Occasional Bad Smoke. Just Move On !

[LudwigB88]

I was wondering if others have had this experience: you sit down to have a smoke and you pack your pipe as you ordinarily do, but maybe you’re slightly distracted or on the phone. For whatever reason it just turns into a bad smoke. Maybe you have to keep relighting, maybe things get packed up and jammed at the bottom of the bowl. But ultimately you just give up and accept that the stars didn’t align. You empty the bowl of unsmoked tobacco and move on. I was just curious what people think might be the reason. Could it be that the perfect smoke requires attention and care, and that pipe smoking wasn’t ever meant to be rushed. Just the opposite !!

 

[FLDRD]

The reasons are many.
I'm more likely to set it down for later and pick a different pipe / blend combo and try again if it's really not working.

 

[bullet08]

There are ways to fix badly packed bowl without dumping it. It all depends on where the problem is. However, first thing I do is put pipe cleaner all the way to bottom of the chamber and open up the air way.

 

[LudwigB88]

There are ways to fix badly packed bowl without dumping it. It all depends on where the problem is. However, first thing I do is put pipe cleaner all the way to bottom of the chamber and open up the air way.

Yes. Same here. I find that the usual culprit is not taking the time to dry tobacco and pull it apart so that it doesn’t clump up. Also, sometimes I do “fold and stuff” with flake tobacco and it gets packed too tight. Much better to rub out and let dry, then pack as usual. The two issues are almost always moisture and packing too tight. Also, sometimes relative humidity can be an issue especially on rainy days.

 

[Briarcutter]

We've all had them, for what ever reason. Usually for me it's a too tightly packed bowl. The solution, dump it and start over, life's too short to put up with a bad smoke!

 

[proteus]

A related occurrence with me is I get the pipe packed perfectly and the light is just right. The smoke is luxurious and every draw is just right. And then my wife calls me...

 

[LudwigB88]

A related occurrence with me is I get the pipe packed perfectly and the light is just right. The smoke is luxurious and every draw is just right. And then my wife calls me...

Damn ! Must be why I never married !

 

[proteus]

Damn ! Must be why I never married !

But dam can she cook...

 

[LudwigB88]

But dam can she cook...

As Bill Murray once said “So you got that going for you!”

 

[Old Smokey]

But dam can she cook...

Mt wife can't do that. I swear she can burn water.

On the occasional bad smoke: I am one who will puff absent-mindedly and burn out near the bottom where a relight just won't do. I just dump and move on. I'll take a few minutes to mourn then it's on to the next smoke.

 

[kcghost]

It hasn't happened at all often but every once on a Blue Moon I have to set aside a pipe and smoke it the next day. That seems to cure it.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

It happens for a variety of reasons. Just the other day I had a bowl that just wouldn't cooperate, and my draw was restricted. After trying to free it, and it not happening, I just dumped the rest of the bowl and cleaned the pipe. Grabbed a different one off the shelf and a different tobacco and carried on about my day. No sense fighting a pipe that doesn't want to be smoked.

 

[Uguccione]

Usually for me it's a too tightly packed bowl. The solution, dump it and start over

In my case the reason is always this, but out of laziness I don't empty everything and start over thinking "yeah, it'll be fine anyway..."

 

[tobakenist]

Rarely happens to me after more than 50yrs of pipe smoking but when it does it's usually easily corrected with a pipe tool.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Not a problem, just smack the open end of the chamber against your palm to loosen up the contents and relight.

 

[PRogers]

The two issues are almost always moisture and packing too tight. Also, sometimes relative humidity can be an issue especially on rainy days.

That’s my thoughts on it as well. Now that the season is changing and there’s more humidity in the air I find that I’m having this issue more often. Especially if I rush my packing and it’s a little too tight.

 

[Buzzard]

Sometimes I’ll light up and it just doesn’t feel right. If I pick up another pipe and if it doesn’t work I’ll know it’s me which is usually the case. One pipe that always smokes satisfactorily for me is a Peterson System

 

[LudwigB88]

That’s my thoughts on it as well. Now that the season is changing and there’s more humidity in the air I find that I’m having this issue more often. Especially if I rush my packing and it’s a little too tight.

It was definitely the humidity. We had a spell of rain for a week. Today is dry and I’m having a great smoke ! Chelsea Morning in a Savinelli brandy !

 

[PRogers]

It was definitely the humidity. We had a spell of rain for a week. Today is dry and I’m having a great smoke ! Chelsea Morning in a Savinelli brandy !

I had to look up that Chelsea morning. It sounds very tasty! But yeah mine was smoking better today as well. I’ve also been taking more time to do a better job of packing. I tend to press my bottom layer in a little too hard I think.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I’ve had a few bad smoking experiences over the years…most of the time cause I’m distracting myself from the task at hand. Either flubbing around on my phone, watching a movie, being interrupted by a verbose individual, etc.
The best experiences are when you doing absolutely nothing at all. ️