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deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Cosmic writes:
I don't draw in consciously on the stem at all. Sure, I give it a few puffs to get it going, then I just let the pipe stay in my clench. As I breath through my nose, my gullet reflexively just slowly bellows the pipe slowly. I don't do anything. This is called breathsmoking. I never intentionally draw in any smoke, it just sort of works its way into my mouth and lingers till it cycles back out with more smoke. Slow slow slow. If you are one that has to pull the pipe out of your mouth to say words and communicate, you may find yourself relighting your pipe
I hit on a similar method to this because of what I need to do while working, which is concentrate, so the pipe takes on a secondary role. Reminds me of meditative breathing as well. My method is not as well-developed as Cosmic's, but it works best and seems gentlest on pipes and tobacco flavor.

 

grue

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 9, 2016
199
0
Likewise deathmetal, I draw slightly every 1-2 breaths and exhale through the stem every 1-2 more. I do take out the pipe once in a while so I can retrohale though, since I don't seem to be able to do it with the pipe perched between my teeth.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I have never tried a retrohale. Sounds like something I'd end up killing myself doing ("he choked on his own tongue and blew his eyeballs out with a cough") but people swear by it, so maybe I'll get brave.

 
Mar 1, 2014
3,646
4,916
Given that I started out wanting to keep smoke away from my face, the concept of smoking a pipe by continuously moving air both in and out through the pipe was fairly natural.

Unfortunately I've had to conclude that smoking an entire bowl that way is still too much exposure so for the last few months I've mostly been "Backwards Smoking". I just open my lips to fill my mouth with fresh air and then push the fresh air out through the pipe. I can almost smoke an entire bowl without drawing but I haven't figured out how to get it lit without taking a few puffs yet.

 

grue

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 9, 2016
199
0
I have never tried a retrohale. Sounds like something I'd end up killing myself doing ("he choked on his own tongue and blew his eyeballs out with a cough")
:rofl: :D
Unfortunately I've had to conclude that smoking an entire bowl that way is still too much exposure so for the last few months I've mostly been "Backwards Smoking".
I can't smoke an entire bowl breathsmoking either even if I wanted to. I drool like an idiot after a while.

 

music4cash

Might Stick Around
Jan 5, 2016
92
0
I do this a lot when I smoke, to retrohale I just cover the hole with my tongue...I do have to remove the pipe occasionally to keep from drooling though.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,346
Been using this method for years, and love it. Plus, you don't have to clench to breath smoke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o8Sfg6EH9k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
How do you enjoy a pipe with out retrohaling? I thought that was understood that we (pipe smokers) all did that? I literally get no flavor if I just breath it back out through my mouth. Every exhale is a retrohale when I'm smoking. Strange to hear that a lot of you don't do this naturally.

 

pipesofsteele

Lurker
Apr 12, 2016
48
10
Western Washington
I retrohale every third draw or so, only I usually do a mix of both in the same exhale. To me it seems like engaging both the taste buds and the olfactory senses at the same time gets me the most flavor. But hey, maybe I just convinced myself of that. :puffy:

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
@chasingembers:
Very helpful video. Similar to the technique I've stumbled into...
@hawky454:
I literally get no flavor if I just breath it back out through my mouth.
I don't know. Works for me however.

 

redpanda

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 11, 2015
286
1
@ Deathmetal: You have got to try retrohale man. You may just discover you have been missing on a whole lot of goodness hidden in that baccy. :))

 
I'm honored with the post, but I can't take credit for it. Greg Pease wrote about this much earlier than me. I have pretty mich always smoked this way, as I've always seen men doing this, since I was very young, but I didn't coin the term. While I love the old guy in the video posted, I'm not sure if what he is doing is breathsmoking, or at least it looks more like he just has a slow cadence. But, he (when alive) was a boon and blessing to our community. I'm not certain whether you "have" to clench, but it sure makes having that connection with the pipe easier, plus its way easier to just allow the smoking to become a passive unthinking process much easier. IMO

But, as always I like to make it certain that everyone knows that there are no rules to all of this.

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
Cosmic,

take some credit dude, you've been talking about this for a long time now,

between you and Kashmir I was enlightened to much more enjoyable smokes,

although by nature I am still a puffer, conscious and unconscious practice of deliberately slowing my roll has been of great benefit and sometimes I fall into one of those seamless smokes of smolder where just a tiny little sip explodes with so much robust flavor that it literally blows my mind.
So thanks for talking about it all this long time.
Although in my mind I think of it as the "kashmir klench" just because for some reason he made it click with me and I thought I'd actually try it --- because I had read of it before and it seemed like just too much deliberate involvement or effort or whatever, add to that that it is unnatural to my tendencies and I wrote the whole thing off like it was some New Age hogwash from bored dilettantes who weren't real smokers anyway haha
I'm being honest here,

I really did think that it was alotta horse pucky.
What is critical is when someone can put something in the proper context with the right words and attitude or approach or whatever which enables that crucial aspect of knowledge-giving which is so important for pipesmokers I think, the whole mentorship thing y'know, and you were able to do that, to pass along the what's what goodstuff in a manner that clicked with someone and helped enhance the smoking experience --- if it wasn't for the mentors I encountered here on pipesmagazine.com I would have given up in frustration because I was ravaged in tongue-bite city with all my walls falling down --- this place saved me!

:puffy:
Speaking of Kashmir,

reading this post is when it "clicked" for me:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/puffing-incognito-
..and this post too,

is a good one:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/i-want-to-thank-kashmir-for-great-advice
And,

here's Robert Young,

pipeman status: Top Level
...he just looks so cool and natural,

relaxed:
:
:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eMf6tOPmqg

 

macaroon

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 2, 2015
279
96
Michigan
I love the long takes they use in older movies. It's impressive to me that he was able to enunciate so well with that pipe in his mouth the whole time!

 
I seemed to come in as Kashmir was going on to other endeavors. I miss him... and Lawrence, who fell off the whole planet, not even visiting The Briary any more. But, thanks Troy, and not every one of my smokes is a breathsmoke. I have churchwardens and holding pipes as well. I just love pipes in general and all of its methods, but at the workbench clenching and breathsmoking is how I tend to spend most of my day.

And yeh, me talking with my pipe is like, "bar umph mumph fumph." Ha ha.
Thanks for the links and the video!

 

pipeanddrum

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 5, 2016
281
2
I've tried the breath smoking technique and have found that it invariably makes for a gurgly smoke. Is this an inevitable result of moisture from my breath condensing in my stem and collecting in the bowl? As much as I consciously try to keep the stem as dry as possible - avoiding touching it with my tongue and keep a slow deliberate cadence, no matter which pipe I use, this method results in a gurgle for me. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Is the breath smoking technique a more passive thing? Thanks.

 
Yep, absolutely passive. Except to rescue a fading ember, you never intentionally draw on the smoke. It just sort of moves slowly, leaving your mouth full of smoke at all times. Moisture, in most instances comes from drawing on your pipe. The moisture is condensed by the strong movemnt of smoke, drawing out the water molecules that is the natural by product of combustion. There also could be other factors, of course, causing your moisture, the pack, moisture of the tobacco, the pipe, etc... So, YMMV.
Just relax, leave the pipe clenched, and forget about it. However, it's like learning to drive. At first you have to think, clutch, shift, gas, release... But, eventually you no longer have to think about the clutch, or shifting, you just drive and end up where you need to be. If you practice it, it'll happen. For me, I don't end to breathsmoke mostly when I have something else to think about, like cutting stones or working out issues at my workbench, or reading.

 
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