Haven’t smoked pipe much but just can’t seem to get the packing part down. It either draws too light, or trying to get it packed better, it packs too tight. Doesn’t seem to light uniformly at all (middle burns and leaves perimeter unburnt)

Tried the 3 (down to half) /2 (to 3/4) /1 (just below flush) method and some Frank method.

Not sure what I’m doing wrong but doesn’t seem correct at all.
I get just wisps of smoke that don’t really taste like anything and is like breathing air.

Any hints??

practice, it took me a while to get it.  And after 10 years I still don't get it all the time, (4 out of 10 times) and have to either tamp or stab it to aerate the bowl a bit

Can and will do but did our grandfathers and theirs have similar issues or did they just throw some in the bowl and smoke?

I saw  my Uncle and his VFW buddies many a times tamping or poking it with a paper clip or their Tom Mix pocket knifes.

I've tried all different methods. For me what works best is drying the tobacco. I'll leave it out in a little olive wood bowl an hour or so before I intend to smoke ( I've even forgotten about it and smoked it the next day with great results). I then pack the pipe I just fill the bowl and pack it down lightly. fill it again and pack it slightly harder. Then one more time and pack it pretty hard. I then do a draw test and make sure it's not to hard. Then I light it, I use a zippo pipe lighter ( I let it burn a few seconds to get rid of the lighter fluid taste) I take a few puffs pulling the flame in then let it go out. I then tamp down the tobacco and I'm ready for my actual light. I'll light it again moving the flame around the bowl as I puff. The key to keeping it lit is to tamp every once and a while. I'll feel the smoke slowing down and tamp the "cherry" down ( not to hard)  your just trying to keep the "cherry " against the unburned tobacco.

I forgot to mention, its going to go out and you will have to relight. That's just a part of pipe smoking. Some time its better than others but as a rule you will have to relight.  Slightly tamping before the relight helps, also tamp down the outer edges of the bowl to keep it burning evenly.
Good luck and happy smoking

I remember my grandpa smoking his pipe while he was working. It would take him hours to smoke a bowl. He would smoke a bit put the pipe in his pocket then a hour or so later relight it and smoke some more. I'm sure he just smoked it until it went out then put it away.

Had one today that must have packed half ways decent as I only had to relight 2-3 times and seemed to smoke at least ok.
But I don’t know what its supposed to be like. Doesn’t seem like I get much flavor from the 3-4 kinds smoked. Just cherry sent from those. Maybe I’m just asking to much so to speak from smoking cigs (not anymore) and cigars. They have some good draw (what I consider normal).

But I still had the side of the bowl closet to me that didn’t want to keep up with the rest. Today was better though.

Does gurgling in the stem usually mean too moist tobacco? I get it almost every bowl which hasn’t been that many to date.

That usually is a sign of smoking to hot and wet tobacco. Try slowing down. Also try drying your tobacco before smoking it by leaving it out a hour or so before you pack it. Also remember a pipe is not a cigar and wont produce the kind of smoke the cigar will. I would try a few different tobacco blends if your not getting much flavor with the blend you have now.

Seeing that your not new to tobacco you might want to try a full body tobacco something with Latakia and Perique.

Packing is a bit of an art, rather than a science. In truth, don’t overthink it. I dump some in a bowl, tamp it a bit with my finger, dump some more, tamp some more and call it good. Tamping as you smoke is an art as well. Do your false light, tamp, light it again, and gently sip. Light tamping is better than squashing your tobacco, and I try to “tamp from the edges toward the center” as I go.

Pipe tobacco is like anything else.......everyone likes something different, and you usually get what you pay for. Cheap flavored tobacco is usually trash leaf covered in chemical toppings. There are some good aromatics out there, but in my experience most don’t taste exactly like what you smell in the tin, and the taste of that first sip probably isn’t going to taste the same as that last puff at the bottom of the bowl. If you understand that, you can better appreciate a good aromatic.

Non-aromatics have just as many varieties and nuances, and again.......you usually get what you pay for. It’s a matter of taste.......strong, mellow, smoky, spicy.......it’ll depend on what you’re in the mood for and what your taste buds respond to. Tobacco Reviews is a good way to research before you buy, but take it with a bit of a grain of salt. Tobacco snobs are as bad as wine and beer snobs.

Gurgling might mean your tobacco is too wet. It might mean that you’re puffing like a freight train. It might be that you’re drooling into your pipe. It might even be your pipe. I have a pipe that will gurgle no matter what I do. Have more than one pipe, by the way. Not totally necessary, but pipes do absorb moisture, and if it never has a chance to dry it out it can contribute to the problem. Cheap cobs are great for adding to the rotation for this reason.

Pipe smoking can be a pain in the ass, until you get the hang of it. Different blends in different pipes need to be tamped and smoked in different ways, but then that’s sort of part of the appeal, at least for me. It needs some tending, I can pick any one of a thousand flavors or styles, and I can spend a quiet hour on a weekend evening to wind down and turn my brain off while I enjoy w drink and whatever is in my pipe.

Well I do have peterson nightcap (haven’t tried yet) mac baren mixture. A peterson mixture (can’t remember which off hand 365 maybe) blood moon, the other popular cherry one. Just grabbed some black jack cherry too.

It just feels like I am not getting a good enough pack to taste the tobacco (too light draw, whispy) or too much pack can’t draw. I don’t really get an inbetween.

Would love to find a tobacco I can source locally but seems thats a pipe dream. I did some googling and think I got some decent ones and a cheap one. I think I like sweet but like with cigars, I probably like more full bodied.

I’m sure I am doing all those (gurgling) I feel I have to puff often to keep lit, not sure how wet/ dry tobacco should be (cigars have packets that will help hold to a certain humidity). Probably a bit of drooling too although I try hard not to. I do have a cheap cob pipe I can rotate but I don’t use the pipe that often. Mainly on the way home from a distant jobsite.

The last couple few seem to be a bit better pack but still don’t feel like they draw correctly (although I don’t really know how that is other than a straw)

Thanks for the ideas/ help

This George Bruno video helped me a lot getting started again after a 30 year layover.



He also has a great morning show called the Daybreak Show.

Thanks, checking out now.