From: Rob Anderson <?????????????????>
Subject: Another new guy

[this is for the pipes digest]

As both a new member of this list and a beginning pipe smoker, I'd just 
like to say "Hi" to everyone here.

I live in Japan and that makes it quite difficult to get any info on pipe 
smoking because of the language barrier and the fact that I live in the 
middle of nowhere. I bought my pipe here (I only have one), but the 
tobacco and everything else via mail order, so it's been trial and error 
over the past few months to get anywhere.

As someone mentioned in one of the previous digests (I've been reading 
them on the web), it seems I need to be _shown_ what to do to really 
accomplish anything. This is most likely true, but any help other members 
of this list can offer would be greatly appreciated.

My first few questions are these:

Why does the tobacco in my pipe not burn evenly? I often find that only 
the middle burns completely? Am I drawing on it too strongly, packing the 
tobacco incorrectly, or something else I can't imagine?

This may sound strange, but how often and how much should I puff? And if 
the pipe (it's a briar) is hot, but not so much that I can't handle it, 
is that normal?

I've seen some mention of filters, but I can't seem to find one in my 
pipe (at least not something I'd recognize as a filter). What exactly do 
they look like? What are the adv/disadvantages of using one?

That's it for now. I know I probably sound like a total ninny here, but I 
really want to know how to proceed. The occasional time I can actually 
get my pipe lit and continue to smoke "normally" for a short span of time 
makes me want to be able to do it consistently, and so prompts the 
questions.

Have a good one,

Rob Anderson <?????????????????>
Shizuoka-ken, Japan


[ Sounds like you might be lighting incorrectly, Rob.  Try making
circles around the bowl with the match.  Puffing frequency should be
somewhere between oops-it's-out ant ouch-it's hot :-)  And re filters,
generally they're either cylinders or triangular prisms.  I haven't
used them myself, so I'll let others speak to their advantages and
disadvantages. -S. ]


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