Whether you should dedicate a pipe for each type of tobacco

We hear this question often. There are basically three different categories of pipe tobacco; aromatic, Virginia and English. Each has it's own characteristics. As each is smoked they will impart it's unique flavor into the porous briar and cake of the pipe they are smoked in.

The more the given tobacco is smoked in the same pipe the more of it's flavor will linger behind. When a different type of tobacco is smoked it will be influenced by the tobacco previously smoked. This effect can last for the next 5 - 10 bowls and in extreme cases the pipe will have to be thoroughly cleaned to remove the previous flavors.

A pipe that is used to smoke many different types and blends of tobacco will eventually become very bland tasting. If you have the luxury of several pipes it would be a good idea to dedicate a pipe or two to each type of tobacco to avoid tainting your smoking experience. There are some pipe smokers that will go so far as to dedicate a pipe for each brand of tobacco.

While this may be extreme, it would be great to have at least 1 pipe dedicated to your absolute favorite tobacco blend. By doing so you'll experience the taste of the tobacco in it's purest form.

Preparing Flake Style Tobacco

There are many ways to prepare flake style pipe tobacco (pressed and sliced) for smoking, here are a few.

First you'll need a good flake pipe. A good flake pipe has a narrow, deep bowl. Preferably 5/8" - 3/4" diameter and 1" deep. The most basis way prepare the slices is to put them in the palm of one hand and cover with the palm of your other hand and rub your hands together until the flakes break apart. This is called "rubbing out". Generally, the more you rub out a flake the more mellow it will be and less you rub out the flake the more intense the flavors will be.

This is the whole flake method.

First note in which direction the "grain" of the tobacco is going in the flake. Cut a piece or pieces of flake against (at 90 degrees) the grain and equal to the depth of your flake pipe. Take the entire flake of tobacco and roll it up into a fairly tight tube or roll.

If done correctly the ends you have cut will be the long ends of the tube. The diameter of the roll of flake tobacco should be slightly less the diameter of the tobacco chamber of the pipe you will be smoking.

If not, roll another piece of flake over the first. Place the roll into your pipe and press it down with a tamper with just enough force to flatten the top. Light as you normally would and enjoy!

This is the "sandwich" method.

Prepare the flakes in the same manner as you learned in the whole flake method except this time take two different types of flake and roll them together. The possibilities are endless. Try a Virginia flake and an English flake or a Virginia with an aromatic flake. You might want to tone down a strong flake that is overwhelming on it's own with a milder flake.

Have Fun!

Without ever having to re-light trick

There are many tricks that can be using to keep your tobacco burning without constant re-lighting. This little trick will take a little time to master but once you do it will become second nature and part of your smoking habit. The concept behind this method is similar to a bellows.

When you sense that your pipes is going out, simply blow into the stem very gently. After a few gentle breaths into the pipe you'll notice that your tobacco will begin to smolder and re-ignite. Now partially cover your bowl with your thumb and take a couple of deep puffs. Your tobacco should once again be fully lit.

Ideally, you should practice this technique the whole time you are smoking your pipe and not wait until it is about to go out. Master this technique and you'll be able to smoke your pipe all the way to the bottom without ever having to re-light.

How to keep your pipes from freezing

Don't take a chance of having your water freeze up in the winter. Here's a few suggestions on preventing this from happening.

Winter weather causes all sorts of problems, from wrecks, to loss of work, to high electrical bills. On top of all that, you don’t want your water pipes freezing, too. It’s not bad enough to have your water pipes freeze up, but when they begin to thaw, they often rupture causing aggravation and extra expense. The best way to save a fortune on a plumber and new pipes is to never let it happen in the first place. One sure-fire way to prevent pipes from freezing is to leave your water running on a cold night. When the predicted temperature reaches 32 degrees or below, let each faucet, hot and cold, drop slightly throughout the night. Of course, if temperatures will continue to stay below freezing for some time, you might want to consider other options.

Have you ever seen, in an old movie, a bum on a park bench, covered in newspapers? That’s because newspaper makes a great insulation. Because of this, you can wrap the pipes in at least a quarter-inch thick set of newspaper sheets, secure with masking tape or duct tape, and your pipes will stay warm - down to about 0 to10 degrees. Adding foil around the pipes helps keep them even warmer. After wrapping the pipes in newspaper and tape, wrap the pipes once again with foil, then tape again, using duct tape. Don’t forget to wrap the pipes under the sink or any that run somewhere that the heat of the house cannot easily reach. The temperature can now drop to below zero and your water shouldn’t freeze, particularly if your home stays fairly warm. If you have an enclosed basement, your pipes are more unlikely to freeze, but wrap them anyway to prevent the possibility.

Hardware stores sell heating tape, which plugs into an outlet and wraps around the pipes. It’s really electrical wiring that warms up upon plugging it in, and keeps the water from freezing. The tape works well, but water can still freeze if the temperature drops really low. The tape does run your power bill up a little, but is worth it to prevent a visit from the plumber. There are other insulators, like pipe sleeves, which work in a similar fashion. Heating the basement or crawlspace where most of your pipes are, is also extremely helpful in keeping your water running. The temperature in these areas only has to get to about 40 degrees to keep your pipes safe.

If your pipes have frozen, and you want to unthaw them without risking rupture, open the spout on the faucet that belongs to the frozen pipe. As the ice thaws, the pressure can escape through the open valve, usually preventing the bursting of the pipe. To help thaw out pipes that are frozen, get the house warm, add an extra heater to the basement, wrap and begin using heat tape or pipe sleeves, and use a blow dryer to help thaw out small portions of pipes which are exposed to the weather. During an ice storm that causes power outage, be prepared with a kerosene heater or a portable gas heater to keep the pipes from freezing until your electricity is functional again. Prevention is the key to keeping water running during the winter months, so take precautions to see that your pipes are securely wrapped and warm.

The Proper Light Method

Here is a pipe lighting method that will help ensure an effortless smoke.

First, make sure that your tobacco is packed firmly at the very top and about 1/8" to 1/4" below the top of the bowl. By doing this you'll allow room for the tobacco to rise when you first light the tobacco and your bowl rims won't char and gather tars as fast as they would if you pack right to the very top.

Next, light the tobacco in three stages. The first two lights, or "charring lights", play a key roll is how well the tobacco burns and stays lit. Take your match or lighter and slowing and evenly pass it over the top of the tobacco while gently drawing on the pipe. Once the top of the tobacco is charred or blackened, stop and let the smoldering embers of tobacco go out.

Now take your tamper and tamp down the tobacco that has charred and risen from the first light. Repeat one more time or until there is a very fine layer of ash covering the entire bowl. Now you are ready for the final light. Carefully, slowly and evenly light the entire surface of the tobacco while drawing in.

This method takes a little patience to perfect but it will pay off in a bowl of tobacco that burns much cooler, longer and more evenly than if you attempted to get your bowl lit with only one lighting.

Five Tips for Your Briar Pipes

1. Above all, be patient, and take things slow. For most, the pipe smoking experience isn't pleasant until skills in packing, lighting, tamping, and smoking cadence are mastered, and you've found some tobacco blends and a pipe that suit you. Tongue bite means you're doing something wrong. If you don't like it at first, keep experimenting, and discuss your new hobby with experienced smokers.

2. Keep a pipe cleaner handy. At the first sign of moisture coming through the stem of the pipe, stick the pipe cleaner into the stem and let it absorb any condensation.

3. If the pipe gets hot, let it go out and cool down. Smoking a pipe too hot won't taste good, and it may damage your pipe and/or your tongue. A good guide as to whether your pipe is too hot is if you can't hold the bowl against your cheek comfortably then let it cool down.

4. Allow briar pipes time to rest between smokes - the consensus is at least a day. Consider adding some corn cob pipes to your rotation while you build your collection of briar pipes. A meerschaum pipe is a great investment due to their smoking quality and the fact that they don't need to rest between smokes.

5. Avoid buying the cheap "basket" or department store briar pipes. A corn cob pipe will smoke much better than a cheap briar, and cost much less if finances are a problem.

Five Question and Answer for Age Pipe Tobacco

1. Why should I age my pipe tobacco?

There are as many reasons to age pipe tobacco as there are questions concerning how to.

1. Simply put, well aged and properly stored pipe tobacco will be the finest you will ever smoke;
2. We have all experienced the demise of one or more our favorite blends. Aging provides a hedge;
3. You will save a lot of money by buying now at current prices. The price of pipe tobacco is constantly rising due to manufacturing costs, the cost of raw tobacco and production increases and new taxes. Buy now and save later;
4. New laws are aimed at limiting and completely doing away with online tobacco sales that we now enjoy. Buying online is so threatened that if the current crop of laws pass we will no longer be able to make online purchases of tobacco with the next 12 - 24 months.

2. Which type of pipe tobacco benefits the most from aging?

Virginia type tobaccos are decidedly the best prospects for aging followed by English style tobaccos. Aromatic pipe tobacco, in our experience, benefits little if any from the aging process.

3. Where should I store my aged tobacco?

Your aged tobacco should be stored in the coolest and darkest place in your abode. Light and heat are the 2 biggest enemies of the aging process and should be avoided at all costs. Your storage area can be as simple as thick paper bags under your bed or spare closet to a dedicated, climate controlled room similar to a wine cellar and everything in between. Replicating the environment of a wine cellar would be the ideal scenario. Wine and pipe tobacco both thrive in the same temperature, conditions and humidity. Humidors designed for cigars, whether walk in or otherwise, generally are much too humid for pipe tobacco. Cigars need 70%+ humidity while pipe tobacco does well in 30 - 40% depending on the type of tobacco. Igloo type coolers work well for storing your aging pipe tobacco.

4. How long should I age my tobacco?

The minimum length of time that you will notice any significant benefit of aging is 6 - 12 months. Your aging pipe tobacco will really start to improve at the 18 month mark and approach the sublime at about 36. After 36 months the aging process will slow a bit but will continue. We have found properly stored pipe tobacco as old as 30 years that is absolutely extraordinary. There is no such thing as over aging pipe tobacco as long as the tobacco is stored properly.

5. What should I store my aged tobacco in?

There are many ways to store your aging tobacco. If the tobacco came in a sealed tin simply mark the date on it and put it away in your "cellar". There are also many affordable tinning machines available for home use as well. A search for "tinning machines" on a major search engine like Google will reveal many choices. Mason jars and canning jars work well when sealed properly. Vacuum sealed bags are another option. Well sealed vacuum bags have an unprotected usable shelf life of about 18 +/- months. They will work very well for many years if the sealed bags are kept in a climate controlled environment such as a wine type cellar, humidor or another sealed container like an Igloo cooler. Well sealed bags also serve to press the tobacco which has benefits as well.

How to Smoke a Tobacco Pipe

The art of pipe smoking is a fully underestimated task of complete enjoyment for all. Here is how to smoke your pipe to enjoy it the most.

1. Find a pipe that fits you. There are many tobacconists around the world who would be more than happy to help you find the perfect pipe, and I will show more about how to select tobacco pipe for you in this blog. Prices range from six dollars to several thousand.

2. Find the right tobacco for you. There are many varieties: aromatics, American blends, English blends, Virginias, Burleys, and many more. A tobacconist will be able to help there, as well. People completely new to smoking may enjoy an aromatic or lighter strength tobacco, while someone coming from cigarettes or cigars might prefer a heavier type of blend. I like Golden Blend's Vanilla best, buy small amounts representing several different genres.

3. Fill your bowl, it is very important for smoke pipe. Fill loosely with tobacco and compress it lightly (using a "child's touch"). Compressed halfway from the bottom of the bowl to the top. Fill again to the top and compress with a little more force (a "woman's touch"). This time halfway from the top of the previous packing to the top. Now top it off and compress a bit harder (a "man's touch"). Again half way from the last point to the top. Should leave roughly a 1/8th of an inch gap from the tobacco to the top of the bowl. You need to make sure it is not so tight that you cannot draw through it; you should be able to draw air though with little or no resistance. The tobacco should be springy to the touch. It's best to have your tobacconist or an experienced pipe smoker show you. Correct packing takes a little practice, and has a lot of impact on how enjoyable your experience will be.

4. Light the pipe with a wooden match or a pipe lighter. Let the match burn off the sulfur a few seconds. Move the flame around the surface of the tobacco while drawing gently until evenly lit, then tamp gently with a tamper. Let it go out, then relight the same way.

5. Puff slowly and rhythmically. Patience is rewarded. Puffing too fast will result in tongue bite - a burning sensation on the tongue.

6. Tamp the tobacco gently periodically throughout the smoke to ensure the bowl remains correctly packed while smoking. Don't worry if the pipe goes out from time to time - it will. Simply relight.

7. Make sure you smoke your pipe to the end to create a nice "cake" at the bottom and side of your pipe bowl.

8. Relax and enjoy. Pipe smoking is the quintessential art of smoking.

How To Choose Gifts For A Pipe Smoker

Choosing gifts for a pipe smoker can seem a daunting task. His pipes all seem to be the same on first glance, you have no idea what he likes to smoke, other than some vague mumblings about “Latakia” or “Virginia”, and he seems to have every possible gadget, gee-gaw and accessory known to man.

So, how do you purchase a gift that will excite him and let him know that you are paying attention to him and his hobby?

Purchasing a gift for a pipe smoker can be broken down into the following steps:

1. Enlisting Help
2. Gathering Intelligence
3. Making the Purchase
4. Presenting the Gift

With these four steps, it is possible to present any pipe smoker with a gift that will have him amazed with your taste and insight.

Enlisting Help

The first, and most important, step in selecting a gift for a pipe smoker is enlisting the help of someone who can help you make sense of his pipe stuff and guide you in selecting a gift. This should not be any of his pipe smoking friends. They will blab to him as soon as they get a chance. You will also deprive the recipient of your gift of the smug satisfaction he will get when he springs the gift on his pipe smoking buddies.

You see, all of us pipe smokers love to play “Look what I’ve got” in order to make our pipe smoking friends a bit jealous. The most admired and envied man in any group of pipe smokers is the one whose significant others allow him to enjoy his hobby in peace. Imagine the fun he will have explaining that the pipe or accessory that he has is not only something they don’t have, but that you gave it to him!

So, to whom do you turn for help? Your best bet is to enlist the help of someone from whom he buys pipes. You will have access to someone who knows all about the hobby, and possibly what your significant other likes, if you do a bit of digging and contact someone that he has purchased pipes and accessories from in the past. Call them up and explain that you are looking to purchase a gift for your significant other, and you will have a strong ally, ready to help in any way they can.

Gathering Intelligence

Now that you have made contact with a friendly ally, it is time to gather the appropriate intelligence in order to make an informed decision about what your significant other would like to receive as a present. Your new ally will help guide you along the way and tell you how to determine certain pieces of information, but here are a few handy tips to speed this process along:

1. Take a look at his pipes, noting the style and shape of them. Make notes about what is stamped on them, particularly if the same stampings come up over and over again on his pipes. Are they mostly similar shapes, or do they vary in style a lot? Do they mostly have some sort of jewelry on them, or are they mostly bare wood and stem material? Are they smooth finished, or do they have a rusticated or sandblasted look to them? Knowing these things will help you, and your enlisted help figure out his tastes in pipes in short order.

2. What pipes has he been looking at recently? This is east to find out. Just go to his computer, open up the web browser, and click the little down arrow to the right of the address bar. You will likely see a long list of website addresses. By clicking on any of these in the list, you can visit the web pages he has visited. Visit several of these to get an idea of what pipes and accessories he has been looking at recently. Take special note of items he has looked at that are not like his current collection of pipes, maybe that is something that would surprise him…

Making the Purchase

Now armed with the fruits of your intelligence gathering, you are ready to purchase your gift. The most basic financial rule of pipe purchasing, and of almost any other purchase is this: "Buy the absolute best you can afford." You can't go wrong by buying quality. Pipes are available in a vast range of prices, from under $20.00 to well into the thousands, with plenty of well-made pipes in each price category.

You should strive to get the greatest value for your money, The reason this is the final consideration is that pipes are not cheap or expensive, they are either good smokers, or bad smokers, and without careful consideration of the aesthetics and mechanics, a cheap pipe and an expensive pipe are equally likely to be a good smoker, or a bad one. Rely heavily on your enlisted help at this point to help steer you in the right direction.

Presenting the Gift

Presentation is a huge part of giving a gift, so be inventive. If the gift is for a special occasion, like Christmas or an Anniversary, offer to bring him his pipe, and return with the gift, instead of what he asked for. If it is not for a special occasion, one sure-fire way to present the gift is by sneaking it into his collection to be “found”, perhaps with a note tucked in the bowl if it is a pipe.

How To Clean and Care For Meerschaum Pipe

Without regular and diligent cleaning, your wonderful new meerschaum will become a soggy, ill-tasting mess, and will no longer provide you with the smoking pleasure you desire. To eliminate such problems, you need to embark on a regimen of regular cleaning and maintainance for your meerschaums.

Materials Needed:

• Tapered Pipe Cleaners
• Bristle Pipe Cleaners
• Regular or extra fluffy pipe cleaners
• shank brush or cotton swab
• pipe tool or pick

Concerning 'Coloring':

One of the joys of owning and smoking a meerschaum pipe is watching it slowly change color, from a milky white to a dark brown. When you first get a meerschaum pipe, be careful that your hands are clean as you smoke it for the first few times.

