Torch Lighters?

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Trifecta13

Trifecta13

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I watched the notorious Frank method videos that have been referenced here several times. Now I had seen others referencing this method, but they are consistent on their use of the torch or "burner" lighter. Now I have always had this sinking suspicion/self realization that for me a torch lighter may be a one stop trip to a briar-b-que. I'm curious if anyone here uses one of these intimidating incinerators and/or the consensus on their use. Thanks in advance.
 
I guess I haven't seen the "Frank" method, so I might be off base.

However, I have used a torch before and thought I'd like it quite a bit, until I noticed it was scorching the rim of my pipe. My guess is that, even though a torch is a very focused flame so that you can shoot it right down the bowl, I think they can get too hot and scorch the bowl, even if the flame isn't directly touching it.

I'm no scientist though, so I could be wrong.
 
Seems to me it's no big surprise that the guy who came up with this idea just happens to sell pipes. Use the torch, ruin a pipe, ya gotta buy another pipe. You're in luck! He just happens to have some more for sale!

How about a nice Barbi or Former to incinerate today?

Torches are for cigars, period.
 
Search youtube for dracsspago, he has the three videos for the Frank method, designed by Joaquim Frank of Germany, who operates Peifenstudio-frank.de
 
I saw that video since the fella was German or something I figured Torch was the translation for lighter, I din't think it was a torch lighter
 
I just viewed the Frank method as a packing method. Not a packing and lighting method :lol:

I did see the video where he uses the torch lighter, being very precise with his approach and time under fire.

I prefer my zippo and more recently matches.
 
I remember a kind of manic excitement of a former hefe on these boards after the pipe show where he learned about the Frank Method. But as soon as I saw that it involved using a torch to light a wooden pipe, I knew that even if it was a great method, matches worked fine for me. They still do. For me the financial overhead of a portable lighting device is too high. Using a torch on a cigar suits that tobacco preparation, but I tend to use matches there, too: especially as I sold my lighters last spring!
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys. I have been of the same mindset and glad to see others are as well. I do have an issue with creating a solid even burn with the Frank method, to be perfectly <ahem> frank, a gravity fill or 3 stage approach works better for me most times anyway. I thank you and my briars thank you.
 
I have no issues with his packing method, if it works for you it works for you. There are several different ways to get to that same end result. I just think the whole torch notion is silly and destructive. A few patient charring lights and very soft leveling tamps, and you're off. I don't see the logic in getting some great glowing coal going that is supposed to settle into a cool burning smoke. Rather, you coax the tobacco into a state where it wants to just smolder a while, and don't fear the relight. I've become a patient smoker, and my pipe rims all look good too.

Bic here too, although I'd love to get one of those Peterson Old Boy style pipe lighters. The Bic is the smartest way though. It's got a very soft flame, is super cheap, lasts a long time, is quite portable, and who cares if you misplace or lose it.
 
Torch flame = cigar only.

Though I have been known to be stuck with my only single-jet torch, and lit my pipes with it. I didn't like the idea, and for some reason, had no other choice. It's a weak, cheap little lighter, rather than these four-jet flaming hand grenades that are often the point of competition with cigar guys. :lol:

Soft flame all the way. I like my naphtha-fueled and butane IMCOs, Bics, and a particularly cheesy DuPont fake I got for $10 (the "Fauxpont"). Matches just don't work in the wind, as it turns out.

Packing "methods" are just starter points. I don't know too many pipesters that adhere to one strict method of packing to the letter, everyone naturally finds the way that works for 'em, or they simply stop smoking their pipes. :lol: Me? I've adapted a kind of hybrid system, part gravity fill, part twista-bacca (lining up the leaves a little) and topping it off (making it a two-step)... :dances:

 
I must admit that I'm a nostalgic fool at heart and so matches have been the only thing to light my pipes in 15 years. I like the soft flame, I like the scratch-and-whoosh when striking them (very tactile).

