New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by spectrrr

ok, next question: ...soooooo whats a good (but inexpensive) soft flame, or torch that doesn't mind being inverted?

There about about 40-eleventeen-thousand posts on which is the RIGHT lighter, torch, match, converted hot air balloon- or kitchen stove burner to light a pipe with. It's like the eternal "Cello on or cello off?" thing with the cigar guys.

But! This thread* is a dedicated "Screw the search function" thread, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead kind of thread. No question to old, no question too hard, no question EVER foolish! So! Here is the soft flame answer:


1. Get a Zippo pipe lighter (with the Zippo black can fluid) if you want sub-$20, lifetime guarantee and very, very good performance.
2. Get a Bic lighter at the run-in store if you want cheap and butane.
3. Get a Corona Old Boy if you change your mind about cheap and want a fine pipe lighter.
4. Get a torch out of your head no matter how many times you watch the Frank Method How To Fill Your Pipe YouTube tutorial.
5. Consider any one of several Old Boy knock-offs for $20.



* top post refresher:

"Attention new pipe smokers! All pipe and tobacco questions answered. All pipe and tobacco problems solved.

Terms of Service: to ask you have to have a serious question; to reply you must have a minimum two years pipe smoking experience. (No snob zone.) There are no stupid questions. Nobody can beat someone with a "Use the search funtion" lead pipe. There will be no rude replies no matter how many times your question has been asked - nosir, not in THIS thread. Maybe a little tiny bit of sarcasm though, just to keep it interesting.

Bring it on."

[Mister Moo]

con't...

6. I can't say enough good things about the flame from paper and wooden matches. The match/pipe combo gives you rock-solid performance, time-honored charm, the grandfatherly "puffFLARE puffFLARE puffFLARE" effect and a soft light for, pretty much, free. Beware stout wooden matches - like those pictured below - that can sustain a flame which is long enough to scorch a rim on both sides of the bowl while lighting the tobacco. A wooden match is not a no-brainer - gotta watch your flame, tobacco and rim* all at the same once.



* and, if you're driving, you gotta watch the road at the same time. That's almost as important as preventing accidental pipe rim charring while driving and lighting. And sometimes you gotta watch that REALLY hot, charcoal-ie black match tip fall in your lap (or down your shirt or sleeve) while you're puffing and lighting and steering and driving and talking on the phone.

Hope this was helpful.

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

1. Get a Zippo pipe lighter (with the Zippo black can fluid) if you want sub-$20, lifetime guarantee and very, very good performance.
2. Get a Bic lighter at the run-in store if you want cheap and butane.
3. Get a Corona Old Boy if you change your mind about cheap and want a fine pipe lighter.
4. Get a torch out of your head no matter how many times you watch the Frank Method How To Fill Your Pipe YouTube tutorial.
5. Consider any one of several Old Boy knock-offs for $20.

Top post refresher:

"Attention new pipe smokers! All pipe and tobacco questions answered. All pipe and tobacco problems solved.

Terms of Service: to ask you have to have a serious question; to reply you must have a minimum two years pipe smoking experience. (No snob zone.) There are no stupid questions. Nobody can beat someone with a "Use the search funtion" lead pipe. There will be no rude replies no matter how many times your question has been asked - nosir, not in THIS thread. Maybe a little tiny bit of sarcasm though, just to keep it interesting.

Bring it on."

The best advice you’re going to get, period!

FYI… Bought an Ol’ Boy knockoff in 2003 (did work for ©rap), put up with that POS lighter until last year when I finally broke down and got an IM Corona Old Boy, with nearly a year of trouble free use and free repairs for the life of the lighter from the shop it came from, I can’t imagine buying any other brand of butane pipe lighter.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Demented

...I finally broke down and got an IM Corona Old Boy...

Me too; it has value for the price.

Reports on Old Boy knock-offs seem cover the range of crap to quality. No idea what to add to that. I got a sweet little Bentley refillable with side-flame and built in tamper last year - it cost $2.00 and worked for, uh, two weeks. I am a long-time Zippo booster but since I got the Old Boy I admit I like the more precise flame, the adjustability, longer period between refills and feel in the hand. I haven't seen the Zippo since the Old Boy showed up but I'll forever have a soft spot in my heart for Zippo products.

