Do You Use Picks?

gordebak · Jul 21, 2016

I find that picks are indispensable tools for me to stir the tamped ashes and empty my bowl. I had three thin and small screwdrivers, and use them mostly. But in some very old threads, I saw some people said they don't use picks.
So how do people not using picks, empty their pipes? I just wondered. Do they only use ashtrays with corks?

ravkesef · Jul 21, 2016

The venerable Czech Tool, costing under $3 and consisting of a spoon, tamper and pick does the job quite nicely. There are a number of upscale versions, but they don't top the Czech Tool for effectiveness. The Pipe Nail costs around a buck, and while it lacks a pick, it's still quite effective. Also, by the time I complete my smoke, all I've got in the pipe is a lot of loose ash, which tends to empty rather easily, largely because I don't empty my pipe while I'm smoking it--I just tamp very lightly, letting the ash form an insulating layer, protecting the cherry as I smoke the pipe down.

gordebak · Jul 21, 2016

Thanks Eric. I find that, when my bowl finishes, my remaining ashes aren't that loose. Maybe I tamp too hard, although I try to tamp very lightly.
I don't like the Czech tool and similar. I don't use the spoon or reamer, so I only use a diy tamper and a thin screwdriver as a pick.
So, I understand you don't need to use a pick when your bowl is finished. Then the problem might be I'm tamping a little hard.

jpmcwjr · Jul 21, 2016

Tapping on the heel of my hand, or foot. If dottle remains, I have either a pipe tool, pipe nail, actual nail, Czech tool somewhere close. My pipe tool has a pick, handy if something really gets stuck in the airway.

Chasing Embers · Jul 21, 2016

I have some fancy tampers, but usually use the modest pipe nail.

ravkesef · Jul 21, 2016

OK, Gord, it could be a tamping issue. Do you find yourself with a significant amount of dottle? If so, perhaps packing the tobacco a bit looser might help. Also, your tobacco may be a bit too moist, so letting it dry for fifteen minutes or so , and then picking it up and letting it gravity feed into the pipe may help. Also, the Frank packing method, while it does take a few tries to learn, may help.

gordebak · Jul 21, 2016

Thanks Eric. No, I don't usually have dottle. All my tobacco burns, but the remaining ashes require a little stir to get them pouring into the ashtray.
Edit: Sometimes I just tap the bowl, and it works. But I find that still a little ash reamins in the chamber. So I use the pick.

ltstone · Jul 21, 2016

I use a Bamboo pick with a perforated tamper on the other end so I don't snuff the fire as I tamp. Since most of my tobaccos burn down the center I use the pick to scrape the unburnt flakes back to the middle.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe-supplies/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=121008

pagan · Jul 21, 2016

I use the cheap but effective Czech tool like many, got a pipe nail stuck in my hat so it is always available to me when the tool is not nearby

ericthered · Jul 21, 2016

I have a Czech tool with a pick on it, but I've never used it. I don't like the small diameter of the Czech tool's tamper, so it stays in the drawer in favor of my trusty pipe nail. The spade end of the pipe nail is all I need to clear the ash out of my pipe when I'm finished.

ray47 · Jul 21, 2016

I use the pick all the time when I finish a bowl. I also use the pick to stir up some unburnt flake during the smoke.

shutterbugg · Jul 21, 2016

Everyone knows real pipesmokers smoke all the way down to the draught hole so they have no need for a pick to empty the pipe. The only reason is to stir the last dregs to get a homogenous mix of tar-laden sludge and ash for the luscious flavor it gives

jpmcwjr · Jul 21, 2016

Mr. Bugg-
I know you are a real pipe smoker, some 40 years IIRC. And you never smoke past 2/3 of a bowl as you're afraid of the stronger taste and goodness down there. Kinda a limp-wristed approach, then, no? Not that there's anything wrong with that!

gordebak · Jul 21, 2016

I actually smoke all the way down. I don't usually have dottle. But without the dottle, my ashes seem to be stuck in the chamber. It may be about my tobacco.

cosmicfolklore · Jul 21, 2016

Darn, I thought that this was going to be a pick verses finger style thread. I am a claw hammer guy. My fingernails tend to be tough, so I can get those Foggy Mountain Breakdowns a rolling with speed.

pipesmokingtom · Jul 21, 2016

Darn, I thought that this was going to be a pick verses finger style thread

I always play with a pick. Most of the time, I'm playing bluegrass-style Irish music with alternating bass. I play aggressively at pretty high speed, so I couldn't pull off just using fingers. Need the attack of a hard pick.
Or I could try hiring a bass player again.... *shudder*

mso489 · Jul 21, 2016

My absolute favorites for design and function are the pipe nail and horseshoe nail, with a tamper on one end and a scoop/pick on the other. These cost little and do the job just fine. It's all I need in most cases, to tamp, loosen tobacco that has been tamped too much, and finally scoop everything out of the pipe after smoking. The bareness of design is inspiring. However, like most pipe smokers, I have a vulnerability for accessories, so I also have several Czech tools, one of them inherited from my grandfather and probably over a century old, and a splendid little folding pipe tool in stainless steel that I bought at a pipe show with fold-out pick and scoop. It has heft and is fun to use. But on a daily basis, I marvel at the pipe nail, it's perfection in form and function. A very different pipe smoker, a Dunhill man with an expansive collection, foggymountain, shares my admiration for the pipe nail, just so you don't think this is a quirk of the "economy minded" (cheap).

gordebak · Jul 21, 2016

The simplest designs are usually the best ones.

warren · Jul 21, 2016

Only to make an airway in an overly tight pack. I use the spoon to loosen material when emptying the bowl if necessary.

shutterbugg · Jul 22, 2016

And you never smoke past 2/3 of a bowl as you're afraid of the stronger taste and goodness down there. Kinda a limp-wristed approach, then, no?

Yeah my wrists are somewhat limper than guys who smoke to the heel. OTOH my knuckles don't drag on the ground.

Do You Use Picks?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Moderator

Captain of the Black Frigate

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Lifer

Moderator

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer

Lifer