Meerschaum Gurgle?

[condorlover1]

That's always baffled me: I can't see how folks could introduce saliva down the stem without trying. Unless it's held between the lips only. Or they never spit out excess saliva. (Some might be swallowers, too.)

I thought they were two girls from school. You know the ones. Sarah Spits and Lisa Swallows. Lovely young ladies!

 

[Johnny_Pipecleaner]

That's always baffled me: I can't see how folks could introduce saliva down the stem without trying. Unless it's held between the lips only. Or they never spit out excess saliva. (Some might be swallowers, too.)

I think that's a big part of it, at least for me. I'm still learning to clench and probably need to work on the technique. Some folks have drier mouths than others, and mine has never been one to go dry. Plenty of saliva on tap, always.

This morning I put a rubber pipe bit on my meer and it helped a great deal. It's my first time using a rubber bit. It allowed me to comfortably clench the stem with my teeth without cheating and using my lips to help out. This meant I could keep my lips open which seems to be crucial when trying to prevent saliva from being sent down the stem.

I also listened to what @BROBS said above, and identified the source of the gurgle by checking how far I needed to insert a pipe cleaner in order to clear the gurgle. It was indeed all the way in, at the bottom of the bowl, so I made sure to smoke this morning's bowl of Maltese Falcon all the way to the very bottom in an attempt to heat that part of the pipe and drive out any moisture it may be holding.
I'm not sure if it works like that, but it's worth a try. In any case the gurgle was again very minimal and only came up twice over the course of an hour of smoking.

 

[Johnny_Pipecleaner]

UPDATE: just enjoyed a bowl of Plum Pudding with nary a gurgle. Plenty of clinching too.


Thanks for the help, all

 

[condorlover1]

Good news!