A Lighter or Matches?

There has been a debate among pipe enthusiasts as to whether to just use matches or a lighter to light a pipe.  I had a conversation with my brother-in-law the other day about my wife, his sister, lighting my pipes for me with matches.  It was probably a few times, but men lighting cigarettes for women or a woman lighting a man's pipe was a sign of affection.  As I said I only recall she did this a few times.  However, this is something that has changed.  No one lights anything for anyone these days.  

But that conversation got me thinking as I showed him my pipe lighter I received as a Christmas gift from my one of my sons.  He asked if I had a lot of lighters.  I said I didn't because I had almost always used matches.  I never owned a real pipe lighter until recently.  I had a few over the years, but I always reverted back to matches thinking lighters were just simply too much trouble.  

But 50 years or so ago, a woman lighting a man's pipe for him was a sign of great affection.  It was an act of intamcy really.  But after fifty years, if I asked my wife to do that today, it might be grounds for divorce.  But back in the day such an act was an act of intimacy.  Some daughters learned to light their father's pipes and enjoyed doing it.  But I would say for about 49 years now, I've lit my own pipes.  

The question is whether a lighter should be used.  Some old pipe smokers like myself have always used matches since pipe lighters are more recent.  But why is there even a debate?  Does it matter?  It's not much of a debate, because it might not matter, except old guys often say a lighter still has a kind of chemical taste when first lighting.  This may have been true back in the day, but these days there really isn't much debate.  It is whichever one prefers.  

A lighter does a better job in windy conditions outdoors.  But there are a few pipe purists left who will say matches are always best.  And now that there are touch lighters that produce three times the heat, one risks burning the wood of the pipe.  But there are those who say they use one very carefully.  It can be done quite efficiently with today's torch lighters lighting with a very direct flame.  A torch lighter is the most efficient way to light a pipe.  

There are many ways to light a pipe these days.  But when I first started smoking a pipe, a pipe lighter was rather rare.  Matches were the preferred method.  My pipe lighter directs the flame downward into the bowl.  And I don't notice any chemical taste from the lighter.  I use a pipe lighter almost exclusively these days.  Besides which, I'm not accustomed to sleeping on the couch.

Today it is my with Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipe with the last of my Londin Squire English tobacco that I lit with my pipe lighter.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave