Pipe smoking advice you wish you'd been given

[cossar]

I can't add much to what has already been said, but I wish that I had not joined up in the TAD and PAD that I found online as early as I did. I recommend buying a cob or a recommended briar from a reputable B&M, and smoking one tin at a time until your smokes become pretty consistent.

Seems like pipe smokers in person are far less concerned with cellaring, all the new releases, and the critiques than online pipe communities. Focus on enjoying the bowl you are smoking now and not what you should/want/need to get next.

 

[PlanxtyPipes]

The biggest piece of advice I wish I had received is "Don't worry about the number of times you have to relight your pipe, especially in the beginning". There may have been people saying this that I just didn't listen to, but I don't remember it. It seemed like there was lots of great questions and advice about how to keep your pipe lit. I just don't remember anyone saying "there is no shame in having to relight your pipe a bunch of times." I assumed as a newbie that I shouldn't have to ever relight and that I should just have to do a charring light, a true light, and then smoke to the bottom of the bowl. I used to get so frustrated and smoke way too fast because of it. The irony is that once I finally stopped caring about it myself, that's about when things started to click and I didn't have to relight as much.

 

[Arkie]

If your style of smoking works for you it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it.

 

[Mikewood]

If you can’t taste the pipe or it just tastes like burnt tobacco then you are likely smoking too fast and hot. Let the smoke abide in your mouth and give yourself time to appreciate it. It’s not unlike tasting wine vs gulping wine.

 

[Christopher.Lunting]

It it not necessary to smoke down to the very bottom of the bowl nor is it important to smoke every last crumb of tobacco in a pipeful.

Stop smoking any pipeful when it ceases to be enjoyable. It will not hurt your pipe if you dump out the dottle and your mouth and taste buds will thank you.

That is a good one!

 

[Bach6032]

Advice I wish I'd been given:

1. Approach the pipe with patience. Unlike a cigar where all of the work has been done for you except for cutting and one lighting, you'll have to master selecting blends, filling the bowl, charring light, tamping, determining smoking cadence (varies by blend) and subsequent relighting.
2. When tamping, you generally want to apply gentle pressure--barely enough to compress the ash layer. Tamping too hard can cause the pipe to go out and a too-tight draw [this really would have been the best advice someone could have given me early on].
3. While a cob pipe can be a cheap means of entry, the performance of a good cob can be every bit as good as--maybe even better--than some briar pipes. They can deliver as much smoking pleasure as expensive pipes, provided they're given the care they're due.
4. Though you may want to collect pipes just for the fun of it, always remember that a pipe exists for the enjoyment of good tobacco, not the other way around.

 

[gnossos]

I hate that @Danno predicted this but...

You'll start with a few decent pipes.
Eventually you'll get a couple of REALLY good pipes and that will change what you actually want in a pipe. Then you'll probably begin buying artisan pipes (or fancier factory pipes) in every shape, finish, and color. Eventually you'll end up with an astounding collection including Blowfish and Peewits and an Elephant's Foot and some other ridiculous artsy shapes, which you'll rarely smoke.

There is no better pipe than a well executed billiard. Probably black, and blasted, and perfectly boring. And you will be HIGHLY opinionated about what a proper billiard looks like.

But you will not belive me (*Dan) until this happens to you.

yep

i move pretty quick - I like to try things out, churn through them, decide what is good and bad for myself when access isn’t an issue

I’m pretty sure I’m gonna end up selling all but maybe two or three of my high-high ends.

just buy billiards. Nothing is all that worth it past $500 unless you’re into art. IMO. Some of us are. I think I found something else to focus my visually creative bent tho.

like inflation and buying frenzies and SP controlling market prices in the US and China making every luxury good look expensive aside, that’s roughly the pipe/art cutoff line IMO

 

[Yakster]

I wish I'd been told to try out a pipe before putting a Softy-Bit on the stem. I got in the habit of doing this without thinking and ended up with odd looking stem tans when I realized the bit of the stem was perfectly comfortable without the Softy-Bit.

 

[Jerry Ford]

We have a lot of topics giving advice to new smokers, but as far as I can tell we have not tried to collect all that advice in one place. I am working on a list of links for new members, and I would like to be able to point to one topic where we have collected advice for new smokers.

What do you wish someone had told you when you were just starting pipe smoking? Feel free to post links to old topics if you think they contain good advice.

To start:

Don't be in a hurry to accumulate a lot of pipes and a bunch of different blends. Smoking too many different blends in too many different pipes can make pipe smoking difficult to learn. Stick with a few ribbon-cut blends (there are great plugs, flakes, cakes, and shag-cuts, but they add another variable you don't need right now) and a few pipes (including a cob or two) until you feel like you know what you're doing.

Don't write off a blend you don't like right now, or accumulate a lot of something you do like. Your tastes will change, and something you don't like today may become a favorite in a year or so; likewise something you love today may become just average as you learn more. Put anything you don't like in a jar and try it again in a few months or a few years; as I said your tastes will change and some blends change a lot after aging in a jar for a while. If you still don't like it in a year, trade it or give it away.

And please don't be too quick to join the hunt for "unicorns" (blends that are now difficult or impossible to find) -- sure there are some great unicorns, but there are also hundreds of readily available blends to enjoy. Also don't get sucked in by "fear of missing out" -- many blenders are now churning out "limited releases" -- some good, some not so good, and many blends are quickly sold out when they become available. Unless you enjoy this kind of hunt, you might as well avoid it from the start.

