I've tried the cigar packing stuff in a pipe, not much to report on that except I don't think I'd try again. I used to smoke a pipe all the time back in the 70's then went on and off for many years. Cigars are better because I find pipes are too much like chewing tobacco, too easy to access and to spit out a wad or put down a pipe with a little tobacco left isn't a big thing. A cigar is a bigger commitment for me and I won't consider one without 2 hours to spend with it. I prefer pipes with smaller bowls just because of the reduced amount of tobacco. Funny thing, last week my wife came across a pipe that I dragged home from my dad's place on the coast 14 years ago when he died. It's pretty much brand new, made in France .... St. Claude, I checked them out on the internet, still a going concern in some small town. It's a curvy as I used to call them lovely pipe with a stem that looks like amber marble. I tried it, smokes and tastes nice but I find the stem too rigid and hard, it has very little give when biting down on it. Must be a special model for horses that smoke and are hard on stems.