New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by chaase321

Alright guys, I am giving the pipe thing a go again...after all, April is Pipe Month!!...but I have a few questions that are buring ( ) inside that I need to ask, so I can enjoy it more:

1. Maybe stupid, but what does a "non-carbonized" bowl mean? Is it that it hasn't been smoked yet?

2. I cannot tell if my baccy is the right RH...what is it supposed to be? and is there a method, other than a hygrometer, that you can use to tell if it is right (like a feel or something)

3. Am I packing my bowl too tight or too lose...Here is why I ask...I am not getting much smoke production out of it? I use the 3-2-1 (thanks Moo!) method, but I'm not sure if it is packed correctly. I light all over, tamp, light again...but then about 45 seconds to a minute later, when I draw, i do not get the "full mouth" feel of smoke anymore, and when I blow it out, it is very little smoke. Am I expecting too much from smoking cigars? I see pictures of people smoking pipes and it looks like they are getting a lot of smoke...I want that! I also have some troubles with keeping it lit, I mean, if I don't puff like every 45 seconds it is out for sure...could this be because it is packed too loosely?
3.a. So could it be that the baccy is too dry/wet, packed too loosely...I am 100% sure it is not being packed too tight.
4. Recommendations for a newb pipe smoker that loves a med/med-full Nicaraguan cigar, and doesn't want tongue bite.

Sorry if that was lengthy, just trying to get it figured out so I can relax with a bowl as easily as I do with a stick, and enjoy the change of pace that pipes give.

Thanks all!

Let me have a go...

1. Me, I prefer to see raw, natural wood in a new pipe, not the pre- carbon coated variety. That's regarding a new pipe. On a well smoked pipe it is possible someone would ream out the chamber thoroughly, removing previous carbon build-up. In either case you'd be talking about a non-carbonized bowl. A thin coating of carbonization protects the wood in a pipe from burning.

2. Tobacco moisture meter for ribbon or shag cut. Squish a wad between your thumb and index finger; it it squishes and -
i. stays squished, it's too moist and needs a little drying out
ii. springs back, it's probably good to go
iii. crumbles to dust, it's way too dry and needs remoisturizing

For flake tobacco, if you bend a flake 180* and -
i. it bends like rubber and nothing breaks it's very moist
ii. it bends but fractures a fair bit at the bend it's about right (for me)
iii. it snaps in half it's probably dried out and might benefit from remoisturizing.

3. You're packing a bowl?! It's too tight. Never pack, fill. Too loose a fill and you can always moosh it down a bit after lighting. Too tight from the get go - ferget about it. You'll suck your cheeks off trying to keep the pipe alive. I routinely produce large, almost opaque clouds of smoke with small-to-modest sips. Getting there is finding the right balance between pipe, tobacco and filling technique. When something isn't working, make a change. It's like sex - timing and technique. Here is a recent sip-cloud:



Too wet, you think? That's easy to determine. Is the pipe drooling into your mouth instead of the other way around? Is the heel of the pipe wet and swampy? If so, the pipe and/or the tobacco are too wet to smoke. Consider dry time for pipe (24 hours) or tobacco (let a wad sit out 30-60 minutes).

4. I never could equate pipe tobacco with cigars. People talk about it a lot but, for me, it's like comparing pumpkin pie with whipped cream to aluminum billets. They both have their purposes but have nothing in common (for me). I like cigars and pipes but I sense them in totally different ways.