Meerschaum pipes are coated in beeswax which aids in the coloring process and protects the brittle meerschaum. As the pipe heats during smoking (and be careful not to get it too hot) the beeswax melts. If your hands are dirty, the beeswax will pick up that dirt.

Though some suggest not touching the bowl of a meerschaum pipe while smoking it, I think this is a little extreme. Just take care that your hands are clean and dry.

A sample 'Coloring' regimen:

There are many different ways to go about coloring your meerschaum pipe, but one of the simplest is as follows:
Smoke your meerschaum several times a day for about two weeks. Unlike a briar pipe, meerschaums do not need long periods of rest between smokes, and can safely be smoked multiple times in a day. Do, however, allow the pipe to cool between bowls.

After this two weeks, your meerschaum should be noticeably heavier than when you began, owing to the amount of tars and oils now trapped inside the meerschaum. Put your meerschaum aside for a period of about one month.

During this time, the beeswax will wick the tars and oils towards the surface of the pipe, coloring it in the process. Repeat and enjoy!

Before Smoking:

The care and cleaning of your pipe begins with your very first smoke, and should continue forward from there. Before each smoke, run a pipe cleaner, either bristle or regular, through the stem to dislodge any leftover ash and dottle, and gently tap your pipe on a cork knocker or the palm of your hand to remove these obstructions from the bowl.

Be especially careful when tapping a meerschaum pipe to hold it by the shank, never by the stem!

While Smoking:

During a smoke is an excellent time to begin the process of caring for your pipe. You can begin by paying careful attention when lighting your pipe. Keep your flame source over the tobacco, so that it does not char the rim of your pipe.

Unlike a briar pipe, it is near impossible to remove this rim charring from a meerschaum pipe, so it pays to be extra careful in this department. During smoking is also when you will notice if a more thorough cleaning is in order. If a pipe begins to taste sour, salty, or just plain bad while smoking it, it is probably time for a good cleaning. See Periodic Cleaning below.

After Smoking:

First, a warning: Always remove a stem from a meerschaum pipe by twisting it gently clockwise while supporting the shank with your fingers. At the end of each smoke, your pipe should be given a good cleaning.

Dump out the ash and dottle, and run a bristle pipe cleaner around the inside of the bowl to remove any possible cake build-up. Unlike a briar pipe, a meerschaum requires no cake, and in some instances, a cake can be detrimental to a meerschaum, either slowing the coloring process, or causing the pipe to crack.

Clean out the stem with a bristle pipe cleaner once, remove it, and either turn it around or use another pipe cleaner, repeating this process until the pipe cleaners come out clean. Moisten a pipe cleaner with saliva and rub the mouthpiece with it to remove any buildup there. Blow gently through the stem of the pipe to dislodge any leftover ash and wipe your pipe down with a soft dry cloth. Place the pipe back on it's rack or stand and allow it to cool.

Periodically:

You will want to, on occasion, give your pipes a more thorough cleaning than just swabbing out the stem after smoking. Most smokers do this fairly regularly, some going so far as to do so after all of their pipes have been smoked once, thus providing themselves with a fresh, clean rotation of pipes. You will have to experiment a bit with how often you do this clenaing to find what works best for you.

To start this cleaning, carefully remove the stem of the pipe from the bowl and lay the two pieces on a paper towel. Dip a regular pipe cleaner in alchohol and run it through the stem, from the tenon to the mouthpiece, pulling it through.

It will most likely come out with a bit of black or brown gunk on it. Follow this pipe cleaner with a dry one, and repeat until the moist pipe cleaner comes out the same color it was when it went in. Push one final dry pipe cleaner through to remove any moisture and set the stem aside.

How To Pack and Light Pipe Step by Step

The number one complaint of new pipe smokers seems to be that they do not know how to correctly 'pack' their pipe, resulting in either dottle left over at the end of the smoke, or a hot smoke and the dread tongue bite, or a pipe that is hard to draw on.

Here is compiled a step by step outline to the correct way to pack a pipe for maximum enjoyment. Packing and lighting a pipe, much like smoking a pipe, is an artform, and this technique may take some time to master, but once you have it down pat, one of the major stumbling blocks to pipe smoking bliss will have been removed.

Materials Needed:

• Pipe
• Tobacco
• Something to tamp the tobacco with
• Something to ignite the tobacco with
• Pipe cleaners

Procedure:

There are many methods employed to pack a pipe with tobacco. The method listed below works well for many folks and many different kinds of tobacco. It is, by no means, the only method of packing a pipe and experimentation is the key to finding a process that works well for you.

(1) First, it is imprtant to make sure that your pipe is free from obstructions and left over ash from previous smokes. Run a pipe cleaner through the stem, dump out any dottle, and gently blow through the stem to expel any leftover ash. It is probably best to do this over a trashcan, large ashtray, or other such receptacle, pointing the bowl of the pipe upside down to avoid spewing dottle and ash into your own face.

(2) remove a small amount of tobacco from your tin/pouch/etc and lay it out on a flat surface. Gently pick apart any clumps in the tobacco, and make note of the moisture content of the tobacco. If it is too moist, you may want to let it sit out for a few minutes to dry out a bit. Go make yourself a cup of tea, pull an espresso, or open some mail. When you come back, it should have dried just a bit and be a little easier to deal with.

(3) holding your pipe, trickle strands of tobacco into the bowl of the pipe until it is filled to the top. resist the urge to push the tobacco down with your thumb half-way through this operation. Do not pinch the loose tobacco while doing this, as you will create more of the clumps you just took time to remedy.

(4) Now, take you tamper/pipe-nail/etc and gently compress the tobacco. For bowls with straight sides, you should tamp gently until the tobacco half fills the bowl. For pipes with tapered bowls, aim for more like two thirds full. The tobacco in the bowl should have a very springy, almost soft consistancy.

