Mark H.

Well - this is one of those areas where all pipe smokers have an opinion, and they're all right (or wrong).

IMHO, the following is true (for me).

1. ALL pipe smokers relight they're pipe some number of times, most of the time. Some more, some less.

2. Smoking a pipe well is a SKILL that you learn, not a HABIT that you don't think about. I know, I know... I'm probably just old fashioned.

3. Pipes require an active approach. This means (assuming that the pipe is not packed to loose or tight, tobacco not too moist or dry) that you regularly _lightly_ tamp down the top layer of burning tobacco, to keep it in contact with the next lower layer. Also, when you light the pipe, make sure its well lit. This means at least 2 cycles of (light-tamp) at the beginning when you light up.

4. Much easier to get going with a butane lighter. Just be careful - butane burns much hotter than a match, and can damage the top of your pipe, or worse yet, burn your tongue when you pull the hot gasses into the pipe. You can use matches, just takes more time and skill.

5. There is a trick of lightly "blowing" down the stem to keep the flame going between puffs of smoke. For example, the kind of air that goes down the stem when you are talking when the pipe is in your mouth. This is a minor habit that I have learned, and helps keep the pipe from going out. A little of this goes a long way, and you don't want to spit down the stem - you only get to clean up the mess later.

Mike Gaffney

Do what I do and by bunches of matches. :-)

What works for me is to break my tobacco apart, (I say that because I'm smoking Penzance now) loosely gravity feeding it into the bowl tapping the side of the bowl to get rid of the air pockets, fill to the top or slightly over flowing, press down on the tobacco till its approximately 2/3 from the top (not to firm at this point), repeat the procedure, loosely feeding tobacco till the top, and again press to approximately 1/3 from the top (slightly firmer pressure), check your draw between each step to make sure their is no resistance, repeat gravity feed till over flowing then firmly press tobacco to the top of the bowl( make sure it is still slightly springy) evenly light the tobacco so the entire top surface is fully lit (may take a few matches lightly tamping between lights) light again drawing firmly , sit back and enjoy.

You still will have to occasionally relight, but that's just part of the ritual.

Other variables may include the type of tobacco you smoke and its moisture content, to dry smokes hot, to moist smokes wet with a tendency to go out.

Also as your pipe is smoked more and more it will begin to become broken in and may with time become a better smoker.

Hope this helps you a little bit, you may get plenty of other advice from experienced smokers in the group.

Raleigh C. Perry

So, from a pipe smoker of 40+ years  try different cuts of tobacco. For me, the thin ribbon cuts are too hot and will not stay lit.  I smoke a broader cut than what I have found marketed by an English Firm which is a real icon in the industry and to which I right now kowtow and make apologies and ask for forgiveness from the Great Saint Alfred the Briar Artist for having said such an irreverent thing.  

And, call Pipe Friendly magazine or contact them at jgallco@earthlink.net.  Request a copy of their August 1996 edition which has in it a good list of definitions of the various terms that identify tobacco cuts.  Tell them I sent you. 

What are you smoking now? 

I have been told to pack several different ways.  One of the ways that I thought was the most interesting was to put the tobacco in in thirds.  The first third you pat like patting a baby's bottom.  The second third, be a little bit less subtle, you pack the last in like you are beating a son.

That ain't the way I do it.  I just put the tobacco in, making sure it goes all the way to the bottom and fill it to the top.  Then I pack with my right index poised over the bowl.  And I pack the tobacco until it has the same draw as a good, well made cigar.

On the size bowls that I use, I can smoke for up to an hour or more packing the way that I do.  I smoke aggressively and puff more often than others.  And, I keep my pipes in my mouth most of the time.

It generally stays lit, sometimes I have to use another match.

And, BTW, light it.  Let it go out, pack it with a tamper to tighten it a little bit and relight.  Works for me and has been for more than 40 years. 

Briarroot

Very few people can keep a bowl lit until the tobacco is completely consumed.  Re-lights are a regular feature of pipe smoking.

A properly broken-in pipe will smoke drier, cooler, and deliver more tobacco flavor than a new pipe, but will surely still require many re-lights to finish a bowl.  It's just a fact of life.  ;-)

Wet tobacco can be a curse, so if you think that is part of the problem, spread it out on a paper towel for a few hours until it reaches a better smoking consistency.  And have fun!

Ed Nelson

IMO trying to keep a pipe lit can drive you crazy, and destroy your enjoyment of the smoke.  After struggling with the problem myself, and trying everything folks suggested, I finally accepted the fact that my  pipe probably will go out several times before the tobacco is consumed, and I would live with that realization.  I don't make any special attempt to try and keep the pipe lit and I expect to delight my pipe 3 to 6 times every bowl.

For me this attitude and approach has helped tremendously with the enjoyment of smoking a pipe.

Michael G. Duran

 find that a strategically-placed tamping during the smoke will "rejuvinate" the embers, keeping it going until the bottom if done just right.  What this means during my smoke, is when it "feels right" to tamp it;  which translates I think to when the draw begins to feel too easy coupled with the fire going out.  Back puffing also helps to maintain the flame.

