A few noob questions.

I've been having this issue where I can't smoke any bowl in any of my
pipes more than half or two thirds of the way down before it just
completely ceases to stay lit. I've tried drying my tobacco more
thinking it was too wet, but that hasn't made an difference, although
I suppose I might not be drying it enough. When I finally give up and
dump the remaining tobacco out, the top half of tobacco is hard and
dry, while the bottom half is dottle. The worst pipe for this is
drilled high and I haven't gotten around to putting mud in the bottom.
Could that be the issue?

Second, I bought a Stanwell Classic bulldog today. It is drilled high,
but the price was right, so I figure that I can put some mud in this
one too. The first smoke was probably the best I've had overall up to
this point, but I swear that the pipe was sweating, as the outside of
the bowl started to get damp and slippery. Is that normal for a new
pipe? I did end up having the same issue mentioned above, where I
ended up dumping the bottom third of the bowl because it started going
out as soon as I would light it. It stayed lit pretty much constantly
up to that point, however.

Thanks in advance!
.

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