(5) Put the pipe to your lips and take a test draw. If there is any resistance, dump out the tobacco and start over.

(6) Once again, trickle loose strands of tobacco into the bowl until it is once again full, perhaps even a tad over-full.

(7) Again, tamp the tobacco down gently with your tamp. For straight sided bowls, the pipe should now be three quarters full. For tapered bowls, the pipe should now be five eights or so full. You will probably find that to acheive this level of tobacco, you have to tamp with slightly more force than the first time. The tobacco in the bowl should feel springy.

(8) Put the pipe to your lips and take a test draw. There may be tiny amount of resistance this time, but if you have any troubles drawing on the pipe, dump out the tobacco and start over.

(9) Trickle a bit more tobacco into the pipe, until a small mound of it protrudes above the rim of the bowl, looking as if it needs a haircut. Return any left-over tobacco to its' container for future use.

(10) Using your tamp again, pack this tobacco down until it is even with the top of the bowl. This will take a bit more pressure than the first two tamping operations, but take care not to overdue it. The tobacco should still feel springy, only slightly less so than on the second tamp.

(11) Put the pipe to your lips and take a test draw. The resistance should be minimal, like sucking on a straw. If there is any more than this, dump out the tobacco and start over.

Now, if all of the above steps have been successfully completed, your pipe is properly packed and ready to be lit and smoked.

Lighting a pipe seems to be a very straightforward operation. You apply open flame, whether from a match, lighter or other such contrivance and puff on the pipe until it is lit. Well, to get maximum enjoyment out of your pipe, and to minimize the need for mid-smoke relights, it is important to pay attention to your technique here, as with any other aspect of smoking. Here are a couple of easy steps to ensure a nicely lit pipe.

(1) First comes the 'charring' light (also called the 'false' light), the purpose of which is to expel any extra moisture from the tobacco and prepare a nice even bed for the 'true' light. To acheive this, light your match of lighter and apply it to the tobacco, moving it in a circular motion around the entire surface of the tobacco. While doing this, take a series of shallow puffs on the pipe. It may be that the tobacco swells up in a spot or two and seems to unravel. That is the purpose of the charring light, to balance out the tobacco moisture and density.

(2) Allow this light to go out and tamp the tobacco back down even with the top of the bowl. You may find it useful to twist or spin your tamp in a cicrular motion while doing this. This is the point where many pipe smokers ruin a good packing job by tamping too hard. You should use a very light touch, wanting only to return the tobacco to the level it was before the charring light.

(3) Relight your match of lighter and apply it to the tobacco, moving it in a circular motion around the entire surface of the tobacco. While doing this, take a series of shallow puffs on the pipe. This time the tobacco should not unravel and puff up as it did before. Extenguish your source of fire, sit back, relax and enjoy your pipe.

Hopefully, by following these instructions, you have successfully lit your pipe and are enjoying it. Here are a couple more tips to consider:

• It takes time and practice to master this technique, but you should see steady improvement in your form and in the ease with which you can pack your pipe as you progress. It is not uncommon for it to take six months for this technique to become second nature.
• Don't worry too much about relights. Relighting your pipe is a fact of life, and only rarely, if at all, will you have a smoke where you do not have to relight at least once. You will probably find that as your smoking progresses, you will relight less and less frequently.

Four Pipe Buying Myths

Here are a few myths you may run across while shopping for a pipe, and an explanation of each.

Myth: Buy a cheap pipe for your first one, so you haven't lost much if you decide you don't like it.

Reality: Buying an inexpensive pipe as your first pipe is probably a recipe for disaster. While there are well made, inexpensive pipes available, without some experience in what to look for, you are likely to buy a pipe with some serious mechanical problems, which will give you a devil of a time as you try to learn to smoke a pipe.

Myth: Pipes are fashion accessories.

Reality: Pipes are pipes. They are fashioned to smoke tobacco in, not to be an accompaniment to your jacket or tie. They are not shoes or cuff-links. You should buy pipes because you like them, not because they match some outfit you own.

Myth: The shape of your face should determine the type/size of pipe you buy.

Reality: You should buy pipes that you enjoy looking at, holding, and smoking. Who really cares if your face is 'tall and lean' and you prefer squat, fat-bowled pipes. It would be a shame to limit your pipe horizons for such a silly reason.

Myth: Meerschaum pipes are for 'experienced' smokers.

Reality: Meerschaum pipes are somewhat more fragile than a briar pipe, and have different physical properties, but that is no reason not to buy one for your first pipe if that is what you desire.

How To Select The Right Pipe

Selecting a pipe is a subtly complex exercise. If you have been in a pipe shop and watched someone buy a pipe, you may have wondered what was taking so long. There are a myriad of factors that go into finding and buying the right pipe for yourself, and even more so in choosing a pipe as a gift.

Unfortunately, very little has been written about how to buy your first (or second, or third) pipe. This guide will examine the factors involved in choosing a pipe for yourself, and will hopefully aleviate some of the perplexing questions beginning pipe smokers have. A seperate guide Choosing Gifts for Pipe Smokers examines the extra steps involved in buying a pipe as a gift for someone else.

A pipe must meet several requirements in order to satisfy you. They can be roughly divided into the following categories; Aesthetic, Mechanical, and Financial.

Let's examine each of them, in order of importance, hopefully building up a solid foundation of knowledge with which to buy your first pipe with confidence that you have selected a well-made pipe that appeals to you and that you can afford, that will provide you with years of smoking enjoyment.

1) Aesthetics:

You must enjoy the look and feel of the pipe. All other considerations pale in comparison to this one. It will not matter if you have purchased a mechanically flawless pipe at an insanely good price, if, in a few weeks or months, you find that you do not smoke it any longer because it is not your style. It doesn't matter if a pipe is crafted by a big-name carver or a well-known factory if it does not appeal to you, then it is not a good candidate for purchase.

