Editing Tobacco pipe (section)

==Use==
Smoking a pipe involves more equipment and technique than smoking cigarettes or cigars. In addition to the pipe and a source of ignition like [[Match|matches]] or a pipe [[lighter]], pipe smokers typically use a [[pipe tool]] for packing, adjusting, and emptying tobacco from the bowl, along with a regular supply of [[Pipe cleaner|pipe cleaners]] to maintain the pipe. In 18th-century North America, smokers used a "tobacco-stopper" to press tobacco into the pipe’s bowl, with some of these stoppers made from bones, such as those extracted from the male anatomy of [[Raccoon|raccoons]], reflecting the resourcefulness of the era’s material culture.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kalm |first=Pehr |author-link=Pehr Kalm |url= |title=Travels into North America: containing its natural history, and a circumstantial account of its plantations and agriculture in general, with the civil, ecclesiastical and commercial state of the country, the manners of the inhabitants, and several curious and important remarks on various subjects |publisher=T. Lowndes |year=1772 |isbn=9780665515002 |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/travelsintonorth01kalm_3/page/76/mode/1up 76] |language=en |translator=Johann Reinhold Forster |oclc=1083889360}}</ref>

===Tobacco===
{{One source|date=December 2024}}[[File:DunhillEarlyMorningPipeMurrays.jpg|alt=Ready rubbed pipe tobacco inside a round 100g tin|thumb|left|A typical ready-rubbed pipe tobacco, sold in a tin]]

Tobacco for smoking in pipes are often carefully treated and blended to achieve flavour nuances not available in other tobacco products.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pipe Tobacco |url=https://www.thecigarstore.com/Pipes-Tobacco-Accessories/Pipe-Tobacco.htm |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=TheCigarStore.com |language=en}}</ref> Many of these are blends using staple ingredients of variously cured Burley and Virginia tobaccos which are enhanced by spice tobaccos, among them many Oriental or Balkan varietals, [[Latakia (tobacco)|Latakia]] (a fire-cured spice tobacco of Syrian origin, but now made in other regions, such as, Cyprus and Lebanon), [[Perique]] (uniquely grown in [[St. James Parish, Louisiana]]) which is also an old method of fermentation, or blends of Virginia and [[Burley (tobacco)|Burley]] tobaccos of African, Indian, or South American origins. Traditionally, many U.S. blends are made of American Burley with sweeteners and flavorings added to create an "aromatic" flavor, whereas "English" blends are based on natural Virginia tobaccos enhanced with Oriental and other natural tobaccos. There is a growing tendency towards "natural" tobaccos which derive their aromas from artful blending with selected spice tobaccos only and careful, often historically-based, curing processes.

Pipe tobacco can be purchased in several forms, which vary both in flavour (leading to many blends and opportunities for smokers to blend their own tobaccos) and in the physical shape and size to which the tobacco has been reduced. Most pipe tobaccos are less mild than cigarette tobacco, substantially more moist and cut much more coarsely. Too finely cut tobacco does not allow enough air to flow through the pipe, and overly dry tobacco burns too quickly with little flavour. Pipe tobacco must be kept in an airtight container, such as a canning jar or sealed tin, to keep from drying out.

Some pipe tobaccos are cut into long narrow ribbons. Some are pressed into flat plugs which are sliced into flakes. Others are tightly wound into long ropes, then sliced into discs. Plug tobacco is maintained in its pressed block form and sold in small blocks. The plug will be sliced into thin flakes by the smoker and then prepared in a similar fashion to flake tobacco. It is considered that plug tobacco holds its flavor better than rubbed or flake tobacco. Flake tobacco (sliced cakes or ropes) may be prepared in several ways. Generally it is rubbed out with the fingers and palms until it is loose enough to pack. It can also be crumbled or simply folded and stuffed into a pipe. Some people also prefer to dice up very coarse tobaccos before using them, making them easier to pack.

===Packing===
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In the most common method of packing, tobacco is added to the bowl of the pipe in several batches, each one pressed down until the mixture has a uniform density that optimizes airflow (something that it is difficult to gauge without practice). This can be done with a [[finger]] or [[thumb]], but if the tobacco needs to be repacked later, while it is burning, the tamper on a [[pipe tool]] is sometimes used. If it needs to be loosened, the reamer, or any similar long pin can be used. A traditional way of packing the pipe is to fill the bowl and then pack gently to about {{frac|1|3}} full, fill again and pack slightly more firmly to about {{frac|2|3}} full, and then pack more firmly still to the top.

An alternative packing technique called the [[Frank method]] involves lightly dropping tobacco in the pipe, after which a large plug is gingerly pushed into the bowl all at once.

===Lighting===
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[[File:Smoking Pipe.jpg|thumb|Detail of "Old Peasant Lighting a Pipe" by [[Johann Carl Loth]] (1655/1660)]]

[[File:Jianshui - old city - P1370481.JPG|thumb|Traditional smoking pipes for sale in Lin'an, [[Jianshui County]], China, 2016]]
[[Matches]], or separately lit slivers of wood are often considered preferable to lighters because of lower burning temperature. [[Butane lighters]]  made specifically for pipes 
emit flame sideways or at an angle to make it easier to direct flame into the bowl. Torch-style lighters should never be used to light a pipe because their flames are too hot and can char the rim of the pipe bowl. Matches should be allowed to burn for several seconds to allow the [[sulfur]] from the tip to burn away and the match to produce a full flame. A [[naphtha]] fueled lighter should also be allowed to burn a few seconds to get rid of stray naphtha vapors that could give a foul taste to the smoke. When a flame has been produced, it is then moved in circles above the rim of the bowl while the smoker puffs to draw the flame down and light the tobacco. Packing method and humidity can affect how often a pipe must be relit.

