Honestly, pay no attention to the process of "breaking in" a pipe. Just focus on learning to pack a consistent bowl and getting it well lit. I think a lot of people get too caught up in the technical aspects of pipe smoking (like "breaking in") and forget to just sit back and enjoy the experience.
Getting started with pipes.
- Thread starter gonz
- Start date
cgraunke
BoM March '14
That's kinda where I fit in, too.
I think someone here said, "just pack that shit, light that shit, smoke that shit." You'll be amazed at how you learn to finesse it as you go even (especially) when it's not perfect at the start. That said, there it's definitely satisfaction in sipping on the pipe for an hour with the perfect burn and no relights, but I never really expect that. Gravy when it happens, though!
cgraunke
BoM March '14
Just minor cleaning is going to put you way ahead of most pipe smokers a generation back. I think it might have been mentioned already, but to most of them the pipe was disposable, not a part of a collection. They smoked until it was so caked up that they threw it away and stopped by the local drug store for a new one.
That's where I got mine at the Rite Aid drug store yesterday. A Dr. grabow pipe.
I'd try to smoke it, is it crumbles into powder dry/brittle or just not moist
Most times pipe tobacco needs a little drying anyways
After the pipe cools, I'll wipe it down to remove ash from the outside and rim, run a rough pipe cleaner through the stem and shank, then run a soft one through that I've dipped in 99% Isopropyl alcohol to remove the tars from the stem and shank.
I also blast a shot of air from an air compressor through it to knock out any chunks of tobacco that are still stuck in there.
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It feels like it'll crumble like very brittle if that helps to explain it. I unfortunately can't try it out today, but I might be able to try it tomorrow afternoon/night and definitely one day early next week. I'm just worried because it probably was sitting for a long long time since it was on the bottom shelf.
Well I would give it a try as is, if it seems too dry to smoke put it in a bowl with a moist rag over top but not touching tobacco for a 15 minutes or more if necessary
Hmm, that might do the trick. It's killing me now because I want to go smoke, but need to get some sleep as I just got off a 12 hour shift at work. But I'm hooked here and browsing all the forums again. LOL
Avoid the temptation to moisten the rag with kerosene. Although it would help with the burning of the baccy, it would probably be the least enjoyable 10 second pipe you've ever had!
But seriously try it as is you may be surprised
It was cheap enough. And I need to break-in the pipe the right way. So I can try out new tobacco and see if I really like the pipe smoking. I'm thinking I'd be a pipe smoker but not too often......yet.
I've had a mild curiosity about pipes for years, but never took the plunge and tried one.
This weekend, my son came over and presented me with a nice briar pipe and an unmarked bag of tobacco he says is 'Virginia', and a combo lighter/tool. I was pretty excited - especially at the opportunity to sit and smoke with my son and celebrate some of his recent accomplishments.
He was quite patient and taught me to pack it in three steps and all he knew about pipes and pipe tobacco from his 3 or 4 years of reading and smoking. Long story short, it was something of a frustrating disappointment. After two 'sessions', I found it terribly difficult to keep lit and get consistent smoke and flavor. I did find that during my first packing, I must have jammed some tobacco into the bottom of the stem and that contributed to hard draw and trouble keeping it going. But even after I got it cleaned out, the second bowl was almost more trouble than it was worth. I've read that there's something of a learning curve to packing/lighting/smoking, but this was pretty bad. I'll try again tonight. Wish me luck.
This weekend, my son came over and presented me with a nice briar pipe and an unmarked bag of tobacco he says is 'Virginia', and a combo lighter/tool. I was pretty excited - especially at the opportunity to sit and smoke with my son and celebrate some of his recent accomplishments.
He was quite patient and taught me to pack it in three steps and all he knew about pipes and pipe tobacco from his 3 or 4 years of reading and smoking. Long story short, it was something of a frustrating disappointment. After two 'sessions', I found it terribly difficult to keep lit and get consistent smoke and flavor. I did find that during my first packing, I must have jammed some tobacco into the bottom of the stem and that contributed to hard draw and trouble keeping it going. But even after I got it cleaned out, the second bowl was almost more trouble than it was worth. I've read that there's something of a learning curve to packing/lighting/smoking, but this was pretty bad. I'll try again tonight. Wish me luck.
Try not to get frustrated as relights are very normal. Yes, they will diminish in quantity as you learn but every pipe smoker has to relight their pipe. You will not get the mass quantities of smoke from a pipe that you are used to with a cigar. Sip your pipe, enjoy the flavor of the wispy smoke. Depending on the blend, a straight Virginia may not be the best newbie smoke, though since it sounds like your son is an experienced pipe smoker I may be talking out of line here. Virginia can be bitey and if it is a flake (even if rubbed out by the manufacturer) relights will often be more common.He pointed me to a 'different' forum (PSF, if that's ok to say here...
....I'll check that one out first, so I can articulate why botl is better before I try to recruit him
Congrats on the new pipe! I'm sure you will get better with practice and having your son as a mentor.
Thanks for the encouragement. When I head over to the local leaf shop, I have no idea where to begin or what questions to ask. For those of you that came to pipes from cigars; do you find that the kinds of cigars you liked gave you any indication on where to begin with pipe tobacco? If you like full, Ecuador Habano wrapped Fausto, might you tend to xxxx pipe tobacco? Or if you enjoy a mildish Vegas Robaina, do you gravitate towards yyyyy pipe leaf? Perhaps a silly question, but I have no idea what to ask for when I go in, since I've only tried one blend and don't even know what it is, aside from 'something Virginia'.
Pipe and cigar tobacco are different animals in flavor. That being said, Englishes or blends containing Latakia were what I really liked first coming over from the cigar side. I now gravitate more often to Virginias, VaPer (Virginia/Perique blends), and Burley blends during the day and Englishes in the morning and late evening.