Soft flame or torch?

[dj1340]

There's an old saying," too many cooks in the kitchen". If you ask 25 people you're likely to get 15 different answers.
I wouldn't get hung up on "whats the best way etc" answers. Some folks are stuck in their ways and that's the only way
it can be.
This isn't rocket science, we're smoking dried tobacco in a dried cob or a piece of wood.
Get a general idea and adapt what works for you. You may even figure out a better way than what people are suggesting.

[jrfoxx]

There's an old saying," too many cooks in the kitchen". If you ask 25 people you're likely to get 15 different answers.
I wouldn't get hung up on "whats the best way etc" answers. Some folks are stuck in their ways and that's the only way
it can be.
This isn't rocket science, we're smoking dried tobacco in a dried cob or a piece of wood.
Get a general idea and adapt what works for you. You may even figure out a better way than what people are suggesting.

Nobody's really saying what's "best", it's more of " torch? Go for it" vs "torch can ruin the wood of the bowl".

That's where my concern lies. Mostly I take others suggestions and tweak them to fit me, but I don't want to damage even my $20 MM cob, let alone the really nice Stanwell you sent.

And very true about people set in their ways, especially the long time smokers. They have that tendency the most. Sometimes it's hard for me to discern if it's good advice learn from decades of trial, error and experience, or just an old fart stuck in their way being the right way. Learned this from my 15+ years in the Cigar world.

I try to take all advice with a grain of salt, but at the same time, usually try out the advice I'm given to see if it works for me and as advertised.

I friggin love tobacco!

[dj1340]

Good for you, that is the best approach. I will only use a torch with my pipe if I have nothing else. I turn the flame down as far as it will go though.
Sometimes on a windy day that may be the only thing to use.
I have a Xikar pipe lighter that does pretty well in moderate winds. Wooden matches remind me of the old guys I would see in the pubs
in England. Sitting at a table having a beer and smoking their pipes. Usually farmers with their dogs sitting under the table and their tractors
parked in the parking lot. Life did seem simpler back then.

Cigars it's strictly torch. But hell I have used burning sticks from the campfire as well. Fire is fire.

[jrfoxx]

Good for you, that is the best approach. I will only use a torch with my pipe if I have nothing else. I turn the flame down as far as it will go though.
Sometimes on a windy day that may be the only thing to use.
I have a Xikar pipe lighter that does pretty well in moderate winds. Wooden matches remind me of the old guys I would see in the pubs
in England. Sitting at a table having a beer and smoking their pipes. Usually farmers with their dogs sitting under the table and their tractors
parked in the parking lot. Life did seem simpler back then.

Cigars it's strictly torch. But hell I have used burning sticks from the campfire as well. Fire is fire.

Yeah, really strong wind is pretty common everywhere in Wyoming fairly often, and will even blow out my triple torch trying to light a cigar ( which I agree, as do most, is the best way to light a cigar. F using fancy cedar matches like the old days). But for a cigar I can go into the sweltering shelter long enough to light a cigar, the go back out.

Not really feasible with a pipe unless you are a master class pipe smoker and can smoke a whole bowl with 1 light.

I use an off brand pipe lighter that works great up to a moderate breeze, and has a scraper, tamper and pick that fold out from the side which is handy.

Unfortunately yesterday the tiny welds broke and the tool part came out, but no biggie, now it's basically like the Czech tools most people use.

I friggin love tobacco!

[dj1340]

That sucks. Lot of things you would use are fairly moderately priced if you shop around.
I personally hate smoking a stick or a pipe in the wind. Breeze is fine keeps the smoke moving.
Very humid a lot of times in Ohio so there are times it's hard to keep a cigar lit. Gets so moist relights
are very often.
If only we could find the perfect weather to enjoy the tobacco. (Joke).
One thing for sure, you always find something new and the search for the perfect tobacco is lifelong.
As someone mentioned, taste buds can change over time. I kept some tobacco i didn't exactly like
but after 20 years I find I enjoy them now. Glad I didn't sell them off.

[jrfoxx]

That sucks. Lot of things you would use are fairly moderately priced if you shop around.
I personally hate smoking a stick or a pipe in the wind. Breeze is fine keeps the smoke moving.
Very humid a lot of times in Ohio so there are times it's hard to keep a cigar lit. Gets so moist relights
are very often.
If only we could find the perfect weather to enjoy the tobacco. (Joke).
One thing for sure, you always find something new and the search for the perfect tobacco is lifelong.
As someone mentioned, taste buds can change over time. I kept some tobacco i didn't exactly like
but after 20 years I find I enjoy them now. Glad I didn't sell them off.

It was like a $20 lighter off Amazon, and I can still use the tools as a separate unit like the Czech tool most have.

Thankfully, Wyoming doesn't get terribly humid, just really windy from the entire state being at least 4500ft ASL, and 14,000 ft in the mountain range only a few miles away.

Born and raised in Michigan until I was 26 and left to join the Navy, so I know all about the crazy humidity you get in Ohio. I remember having trouble keeping even a cigarette lit in the spring and summer in Michigan.

Yeah, I have tried probably 40 different blends trying to see what I like and don't like, and just like cigars, I have a very broad pallette and only 4 have been put into the "trades" box.

I friggin love tobacco!