Cool smoke, hot pipes, Help!

[creekspecter]

I seem to run into this problem, and I'm not sure what causes it. It's primarily confined to VA flakes (e.g. SG FVF), but most Virginias and VaPers seem to do the same to me. No matter how much care I take in smoking them ('cause I hate tongue bite), my pipes always end up hot. Briar, meerschaum, it doesn't matter. The smoke itself is cool, I take my time, I relight if needed, I give the pipe a rest... so why do my pipes heat up like all the devils in hell are stoking them? Am I doing something basically wrong? I enjoy my Virginias, especially in the Texas heat, but I don't want to destroy a pipe, either.
Any suggestions?

 

[jasongone]

i don't smoke a lot of virginias myself, but from what i understand the higher sugar content makes for a hotter burning tobacco.

 

[fredvegas]

Move out of Texas.

 

[smoker]

creekspecter, though you enjoy smoking virginias try adding a little plain black cavendish this should reduce the burn rate of the tobacco and give a cooler bowl if i have it right but don't add to it if it will spoil the tobacco. Not sure if that would work others may think differently.

 

[admin]

I have the same problem about 50% of the time I smoke. Sometimes my pipe gets so hot that it will burn you when touched, but the smoke isn't hot. I do not get tongue bite or burn my mouth. One time, I even smelled wood burning, which is obviously a bad thing, and it was on one of my root briar Dunhills.
I submitted the question to Ask G. L. Pease. I don't know if that one will get answered in the up-coming column, but we will see.

 

[python]

As everyone knows, pipes will get warm while smoking. But getting too hot is a bad thing. The general rule of thumb is this; if you can not hold the pipe against your check for at least 5 seconds, then you are smoking too hot.
If you get burned when you just touch them like Kevin said , then you are smoking way too hot. :lol:
Slow down when the pipe gets warmer that the rule of thumb.

 

[brewshooter]

I use the cheek test. It's a little odd though. A pipe that can feel pretty hot in my hand usually doesn't feel nearly as hot when held against the cheek.

 

[python]

Same here Brewshooter. I think that it might be because of constantly holding the pipe causes the heat to build up in the hand and it makes it feel warmer than it really is.

 

[kcvet67]

A pipe that can feel pretty hot in my hand usually doesn't feel nearly as hot when held against the cheek.

Because the hands are a major center for our sense of touch, there are FAR more nerve endings in the fingers than in the cheeks (or most other parts of the body). That's why the pipe seems hotter in your hand than against your cheek.

 

[brewshooter]

I suspected it had something to do with an abundance of nerve ending in the fingers. Good to know my instincts were right.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

I tried the cheek test...and i tell you....when i pulled down my pants the wife thought i was crazy!!!! LOL

 

[unclearthur]

I ain't EVEN going there!!!!!!!!!

 

[mowens]

How are you packing the bowl? I've had a cooler smoke with the 3 step method than the others. If your doing flake tobacco are you folding and stuffing or rubbing it out? Those are some factors that will cause the temprature to be affected from my experience. When I feel the bowl getting hot I slow down. Stay away from "burst" puffs and try to sip the smoke out. Also, the thickness of the bowl will play a part as well. Hope this helps a bit :puffpipe:

 

[sjpipesmoker]

@unclearthur...Just having some fun...
Seriously...
First thing I was thinking was burnout? but I guess that's not the issue...as I don't smoke Va/Per, and I only had this issue with one pipe...so I sold it and never had the problem again with any other pipes

 

[unclearthur]

Some pipes just smoke hot. Can't exactly say why. Thin walls on the bowls are one factor to be sure.