Hi and welcome back to another installment in our ongoing series of Puff FAQ’s. The majority of these “frequently asked questions” articles are aimed at the cigar smoker. However, I have decided to take a break and give our brothers, the pipe smoker’s, a little time in the limelight. So if you are a pipe smoker – and have considered smoking pipes, come on in, sit a spell, and relax.

 

For those of you that are familiar with this series, you can skip this obligatory paragraph. For those of you that are not – welcome aboard. In this series, I typically try to answer questions from both the newbie smoker and the old gorilla veteran. I usually do so by alternating between the two. That is the format that I will stick to in this article. So, without further ado…I present you: the Puff FAQ for March.

Question: It usually takes me about half an hour to smoke through a bowl. I have friends who say they take upwards of an hour and claim that I am smoking too fast. Is this true?

Answer: There are many factors to consider when deciding how long a bowl “should” take to smoke. These include the type of pipe, the shape and size of the bowl, the cut of tobacco, if you are in a rush, how lightly you pack the bowl, etc, etc and so on. In reality, the average time for a pipe is between forty-five minutes and an hour. This gives you time to pace yourself, relax, and enjoy the smoke.

But at the end of the day, like practically everything smoke related, in the end it comes down to preference. If your tongue doesn’t burn and you enjoy the feel of killing off a bowl in thirty minutes, then there is no need to change. Do what feels good and fits your schedule.