A matter of technique

[zanthal]

I only just in the past month or so started taking pipe smoking seriously, learning all about it and figuring out what I like and what I don't, etc.
I've got a solid understanding of almost everything to it, I believe, except all of the complexities of the tobacco itself of course.
The one thing that is still eluding me, is smoking the whole fill down to ash. I think I've only done this a couple of times in my life.
Usually in the process of cleaning the pipe after I'm done with the smoke I find I've got as much as a quarter of a gram still in there hiding under a pile of ash.
So the story ends with me asking the experienced puffers, is this just a matter of poor technique? Will a pipe have problems if the very bottom of the bowl doesn't regularly get smoked from?

 

[jameral]

Usually in the process of cleaning the pipe after I'm done with the smoke I find I've got as much as a quarter of a gram still in there hiding under a pile of ash.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one missing something here.

 

[jchaplick]

Ok i had this problem as well, but my pipe mentor, Mike 'Doc' Garr, who is at the moment the best slow smoke in the USA, gave me some tips, Most of it has to do with utilizing the tamper, some with packing, i rarely follow a routine for packing now, its more of a stuff and you have to make it just feel right. The frank method and the 3 step are what i use, but not exactly how they are explained, just trial and error
If i were you id look up some better tamping techniques...
I am not saying that this is the do all end all, I know some will disagree with me, and it doesnt even work everytime for me either, just some tips. I am by no means an expert
There is no harm in not smoking it all the way down, provided that your pipe is already broken in

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

Cake will build up down to near the bottom but will never build up in the heel of the pipe, so if you smoked down to the heel every time the heel will never be broken in. Cake will naturally build up wherever it has to which means that if you only ever smoke half a bowl you will break in that half of a bowl and the pipe will last as long as if you smoked a whole bowl. If you only ever smoke 3/4 of a bowl the cake will build up 3/4 way down and protect the pipe for every smoke. So smoke until you want to stop because if you are forcing yourself to finish the pipe that is sort of ridiculous, one should only smoke if one enjoys it or else it is just pretension.

 

[zanthal]

Makes sense on all accounts, thank you.

 

[philip]

Don't insist on smoking your pipe all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Relighting at the bottom can cause a scald by drawing the heat from the flame directly into the mouth. Discarding a small amount of unburned tobacco may seem like a crime, but frying your tongue so you can't enjoy smoking at all is much worse.

This quote is from an article Romeowood linked to in this thread.
That same site addresses your question here.

It does not matter if your pipe goes out, just relight it and continue to smoke slowly all the way down to the bottom, if possible.

The same web site gives this advice when breaking in a pipe.
There's lots of info on that site.

 

[matchstickman]

I very rarely smoke ALL the way down to very very bottom, but I usually get pretty close. Something that helps for me is this: the way that I pack and the way that I tamp, whenever I start to get near the bottom of the bowl and there is not a lot of tobacco left, when I draw air through the pipe I start to hear this little high pitched whistle, and when I start to hear the whistle, I let the pipe go out, stir up the ash and all the dottle off the bottom, then dump it out. This method has never failed me, but like all things in this hobby, your mileage may vary.

 

[withnail]

I think tamping is probably the key. Not too often or firmly, I'd say I'd average three tamps per bowl. The one disadvantage to smoking to the bottom of the bowl is when you go for that one extra draw and end up with ash instead of smoke!

 

[tiltjlp]

After 52 years of pipe smoking, I'm lucky enough to smoke to the bottom 98% of the time. I do that by using the advice my dad gave me back in 1959. The first four should get you to the bottom most of the time.
Dry your tobacco more than you think you need to.

Pack it looser than you think you need to.

Smoke it slower than you think you need to.

Tamp it less , and more lightly, than you think you need to.

Clean your pipes after every smoke, using pipe spirits of some sort.

Don’t worry if you have a few relights.

 

[portascat]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
One of the things I never worry about.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Yeah tamping seems to be the culprit most of the time with this situation. Tamping every so often, and puffing while you're tamping it mind you, helps to keep it lit longer and in turn gets more of the tobacco at the bottom of the bowl to light. In a 45 minute smoke I probably tamp the ash down three or four times on average.

 

[jship079]

Dry your tobacco more than you think you need to.

Pack it looser than you think you need to.

Smoke it slower than you think you need to.

Tamp it less , and more lightly, than you think you need to.

Clean your pipes after every smoke, using pipe spirits of some sort.

Don’t worry if you have a few relights.

Sounds like some pretty sound advice. I don't get to the bottom most of the time because I don't like the taste change when I get down there. To promote cake build up when first breaking in my pipe I just smoke 1/4 or 1/2 bowls so in does not get acrid then after I get a little heal cake I on occasion smoke 1/4 and 1/2 to keep a some what even cake.

 

[zanthal]

50 years of experience, now that's old school.

I don't get to the bottom most of the time because I don't like the taste change when I get down there.

This is my situation.

 

[pstlpkr]

If you are having trouble with too frequent relights or reaching the bottom without your baccy tasting bad, you might consider tamping technique.

I know this is a little on the theoretical side but here goes anyway. (This works for me.)
When it comes to controlling the ember the key is to keep it at a relatively constant size and within it's optimal temperature. While tamping twice or thrice a bowl is perfectly valid, in a slow smoke, tamping is king. Or, what is sometimes called "chasing the ember"/"ember chasing". One needs to keep the tamper in the bowl nearly all the time, and controlling the air-flow in the bowl. To adequately control the ember, careful puffing, observation of the ember, and careful control of where the air has access to the ember will greatly extend one's time and with practice you can smoke right to the bottom and burn every last tiny piece of baccy. IMHO... YMMV. ::

 

[kamikazesasquatch]

Does the pipe have anything to do with it? I'm far from being a consistent smoker but I do tend to notice some pipes do better than others at burning all the way down. Could that just be that I coincidentally just smoke better out of some pipes or is it a mechanical thing with the pipe. I haven't started getting into the whole "differnet shaped bowls for different tobacco cuts" yet either, although I'd like to eventually.

 

[pstlpkr]

kamikaze, sometimes....

If the bowl is too small, then of course tamping can be an issue...

But, as far as the regular to large size bowls... no problem.

As for the geometry of the bowl... doesn't seem to matter much (to me) if it's conical or a regular shape.

 

[tomdavis]

I seldom smoke to the bottom of the bowl as I can tell when it is really close--the taste changes. There is usually some moisture even with VA's and that tobacco has served as a course filter. As the ember grows closer to the moisture and residue clinging to the "filter" the taste becomes quite bitter--at least to me. When I get that first hint of funky taste I know it is time to quit.

 

[jameral]

I haven't started getting into the whole "differnet shaped bowls for different tobacco cuts" yet either, although I'd like to eventually.

I'm with you on this one. Although I have done some experimentation with different tobaccos in different pipes, I've yet to have an "Aha!" moment.

 

[bbauer]

Great post! I am pretty new to pipe smoking and this has to be the hardest thing for me to get down! i had been wondering the same thing.

thanks for all of hte great advice guys.