@JakartaBoy @50ft_trad When it’s not wanting to stay lit, I take the pick on my pipe tool and lightly stir up the very top layer of white ash, then empty out the ash simply by inverting the pipe and letting whatever ash wants to fall out fall out, followed by the lightest of tamps, and that seems to make the next light just fine. I’ve gotten to where I really don’t worry about it going it out now and then, since I’m not interested in chain-smoking a whole bowlful of tobacco at one go in the first place. The fact that I can set a pipe down and come back to it later is actually something I like about pipe-smoking, as opposed to wondering “hmm, do I have time for this cigarette?”. Also, pipe tobacco can be re-lit, even after several hours, without having that oily, “off” taste that a cigar can have when it’s re-lit after having been allowed to go out and go cold.
@MarkM I agree, I can do the one match bowl, but I think it takes away from the experience if that makes sense. Blends without latakia can be left longer. Heavy later blends do not lend well to being left and smoked later. With some va blends I think they can taste better if left for awhile. That is called the delayed gratification technique or dgt for short
I have had a different troubling phenomenon a couple of times lately. Maybe someone can throw in some insight on this one… (apologies for the thread jack, but I figure this question probably belongs here) I’ve been slowing my smoking right down, but a couple of times on ribbon cuts, I’ve been suffering from a partial burn in the bowl. The coal has travelled down through the tobacco, and has left scorched but unburnt tobacco all around the wall of the bowl. The thickness of the unburnt tobacco has been up to maybe 1/4 of the bowl diameter. Other clues: The tobacco around the wall has been quite dense, OR has possibly stuck to the side wall (?), such that a light tamp doesn’t move it - but the pipe was (as always) not densely packed. I have to ash the pipe and either firmly tamp, or pick the tobacco from the side wall and then tamp. It won’t relight properly without doing this. When this causes the pipe to stall, the peripheral tobacco is still about 3/4 full, but the bottom of the centre cavity about 1/3 bowl full … and even though the pipe has been smoked very slowly and gently, with minimal smoke produced when I take a puff, the centre area seems to have burnt very quickly. Too quickly. Like after 15 minutes or so. Tobaccos this has happened with include Commonwealth Mixture, Squadron Leader, and SG 2013 Ltd Ed (a crossover aro/English). I have had a similar effect with rubbed out flake once or twice too, but that was more like one side of the bowl rather than central. This has happened in cob, hardwood, and briar. Any thoughts? Too wet? Too dry? Packed too loose (maybe a void)? Packed unevenly? Total mystery? I don’t seem to be doing anything differently between getting this result, and getting between a very pleasant 1 and 1.1/2 hours with a 19x35mm bowl. And it only seems to be once every 4 or 5 bowls that I’ll suffer this. It’s almost like most of the pipe is burning properly, but just one part of it is burning too fast. Rather fruatrating
@50ft_trad My best guess is packed too loose.
Thanks @Zanaspus 
I know I’m trying to be very economical with my tobacco use due to limited funds, but maybe I’m being just a little too stingy with the leaf. I’m certainly getting the right “bounce” in the tobacco at the start, buy I’ll pay a little more attention to the packing density mid-bowl, and see if that makes a difference. If anyone else has any other ideas, please shout up :-bd