?" and you can't replicate one method perfectly with something as ornery as any kind of tobacco.

Something I saw in a Youtube video (that I can't find right now) really inspired me: an older tobacco store owner takes a hunk of tobacco between his pointer, middle, and thumb fingers and jams it into a pipe, pushing lightly on the top with both thumbs. After trying it, I found out this is probably the best method for accomplishing the two goals of packing--looseness/air pocket on the bottom and tightness on the top. And stuffing does this a lot better and more often than the "traditional" method (which I don't believe is really the traditional method at all).

TL;DR -- Don't think about it, just stuff!
 
(1) First, it is imprtant to make sure that your pipe is free from obstructions and left over ash from previous smokes. Run a pipe cleaner through the stem, dump out any dottle, 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 dottle and ash into your own face.

(2) remove a small amount of tobacco from your tin/pouch/etc and lay it out on a flat surface. Gently pick apart any clumps in the tobacco, and make note of the moisture content of the tobacco. If it is too moist, you may want to let it sit out for a few minutes to dry out a bit. Go make yourself a cup of tea, pull an espresso, or open some mail. When you come back, it should have dried just a bit and be a little easier to deal with.

good luck!!

___________________
glass tobacco pipe
 
Thanks so much for posting this question - and for all of the helpful replies.

I have been smoking a pipe, off and on, for 20 some years (probably more off than n) and I have always had question about packing and relighting and everything associated. It is this very kind of discussion that caused me to join this forum today.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. While I am a Carter Hall junkie - I have had good luck with Prince Albert and staying lit.
 
Here is a Savinelli Ad but it has some very useful tips on packing/lighting/smoking a pipe.
I am new and cannot post to external sites.
But do a youtube search for Smoking Savinelli Pipe



Hope this helps,
Bill
 
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