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.

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.

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 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.