New Briar pipe/couple questions

[mateo]

I picked up a Briar pipe from a local tobacconist this week and I have a couple questions. First off, when the pipe has to be re lit 3-5 times for a half of a bowl, what could be going wrong? Also, when I clean the pipe after use Do I just swab the bowl out once? I thought the point was to build the cake. I have been smoking a half a bowl a day for about a week but have just read here on the forums to smoke 1/4 bowl for a week, then half, then a full bowl. Should I switch to this routine? Have I degraded my new pipe?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Wurm]

re lit 3 to 4 times usually means the tobacco is too wet, next time dump out the amount you want to smoke on a clean magazine and let it sit for an hour or so before packing.

And as far as the 1/3 vs 1/2 bowl break in, as long as you are taking your time and not over-heating your pipe, it doesn't matter.

 

[LilBastage]

During break in, don't swab the bowl with alcohol unless it gets a little sour. Just take a dry paper towel and "ream" the bowl. This will help cake build. Do clean the stem and run some cleaners through it after each smoke and clean the stem thoroughly after the pipe cools. This will help the flavor a lot.

You're tobacco could be too wet, or it could be your packing (packing a half or quarter bowl is tricky for me). Just keep at it. As long as the pipe doesn't get too hot, relights aren't that big of deal. You may not be getting the best flavor, but that will come later.

Good luck. Most of all, don't stress too much. There are as many ways to break in a pipe as there are pipe smokers. Anything you read here is simply the way the poster does it or a suggestion. There aren't any "rules".

 

[Devil Doc]

New pipes don't stay lit. That's one of the reasons they need breaking in.

Doc.

 

[mateo]

I just can't keep it lit. It will stay burning but so little that the smoke is barley worth taking a puff for. I dried the tobacco for an hour and loaded a half bowl careful not to leave to much resistance. I can get some good puffs 10 or so and then either it goes out or the smoke is to little be enjoyable. What could I be doing wrong. Do you think If I smoke a different tobacco, this Tradewinds stuff has black pieces of I don't know what it is but I think it is hard to burn. Maybe if I just get the pipe broken in more the lighting will go better.

 

[theginguy]

I just can't keep it lit. It will stay burning but so little that the smoke is barley worth taking a puff for. I dried the tobacco for an hour and loaded a half bowl careful not to leave to much resistance. I can get some good puffs 10 or so and then either it goes out or the smoke is to little be enjoyable. What could I be doing wrong. Do you think If I smoke a different tobacco, this Tradewinds stuff has black pieces of I don't know what it is but I think it is hard to burn. Maybe if I just get the pipe broken in more the lighting will go better.

The Trade Winds is all black Cavendish with a casing. Cavendish should burn easily. All the Cavendish that I've ever smoked burned like a champ.

There are two things that are probably the culprit.

Like before mentioned. Your tobacco is too wet. It might take longer to dry then an hour. Some tobacco, especially tinned tobacco, can take several hours to dry... largely dependent on where your drying it. If you putting it out in the sun with a slight breeze, it should dry up a lot quicker then if your just drying it indoors. It would also depend on the humidity level in the air.... but anyways.... a good way to tell if your tobacco is dry enough is to feel it with your fingers... if it still seems a little wet, then let it dry some more until it actually feels dry to the touch.

Another contributing factor would be that your packing your bowl too hard. Try the three step method. After your tobacco is dry and you've rubbed it out.... which the Trade Winds blend should already be ready rubbed if it's all black Cavendish. So anyway... just lightly fill the pipe to the top by sprinkling the tobacco in the bowl. Then lightly tamp it to the bottom very gently with your finger or a tamper. Then repeat and then tamp gently but a little firmer to mid bowl. Then repeat and this time, tamp a little harder. Try not to press too hard, if your pipe is packed too hard, it will burn hard and it will be very hard to stay lit.

After you have packed your pipe, put it up to your lips and take a couple of draws. If the draw is hard or closed... then you have packed your pipe too tight. But if you can get a nice easy draw, then you have done a good job... it just takes a little practice. Of course on the flip side, you don't want to pack your pipe too loose, or your going to have a very quick smoke.

