Introducing my newb self

[Hellraiser]

Originally Posted by Root

First of all welcome Hell

"Can you recommend me some good "tobacco flavored" pipe tobacco that has a nice kick like I would expect from my strong full-bodied cigars."

Might i suggest, Cooner a bulk from Cornell & Diehl, it is cube cut burley with deer tounge and this in my corncob has sat me on my butt before(i'am not a small man either). The tounge gives off a vanilla taste(which i have yet to sense) and the burley is good strong nutty tobacco. Also what i have found is
don't try to find a cigar in a pipe, same mother different father, if you know what i mean. You can get close, some blends do use cigar leaf such as McClelland's DOMINICAN GLORY or GL Pease's Robusto though i haven't tried these yet.

Thanks, I'll have to give those a try.

[Scott M]

Originally Posted by Hellraiser

....Poor draw - after 10 or 15 minutes the draw starts getting harder and I hear some gurgling from inside the pipe. Could be you're smoking too fast or the tobacco is too wet to begin with. Either one can cause gurgling. If I pack it really tight, then no draw at all from the beginning, (self evident) even if I pack loose, the draw is not great at the start and gets worse. (again self evident, but I"m curious as to how it gets worse.) With no tobacco in the bowl, drawing through it makes quite a noise, so plenty of resistence to start with. It's like a plugged cigar, you suck and suck but don't really get alot of smoke. (This article may explain the noise, which can cause the gurgle.)

Poor burn - the hole at the bottom of the bowl is not centered, hence it burns more on one side of the bowl than the other.

I think I'll throw it away just to make sure I never smoke out if it again on accident. Also the pipe is tainted by the aromatic blend I smoked thorugh it first, I could still taste it pretty strong in the background even on that 2nd bowl of nightcap. I can definately see a need for different pipes for different tobaccos/blends. You make it sound like the pipe was poorly executed. I'll be the first person to mention packing / lighting / tamping issues, but if this pipe is made poorly, there's no reason to keep it around.

I got some corn cob pipes on the way so I'll give it another try when they show up.

Looking for a good first pipe, I seem to like the looks of the danish freehand pipes, any reason not to consider these, (Heck NO) or should I look at more classic pipes like Dunhills and other english pipes. (Yes, by all means.) ....,

So now that you know what to look out for, you'll make a more informed choice on the next ones.


Cheers!

Scott"alwaysgladtoshoveafriend"M

[Hellraiser]

Got my corncob pipes today (Missouri Meerschaum brand) and they have what looks like a rolled up piece of paper in the stem with the word "Medico" on them, is this a filter? OK to remove I suppose?

[Scott M]

Originally Posted by Hellraiser

Got my corncob pipes today (Missouri Meerschaum brand) and they have what looks like a rolled up piece of paper in the stem with the word "Medico" on them, is this a filter? Yes. OK to remove I suppose? It's best if you remove them and banish them to the dark recesses of your clothes closet or the nearest cat litter box.

MHO.

[Hellraiser]

Scott,

Thanks, and to answer this:

even if I pack loose, the draw is not great at the start and gets worse. (again self evident, but I"m curious as to how it gets worse)

I think I was making it worse by tamping too hard in my frustration to try to get good hits from it.

I see now that this pipe in question is very air restrictive compared to the couple of the corncobs I've just tried sucking through so I think the corncobs will give me much better draws, looking forward to giving it a go in a few hours after I put the wife & kids to bed.

[Scott M]

Originally Posted by Hellraiser

...even if I pack loose, the draw is not great at the start and gets worse. (again self evident, but I"m curious as to how it gets worse.) Tobacco expands as the heat hits it. I've had bowls where the pre-light draw was fairly moderate go abso-friggin'-lutely rock solid when it's lit. Only recourse is to unload the tobacco and try again.

I think I was making it worse by tamping too hard in my frustration to try to get good hits from it. Just use the weight of the tamper.

I see now that this pipe in question is very air restrictive compared to the couple of the corncobs I've just tried sucking through so I think the corncobs will give me much better draws, looking forward to giving it a go in a few hours after I put the wife & kids to bed.

Don't remember if your pipe is straight or bent. If it's straight, you can probably open the airway up with a small file or drill bit. I did this with a Stanwell Billiard stem with very little problems and it smokes a little better now. Since you indicate the pipe isn't long for this world, it might make an interesting project. Just go very slowly with great care.


Shalom.

[icemncmth]

Welcome Hellraiser,

Don't get rid of the pipe ...take a file or drill bit and open it up by hand..even if it is a bent it should be all right to open it up...

Most new pipe smokers don't know that some tobacco will go out if you smoke it properly. When smoking a pipe ..think baby puffs...

If your tobacco is gurgling ...then take some of the tobacco out of the container...or bag...place it on your counter or someplace to dry out a little.
Spread it out and let it dry for 20 mins...then try smoking it...if it is still to moist then try 30 mins. One problem cigar smokers have when trying pipes is that you have to keep cigars moist or the cigar will fall a part. Pipe tobacco should be dryer than cigars...

Most new pipe smokers go with flavored tobaccos....personally I would just stay away from them because in the long run if you stay with pipes you will end up smoking Balkan, English or Va's....

If you want to try some different Balkan, English or Va blends you can get a sampler from Jack's Tobacco

http://www.jackstobaccowi.com/pgs_to...e_tobacco.html

The guy who does the blending is one of the best in the country. Their prices are great and so is the tobacco...

The Night Cap is a somewhat strong tobacco because it has a lot of Latakia and Perique....

Those are also found in the Balkan blends and English blends..

A great place to read about pipe tobacco is..

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/

What I always tell new people when reading the reviews is find a tobacco you like and then read the reviews about it...while reading the reviews think
about the tobacco and see who reviews the tobacco like you think of it...

then see if this person has reviewed any other tobacco's...if you can find someone with the same taste as you then their reviews can be very helpful...

-ice

[Charles]

Welcome to Club Stogie.

[Hellraiser]

I smoked through the corncob pipes the last 2 nights, both with the Nightcap, wow - what a difference, big effortless mouthfuls of smoke and very few relights required, now I'm getting some real enjoyment, and love the nicotine kick of the nightcap, though don't know if I'm in love with the flavor of the blend or not, gotta try some others.

I also took the advice of opening up the cheapo briar pipe some with a drill bit, was slow going so I broke out the drill and used a very slow speed, also opened up the plastic stem/bit as well, seems to draw much better now, will give her a try tonight.

[Hellraiser]

Thanks guys, the suggestions to open up the problem cheapo briar pipe really worked out great. Loaded it up last night and it smoked wonderfully, over an hour of good smoking and only one relight was needed. I was amazed at how well it smoked and it seemed to have a better flavor than the corncobs I've been smoking the last couple nights, though it was the same tobacco - nightcap, must be the differnce between cob and briar.

Y'all have saved this pipe, I was very close to just throwing it away. Also takes away some fear on buying the next pipe that might have the same problem - I'll just open them up if need be. It's a very liberating feeling.

Haven't had a cigar in almost a week due to smoking a pipe every night. My cigar friends are getting worried.
I don't plan on giving up cigars though, just smoke them once a week maybe and smoke a pipe daily. I can't believe how cheap "premium" pipe tobacco is compared to "premium" cigars. I'm hooked, now of course the pipe collecting obsession will take over and make up for the cheaper tobacco and I'll be spending more than ever.