Attention New Pipers: Even The "Vets" Struggle Sometimes!
This is a bit of a Public Service Announcement for the new pipe smokers. It is a bit long winded, but I feel like it has a good meaning to it. Enjoy :pipe:
When I started out smoking pipes, I didn't really turn to the internet to learn anything. I just picked up a cheapo pipe and went on my marry way not having a clue of what I was doing. I was happy just because I was smoking a pipe, and all my hero's smoked pipes, so just having one scorching my mouth was enough. One day I wanted to actually improve at pipe smoking, so I went to the internet and found some forums...
Boy was I intimidated with what I saw. After reading only 3 or so posts, I felt like I knew nothing and that all these guys were pipe gods! The way these guys talk about their experiences, they must never have a bad bowl, a bad smoke, or a scorched tongue!!! They taste all these bold flavors, their palates are so much better than mine! They pack their pipes perfect every time, dry their tobacco perfect every time, and smoke flawless bowls every time!
Well, new pipe smokers, know that this is just simply not true. Case in point, the little story I am going to share with you all now :D
So I just finished up an evening bowl of Samuel Gawith Navy Flake. It is one of my favorite tobaccos and I have had plenty of great experiences with it. Tonight was not one of those nights. I dried the flakes out to what I felt was the right humidity and went to packing my pipe. I packed it like a nimrod. It was somewhere between a fold & stuff and a loose wadded mess. I took a test draw and thought to myself, "perfect!"
I couldn't get the flake to light...it wasn't dry enough. I worked my way through 4 matches and eventually had a decent enough false light I felt. Finally, one more light and I would be off to the races. Not so. I continued to puff on the pipe like a freight train trying to get the pipe to stay lit. Little, tiny, pitiful plumes of smoke whisping out of my mouth. Frustrated, I got out my Zippo and attacked the tobacco. Ignited it did, along with my tongue. At this point, my smoke was tasting something like burnt hay and smoky wet moss. Yum.
20 minutes in, the tobacco is finally lit some what, and my cheeks hurt from puffing so hard. I start to tamp a bit...and it goes out. I light it back up, tamp...it goes out. I repeat this stupid pattern for the next 15 minutes or so. At this point my lungs hurt, not form smoke inhalation, but from having to take so many deep puffs. My mouth tastes awful. Like wet mossy latakia tobacco rolled in wet hay. I remove the top layer of ash, stir the bowl, rework and "fluff" the tobacco. There we go! Now it will be great! Light it up, smokes OK for a bit. I tamp it down. It goes out. I dump out the rest of the bowl and give up for the night. I am defeated. It is like I have never smoked a pipe in my entire life.
So remember novices out there. There is a lot, for a lack of better word, elitism on internet forums. The bulk of the things that people like to talk and post about are their pipe victories, never their failures. Tonight I wasted an hour of my life trying to smoke a pipe and I have been puffing pipes for around 7 years. Whenever you are getting discouraged, and you feel like you are the only person out there not getting it, remember this little story I just wrote!
We all struggle sometimes, even the guys that have been smoking pipes for years!
