How to Pack Pipe Tobacco

When you begin smoking a pipe, there's more to it than just lighting up and taking a puff. You need to learn how to pack the tobacco in the pipe before you can even strike a match. Follow these steps to have your pipe packed and ready to smoke.

Things You'll Need

• Pipe
• Tobacco
• Tamper pipe tool
• Pipe cleaner

Instructions

1. Free the stem of the pipe of any leftover ash using a pipe cleaner. Pour out any leftover tobacco and lightly blow through the stem to get all the extra ash out. Do so over a trashcan or ashtray, or outside.

2. Take a small portion of the tobacco and place it on a flat surface. Carefully separate any clumps of tobacco and feel to see how moist it is. If the tobacco is too moist let it dry out some before packing it in the pipe.

3. Hold the pipe and drop pieces of tobacco into the bowl of the pipe until it's full. Do not push down any of the tobacco or pinch it while filling the pipe bowl as clumps may occur, and you do not want to overpack it.

4. Using your tamper pipe tool, press the tobacco down into the pipe bowl. When your pipe's bowl has straight sides, tamp the tobacco softly until it fills half of the pipe bowl. For tapered pipe bowls, tamp gently until the tobacco fills two thirds of the pipe bowl. The tobacco now should be soft and springy.

5. Place the pipe in your mouth and take a test draw. If you feel resistance (anything harder than sucking through a straw), empty the pipe out and repeat Steps 1 through 4 until the pipe has little or no resistance when taking a draw. When a pipe is properly packed, you can light it up and smoke away.