Questions You Thought Were Too Dumb to Ask (Pipes Edition)

[Branzig]

How often should you tamp?
How much rest should a pipe get before re-use? (Does the same go for partial bowls?)

Tamp as often as you need to too keep the pipe lit. When the draw starts to become lose, it is time for a tamp. When the smoke production starts to get thin and you feel like the pipe is going to go out, time for a tamp.

The "how much rest does my pipe need" question is on par with the "what humidity should I keep my cigars at" ...ask 20 people and you may just get 20 different answers. I like to rest my briar pipes at least 24 hours regardless of how much I smoked out of it. Not so much because I am worried about ruining the pipe, but more so that I have had some bad expierences with smoking a pipe too soon while it was still a little wet. And smoking a wet pipe is gross. Plus I feel like if you smoke a pipe multiple times within a 24 hour period that you have to deep clean them more often.

It isn't odd for me to rest my briar pipes for 3 days in between smokes. None of this includes Cobs by the way. I abuse cobs.

Thanks to both of you! I'll try to get some rope in my next tobacco order. Sounds like something to experience at least once anyway.

I highly suggest you get some rope! It is indeed something that I believe every pipe smoker must experience in their life time. I like to use cigar cutters and chop them up into tasty medallions. SG Black XX Twist is one of my faves....as is their Brown No. 4 twist. mmmmmm