Clenching - how?

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Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,913
RTP, NC. USA
Lately, I have been analyzing different pictures of people clenching. A lot of people stick the pipe at the very corner of the mouth, and seems like biting down on it with molars. I guess that's one of the reason the softies are popular. Nothing wrong with it. My lips will chap at the corners if I do that. No, I don't use chapstick. I guess that also make it little easier to talk.
 

pantsBoots

Lifer
Jul 21, 2020
2,132
7,517
Terra Firma
Glad to read these responses. I thought everyone was walking around like some rock-jawed hardasses with pipe firmly clenched betwixt their teeth no matter whether they were working, walking, etc. I use my hands constantly and pipes definitely give me something to fiddle with - I sometimes get bored smoking cigars because you light it and then have nothing to do but smoke the whole time.
 

aspiring_sage

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2021
556
1,945
West of the Twin Cities, MN
Don't sweat it, you'll figure it out (unless you don't).

Some time ago I took somebody's advice from the forums:
Stuck an unlit cob in my mouth and hold it there while doing some project in the garage. I eventually found a couple of places it would comfortably sit in my mouth.

Softie bits are always an option. I abandoned mine because they were too big and tasted of sour rubber.

Similar to the softie, I heard a couple of guys recommend using self sticking silicon tape once or twice around the stem. I've been meaning to try this but haven't gotten around to it.

Enjoy!
 
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I would have thought that it was ridiculous that someone would bite down on their pipe when clenching. Totally unnecessary. You just need enough slight pressure to keep it in place, while your lips prevent it from bouncing about.
But, I also would have thought that there was only one way to hold a pencil while writing... till you get to looking at all of the retarded ways people hold their pencils. Like someone had a lefty show a righty how to do, but backwards using mirrors in the most complicated ways. Sometimes, after just a few seconds of watching someone write with their hands all twisted wrong and the pencil between the wrong fingers, I want to scream at them, and shake them uncontrollably.

:::Cough cough::: ummm... I will add that strangling pipe smokers in lounges is frowned upon. But gawddammit, someone just letting their pipe stick straight out from their face all lined up and symmetrical really pisses me off. And, people who look stressed and like they are holding their pipe in place with every bit of strength they can muster. I just don't understand. It's a pipe, not a clawhammer that you are trying to keep someone from swiping from your face. Relax... maybe try a Valium.
 

Zeno Marx

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 10, 2022
238
1,264
I'm fortunate that my teeth line up in a way that I can just soft mouth (like a hunting dog retrieving) a pipe and take long walks and never make a mark, but it is always an active pursuit in my subconscious. I may not be thinking about it, but I am thinking about it. I did this for many years, and then I felt like experimenting with food grade tubing after I'd worked on a water softener and had some tubing left over. Light bulb turns on, and I put it on a pipe. Never used softie bits or tape or anything prior to that. The difference in pressure between soft mouthing and what I do now with the tubing protector is not a lot, but it is significant. Now, I never think twice about it. I don't worry about it if I unexpectedly need to do something like tie a shoe, move a branch, or something else that might make me unknowingly bite down. Accidents happen. I appreciate not having to think about it.