The only question I have about matches is what do they now contain. I bought a HUGE stockpile (when I first started smoking pipes) and so have never had to buy more. But over the long weekend that we just had here in Australia I had to travel via plane and you are not allowed matches in either carry-on or checked luggage. So, I had to buy a box after I landed. Well, I noticed when I lit the first one that there was some beading of some form of moisture on the match after a few seconds. I also noticed that the match burnt quicker than mine usually do. So, do newer matches contain some form of accelerant? And if so, do they change the taste of the tobacco at all? I didn't detect anything, but then again it was a new pipe to me (estate) so I wasn't familiar with it's 'normal' flavor.
 
Hobo Hoot":cmzu15td said:
I must admit that I'm a nostalgic fool at heart and so matches have been the only thing to light my pipes in 15 years. I like the soft flame, I like the scratch-and-whoosh when striking them (very tactile).

The only question I have about matches is what do they now contain. I bought a HUGE stockpile (when I first started smoking pipes) and so have never had to buy more. But over the long weekend that we just had here in Australia I had to travel via plane and you are not allowed matches in either carry-on or checked luggage. So, I had to buy a box after I landed. Well, I noticed when I lit the first one that there was some beading of some form of moisture on the match after a few seconds. I also noticed that the match burnt quicker than mine usually do. So, do newer matches contain some form of accelerant? And if so, do they change the taste of the tobacco at all? I didn't detect anything, but then again it was a new pipe to me (estate) so I wasn't familiar with it's 'normal' flavor.
Click to expand...
My guess would be that if one match burned faster than another, or condensed moisture as it burned, it would just be the product of the wood they used to make the match, not the addition of an accelerant. You can buy sulfur-free cigar matches from Arrango, though that might be a lot of hype as I think the principle ingredient in the tips is phosphorus. Either way, it's like a Zippo in that regard: let the initial flame die down a bit before you apply it to the tobacco and you probably wont taste anything weird.
 
:lol!:

Bic lighters are universally available, cheap, and work wonderfully.

That's why people avoid them.

It's too easy that way.

Play value is the name of the game :lol:

:face:
 
Whrn you buy a new Pete, the 90-day guarantee card says it does not cover, "Burnouts caused by excessive heat i.e., the use of turbo-flame lighters."
 
I just can't bring myself to use a lighter on my pipes - just seems wrong to me. Different strokes for different folks I guess :)

I was out in the bush once (here in Australia), middle of nowhere when I realized that I didn't have any more matches :( My old mate (in his 70s) said, "No problem mate" and reached into the coals and grabbed one with his bare pointer finger and thumb, plonked it down in my pipe. Well, it lit well, and then the coal was removed. It did impart a slight taste though, kind of an extra nuttiness. That was the only time I've lit a pipe with anything other than matches!
 
Apart from cobs, has anyone here actually ever had a burnout? In all my years of pipeology I've never had it happen to me and have never met anyone who has actually had it happen to them. For me it has almost reached 'urban myth' status.
 
This, being likely from a flaw in the briar...

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/t21578-peterson-burnthrough-saga-ended?highlight=peterson

Oldies but goodies, with photos...

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/t11068-burnout?highlight=burnout

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/t12415-volcano-burnout?highlight=burnout

A guy brought in a Kaywoodie pipe to our local Tinder Box to have his pipe fixed. There was a pea-sized hole burnt right through the bottom. He was confused as to how it happened, and was disappointed it couldn't be fixed...then he brought out another pipe, stuffed it full of some very dry tobacco (sounded like cornflakes when he loaded the pipe), and proceeded to puff away like the midnight train to Georgia. He then proceeded to attempt to correct my and other's pipe smoking techniques as wrong, to not be afraid to "actually smoke the pipe," because pipes, after all, have a limited lifespan in his experience of some decades. It was amusing. Lots of smiling-and-nodding was had by all.

:|

*shrug*

8)

 
Holy tap dancing penguins, that first link to the Pete burnout is insane! I stand corrected and never again shall question my fellow pipeologists. Thanks for the effort in finding those as well. +1 to making me more concerned about running my pipes a little warm from now on!
 
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