I can't think of the brand of that knockoff for the life of me, CRS don't you know. The head broke off the built-in tamper within three days, needed refilling every third or fourth day of use, the striker wheel didn’t work well and it never wanted to light. I bought an eighteen dollar lighter and got what I paid for.

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by Demented

I can't think of the brand of that knockoff for the life of me, CRS don't you know. The head broke off the built-in tamper within three days, needed refilling every third or fourth day of use, the striker wheel didn’t work well and it never wanted to light. I bought an eighteen dollar lighter and got what I paid for.

NIBO makes an "Old Boy" knock-off and it's a piece of crap...had one and it crapped out so early I wrote them and complained...they sent me another one...same problem, so I gave up...found the Colibri Morpheus to be a decent lighter...it's a two-way that lit one way has an angled flame for pipe lighting and lit the other way, a small torch flame for cigars or whatever...I use it mostly for pipe lighting...one of these days I'll probably break down and get myself a Corona Old Boy, but for now the Morpheus (I actually have two of them...got a great buy on them) is working fine...

[spectrrr]

Originally Posted by Neuromancer

NIBO makes an "Old Boy" knock-off and it's a piece of crap...had one and it crapped out so early I wrote them and complained...they sent me another one...same problem, so I gave up...found the Colibri Morpheus to be a decent lighter...it's a two-way that lit one way has an angled flame for pipe lighting and lit the other way, a small torch flame for cigars or whatever...I use it mostly for pipe lighting...one of these days I'll probably break down and get myself a Corona Old Boy, but for now the Morpheus (I actually have two of them...got a great buy on them) is working fine...

$20 shipped on ebay seems like a good deal, I might just do that......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=263602_263622

[Neuromancer]

Originally Posted by spectrrr

$20 shipped on ebay seems like a good deal, I might just do that......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=263602_263622

Yep...that looks like a great deal, but you also need to know it's a one-way deal as Colibri has gone out of business...if it goes bad or needs repairs that's probably going to be a tough thing to get done, so theoretically you could be looking for another lighter in the future...like I said, when I burn through the Morpheus's, I'll probably pop for a Corona Old Boy in place of a pipe at some point...

[GreekGodX]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

* top post refresher:

"Attention new pipe smokers! All pipe and tobacco questions answered. All pipe and tobacco problems solved.

Terms of Service: to ask you have to have a serious question; to reply you must have a minimum two years pipe smoking experience. (No snob zone.) There are no stupid questions. Nobody can beat someone with a "Use the search funtion" lead pipe. There will be no rude replies no matter how many times your question has been asked - nosir, not in THIS thread. Maybe a little tiny bit of sarcasm though, just to keep it interesting.

Bring it on."

I don't know if this was directed at me or just a general refresh but I didn't see anything wrong with giving spectrr a recommendation. I've only smoked pipes for a little over a year but I just recently went through this same dilemma myself. Thought I'd give my never tried posing as a "pipe old fart".

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by GreekGodX

I don't know if this was directed at me...

Nope. Just a refresher - we don't ask for resumes or personal references in this thread.


Made you feel guilty though, didn't it?

[GreekGodX]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Nope. Just a refresher - we don't ask for resumes or personal references in this thread.


Made you feel guilty though, didn't it?

Yes it did Just trying to help out where I can, even if I'm not the most experienced.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by GreekGodX

Yes it did

Cheer up! You're always welcome here in the "Old Fart" thread. Oo-PAH!

[GreekGodX]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Cheer up! You're always welcome here in the "Old Fart" thread. Oo-PAH!

I feel at home now

[boom]

What is the best way to remove the pre-carbon coating on a bowl.... I think this may be the cause of it tasting bitter with this particular pipe.

[Slow Triathlete]

Originally Posted by boom

What is the best way to remove the pre-carbon coating on a bowl.... I think this may be the cause of it tasting bitter with this particular pipe.

Troy,

Take some really light grit sandpaper and wrap it around your finger and then rub it around in there. Only do this enough to take off the coating. You definitely don't want to get too wild in there and shave it down too much!