Are Certain Style Of Pipes Easier To Smoke To The Bottom?

[puff_not_snuff]

I currently only have a Dublin style pipe and find that I often neglect the very last portion of the bowl. I have been pretty lucky with getting a good smoke on with limited re-lights until the last 1/8 or so and coincidentally I feel like I had enough by that point. I would like to add an author or bulldog style next and was wondering if I would waste less tobacco with one of these considering the bowl is more stout in nature but also am concerned they will actually hold more tobacco by volume.

 

[bullet08]

Yes. Ones with draft hole drilled to the bottom center of the chamber.

 

[F4RM3R]

Well it depends on if the draft hole is drilled exactly at the bottom.of the bowl. Sometimes it is a bit above the bottom of the bowl. Shape of pipe doesn't really matter as much I have found.

Also is your tobacco at the bottom kind of soggy? It could also just be tobacco that's too moist or with too much humectants. But if you like it at that moisture then don't worry about burning it to the bottom. Or try drying it out more.

 

[B.Fee]

Try Stirring with a pick between relights on the last 2/3 of the bowl.

 

[rushx9]

A shallow bowl like a Prince or Squat Bulldog can be easier. Especially if you're dealing with a "wet heel".

 

[Chasing Embers]

Bowl shape isn't going to affect anything and chamber shape is up to the smoker. I prefer conical chambers and have nothing but dry, cool smokes with little more than ash left over when I'm finished. Try drying the tobacco more, packing it lighter, lighting it less aggressively, and smoking slower.

 

[whsergent]

Conical bowls concentrate the fire at the end of the bowl i think and maybe burn a little bit better.
Other than that i would say that in my experience if the bowl diameter is too big its going to require more relights.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Pipes filled with tobacco properly dried and packed, then smoked properly, tend to smoke to the bottom. Smoking to the bottom though is was over rested as building up cake. If the stars are properly aligned and you smoke to the bottom with no additional effort, great. If you empty the pipe and there is some unsmoked dottle, also great. Several variables have to be right simultaneously to smoke a bowl down to a fine ash. It simply doesn't always work out that way.

 

[peregrinus]

Try drying the tobacco more, packing it lighter, lighting it less aggressively, and smoking slower

+1
Also, I find getting off to a good start, with a good, even char light, affects the quality of the smoke all the way down to the end of the bowl.

 

[Rebub24]

There are certain shapes that are smaller in dimensions such as a bulldog, prince, or apple which will have a shorter smoking times due to a shallow chamber depth. The two biggest factors are the drilling on the pipe and the dryness of the tobacco, not the shape. Also if you are a wet smoker, moisture can build up at the heel of the chamber causing the tobacco to get wet.

However, you really should have a little bit of burnt/wet tobacco remaining at the end of a bowl. This is known as the dottle and will be charred and blackish looking. Smoking the dottle will usually take multiple relights and when you smoke the dottle regularly, you run the risk of charring the airway of the draft hole.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Dublins and conical bowls are my favorite pipes, but it's very rare that I smoke it down to the last grains of tobacco. It happens, but it's not a big deal. We have this whole word for that last little wad of tobacco that is left over, "dottle," and if it were just something that occurred when something goes wrong, we wouldn't have bothered giving it a word of it's own. Dottle happens. Embrace the dottle.
Sucking flame down to that last little bit, or puffing harder to smoke the dottle is most likely going to lead to burning up some of the delicate wood around the draft. There are no rewards for smoking it all down to ash.

 

[Bengel]

There are no rewards for smoking it all down to ash

Perhaps a mouth full of ash

 

[Sonorisis]

I don't know the answer to this question. But, it seems I get further down the chimney on my corn cob pipes than any of the others. The Corn Cobs do have a unique draft hole.

 

[whsergent]

There are no rewards for smoking it all down to ash.

Sure there are, for one thing the tobacco you get to smoke and, in my experience, with a lot of blends the last part is the best part.

 

[anotherbob]

honestly from my experience size of chamber seems more important then style of chamber. I tend to have no dottle in my little pipe.

 

[mso489]

I find MM cobs delivery the most total burn without going to an ashy or stale taste. I'm sometimes a little surprised -- they won't relight, then I notice that there is nothing left to burn. This occurs with briar pipes too, depending on the pipe and blend. I haven't noticed any "rule" on blends or brands or shape. Some do, some don't.

 

[tkcolo]

I find MM cobs delivery the most total burn without going to an ashy or stale taste. I'm sometimes a little surprised -- they won't relight, then I notice that there is nothing left to burn. This occurs with briar pipes too, depending on the pipe and blend. I haven't noticed any "rule" on blends or brands or shape. Some do, some don't.

Weird. I have the opposite problem. I smoke most briars down to ashes, but cobs I struggle with at the bottom. Too much area around the stem protrusion. I suppose if I did better with a pipe mud filler I wouldn't have those issues.

 

[hauntedmyst]

I tried building a micro turbocharger for one of my pipes I couldn’t get to smoke to the bottom using part of the airway as power to instead of scavenged exhaust gases. It worked and smoked to the bottom of the bowl but the tongue bite was horrific and the pipe glowed red hot. I had to throw it in the river.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Dublins and conical bowls are my favorite pipes, but it's very rare that I smoke it down to the last grains of tobacco. It happens, but it's not a big deal. We have this whole word for that last little wad of tobacco that is left over, "dottle," and if it were just something that occurred when something goes wrong, we wouldn't have bothered giving it a word of it's own. Dottle happens. Embrace the dottle.
Sucking flame down to that last little bit, or puffing harder to smoke the dottle is most likely going to lead to burning up some of the delicate wood around the draft. There are no rewards for smoking it all down to ash.

Yes, dottle can happen, but burning to the bottom of the chamber is a Good Thing®. As long as the taste is fine, and if done gently—as the whole smoke should be— there is no risk of burning the draft hole.

The reward is a longer smoke, but more importantly, a nicely dry pipe.

 

[briarbuck]

As soon as the snap crackle and pop starts, I dump the bowl. Never liked the dregs. I bet I waste 25% of what I stuff.