I have been breaking in 6 new briers and I haven't been having a problem keeping my tobacco lit. So I don't think that it's the pipe so much as something that you might be doing.

Of course with this being said, I find that I do relight my pipe at least once or twice during a bowl. Not so much because my bowl is going out... but more so to just keep it lit well... I'm more of a "big puffer" instead of a sipper.

Hope this helps... good luck and keep exploring... pipe smoking is challenging, but very much rewarding once you get the hang of it.

 

[rramstad]

A couple of things... first, the previous poster says he's breaking in six new briars... well, they aren't new, unless he's been going hog wild LOL as they were probably estate pipes purchased from me. (See previous post of mine... I have a few left and will be adding more in a week or so). Estate pipes are a LOT easier to work with if you are a newbie especially compared to a new "basket pipe" if that's what you have.

Second, make sure you aren't over tamping. That's a real common error too, along with packing too hard.

Third (never was good at math) here in Seattle the humidity is high enough that I really don't get great drying results just leaving baccy out, especially on a wet day outside. The best for me is to place it near my laptop fan... hot processor plus fan = good baccy in 20 minutes or so. Second choice is to microwave an empty plate or bowl for a while (3 minutes or so) and then take it out, place a paper towel or similar then tobacco on top. Leave it alone for a while. The extra heat drives off the moisture, but the paper towel helps keep the tobacco from getting "stoved" i.e. altering the taste.

Hope this all helps. FWIW if the pipe is going out a lot, relight! I think my earliest attempts with a new pipe I might have relit 20 times to get to the bottom of a medium sized Boswell smoking one of his aromatic blends.

 

[theginguy]

I stand corrected, they were cleaned so well, that they seem new to me. I figured that they would be same as new as far as this thread was concerned, but It looks like I'm wrong.

One other thing to mention... make sure you are doing a "charring light." That's where you light the top of the bowl initially and then you let it go out. Then you light it for real. Don't ask me the physics, I have no idea what this does, but it seems to help keep the tobacco lit.

 

[mateo]

what does rubbing out the tobacco imply?

 

[theginguy]

I believe that the blend of tobacco that you have is already "ready rubbed" (the tobacco is already in small flakes)

Pipe Tobacco comes in different ways. Some of it comes in long thin flakes, some in pressed cake or broken flakes or ribbon etc... Ready Rubbed is common and that is where the tobacco is already in very small pieces. Ribbon is where it is thin little curly ribbon's.

These two styles are ready to go, in just simply putting it in and packing your pipe. But if you get some other kinds then often times, smokers will put the tobacco in the palm of their hand and "rub" it with their thumb so that the tobacco will break down into smaller flakes.

I prefer to do this myself. Some smokers will cut and fold whole flakes and stuff their bowls with them. I don't have much success with this method myself. Anyway... that is what "rubbing out your tobacco" means.

Here's a video that demonstrates rubbing out. ------> Rubbing out Tobacco

 

[rramstad]

I stand corrected, they were cleaned so well, that they seem new to me. I figured that they would be same as new as far as this thread was concerned, but It looks like I'm wrong.

LOL, no worries. I like a clean pipe, and nothing gets me more frustrated than buying a pipe that's supposedly clean and having it arrived needing a dozen pipe cleaners and alcohol to get into a smokable state...

In any case, I digress. A pipe that's been smoked a good amount, even if it is super clean, has been broken in. The briar, with the heat from the tobacco, actually dries out further and the saps and resins in the wood will harden. Improperly cured briar will always taste green, but even properly cured briar when it's new will taste differently than a pipe does after five or fifteen bowls.

Pipes that have not been broken in can seem harsh, or worse, until they break in.

Some pipes never break in, that is, they always taste funky. That's just one of the mysteries of the whole briar pipe thing.

I think that new pipes are a bad idea for new pipers. Of course, most people started this way (me included) but my pipe smoking career really solidified once I got my first good smoking estate pipe... and realized that this used older pipe that was inexpensive was out performing my new not broken in pipe...