Personally I find that a bowl smoked all the way down on one light tastes much better than one that is relit even once, but that is a tobacco-specific generalization as well as sacrilege to many on this group who even say that it tastes better after relighting.  I agree with this latter sentiment for some tobaccos, and can tolerate relighting in others, though if the mix has latakia in it, for example, I will sometimes even dump it if it goes out after half a bowl.

Anyway, taste differ.  As someone else mentioned, don't worry about if you're going to have to relight it and just enjoy the smoke.  Find out what you like to smoke, and eventually you'll probably notice that the tobacco just stays lit for the "appropriate" amount of time.

jruble

Remember, re-lighting can also be an advantage.

When your wife asks you a question and you don't know how to answer it, relight your pipe, takes at least 30 seconds, a minute if you really stretch it out.  Valuable thinking time.

Jim Beard

A half-dozen relights per bowl is normal, even for veteran smokers. A dozen relights suggests interruptions that destract from attention to smoking, or overly moist tobacco, or unevenly packed tobacco.  Check the FAQ at http://www.pipes.org for tips that may help, but don't worry about it.

If more than two dozen relights per bowl, first let your tobacco dry a bit.  It should be moist enough to be pliable, but dry enough that when rolled up in a ball and dropped on a table it will sprangle out of its own volition.  It should not be so dry it crackles when rolled up between the fingers.

Then, chop up the tobacco until the longest piece is about 1/8 inch long.  Gravity-feed tobacco into the bowl until full, and _very_gently_ push down with your finger until the bowl is a little over half full.  Pour in more, and puch down gently until the bowl is maybe 3/4 full.  Then fill to overflowing and push in until you get a slight springy bounce back from the tobacco when you stop pushing.

Next, using match, butane lighter, or whatever, walk the flame around the top of the tobacco while drawing in to pull flame into the tobacco (and off the rim of your pipe).  When it is going real good, draw a few times, and then use your tamper to tamp flat all the tobacco that sprangled up.  Relight, and when all is burning well across the top, tamp down flat again.  At the third relight (the second, when you have practiced a while) you should have a good light across the entire bowl and a layer of ash to block off gusts of wind and provide insulation for the fire below.

Then smoke gently, puffing just enough to keep the tobacco smoldering.  Draw off a little smoke now and then; hold it in your mouth and savor the flavor.  If the pipe is so hot you cannot hold the hottest part firmly for 10 seconds without discomfort, you are puffing too hard.

Relight as needed.  Smoking an entire bowl of tobacco with use of only two matches is for pipe smoking contests only.  And then, you have to smoke too hot to keep the durn thing going, and that ruins the taste.  Of course, the taste of cube-cut burley (the U.S. standard) is not always that great anyway, especially the cheap gnarly stuff usually issued free, and the guys that extend their smoking time by smoking the pipe (literally burning the wood by smoking far too hot) will not notice the difference anyway!

rvwees

For me this varies with the tobacco that I smoke. Some, like Danish Black Vanilla Mixture, smoke real easy and half a dozen of relights suffice to finish a bowl, whereas MacBaren Vanilla Cream gives me a more difficult time.

It al depends on the structure, the cut, the casing and the moisture of the tobacco. So I have to adjust the packing of the pipe to the tobacco I want to smoke and remember the 'right' packing method for each tobacco...

Still keeping a pipe lit and well burning is an art that I don't fully master yet...will I ever?

James Beard

Tobacco may be too moist, or contain so much humectant it is impossible to get the moisture level down to a good-smoking  range.

You may be smoking too hot at the start of the bowl, which generally leads to a lot of condensation in the bottom of the bowl as the smoke cools dramatically during its passage down through the tobacco and the moisture condenses out.

You may be smoking wet (flicking saliva into the stem with your tongue, or slobbering down the stem, without even noticing you are doing it).

Or the pipe may be doing a poor job of handling moisture, due to lack of some carbon cake in the bottom of the bowl.  A separate e-mail will address this point in some detail.

One approach is when you get to the last one-third bowl, use the pick of your pipe tool to stir up remaining tobacco and the ashes atop it, blow out gently to clear an air channel, and then smoke gently on down to the bottom, lighting perhaps two or three more times if needed.  This approach is sometimes helpful in getting some carbon cake started in the depths, and once you have carbon cake down there things get easier to handle.

Jay

The short answer IMHO is yes, tamp.  If that doesn't help, try lightly dumping the ash.  Often re-light problems seem to stem from the match flame having trouble actually getting to viable tobacco.  That said, I think even the most experienced smokers often have trouble beeping that last 1/3-1/4 bowl lit, for all the reasons Mr. Beard noted...and probably some others.  Keep some matches handy and experiment; you'll get the hang of it.  And if you don't, you can always do what the rest of us do: blame it on the pipe or the tobacco, and gripe about it on this NG.

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