Mastermind
Work Saw Specialist
Every competitor gets 3.3 grams of tobacco.
They load the pipe (that is supplied by the contestant in the vast majority of cases) after it is inspected by the judges.
When everyone is ready, the clock is started and you get one minute to light your pipe.
At the end of that minute, the official time starts and the last guy producing smoke is the winner.
The contestants signify, when they are no longer able to produce smoke by calling out..."I'm Out" and the timekeeper records their time.
If a contestant doesn't produce smoke in a reasonable amount of time and fails to call out, the Judge will order him to produce smoke and if he cannot the judge calls the time at the point the contestant was ordered to produce smoke.
(Failing to call out is considered cheating and is VERY frowned upon by the fellow competitors)
So if you smoke too fast you will burn up all of your tobacco and your pipe will go out.
If you smoke too slow, the fire will die from lack of oxygen.
The trick is to keep just enough oxygen to keep the fire going and not too much.
Mike
Thanks for clearing that up...I was wondering WTH.