Keeping the Pipe Lit

[postoak]

For those who can smoke an ENTIRE pipe with just the initial light (even if that includes a tamp and 2nd light), how do you do it? I usually have to relight 3 times to get all the tobacco into ash. It seems to me that the accumulation of ash puts the flame out and some way of dealing with that is necessary.

[uvacom]

I was able to do a 1-light bowl just this morning. It was a ribbon cut tobac, I loaded into my Dr. Grabow Westbrook Canadian frank-style and puffed away on the drive to school.

It's all in the moisture, IMHO. I do notice that if it starts to die off a light tamp followed by a couple puffs and a 30 second pause with get the bowl going again.

[Blaylock]

Hi Rob,

It usually takes me a couple lights to get a nice burn going. After that I work the tamper to keep things going. When the ash gets to thick, I'll gently stir it up with the poker and remove the top layers.

Very rarely do I get through the entire bowl without relighting, but I don't worry about it. A few more lights and I'm "good to go" again. Does take practice though.

Dave

[sounds7]

Originally Posted by postoak

For those who can smoke an ENTIRE pipe with just the initial light (even if that includes a tamp and 2nd light), how do you do it? I usually have to relight 3 times to get all the tobacco into ash. It seems to me that the accumulation of ash puts the flame out and some way of dealing with that is necessary.

For starters the moisture level has to be right. If its too wet its hard to keep lit, too dry and it burns too fast and you get tongue burn, Pinch the leaves, if they stick together you have too much moisture. If they crumble you are too dry.

secondly it is important how you load the pipe. There is the Frank method, the layer method etc. I like the layer method which is nice and tight at the top but loose on the bottom.

When lighting initially I give a go around the bowl with the match or lighter and then tamp down. I repeat two more times before giving the light which starts the smoke. The idea is to get some ash on top and to pack down the tobacco even more. Kind of like a tightly rolled cigar but the air must still move free.

After the smoking has started when drawing the smoke I go nice and slow but am mindful to exhale through the pipe if I feel the fire is growing weak. I also lightly tamp as I smoke the bowl down. Occasionally in the final very bottom part of the bowl I will need a re-light due to moisture build up. Almost always I need to dump some ash towards the bottom of the bowl. I do this a couple different ways. first I just turn the bowl upside down. The tobacco doesn't fall out because I have been tamping as I smoke down the bowl. Sometimes though that isnt enough and I have to loosen the top layer of ash with my pipe tool and then dump. All these things take practice but don't beat yourself up if you don't get it right away. Pleasure before precision they say.

Keep in mind that some tobaccos just can not be smoked on one match while others are fairly easy to smoke that way. Some G.L. Pease blends are just too wet for example and need to set a few days/weeks. This is kind of how I started aging tobacco and I gradually started saving it longer and longer (besides the taste factor) It always burns better.

[brianwalden]

Originally Posted by postoak

For those who can smoke an ENTIRE pipe with just the initial light (even if that includes a tamp and 2nd light), how do you do it? I usually have to relight 3 times to get all the tobacco into ash. It seems to me that the accumulation of ash puts the flame out and some way of dealing with that is necessary.

Buy some Half & Half. I'm a few bowls into a pouch now. Once that stuff's lit the fire department couldn't put it out.

But seriously, if you're relighting 3 times during the course of a typical bowl you're doing fine. Relighting is a normal part of pipe smoking. And the bottom part of the bowl is always the most difficult part to keep lit - maybe ash buildup is the problem or maybe it's just because it's the bottom of the bowl. Some people like to dump their ash about halfway through. I just leave it in and haven't noticed a problem - but I'm still in the shallow end of the experience pool, so what do I know.

[Mad Hatter]

I gravity fill my pipe, tap the side a few times and then put just a bit more on top. When I tamp, I tamp around the edges leaving the tobacco in a domed shape that keeps any ember broken and the ash loose.

[DBCcigar]

Practice, practice, practice

[WWhermit]

Time, patience, and practice. Also, it doesn't bother me to relight. It's not like it adds so much satisfaction that I didn't relight. I think too much is put on that.