So, the first rule is: Buy pipes you like. Pretty easy so far, right? Well, how do you know what you like? If you are new to pipe smoking, you may not be entirely sure of what types of pipes suite you best, or excite you most. The best advice in that case is to look at pipes. Look at lots of pipes. Take every opportunity to check out interesting selections. Look at all of the different pipe styles. Sooner or later (probably sooner), a pipe is going to reach out and take hold of you and whisper quietly to you 'take me home'. When this happens, you must be prepared to move on to the next aspect of pipe buying, the physical inspection.

2) Mechanical Considerations:

The pipe must be constructed in such a manner as to bring you pleasure from smoking it. It must not have design flaws that cause it to be impossible to keep clean, lit, or even together. The question, especially for beginning pipe smokers, is how to tell if a pipe is well made.

You need to know, then, what to look for in both a well-made, and a shoddily made pipe, so that you can tell the difference, and buy only those pipes that are well made.

First and foremost, a list of things to avoid. The presence of any one of the following should not be a cause for great concern. However, a pipe that has more than a few of these attributes might be one to take a pass on.

A) Poorly aligned parts - quality pipes have a precisely aligned and perfectly smooth airway from the draft hole in the bowl to the end of the mouthpiece. Any disruption in the smokestream (such as a misaligned mortise and tenon union) is going to cause turbulence and can cause the pipe to smoke loudly and wet. Be aware that some pipes are purposely designed with some type of moisture 'trap' that does work well for some people.

B) 'Fills' - large holes or pits in the pipe, filled in with putty. While these may not interefere with the actual smoking of the pipe, they may not color and age as gracefully as the rest of the briar and could cause a mottled appearance of the pipe. Briar is a natural product and you may not know how deep a fill actually is.

C) Metal filters - these inserts in the stems of some low grade pipes will cause condensation, resulting in a noisy, wet smoke.

D) Varnish - Pipe makers at all different levels use a dizzying array of finishes on their pipes. While most finishes will have no effect on a pipe, other than how long it stays shiny, it's best to avoid varnished finishes or 'sealed' finishes because they might tend to flake or bubble. There are always exceptions to every rule and there are some very well made pipes that use heavy finishes and are quite deisrable, smokable, and collectable.

Besides these things to look out for, you should be on the lookout for the following characteristics of a well-made pipe:

Grain: The more uniform the grain, and the tighter the grain, the higher the price of the pipe, but overall, this has little to no effect on the smoking quality.

Weight: The lighter a pipe is, everything else being equal, the better it will smoke. Okay, that's a pretty bold statement. The truth of the matter is that a lot of folks are looking for a pipe that 'feels lighter than it should' . A lighter pipe is easier to hold in your mouth and therefore less fatiguing. A pipe that is light for its size may also have been cured more thoroughly (moisture removal).

Sandpits: Sandpits happen, and there really isn't anything wrong with them, but the fewer of them in a pipe, the better.

Fit and finish: The pipe should look as if it was made with care. There should not be any obvious sandpaper marks, uneven stain, or bald spots without wax. The inside of the bowl should not be stained. The stem and shank should join well.

Draft hole: This should be as close as possible to the center of the bowl, and should align perfectly with the airhole in the stem. It should also terminate in the bottom of the bowl, not partway up the side.

3) Financial Considerations:

You must be able to afford the pipe. The most basic financial rule of pipe purchasing, and of almost any other purchase, is this: "Buy the absolute best you can afford." You can't go wrong by buying quality. Pipes are available in a vast range of prices, from under $20.00 to well into the $1,000's, with plenty of well-made pipes in each price category. You should strive to get the greatest value for your money., The reason this is the final consideration is that pipes are not cheap or expensive, they are either good smokers, or bad smokers, and without careful consideration of the aesthetics and mechanics, a cheap pipe and an expensive pipe are equally likely to be a good smoker, or a bad one.

Having read and applied the principles above, you should have a good foundation of knowledge to apply to your pipe purchasing, and you should have figured out why it takes so long to pick out a pipe!

How To Clean Briar Pipe

Without regular and diligent cleaning, your wonderful new pipe will become a soggy, ill-tasting mess, and will no longer provide you with the smoking pleasure you desire. To eliminate such problems, you need to embark on a regimen of regular cleaning and maintainance for your pipes.

There some materials needed first:

• Tapered Pipe Cleaners
• Bristle Pipe Cleaners
• Regular or extra fluffy pipe cleaners
• Pipe sweetener or grain alcohol
• Shank brush or cotton swab
• Pipe reamer
• Pipe tool or pick

Concerning 'Rotation':

A smokers rotation is the number of pipes they own, and the order they are smoked in. This is an important concept to the care and cleaning of your pipes.

First and foremost, because pipes need a rest in between smokes if they are to continue to function optimally.

Before Smoking:

The care and cleaning of your pipe begins with your very first smoke, and should continue forward from there.

Before each smoke, run a pipe cleaner, either bristle or regular, through the stem to dislodge any leftover ash and dottle, and gently tap your pipe on a cork knocker or the palm of your hand to remove these obstructions from the bowl.

While Smoking:

During a smoke is an excellent time to begin the process of caring for your pipe. You can begin by paying careful attention when lighting your pipe. Keep your flame source over the tobacco, so that it does not char the rim of your pipe. If the rim of your pipes begin to develop a bit of a dark tint to them, it can usually be removed by moistening a pipe cleaner with saliva and gently rubbing the rim of the pipe with it.

Done regularly, this will eliminate the cause of the charred, blackened rims so common on un-cared-for pipes. During smoking is also when you will notice if a more thorough cleaning is in order.

If a pipe begins to taste sour, salty, or just plain bad while smoking it, it is probably time for a good cleaning. See Periodic Cleaning below.

