Serendipity doo dah method of tobacco packing

I haven't been smoking a pipe long, and I must admit that my pipe bowl loading technique leaves something to be desired. It's kind of a hit or miss thing. I had one of those rare and lucky moments today in which I loaded a Savinelli Oscar pot just right, and it smoked just perfectly.

I'll try to reconstruct my technique. First I went to dinner and drank a couple of pints of microbrew stout. When I got home, I waited a bit then drank some wine. When my glass of Merlot was gone, I drank two fingers of scotch whisky while surfing the web. Abelour, if it makes any difference. By this time, I wasn't thinking too clearly, but I started hankering for a smoke.

So I grabbed the pipe I thought might be driest, my Sav Oscar pot, and the little baggie of McClelland 5100 that was sitting close to hand. I dribbled some tobacco into the bowl, tapped the sides of the pipe, then unceremoniously mashed it in. I picked up a bigger glob of tobacco and stuffed it in on top of the first. I stuck my thumb in the bore and mashed again. I pinched up a good bunch more of the sweet Virginia weed and crammed it in on top. There were little filaments of tobacco poking out this way and that, so I gathered them together and mashed some more.

I picked up my pipe and tried to light it. Hmmmm. The draw was tighter than I was used to. It wouldn't light with my Zippo, the soft flame just wouldn't dip down into the bowl. I got some matches and it took me two to get a good false crown. The pot is wide, you know, and my hand was none too steady. I set it down and went and got some water. When I came back, there was no evidence of fire. I tamped with with my Czech tool all around, imprecisely, quick, and firm. This time my Zippo worked just fine, and a lovely glowing red ember spread out evenly over the top as I sipped, rather harder than I'm used to, more like a gulp, on my stem.

Ahhhh, the pleasure. I drew the smoke into my mouth in a dense palpable wad almost thick enough to chew, and exhaled it in a slowly expanding cloud of billowing sweet-smelling fog. I knew this couldn't last.

But it did. I only had to tamp once or twice for the first 3/4 hour, and I didn't have to relight until the bottom third of the bowl. I even went to relieve myself of excess fluid at mid-bowl, and was able to resume smoking without a re-light after such a long interlude (remember, two pints, a glass of wine, some whisky and some water).

To make a long story short, I never had to fuss with this bowl. It smoked and smoked and never even gurgled. I never had to pass a clearner down the stem to pick up any moisture. It was the closest I've come to a cigar-smoking experience in a pipe since I started.

Now, if I could only repeat what I did. Somehow or another, though, I doubt it. Besides, I don't really want to get schnockered every time to get a good smoke. But in the interest of science, perhaps I'll try it this way again...

Uhhh.  I'm rambling...  Sorry.

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