WWhermit

[postoak]

I'm coming back to the cigar after a 10 year break, and I've been smoking for 2 weeks, but I have previous experience. Thing is, I didn't intellectualize the staying lit process before. Now, able to get advice on the internet, I'd like to.

brianwalden, I actually have some Half and Half, and mine doesn't stay lit any better than the others I have. I guess you just got yours at the right moisture level.

I really am beginning to believe the moisture level is key.

However, I did get from the above posts that I should experiment with "dynamic tamping", i.e., tamping *before* I lose the flame.

Also, this blowing business, I'm not sure what it is doing? Perhaps it is knocking the ash off part of the tobacco. (?)

[wharfrathoss]

IMHO, there's not 1 "key" factor, it's a combination of a lot of things. tobac moisture, how you fill the pipe, smoking style, tamping & engineering of the pipe.

once i opened the draw on my pipes, dried my tobac so it doesn't stick together or crumble, & found a smoking style that doesn't overheat the bowl, i learned to tamp. i'm not saying that's the order to learn these things in, just how i did. working the tamp to manipulate the ember instead of smooshing the tobac was just the final piece in the puzzle.

that all said, i still relight multiple times per bowl. i'm just too lazy to focus enough to keep all the factors in sync. all that concentration ruins the point of smoking for me, to relax. hell, lighter fluid's cheap enough. just enjoy it when you have a 1 light bowl & don't worry about it when you don't.

[postoak]

I've read that there are pipe-smoking competitions, where you are only allowed 2 matches for a bowl. Do you get to supply your own tobacco? If not, is the tobacco just the perfect humidity? If not, then I am impressed.

[sounds7]

Originally Posted by postoak

I've read that there are pipe-smoking competitions, where you are only allowed 2 matches for a bowl. Do you get to supply your own tobacco? If not, is the tobacco just the perfect humidity? If not, then I am impressed.

Most of the ones in my area use aromatic tobacco and with all the casing they dump in to cover the low grade tobaccos, it burns very wet. I personally loath the whole aromatic experience therefore I steer clear. If I ran across a competition that used English Blends or Virginias, cigar blends, even uncased Burley I might give it a shot. But as it is , no I haven't participated and they can keep the prized pipe they give to the winner. Not worth the experience to me.

[postoak]

From what you said, tho, it sounds as if they can keep *moist* tobacco lit all the way down (or, I guess with one extra light).

[sounds7]

Originally Posted by postoak

From what you said, tho, it sounds as if they can keep *moist* tobacco lit all the way down (or, I guess with one extra light).

I have not been so I dont know if they made it all the way down. I always ask up front what will be smoked so when they tell me what it is I pass. I am sure that even moist tobacco can be smoked all the way down but you must be constantly on it or it will go out. Its not an easy task to do but then again that could be the reason they select wet aromatics, or it could be thats what most smokers can agree to smoke. I can see an English smoker sucumbing to smoking vanilla creme but the aromatic smoker would have a hard time with Irish Flake or Margate for example.

[Arizona]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

I gravity fill my pipe, tap the side a few times and then put just a bit more on top. When I tamp, I tamp around the edges leaving the tobacco in a domed shape that keeps any ember broken and the ash loose.

Same here, I gravity feed the pipe inside my tobacco pouch - tapping and jiggling the pipe as I do it - til it's got a little mound of tobacco bulging out the top of the pipe. Then I gently press this down til level with the top of the bowl. I light and puff for 30 seconds or so. Then tamp and relight it and enjoy the smoke til it goes out. By then I usually feel like setting the pipe down for a bit. Then later when ready to continue the smoke I tamp and just tip the pipe over and let the fine ash fall out. Then relight and that will take me to the bottom of the pipe - or if not then maybe one more relight as described above.

Don't fret over how many relights you use. Two or three or four relights is not big deal. As long as you're getting a pleasant smoke out of it that's the only thing to concern yourself with. Now if you're having trouble drawing the pipe cuz too tight, or it just WON'T stay lit, then you're not filling it correctly and that's another story. A few relights is fine.