After Smoking:

First, a warning: Do not remove the stem of a pipe while it is still warm. This will cause the stem to loosen, and can cause you to crack the shank or break the tenon of your pipe.

At the end of each smoke, your pipe should be given a good cleaning. Allow the pipe to cool, and then stir up any ash and dottle left in the bottom of the bowl. Placing one finger or the palm of your hand over the top of the bowl, shake the pipe for a few seconds to evenly distribute the ash along the inside walls of the bowl, which will greatly speed the formation of 'cake', a protective layer of carbonized tobacco and ash inside your pipe.

Cake acts as an insulator, greatly extending the life of your pipe and guarding against burn outs. See the Periodic Cleaning section below for instructions on maintaining the cake, Dump out the remaining ash and dottle, and run a bristle pipe cleaner through the stem until it is just barely visible in the bottom of the bowl.

Remove it, and either turn it around or use another pipe cleaner, repeating this process until the pipe cleaners come out clean. Moisten a pipe cleaner with saliva and rub the mouthpiece with it to remove any buildup there.

Blow gently through the stem of the pipe to dislodge any leftover ash and wipe your pipe down with a soft cloth, perhaps impregnated with a compound such as Briar Pipe Wipe.

If you wish, you may insert a regular pipe cleaner into the stem of the pipe before placing it back on the rack, in order to absorb any residual moisture, but if you are diligent in using your pipe cleaners, this is not necessary.

Place the pipe back on it's rack or stand and allow it to rest, hopefully for two to four days before it is smoked again.

Periodically:

You will want to, on occasion, give your pipes a more thorough cleaning than just swabbing out the stem after smoking. Most smokers do this fairly regularly, some going so far as to do so after all of their pipes have been smoked once, thus providing themselves with a fresh, clean rotation of pipes.

You will have to experiment a bit with how often you do this clenaing to find what works best for you. To start this cleaning, carefully remove the stem of the pipe from the bowl and lay the two pieces on a paper towel. Dip a regular pipe cleaner in alcohol and run it through the stem, from the tenon to the mouthpiece, pulling it through. It will most likely come out with a bit of black or brown gunk on it.

Follow this pipe cleaner with a dry one, and repeat until the moist pipe cleaner comes out the same color it was when it went in. Push one final dry pipe cleaner through to remove any moisture and set the stem aside. Using bristle pipe cleaners, moistened with alcohol, vigorously swab out the airhole of the pipe, alternating with dry, regular pipe cleaners.

Don't be afraid to use a lot of pipe cleaners doing this. Pipe cleaners are cheap, new pipes aren't. If the airhole of your pipe is large enough in diameter that there is little resistance when you do this, you may want to fold the cleaner in half in order to scrub the sides of the airhole properly.

Once your dry pipe cleaner comes out of the airhole the same color it was when it went in, run one more dry cleaner through the airhole to absorb any residual moisture. Using a cotton swab or shank brush, clean out the tenon, the portion of the pipe where the stem attaches to the bowl. a doubled over regular pipe cleaner will do in a pinch.

If your stem or bowl has a band, now is the time to polish it, using a good silver, or other metal, polish, depending on what your band is made of. Carefully reinsert the stem into the bowl, and give the pipe a good wipe with a soft cloth, perhaps impregnated with a compound such as Briar Pipe Wipe.

Cleaning over, allow your pipe to sit for a day or so before smoking it, to allow the alcohol to completely evaporate. If you have cleaned most or all of your briar pipes at once, now is a good time to smoke your meerschaums and corncobs you have been neglecting.

Six Tips for Your Pipes

Q: How often should I clean my pipes?
A: Depends on the tobacco you smoke. Pipes used for wet smoking tobaccos, such as aromatics will need to be cleaning more often then pipes used for dry smoking tobaccos such as Virginias and English.

Q: Should I clean my pipes when they are hot or cold?
A: Only clean your pipe when it is room temperature. Cleaning a cold or hot pipe could lead to damage.

Q: Should I store my pipes with a pipe cleaner in the stem?
A: No. This will slow or inhibit the evaporation of excess moisture in the pipe.

Q: Why does my pipe gurgle?
A: There are many reasons. Improper packing, tobacco that is too moist and mis-drilled airways are some of the many things that will cause this problem.

Q: Why can't I seem to smoke my pipe to the very bottom of the bowl?
A: Again, there are many reasons. Often times they are the same problems that cause pipes to gurgle. Most commonly it is the lack of a proper "cake" in the bottom of the bowl.

Q: Why does my pipe taste sour?
A: This happens when I pipe hasn't been properly clean for quite some time. Tars and nicotine that has absorbed into the bowl and adhered to the stem are the culprits.

Corncob Pipe's Materials and construction

On the other end of the scale, "corncob" pipes made from maize cobs are cheap and effective, even if some regard them as inelegant. The cobs are first dried for two years. Then they are hollowed out to make a bowl shape. The bowls are dipped in a plaster-based mixture and varnished or lacquered on the outside.

Shanks made from pine wood are then inserted into the bowls. The first and largest manufacturer of corncob pipes is Missouri Meerschaum, located in Washington, Missouri in the USA.

Missouri Meerschaum has produced the pipes since 1869. General Douglas MacArthur and George Lincoln Rockwell were perhaps the most famous smokers of this type of pipe, along with the cartoon characters Popeye and Frosty the Snowman.

Corncob pipes remain popular today because they are inexpensive and require no "break-in" period like briar pipes. For these two reasons, corncob pipes are often recommended as a "Beginners pipe." But, their enjoyment is by no means limited to beginners.

Corncob pipes are equally valued by both learners and experienced smokers who simply desire a cool, clean smoke. Pipesmokers who wish to sample a wide variety of different tobaccos and blends also might keep a stock of corncobs on hand to permit them to try new flavors without "carryover" from an already-used pipe, or to keep a potentially bad tasting tobacco from adding its flavor to a more expensive or favored pipe.

