Trouble Reaching Bottom of Bowl...

[imagenthat]

as many of you know im very new to pipes, therefore i havent quite got proper packing and or lighting techniques down yet. i have improved quite a bit since starting out but as i near the bottom of the bowl i still have lots of trouble with keeping it burning. can you guys give me some tips for the last quarter or so of the bowl? thanks in advance for your help.....
Edit: Corrected capitalization in title per Rule #9. L.

Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Are you using the three step method of packing? Maybe you're packing that first bit in there just a tad too tight. You want to lightly pack that first pinch of tobacco, and then a little firmer on the second, and even firmer on the third. Test your draw after each pinch to make sure you're still getting a good draw.

 

[papipeguy]

There are many videos on YoutTube dealing with this exact issue and most of them are very good. I've taken to using either The Codger Pinch- which is just grabbing a bunch of tobacco and jamming it in the bowl- and using the Twist Method, where I take the tobacco in the palm of my hand and twist the bowl over it until it is filled. I've found that this method gives a good pack while leaving an air chamber in the bottom of the bowl for a good draw. Tamping correctly is critical and I usually just let the weight of the tamper do the work.

Hang in there; you'll get it.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your time here.

 

[mso489]

Good advice all around. I'd add, don't get too fixated on burning the last third or quarter of every bowl.

I enjoy getting down to nothing but white ash, but a little dottle (unburned tobacco) doesn't bother me

much. You can experience some rank taste or bite getting that last little bit, and it's not necessary.

As soon as the taste is less than best, empty the pipe, I say. Some of that unburned tobacco has acted

as a filter and served its purpose. When you get a bowl down to nothing but white ash, that's a bonus.

 

[bullbriar]

The Twist Method and a slooooowwww draw will get you there.

 

[sablebrush52]

Personally I don't worry about it. I just want to enjoy a smoke. Sometimes I can smoke a bowl to the end. Other times I need to relight.

 

[northernneil]

This was something I struggled with when starting as well. I later figured out that my shorter bowls, prince shape mostly, had no issues getting to the bottom. And with deeper bowls, such as my dublins, reaching the bottom never really happened. In fact, I have a 2" deep Caminetto 1/2 bent dublin that after a 3.5 hour bon fire and many a relights, there was still a 1/4" of tobacco at the bottom!
As I am sure you are discovering, there are as many ways to smoke a pipe as there are people who smoke them. We all have our own way of doing it. The key is to find YOUR technique and learn to enjoy it, and that only comes with time and practice.
You will find a way to reach the bottom, just give it time. And if not, who cares!

 

[imagenthat]

well the main reason im asking is because i have a new pipe (briar) and ive read that its important to smoke to the bottom to build cake that will help with the overall experience...

 

[pruss]

well the main reason im asking is because i have a new pipe (briar) and ive read that its important to smoke to the bottom to build cake that will help with the overall experience...

That's true. I know some folks who break a pipe in by smoking half bowls for the first five or ten smokes. This helps build cake in the bottom of the bowl.
What tobacco are you using? Have you considered using something like Carter Hall, which burns fairly evenly, creates a nice cake, but doesn't ghost?
-- Pat

 

[piperl12]

+1 for the codger pinch though I didnt know thats what it was called... Thanks Papipeguy for pointing out my aging status lol :crying:

 

[pylorns]

+1 @pruss for 1/2 bowls in the begining - or even less.

 

[piperl12]

Yep Pat is bang on half bowls for the first little while will really help even out your cake. It's hard for new pipesters to smoke a whole bowl at the start. I do not recommend getting busy and smoking it right to ash either. Not pleasant at all.

 

[namuna]

Another vote for keeping an eye on the moistness level of the tobacco. I had a 1/2 bowl tonight of 1Q and just couldn't keep it lit. By the end, I figured out why... The bottom of the bowl was WET!
I packed the tobacco directly from the mason jar and didn't pay attention to how moist it was. Went about smoking and by the time I got close to the bottom of the bowl, it was nearly impossible to keep lit, it was because it was just too damned wet.
I also have a tendency to breathe back into the pipe, which to my understanding will also send moisture back into the bowl.
I'm still learning too. :puffpipe:

 

[85royals]

Relights don't bother me so much.. I sometimes get all the way down to the bottom and have a fine ash no dottle other times I get 2/3 or more and just can't get that last little to light and stay so I dump it and don't really worry.. Its all takes time and you'll get it down.. Don't fret to much..

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I don't worry to much about smoking all the way to the bottom of the bowl. I have noticed though that I smoke pretty wet sometimes, meaning the remaining tobacco in the bowl is wet when cleaning the pipe. If you're a wet smoker it will be really hard to keep that wet tobacco in the bottom of the bowl lit. I do run pipe cleaners through my pipes while smoking them to help cut down on the moisture which does help.

 

[shayde]

I'd just take what's left out and put it with the rest of the dottle and smoke it all in a bowl the next day

 

[voorhees]

On deeper bowls, I have trouble once I get a lot of ash on top of the tobacco. I will dump some off, lightly tamp and relight.

 

[allan]

On a deep Dublin, or other big pipe, I also find that I can't get akways down to the bottom of the bowl.
I just don't care. I certainly will relight during the smoking period, but these big pipes can last one and a half hours, and most of the time I have something else I have to do.
I just dump it, clean it, and start anew with another pipe.
No big deal.

 

[bigdude007]

I might set a cat among the pigeons here but I don't think the half bowls to begin with are necessary.

Just smoke the pipe as you normally do, this will build up the cake as and where it is needed.

 

[brdavidson]

I'm still a wet smoker myself and I often don't get to the bottom of the bowl. I've just stopped worrying about it as I've made it to the point where it is just a little dottle at the bottom and that's ok. I will add the Carter Hall is great for breaking in a new smoker and a new pipe as its a very easy tobacco to handle. I generally get to the bottom of the bowl with CH.