Pipes smoke wet

[fluffie666]

I might have bogged my pipes with rum when I first started smoking them. I used it on the briar after every smoke. It might be something in my technique too. You never know. A novice pipe smoker like myself with so many variables could be disastrous. There's a lot to navigate through. I have faith though.

 

[saroni]

I agree with bigvan!!!

 

[saint007]

"saint007 - How does that stone affect taste? "
Well, not only do they eliminate most of the gargling, it also eliminates most of the steamy smoke near the end of the bowl. So, I would say it enhances the taste. The stones are tiny, use about five of them until they turn black(3 to 5 bowls), then discard them.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

...couldn't you just put a few pieces of any kind of gravel in there to do the same thing?

 

[calebtheindian]

I agree with the whole saliva thing. I know that I personally salivate more than liking to admit, but what it does when i smoke is add a lot of moisture that goes down to the bowl, or worse, comes out the mouthpiece with some nice dark brown-ness to it. It happens with my straight cob sometimes too, but not as bad. The three steps I take to fight it are: always have a pipe cleaner. You don't want to be taking a mouthpiece off and on, cause its bad for the fitting after so long. Two, try not spitting in the mouthpiece. I know that it sounds absolutely obvious, but like i said, my personal issues sometimes cause something along those lines to happen. Three, If you wanted to smoke a bent pipe, the one I have in my picture (cheap and pear root as it is) had almost like a trap it seemed like. I have been smoking for almost two years, but I can't say I'm sure what that is called. but basically, the draught hole opened up to the shank at an angle. The hole went down past the opening to the pipe.

 

[andrew]

I always gently blow into the stem when it starts to gurgle and it pushes it back up to the bottom of the bowl. Or course you do this very gently. However I find having the proper moisture and packing has made gurgle happen alot less for me.

 

[bryanf]

Only one of my pipes occasionally gurgles, and yes, it is a full bent. What I do is give the stem a hard flick with my middle finger and that usually does the trick.

 

[romeowood]

You might consider, in addition to adjusting your cadence, trying a filtered pipe. There's a nifty article about them soon to be published right here at pipesmagazine.com.

 

[fluffie666]

So I always have a bunch of pipe cleaners handy when I smoke, I've taken everyones advice and slowed down dramatically. As a result I have a few great smokes under my belt. Also, I'm working on packing the bowl properly. It's all a lot to learn and figure out. Each tobacco and pipe is so different and it takes a lot of time and patience to get the perfect smoke going. I'm realizing more and more how much I dig this hobby.
Like calebtheindian, I am definitely one of those people who salivate a lot when I smoke. I hear that may diminish over time so I think I'm going to invest in a decent straight pipe sometime in the near future. I'm sure my bents aren't helping with the gurgle especially coupled with Pavlov's law so prevalent in my smoking. For now, just coming to the realization of what 'slow down' really means has helped a great deal. Thank you everyone for steering me in the right direction.
On a not so different note, I had a pipe go sour on me yesterday. I let it cool for a day, dumped the ash, doubled up a few pipe cleaners dipped in very little rum and cleaned out the shank. I ran one through the stem too and then dried it as much as I could with one of those extra absorbent cleaners and a q tip. I then put it back together and stuck a pipe cleaner inside. I'm going to let it sit like that for about a week. Does that all sound about right or should I do something different? Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't know about letting it set for a week with a pipe cleaner in it. As you've just used alcahol on it, which has loosened the tars and will dry out again with that cleaner in it. When you remove it, a lot of the fuzz and bristles might stick to the inside, as the tar has melted and dried with them pressed against the sides of the inside of the stem. I might let it set ofr a few hours or maybe even a day, but a week is really pushing it.
It's all like driving a manual transmission car. You have to learn to kee the whole process in balance, packing, your cadence, cleaning, the char, the light, etc... But, as in learning to drive a stick shift, in the beginning you have to focus on every little thing as you do it. Pretty soon, you'll be packing a bowl with one hand, and smoking without thinking about it. Stick with it. You're asking great questions.
As far as drool. I don't think I drool in my pipes. Maybe, just maybe the tinniest bit if I am looking down with my pipe clenched and I think of something yummy (LOL), but I've gotten to where I just remove the pipe temporarily if I have to tilt my head down anyways. It just feels wrong to tilt my head with a pipe regardless. Otherwise, I'd have to intentionally spit in the stem to get any drool in there. ...but, everyone's different.

 

[fluffie666]

I just pulled out the cleaner to let it dry. I would have been cursing at myself if I got that fuzz caked up in there. Thanx buddy. You just saved me some grief!

 

[foggymountain]

Rad's pipes are made to take the fluffy Long's pipecleaners. The air passage is bigger. That is why they don't gurgle. For a gurgling problem keep using pipecleaners during the smoke.

 

[pipejunky]

Hard puffin makes steam=water slooooooow down

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

...couldn't you just put a few pieces of any kind of gravel in there to do the same thing?

It's an interesting idea. I don't know if I would want to use regular rocks, for fear of scraping up the pipe, making a plug of wood sounds safer and easier to me.
I've had good success using a pipe cleaner stuck inside the space for a 9mm filter. Last weekend it went through two full bowls and only barely started to gurgle, at the end the pipe cleaner was sopping wet, so it was definitely doing a lot of work.

 

[carcosa]

I prefer slightly bent pipes, maybe 1/4.bent. Straight pipes the bitter liquid gets in my mouth and thats not good for your mouth or stomach. Slow down the excessive heat causes moisture, and use a pipe cleaner to get the moisture out (i do this with my straight pipes too) . you can also turn your bowl down and rotate it around to distribute the moisture in your bowl, but that usually leaves you with a steamy smoke at the end and i hate that.