Bowl to the bottom

donperique · Feb 4, 2019

Hi everybody,
I always try to smoke a bowl right to the bottom - even it gets a little bit harsh at the end. What are your criterias to finish smoking a pipe - except time aspects?

workman · Feb 4, 2019

When I started out, I would smoke everything down to the bottom causing lots of harsh smokes and tongue bite.

These days I smoke untill moisture or pack makes the smoke uncomfortable. More and more often I am able to smoke it all the way down without issues, but when I'm not I just dump the rest. I hate tongue bite and I seldom get it now.

luigi · Feb 4, 2019

As workman said. The last third of the bowl can sometimes be harsh and I dump it when I don't enjoy it any more. For me it's always a challenge to smoke all the way to the bottom and I believe it doesn't happen as often as many smokers say or sometimes even brag. :D It's no shame to dump a dottle, life is too short for bad smokes.

bnichols23 · Feb 4, 2019

untill moisture or pack makes the smoke uncomfortable.

Same here, Work'. Most of my old pipes (pre-Cadogan GBDs & Comoys, Savs, Caminettos, mainly); along with all my Nordings & newer Savs are all properly drilled & will smoke right to the draft hole before yielding hot ash or sour dottle. Some others of my newer ones always give me a dottle & I just dig it out & sacrifice to the pipe gods. I never force it to the bottom, full-steam-ahead; one ember on my tongue convinced me of the folly of that decades ago! :twisted:
Bill

bnichols23 · Feb 4, 2019

no shame to dump a dottle, life is too short for bad smokes.

Perzactl, you got it, luigi! -laugh-
Bill

jazz · Feb 4, 2019

Am I still enjoying this smoke? That is all that matters to me. Sometimes I get to the very bottom with only ash and sometimes I don't and that depends on so many things I simply won't list them all here. Life is too short to smoke nasty and since I smoke for pleasure when the joy turns sour the dottle gets dumped. Keep it simple I say.

rdavid · Feb 4, 2019

Same as the rest here. Get to the bottom about half the time and it’s usually a surprise when it happens. Otherwise, a scrape and a dump when it gets hot and bitter.

briarbuck · Feb 4, 2019

It's like a bowl of rice crispy's in reverse, I dump it out when hear moisture start to snap crackle and pop.

haparnold · Feb 4, 2019

Am I still enjoying this smoke? That is all that matters to me.

+1. You should ignore sunk costs in all areas of your life, esp. pipe smoking. Sure you already committed the tobacco in the bottom of the bowl, but if it's making you unhappy or uncomfortable to smoke it, you're still making yourself worse off by struggling to smoke it.
Imagine you've just had a large meal at a nice restaurant. On a whim, you decide to order dessert, but by the time the dessert arrives, you're too full to enjoy it. You keep eating and try to finish the dessert merely because you already paid for it, not because it gives you any joy. But you're not going to suddenly get a lot of enjoyment from the dessert by finishing it- you'll still be miserably full, and will still have paid for the dessert.
To me this is the same situation with trying to struggle through the last bit of tobacco in a pipe.

jpmcwjr · Feb 4, 2019

To the bottom most of the time. As I dry all my tobacco before loading, it's usually easy enough. But if it becomes damp in the heel, I'll either dump it, or exhale gently through the stem to keep the ember going. This dries out the pipe, making for a sweeter smoke the next time. I hate damp heels!

sbk54 · Feb 4, 2019

Depends on the tobacco and the pipe to me. PA seems to get better the last of the bowl in my opinion. SWR doesn't. But I don't try to smoke a bowl down just to be doing it. I dump it if it gets hard to draw or tastes nasty. No shame in that, just like there is no shame in having to relight a pipe while smoking it. Smoking a pipe should be a pleasure not a struggle in my personal opinion.

ray47 · Feb 4, 2019

The only time I smoke a bowl to the bottom is when I'm trying to build some heel cake. After that I smoke until the tobacco doesn't taste good any longer.

npod · Feb 4, 2019

When I started I cared. A little too much. I burned a few bowls (carbonization) trying to smoke the last little bit. Now I really don't care. Some very respected pipe makers taught me that the "smoke to the bottom" lore is just a myth. Now my pipes have wonderful thinly caked bowl walls and often the very bottom is void of cake or even still virgin.

bullet08 · Feb 4, 2019

used to dump it when i was nearing the bottom. now i plan my smoke when i have plenty of time to finish. and dry my tobacco rather crisp. also i only load what i'm gonna smoke. that means sometimes 1/2 the bowl or 3/4 the bowl. most of the time, it's mostly ash by the time i finish. but sometimes some dottle.

Civil War · Feb 4, 2019

Usually leave a little dottle. Like a cigar, no need to smoke/push it to the point where you start burning your tongue.

sablebrush52 · Feb 4, 2019

When I started I cared. A little too much. I burned a few bowls (carbonization) trying to smoke the last little bit. Now I really don't care. Some very respected pipe makers taught me that the "smoke to the bottom" lore is just a myth.

^^^^THIS!
You can really damage a pipe over time by trying to deliberately smoke up every last strand. You're generating a lot of heat doing that. Pipe smoking is a pleasure, not a stunt.

olkofri · Feb 4, 2019

I'm OK with dottle. So's my tongue.

redglow · Feb 4, 2019

I’m usually enjoying the tobacco so much that I hate not to get the last bit of smoke.

shermnatman · Feb 4, 2019

For me, it really depends on what I am smoking. PA burns beautifully and consistently for me thru all three stages of the bowl, every time, every pipe - with an exceptional middle-stage - and I am often surprised to find it is suddenly finished - catching me by surprise some times. Other Tabaks don't smoke for me so well in the last 1/3 of the bowl; the worst "offenders" start to restrict the airflow with doddle and clog the pipe, and/or go out multiple time (always the "Last Call" bell for me when this behavior starts). So in my case, it really depends on what I am smoking, and, in which pipe. However, if I can get the bowl down to total ash, I will; if not, that's okay too. - Sherm Natman

shanez · Feb 4, 2019

Pipe smoking is a pleasure, not a stunt.

^^^^ Quote of the year right there.

Bowl to the bottom

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