And finally, some advice from John Patton's father:

• Dry your tobacco more than you think you need to.
• Pack it looser than you think you need to.
• Smoke it slower than you think you need to.
• Tamp it less, and more lightly, than you think you need to.
• Don’t worry if you have a few relights.
• And realize that becoming an accomplished pipe smoker will take time, patience, and trial and error.

As the Greek Orthodox priests say: "Sophia". (that is, "wisdom"). How beautifully put. All of it.

I'll only add: Limit the time you spend on retail websites. If you look at those places long enough, you'll buy something. And then they've won.
Also, recall that your model pipe smokers (Granddad, Pres. Ford, Sherlock Holmes, etc.) weren't "hobbyists". They just smoked a pipe. Be that guy.

 

[tfdickson]

I bought my first pipe and tobacco in 1994 and got serious with it around 2000, so information on the internet played a big part in my education. All the same advice that is given today about smoking slowly, packing lightly, tamping lightly, drying tobacco, etc was around then and helped me a great deal.

To answer the question about the advice I wish I’d been given, I’d say: pay up and don’t waste any time or money in pursuit of a bargain. The entire world of pipes and tobaccos are already a screaming bargain, may as well go for the best, or at least the best you can afford without any impact to the rest of your life. A $500 pipe may seem expensive at first but if you smoke it just once every few days your cost is a dollar a smoke after a few years. Buy the best tobacco and your total cost is what, $1.50 a smoke? A properly maintained pipe is basically immortal, so the per smoke cost only declines over time. What I would like back is the money I spent on all the pipes I thought were a bargain and were bought simply because the price was lower than what I thought was fair value. Most of my career has revolved around identifying undervalued assets which has probably colored my judgment. I’ve never once regretted overpaying for the right pipe, I’ve regretted at least 100 times underpaying for the wrong pipe.

 

[Bach6032]

I bought my first pipe and tobacco in 1994 and got serious with it around 2000, so information on the internet played a big part in my education. All the same advice that is given today about smoking slowly, packing lightly, tamping lightly, drying tobacco, etc was around then and helped me a great deal.

To answer the question about the advice I wish I’d been given, I’d say: pay up and don’t waste any time or money in pursuit of a bargain. The entire world of pipes and tobaccos are already a screaming bargain, may as well go for the best, or at least the best you can afford without any impact to the rest of your life. A $500 pipe may seem expensive at first but if you smoke it just once every few days your cost is a dollar a smoke after a few years. Buy the best tobacco and your total cost is what, $1.50 a smoke? A properly maintained pipe is basically immortal, so the per smoke cost only declines over time. What I would like back is the money I spent on all the pipes I thought were a bargain and were bought simply because the price was lower than what I thought was fair value. Most of my career has revolved around identifying undervalued assets which has probably colored my judgment. I’ve never once regretted overpaying for the right pipe, I’ve regretted at least 100 times underpaying for the wrong pipe.

^^^ So much truth here. ^^^

I bought my first good pipe, a hand carved Stanwell, in 1973. I was a typical college student: big dreams kept in check only by a tight budget.

That pipe cost something like $60--today's equivalent of $375--but I had to have it.

Without a doubt it is the best pipe in my collection. It smokes effortlessly, it's handsome as the day is long, and it sits in my hand as though it were custom made for me. Not a single moment of regret since.

 

[Pipepunk]

Buy the best pipe you can afford at the time without stinting on groceries and rent.if you find nothing in that bracket at the time ambitiously save up for what might be in your league future tense.

 

[Baboo]

Don't dip your flame too close to the top of the tobacco load... keep well above but just close enough so that each draw pulls the flame down onto the very top... swirl it around a bit for overall coverage.

 

[Sinzalot]

Dont get caught up spending a fortune on expensive pipes, commissions, meers etc be true to your own taste. It doesn’t matter what make, shape brand or cost of your favourite pipe…that’s YOUR favourite and only you know why you love it.
My £6 ebay Two Point Imperial Lovat trumps every one of my more expensive pipes. She’s perfect and she’ll be with me when they put me in my box. Happy smokes folks.

 

[Montag]

Don’t worry if you like an unpopular tobacco. If you like it; it is good. Same is true if you don’t like it. If it is popular and you don’t like it, don’t smoke it just because others do so (maybe keep and try again later).

Have at least one pipe you can loose and/or break without heartache or financial pain. If I’m working in the yard I smoke a cob or “beater” Peterson that I won’t beat myself up over dropping into the pool or onto paving stones.

 

[Rebel]

Unless you are rich, don't buy a pipe over 300 USD's. Instead buy tobacco.

And there is nothing wrong with MM corncob pipes, especially when you are trying blends that may ghost your briars.

 

[NativeTexan]

Dry the tobacco out a bit before smoking.

 

[mingc]

Keep your vulcanite in the dark.

 

[Sir Saartan]

Don‘t be afraid of flakes.

flakes react More directly to any possible mistake you make, so they teach you quickly.

of course, aleays keep your favorite ribbon cut close. Every time you‘ve struggled with an issue with a flake, you will notice immediate improvement with your ribbon cuts.

also: never hesitate to ask an old codger

 

[Baboo]

Learn to "carb" the top of the bowl with two fingers (middle pads), restricting but allowing a directed draw airflow into the load... this will help keep things aflame while minimizing char and relights.