No - that's good. Filling too tightly is a common culprit for pipes needing constant relights.

Tobacco squished between thumb and index crumbles, springs back a good bit or stays smooshed?
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Now for the questions after my life story.
1. Being a cigar smoker, is it best to get some heavy blends now (like GL Pease Odyssey/Abingdon) that I can really taste the flavors in? I am guessing that some of my problem is user error puffing entirely too fast to try to keep these bowls lit and actually experience some sort of flavor.
You can start off with some heavier blends, but what I would recommend would be to go at least a week without smoking anything. Allow your palate to get some rest. Then get a few different blends and go from there. FWIW I went from smoking 2-3 cigars a day to the pipe and I tried to rush the transition. Just grab a few blends that look good. There's a ton of pipe tobacco out there. We also have a newbie sampler trade for tobacco here http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9168 Also, when smoking start by smoking VERY slowly. A pipe is better served by having relights than puffing too hard. In time, you will get the hang of it...I still to this day do not light a bowl once and finish it without a relight. One trick I have learned is when lighting for the first time. Take a few puffs, then let it go out then tamp the ash down some and relight. This is often called a charring light. After that, I put the flame to my tobacco and puff away like a powerhouse a half dozen times or so to get the tobacco going. From that point on I puff slowly. Every so often I blow slowly back into the bowl to keep the ember going and try to not tamp too often while smoking...But like I said I still need relights while smoking. If the tobacco goes out I do not try to force it back. I just let it go out, put the pipe down and go grab a refill on my drink or whatever. Come back and relight.
2. I think I am going to order a MM Country Gentleman to try new tobaccos in until I find the right blends/styles that I like. Thoughts?
Go for it, I have a few cobs that still get smoked regularly. Great pipes, and great to learn how to smoke in.
3. What other brands would you recommend for someone who is used to a cigar type taste and not mildness for starting out to really get a feel for pipe flavors?
There are many blends with actual cigar leaf in them. Key Largo, Robustio, Dominican Maduro & Glory are a few that come to mind. I would start with getting a few straight blends. Get a blend that is just Virginia, One heavy with Latakia ( odyssey is good here ) and maybe a straight Burley blend to learn how the tobaccos taste as a stand alone smoke. From there when you go to smoke blended tobaccos it makes it easier, well it did for me, to identify the tobaccos in the blend. Also, it helped me learn and pick up on what the blender is trying to accomplish.
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Looking for a simple inexpensive billiard pipe (no cobbies). I smoke on long car rides to and from work so often hold the pipe in my mouth/teeth Is there something or a way to do this without destroying the stem?

Thanks in advance farters. :-)
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You could try Softee Rubber pipe bits. Most people either love them or hate them, however.
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It takes maybe 2-3 seconds to spring back with the Boswells Christmas Cookie I smoked the other day. Once its in the bowl it still springs back when I push down on it. My Boswells Berry Cobbler stays smooshed. None of the 7 kinds I have crumble.

And thanks for the suggestions on blends and the advice BigFrank. Once Mister Moo figures out what I'm doing wrong I might have a good smoke. :-)
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Easiest method I know is the 3 stage load. Gravity fill the pipe. Then push it down 1/2 way. Refill to top. Push down to 3/4. Fill again. Char light then tamp. That is my fail proof method for loading. Might also be the tobacco you are smoking. Moisture level, heavy casing or toppings can affect how well a tobacco smokes. When loading up the pipe take a few test puffs on the pipe. If there isnt enough drag you will have trouble keeping the pipe going. Load light at first test, you can always add more tobacco, and work from there. All things considered I would believe it may be your tobacco more than anything else.
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Pipe isn't soggy in the heel, is it? Sounds like your tobacco isn't too wet but maybe dry the tabak some more; change blends for a comparison, maybe. Things sound right to me.
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An English blend for my first foray into pipe tobacco? Is this a good idea?
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Sure. Try several of varying strength and latakia content.

I have never been a believer in the school of thought that says beginners should start with aromatics.

Cheers,
G
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Here is a good quote from G.L.Pease regarding the matter. Which my own experience entering the pipe word has led me to agree.

“I generally recommend a full flavored, but not strong tobacco to the beginner. They'll be much more likely to get some flavor from their early experiences, and it will be much easier, then, for them to apprehend the idea of 'slowing down,' which is crucial to a great smoke. Once they've learned some of the mechanics of pipe smoking, and their senses have become accustomed to some of the myriad flavors tobaccos can present, they are better armed to move into more subtle, or 'mild' blends. For the beginner, 'mild' tobaccos are generally far from mild!”
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:-) Yup.

Cheers,
G
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I'll chime in with a question about your pipe here. I used to have the same problem with one of my first pipes. I later found out that the drillhole into the pipe was raised and off-center (no wonder it was so cheap). It altered the smoking capability of the pipe and actually caused the tobacco to get sopping wet during the smoke. I'm not sure about the science of why it did this I just know that it happened.

Take a look down into the bowl of the pipe and see where the hole is. It should be flush with the bottom of the bowl and as centered as possible.
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I've got a question for you old guys.

I'm not going to bother with any thing technical like how fast should I smoke or how to fill (not pack) my pipe, since I've read the whole thread and a couple more like it. I realize I'll figure it out on my own with some time.

But I would like to know, were any of you happy with the way your first time smoking a pipe turned out? Maybe satisfied would be a better way to phrase it, I don't know.

I know it stems from not knowing what I'm doing, but I couldn't help being a little disappointed.
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My first Middleton Cherry Blend, untutored 1973, smoke(s) sucked. Escudo, 30-years later, was magnifico. Worth the wait.
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It was C&D habana daydream in a ebay briar. Wouldn't stay lit worth a flip, but I'm gonna let it dry out a little more tomorrow.
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its never works out the first time this is an art even in the consumption process.
now if you want something that is much easier to master I suggest cigars (which I love equally) 1)cut 2)light 3)puff its virtually a science
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I've been smoking cigars for a couple years now, just thought I'd broaden my horizons a bit. The problem is I can't live up to my own expectations. Not just yet anyway.

I didn't mean to sound whiny earlier, just curious if everyone found getting started a little frustrating. I'm not planning on giving it up.
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Yes. Stick with it. You will get your rhythm down and all will be right in the world.
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I've seen this somewhere, but can't seem to find it again... I want to know which tobaccos one should smoke to learn a representation of their variety (burley, va, va/pers, oriental, english, etc.) so that when I smoke something unfamiliar, I'll know what it is - or at least have an idea of where it is coming from.

I'm working on adding pipes to my cigar repitoire and want to learn about particular tobaccos. How else would you know what seems to smoke best in what pipe? Part of the plan is to acquire a meer to start working from a neutral base. Good idea or not so good?

Thanks.
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Some do and so do (less so). Pipes require a little sensitivity to the physics of what is going on (compression, expansion, condensation) and the learned coordination of things you must do (fill, rub out, tamp, light, char, relight, swab with pipecleaner mid-smoke, relight, poke, pick, tamp some more, relight) to bring it all together into the good, easy experience.

It is a little busy at first but, in the end, the rewards out exceed the efforts in. Usually. :-)
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