Calabash Pipe's Materials and construction

Calabash gourds have long made prized pipes, but they are labour-intensive and nowadays quite expensive. Because of this expense, pipes with bodies made of wood instead of gourd, but the same classic shape are sold as calabashes.

Both wood and gourd pipes are functionally the same. They both have an air chamber beneath the bowl which serves to cool, dry, and mellow the smoke. There are also briar pipes being sold as calabashes. These typically do not have an air chamber and are named only because of their external shape.

The construction of a calabash pipe generally consists of a downward curve that ends with an upcurve where the bowl sits. This low center of gravity allows for the user to easily hold the pipe by the mouth alone, leaving his hands free.

This advantage was often used by actors who wanted to depict their character smoking while permitting them to do other business simultaneously. That is why the character Sherlock Holmes, who never used this kind of pipe in the stories, is stereotypically depicted as favoring it because early dramatic productions, especially those starring William Gillette and Basil Rathbone, made this artistic decision.

In fact, Holmes, who preferred very harsh tobacco, would probably have disliked the calabash because of the above-mentioned mellowing effect.

Clay Pipe's Materials and construction

Clay in this case is almost always a very fine white clay. Low-quality "clay" pipes are actually made from porcelain slip poured into a mold. These are porous, of very low quality, and impart unwanted flavors to a smoke.

Top-notch clays, on the other hand are made in a labor-intensive process that requires beating all air out of the clay, hand-rolling each pipe before molding it, piercing with a fine wire, and careful firing.

Traditionally, clay pipes are un-glazed. Clays burn "hot" in comparison to other types of pipes, so they are often difficult for most pipe-smokers to use. Their proponents claim that, unlike other materials, a well-made clay pipe gives a "pure" smoke, with no flavor addition from the pipe bowl.

In addition to aficionados, reproductions of historical clay styles are used by some re-enactors.

Clay pipes were once considered disposable items and the large quantities discarded in the past are often used as an aid in dating by industrial archaeologists.

Meerschaum Pipe's Materials and construction

Meerschaum, a mineral found in small shallow deposits mainly around the city of Eskişehir in central Turkey, is prized for its plasticity which allows it to be carved into many decorative and figural shapes.

It has been used since the 17th century and, with clay pipes, represented the most common medium for pipes before the introduction of briar as the material of choice in the 19th century.

The word "meerschaum" means "sea foam" in German, alluding to its natural white color and its surprisingly low weight. Meerschaum is a very porous mineral that absorbs elements of the tobacco during the smoking process, and gradually changes color to a golden brown.

Old, well-smoked meerschaum pipes are prized for their distinctive coloring. In selecting a meerschaum pipe it is advisable to take assurances that the product is indeed carved from a block of meerschaum, and is not made from meerschaum dust collected after carving and mixed with an emulcifier then pressed into a pipe shape.

These products are not absorbent, do not color, and lack the smoking quality of the block carved pipe.

Briar Pipe's Materials and construction

The majority of pipes sold today, whether hand made or machine made, are fashioned from briar. Briar is a particularly good wood for pipe making for a number of reasons.

The first and most important is its natural resistance to fire.

The second is its inherent ability to absorb moisture.

The burl absorbs water in nature to supply the tree in the dry times and likewise will absorb the moisture that is a byproduct of combustion. Briar is cut from the root burl of the tree heath, which is native to the rocky and sandy soils of the Mediterranean region.

Briar burls are cut into two types of blocks; ebauchon and plateaux.

Ebauchon is taken from the heart of the burl while plateaux is taken from the outer part of the burl. While both types of blocks can produce pipes of the highest quality, most artisan pipe makers prefer to use plateaux because of its superior graining.

Some pipe makers use Brylon, a synthetic material which has properties similar to briar.

Smoking pipe for tobacco

A smoking pipe for tobacco smoking typically consists of a small chamber for the combustion of the tobacco to be smoked and a thin stem that ends in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from the very simple machine-made briar pipe to highly-prized handmade and artful implements created by renowned pipemakers which are often very expensive collector's items.

The bowls of tobacco pipes are commonly made of briar, corncob, meerschaum, and clay. Less common are cherrywood, olivewood, maple, mesquite, and oak.

Generally a dense-grained wood is ideal. Minerals such as catlinite and soapstone have also been used. Pipe bowls of all these materials are sometimes carved with a great deal of artistry.

Unusual, but still noteworthy pipe bowl materials include gourds, as in the famous calabash pipe, and pyrolytic graphite. Metal and glass are uncommon materials for tobacco pipes, but are common for pipes intended for other substances.

The stem needs a long channel of constant position and diameter running through it, and this is difficult to carve out of a pre-existing block. Because it is molded rather than carved, clay may make up the entire pipe or just the bowl, but most other materials have stems made separately and detachable.

Stems and bits of tobacco pipes are usually made of moldable materials like vulcanite, lucite, Bakelite, and soft plastic. Less common are stems made of reeds, bamboo, or hollowed out pieces of wood. Expensive pipes once had stems made of amber, though this is rare now.

Tobaccos for smoking in pipes are often carefully treated and blended to achieve flavour nuances not available in other tobacco products. Many of these are blends using staple ingredients of variously cured Burley and Virginia tobaccos which are enhanced by spice tobaccos, among them many Oriental or Balkan varietals, Latakia, Perique or blends of Virginia and Burley tobaccos of African, Indian, or South American origins.

Traditionally, many U.S. blends are made of American Burley with sweeteners and flavorings added to create an "aromatic" flavor, whereas "English" blends are based on natural Virginia tobaccos enhanced with Oriental and other natural tobaccos.

There is a growing tendency towards "natural" tobaccos which derive their aromas from artful blending with selected spice tobaccos only and careful, often historically-based, curing processes.