If you're gonna keep the tobacco's in those baggies and in a cooler, I'd use beads to keep the RH in the 68-70 range.

For me, I have the Libby type jars which I simply keep in a drawer, mid-level in the highboy...

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I just toss the tobacco into the jar as soon as I get it.
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Occasionally as I'm smoking a bowl, as I get to the bottom half to third it sometimes becomes bland, or even worse sours. What am I doing wrong?
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And hard to keep lighted? That would probably be the result of accumulating moisture. Your pipe needs to dry out. Discover soggy dottle or look for a swampy pipe heel to confirm.

Briar pipe? Meer? Cob? How many smokes per day - per week?
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Briar mostly, I do have a couple corn cobs as well.

I was thinking I may be smoking too fast (hot,) but I'm not really sure. I've noticed it with different blends and in different pipes. I've been pretty good at keeping them clean (to my knowledge) and haven't ever really noticed much moisture buildup when I finish up.

Oh, and It depends, I usually smoke a bowl, than clean, put back up, and smoke again in a day or two.
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If the briar is wet you can tell by looking into the bowl. Wet down in the heel of the pipe (at the airway) looks... wet. A couple of smokes/day and a few days rest shouldn't be a problem for a briar - but it might be. Inspect. It's hard to get a cob wet - if they get damp or stale smelling - a day out in the sun makes things smell/smoke better.

So if your pipes are dry enough, try smoking half-filled bowls for a while to improve filling, tamping and smoking technique; try not to over compress on the fill or the tamp. Allow a draw with slight restriction but not tight-tight. And, it's easy to say but hard to do when you start out, smoke slower. :-) There is a balance you achieve between tobacco selection, tobacco moisture level, filling/tamping compression and speed of smoking that makes it all work out. Best way to find the balance is to practice and know perfection is just around the corner.

What are you smoking, by the way? Something from a tin, a can or a B&M glass jar? What brand9s) and where from?
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I've noticed it with some McB Virgina1, CD bayou morning flake, and mostly some store bulk stuff. Pipes look dry for the most part, I think its more a technique thing to be honest. I was all excited my re-lights had dropped significantly, but that may be to smoking too fast. I'll try the half bowl thing for a bit, thanks for the advice Moo, you are a cow amongst men.
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Pipe smoking takes a bit of time to unwrinkle - it'll all come together but, until then, there is plenty of good smoke along the way.
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So I was just on the receiving end of a great deal of pipe tobacco due to the NST. :-) Is there any reason I shouldn't store this tobacco in my Edgestar with my cigars? i'm not right now, wanted to check if it was cool first.
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Hello Jack, unless you want your cigars smelling like GLP Robusto or Charring Cross, I would probably store your newly gathered tobaccy and place them in another type of container (maybe a small Coleman type cooler, Tupperware, etc...).

Others will have further constructive criticism for you...:-)
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Certainly?

Poly-bag 'em, stick them in a clean jar, screw on the lid and they'll stay ready-to-smoke for a long time. Pipe smokers generally suffocate their tobacco to good effect.
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thanks Mark and MisterMoo, I'll grab some more bags and a jar! this pipe tobacco smells wonderful but not so wonderful I want all my sticks to smell like it.
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I would just pick a case (12) of Ball mason jars. I've tried just about every route one can take and as far as storage issues and price goes, the mason jars cannot be beat. The Wal-Mart near me has a "roll back on half pint (8ounce) jars for 6 bucks. I find that the half pint jars hold about 1 ounce and change of a ribbon cut tobacco ( more if you mash it down ) and over 2 ounces of a flake style tobacco. I just toss the tobacco in, close the lid tight and label the jar.
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On average, how many bowls can you get out of a 50g tin?

I know its determined with bowl size, but just a general idea will do.
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Here's a thread to peruse that may help answer your question Shawn:

http://pipesmokersforum.com/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=printto pic&client=printer&f=8&t=3593
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Pipes and cigars has some nice samplers. Any other websites that offer a variety of samplers to try?
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You can try the following:

http://www.ljperetti.com/tobacco.html

You can choose from their burley, english, cavendish, or flake blends, and then choose an ounce of a particular blend and build your own sampler.

Basically, you can do this from a number of online retailers that offer bulk and the opportunity to purchase in one ounce increments of that particular blend.
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So I picked up a yello bole from a cigar store that was clearing out their rather small pipe collection. Its brand new, but looks like it had been sitting there for a couple years. Cleaned the briar, and rubbed the inside of the bowl with a paper towel, but I'm having a problem with the stem, its all discolored. Any suggestions on how to remedy this?
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Start by cleaning it with a Mr. Clean magic eraser. If that doesn't work you may have to go to some very fine grit sandpaper to clean the oxidized Vulcanite.
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Call Cornell and Dehl and they'll put together a sampler for you.
"We offer a Trial Pack, (5 blends, 2 ounces each, you pick'em, including premium blends - pressed, too, if it's available) for $31.00, or 8 blends for $40.00 plus S&H. The trial pack may include C&D tinned tobaccos, GL Pease tins, Two Friends blends, and Hermit Capt. Earle blends but the sample will be 1 ounce. "

http://www.cornellanddiehl.com/oldindex.html
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