Any tips?

[johnnyrebel]

I thought i would come by and update you all and let you know how my piping has been going. In the recent weeks i've been tossing the idea of getting an even light, that this might be contributing to having a wet bowl. My thought was that having a constantly uneven light through the whole bowl would cause moisture to build up from the relight being tossed from each side of the pipe. This has helped alot, where before i could only manage to smoke about 1/4 of the bowl before it went sour, i can smoke around 3/4 of the bowl with only around 5 lights. Before it was constant lighting. Also i've actually been packing my pipes alot more firm, this has helped too. It will take some fiddling around with. Though with packing it more firm i find that i need to smoke a bit lighter, as before i was still smoking a bit aggresively. Anyhow, thanks pipes magazine forum. You guys sure have helped me out alot..go figure i finally start getting it down and i get a tooth pulled!! ::

 

[martiniman]

sounds like a firmer pack was the answer but most posts recommended looser??? :?

 

[johnnyrebel]

Well the reason i found myself packing more firm, i dont like to say tighter because its not really tighter..but the tobacco is more firmly pressed in. I spent alot of time thinking about what i was doing wrong, so i came to the idea that maybe the ember wasn't able to be pulled into the unburnt tobacco. With it being so loose i think this was helping cause the moisture in the tobacco and the numerous relights. The more firm packing hasn't completely fixed all of my piping issues, but it definately helped. Its hard to help an issue like this over the internet you know? The amount of variables its hard to figure out what the issue is. So i spent time thinking about it and testing different things suggested. The result has been a much better smoke.

 

[lazydog]

Carey Magic inch Pipe

 

[rlunderhill]

I've experienced tobaccos that gave me a bite that should be outlawed. I put the tobacco in the back of my cabinet and forgot about it. This weekend, I decided to go through the tobaccos again and see what happened after 6 months in detention. Guess what? All those blends that bite my head off are now very flavorful and enjoyable to smoke.
All I can say is, I don't think I was ready for that blend of tobacco yet. Now I am. Now I enjoy what I almost threw out. Those were Balkan and English blends. I love English blends now and pretty much order that all the time now.
If you have a blend that's just not making it for you, do what I did and store it away to try 6 months down the road. You maybe ready for it at that time. Don't rush it. Everything comes in time my friend.
The pipe is an instrument only. The taste you get from your tobacco will reflect the cleanliness of your pipe. Your not going to enjoy smoking a full bowl in a dirty pipe. I use a alcohol bath (soaked Q tips) after every-days use and left for 24 hours to completely dry. I always have a fresh pipe to smoke any blend I decide to smoke. I never get tongue bite anymore. Now I taste the flavors of the tobacco and also important, the after taste. That's more important to me than the actual taste. I don't care for blends that leave a coating in my mouth. You get that from Aromatics. They add all kinds of garbage to make it taste like Christmas trees or Turkey droppings.
Smoking your pipe is your path and only you can make it yours. But, give it time. I went through the same thing years ago. You have to experiment and find your own method.
Before bed, brush your teeth and your TONGUE. The bite goes away much faster doing that. Then use a mouth wash to rinse it off. This also cuts down on mouth cancer.

 

[baronsamedi]

Sounds like packing too tight and sipping too hard. I had that trouble so I went to smoking half bowls with a conservative 2 step pack then kept that same light pack and made my 3rd step, basically a tiny pinch for the char light. Worked out well.

 

[deadwoodpete]

I can't say this is the case, because I don't know if you have several pipes, or just the one. But, ya never know.
I have a Kaywoodie Sabbitata that I had to shelve because of the same problems you are describing. No matter how well I cared for the pipe, how clean I kept it, nor how I packed it, within around a 1/4 or more bowl it was biting and I was drinking more tobacco than I was smoking.
I realized it wasn't my tobacco, but the pipe, as I have a Dr. G, and a Nording I extend the same care to. Neither pipe gives me any of those problems, and I can happily smoke them both right to the bottom. ( I don't smoke a whole bowl at a single sitting anyway. )
So, It could be the pipe, if it is only one, or one brand. If not disregard said advice. :D ::

 

[zanthal]

Sipping too hard, yeah that could do it.
I've found the bottom one-third of a bowl almost always tastes considerably more bitter and less pleasant, and usually with at least a little more bite.
As far as tamping too hard, I haven't analyzed that aspect so I don't know.