Frequent Tamping is Key

[Doctor Chopper]

The art of tobacco pipe tamping :

Especially toward the bottom of the bowl …

When packing the issue of light vs hard is often complicated by the issue of blocking the hole.

You can be packing too light, but still block the hole. That is the reason for the German packing method, with a light pack below a tighter plug on top.

Meanwhile, as you get to the bottom of the bowl, there is a tendency for tobacco to once again block the hold (the result of normal tamping) and for there to develop a clump or plug of densely-packed tobacco.

Also, as I got to the bottom I sometimes would use the spoon portion of my Czech tamping device to push tobacco toward the hole (since a shallow amount of tobacco was resulting in a too-light draw and gurgling).

My new method/solution for all of these problems,especially as I get to the bottom of the bowl, is to use the poker/stick portion of my tool at the bottom, but ONLY after dumping ash. I will poke the bottom plug with the stick to break up the dense plug, and let some air in so it isn’t so wet. This has the added advantage of releasing all of the good flavors. The dumping of ash is to prevent mixing ash with the remaining tobacco, which has the horrible effect of getting ash in your mouth when you puff. After poking/stoking, you can do a normal light tamp.

FINALLY : When packing at the start, you can pack correctly and STILL block the hole, so keep checking the draw as you pack (3-step method) and if in the final step the hole gets blocked, just run a pipe cleaner through and unblock the hole.

Hope this helps!

Note : it’s all a learning curve and developing intuition.

… Part of the pleasures of pipe smoking!

+1

I love it when someone replies to a great old thread and brings it back to life. Thanks.

 

[Chasing Embers]

So you never get to the point where there is so much ash you simply can’t relight???

I pack very lightly, so no. I never ash a pipe.

 

[LudwigB88]

+1

I love it when someone replies to a great old thread and brings it back to life. Thanks.

Yeah. I started up smoking again recently and was looking for place to post and found this thread.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yeah. I started up smoking again recently and was looking for place to post and found this thread.

Try New Member's Into!

And welcome.

 

[LudwigB88]

Try New Member's Into!

And welcome.

Thanks buddy ! Also, I realized my original post had a typo … I wrote at one point “blocking the hold”, when I obviously meant “blocking the hole.” Lol.

 

[LudwigB88]

Another Tip :

Especially with flake tobacco, after packing, if I test draw and it’s tight, I will run the poker tool through the very center of the plug all the way to the bottom. I often find that the bottom is clear and just the top plug is overly dense, but the pipe is packed correctly. Running the poker through in the very center works great to open up the draw and also to ensure that when lighting you are getting a nicely centered “cherry” of embers. Often when lighting up a freshly packed pipe, your light will result in an off-center cherry that as you smoke becomes more pronounced. It’s the equivalent of a cigar “canoeing”.

More and more I am realizing the benefits of the poker tool (vs the spoon tool). Frankly I could do without the spoon and just have the tamper and the poker. There’s a guy on Etsy makes beautiful wrought iron tampers with poker on other side. I’m gonna order one. Search “forged pipe tamper.”

 

[tobakenist]

I have said for over 50 years, Tamp a lot, Light less.

 

[Ash Cooper]

Tamp in a circular motion forming a mound and occasionally dumping the ash to avoid excess ash keeping the tobacco from breathing

 

[RudyG]

I tamp quite a bit to maintain the amount of draw I prefer.

Especially at the start of the smoke when the tobacco still rises a bit in the bowl

 

[obc83]

Definitely interested in this. I just went from looking at buying or building the perfect tamper to literally almost never using one. No sarcasm; I'm totally confused right now, but my bowls are a burnin. I'm guessing that if I was smoking anything besides Half n Half and Captain then I might not be having this experience, but for many weeks I've been literally just ashing once-ish and then smooshing the pack down with my pinky and keep rolling. I'm definitely doing everything on the fly so I'm sure if I was sitting down and smoking it would be a different experience.

 

[bullet08]

Tamping is an art. You do it wrong, you kill the ember. You do it right, you feel you have to do it often. You just have to find that interval like smoking cadence. Then, you'll look like dapper Dan.

 

[Gimlet]

Tamping is an art. You do it wrong, you kill the ember. You do it right, you feel you have to do it often. You just have to find that interval like smoking cadence. Then, you'll look like dapper Dan.

I must admit, I do it out of habit. But it's a habit I've developed because some tobaccos need it to maintain flavour. The GH black cherry blend I smoke, in particular needs regular tamping to keep the coal in contact with fresh tobacco. Neglect the tamping and it starts to taste like dottle. I do it without thinking now but it's only a case of dropping the tamper under its own weight onto the coal. I'm not ram-rodding a musket.

 

[Magtour]

I must admit, I do it out of habit. But it's a habit I've developed because some tobaccos need it to maintain flavour. The GH black cherry blend I smoke, in particular needs regular tamping to keep the coal in contact with fresh tobacco. Neglect the tamping and it starts to taste like dottle. I do it without thinking now but it's only a case of dropping the tamper under its own weight onto the coal. I'm not ram-rodding a musket.

You do what works best for you. Myself, I enjoy ramrodding my musket as I contemplate the cosmos in my pipe.

I’ve learned to tweak the packing of different blends in my pipes. If I’m tamping even 1/4 as much as I’m pipping, I’m annoyed beyond enjoying it. Constant fiddling isn’t for me.