===Burning prevention===
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With care, a briar pipe can last a very long time without burning out. However, due to aggressive (hot) smoking or imperfections in the wood, a hole can be burned in the tobacco chamber of the pipe. There are several methods used to help prevent a wood pipe from burning out. These generally involve coating the chamber with any of a variety of substances, or by gently smoking a new pipe to build up a cake (a mixture of ash, unburned tobacco, oils, sugars, and other residue) on the walls.

These coatings may include honey and water; powdered sugar and water; cigar ash and water; and [[sour cream]], [[buttermilk]], and [[activated charcoal]] among many others.

Many modern briar pipes are pre-treated by the manufacturer to resist burning. If smoked correctly, the cake will build up properly on its own. Another technique is to alternate a half-bowl and a full-bowl the first several times the pipe is used to build an even cake. [[Burley (tobacco)|Burley]] is often recommended to help a new pipe build cake.

The caked layer that helps prevent burning through the bottom or sides of a briar wood pipe may damage other pipes, such as meerschaum or clay.  As the cake layer heats up, it expands and may cause cracks or breaks in non-briar pipes.

===Smoking===
{{Main|Pipe smoking}}
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Pipe smoke, like cigar smoke, is usually not inhaled. It is merely brought into the mouth, pumped around oral and nasal cavities to permit absorption of nicotine toward the brain through the mucous membranes, and released. It is normal to have to relight a pipe periodically. If it is smoked too slowly, this will happen more often. If it is smoked too quickly, it can produce excess moisture, causing a gurgling sound in the pipe and an uncomfortable sensation on the tongue (referred to as "pipe tongue", or more commonly, "tongue bite").

A pipe cleaner can be used to dry out the bowl and, wetted with alcohol, the inner channel. The bowl of the pipe can also become uncomfortably hot, depending on the material and the rate of smoking. For this reason, clay pipes in particular are often held by the stem. Meerschaum pipes are held in a square of [[chamois leather]], with gloves, or else by the stem in order to prevent uneven coloring of the material.
{{Gallery
  |title=Smoking techniques
  |align=center
  |height=200
  |width=155
  |File:Fritz Wagner Landsknecht beim Rauchen.jpg|Man smoking by [[Fritz Wagner (painter)|Fritz Wagner]]
  |File:Muong-Smoke.jpg|A pipe-smoking woman
}}

===Cleaning===
[[File:Hút thuốc lào, bát điếu.JPG|thumb|Waterpipe smoking in [[Vietnam]]]]

The ash and the last bits of unburned tobacco, known as [[dottle]], should be cleaned out with a suitable [[pipe tool]]. A soft or bristle [[pipe cleaner]], which may be moistened with strong [[Distilled beverage|spirits]], is then run through the airways of the stem and shank to remove any moisture, ash, and other residue before the pipe is allowed to dry. A pipe should be allowed to cool before removing the stem to avoid the possibility of warping it.

A cake of ash eventually develops inside the bowl. This is generally considered desirable for controlling overall heat. However, if it becomes too thick, it may expand faster than the bowl of the pipe itself when heated, cracking the bowl. Before reaching this point, it needs to be scraped down with a reamer. It is generally recommended to keep the cake at approximately the thickness of a U.S. [[Dime (United States coin)|dime]] (about 1/20 of an inch or 1.5&nbsp;mm), though sometimes the cake is removed entirely as part of efforts to eliminate flavors or aromas.

Cake is considered undesirable in meerschaum pipes because it can easily crack the bowl or interfere with the mineral's natural porosity. Meerschaum also softens when heated so it is recommended to allow meerschaum pipes to cool before cleaning as people have been known to push pipe cleaners through the walls of heated pipes.

Regardless whether a pipe is cleaned after every smoke, over time there is a buildup of cake in the bowl and tars in the internals of a smoking pipe. The cake can be controlled by gentle reaming, but a buildup of tars in the shank and airway of a pipe is more difficult to deal with. This may require the services of a professional pipe restorer to properly clean and sanitize the pipe.<ref>{{cite web|title=It's All About The Aesthetics ....... Isn't It?|url=http://estatepipes.co.uk/shop/its-all-about-the-aesthetics-isnt-it|access-date=10 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111045041/http://estatepipes.co.uk/shop/its-all-about-the-aesthetics-isnt-it|archive-date=2014-11-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Sweetening===
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When tobacco is burned, oils from adjoining not yet ignited particles vaporize and condense into the existing cake on the walls of the bowl and shank. Over time, these oils can oxidize and turn rancid, causing the pipe to give a sour or bitter smoke. A purported countermeasure involves filling the bowl with [[kosher salt]] and carefully wetting it with strong spirits.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} It is important to not use iodized salt, as the iodine and other additives may impart an unpleasant flavor. Regularly wiping out the bowl with spirits such as vodka or rum is helpful in preventing souring. Commercial pipe-sweetening products are also available.{{Citation needed|date=March 2014}}