Do you Cover the Bowl when you Smoke?

[jpmcwjr]

What do you clamp on there?

Anything handy. Book or small box of matches. A chip of wood. A coin. (but it is liable to get very hot.) Poker chip.

 

[PipeMarc]

Agree with pretty much everyone here. Definitely utilize the ol index and middle finger.

 

[tobakenist]

Only when it's windy.

 

[krizzose]

I’ll do that occasionally if I think my ember is going out, but I know that it’s adequately tamped. It definitely stokes it without puffing the hell out of it.

I saw someone post a while back that this was the Bernoulli Effect in action. I was a humanities major so , but it works

 

[jpmcwjr]

I’ll do that occasionally if I think my ember is going out, but I know that it’s adequately tamped. It definitely stokes it without puffing the hell out of it.

I saw someone post a while back that this was the Bernoulli Effect in action. I was a humanities major so , but it works

And I've read it's also a carburetor effect, and one other name that escapes me. And they all work!

 

[LongIslandPiper]

A few nights ago my son-in-law and I were smoking on the back patio and I noticed he was putting his thumb on top ot the bowl and raising it up and down as he smoked. Kind of regulating the flow of air. He had a massive billow of smoke. I asked him what he was doing and how he came up with the technique. He said he was watching old Sherlock Holmes shows and saw him doing it so he tried it. I didn't start smoking yesterday but I have never encountered this. Have I been under a rock? Who else does this?

I utilize this technique as well. It is especially effective when re-stoking a bowl and certain damp/humid conditions

 

[BlueMaxx]

One instance having numb fingers on my right side comes in handy.
I use my index finger often and cannot feel any heat.

 

[Epip Oc'Cabot]

I have done this regularly. Sometimes a finger (or two), or a thumb. But I will also “palm” the bowl (like it suggests, using the palm of my hand). For me, these techniques can restrict airflow to help “up” the combustion of the ember if I do so loosely, or a more tight seal can be used to quiet down an ember a bit. The “palm” method is probably a bit more common for me because it is (to me) a more comfortable way to hold the pipe when air flow regulation is desired. And the “palm” method is especially helpful when it is quite windy as well.

 

[dozicusmaximus]

I usually try this first before putting a flame to the bowl again. Picked it up when I was a teenager with non tobacco products.

 

[sardonicus87]

And I've read it's also a carburetor effect, and one other name that escapes me. And they all work!

You're probably thinking of Venturi effect (other name that escapes you). Wide area with a choke point in the middle, choke point causes decrease pressure and increased speed. That's what carbs use to suck fuel up from the bowl. Bernoulli's principle is related to this, it's actually a Bernoulli effect, but the Venturi effect is what's causing the pressure drop needed for the Bernoulli effect, kind of. The two are related to each other like how torque and horsepower are functions of each other.

It's a little more involved than that, and there's other uses for Venturi effect, but that's the gist of it.