>>943929I don't even pack anymore.
What I do is just fill my pipe loosely with tobacco, shake it and top it off.
I never could get the hang of packing the way people say you're supposed to. No matter what anyone said, I had more problems and more frustration with keeping my pipe lit due to packing too tightly. I'd go through a whole pack of matches on one bowl.
And the answers I always got were like the other guy said-"it's a feel thing."
That answer doesn't work for me.
I'd rather just take 5 seconds to fill my pipe and have perhaps one relight in the next 30 minutes than take two minutes packing it and have to relight every two minutes for the next hour.
The big thing I learned was pack looser and smoke slower than you think you need to. You can always tamp down a loose fill later, but loosening up a tight fill usually means dumping the tobacco into something like your hand and putting it back in-that's not as much fun.
Anyway, if you want a clear, effective method to pack a pipe that smokes well all the way down with minimal fuss, try the Frank Method, detailed here:
Part 1:
http://youtu.be/kJP0JaNRw6QPart 2:
http://youtu.be/9U5QbtyNxhAPart 3:
http://youtu.be/OMtHOAiO8CII don't use it as much now because it takes more time than I'd like to pack my pipe, but it certainly works.
>>943976As for blends, try whatever catches your eye. Lane 1-Q (only available in bulk) and Captain Black are decent, widely available aromatics. Carter Hall and Half and Half are decent, widely available non-aromatics, Dunhill 965, Three Nuns, and Cult's Blood Red Moon are all great premium blends of various types.
Go nuts, seriously. There are literally thousands of blends out there, from mild to strong, common flavors to exotic artisanal tobaccos, legendary pipe blends to things that taste like cigarettes and everything in between.
>>944216Go to a website like Pipes and Cigars and get a sampler pack that catches your eye.
And pipe cleaners.
Always pipe cleaners.
