Real Dumb New Guy Question

[shikano53]

Scott, I always do. You're correct. It really does enhance.

 

[tobyducote]

Why do you want to do that anyway?

 

[jpmcwjr]

This is the part I am interested in:
Re: French inhaling-

And is such a good practice? A waste of time? Only good for x type of mixtures? A joy? Work of Satan? Socially unacceptable? Irretrievably cool? Hipster?

 

[markus]

If this is just exhaling through your nose, why not call it that? It seems more expressive and descriptive for what is being done. Am I missing something here?

 

[bigpond]

Umm...yeah...Retro is cool. Noses aren't cool.

Re: French inhaling-

And is such a good practice? A waste of time? Only good for x type of mixtures? A joy? Work of Satan? Socially unacceptable? Irretrievably cool? Hipster?

It's not for dudes.

 

[jpmcwjr]

OK, I recall some old time movie star—Garbo or someone of her era— French inhaling and it was sexy as hell. Does that make it "not for dudes", or is there some other reason you think its effeminate?

 

[warren]

I suspect that someone saw it in a movie or some such and the name stuck. And, it sounds sooooo much more exotic than; "suck it it and blow it out your nose!"

 

[jvnshr]

You can only tast 4 things with your tongue Aweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

Make it 5 mate, your forgot umami.

Thank you. Confusion reigned for a few minutes there. I hate getting old, but the alternative is even less attractive.

Warren, when I started commenting on this forum a month ago, I hated you. Now you are my hero

If "retrohale" is expelling smoke out the nostrils, what the hell is inhaling it after expelling it from the mouth?

Retrohale: Smoking into mouth, exhaling through nose.

French inhale: Releasing smoke from mouth and instantly smoking into nose.

Ghost inhale: Releasing the whole smoke from mouth in an instant move and smoking it into mouth again.

 

[jvnshr]

I also smoke cigarettes from time to time and it is not difficult for a cigarette smoker to exhale through nose. However I find retrohaling very difficult while smoking a pipe. By difficult I mean if you try to exhale all the smoke through your nose, you will feel the pain and I think it is not healthy as it may damage capillaries and cause small bleeding. What I do is sucking the smoke to the mouth, releasing a little bit through mouth and releasing the left smoke through nose. You may taste tobacco better and feel small nuances which is almost impossible to feel why smoking through mouth only. However I do this only once or twice during one bowl smoke. That is enough for me to taste the tobacco, then I just enjoy my pipe with my mouth only

 

[bigpond]

OK, I recall some old time movie star—Garbo or someone of her era— French inhaling and it was sexy as hell. Does that make it "not for dudes", or is there some other reason you think its effeminate?

She rocked the hell out of a skirt and pumps too I'm not sure you could pull that off either ol' boy.

 

[fitzy]

It can help to press your tongue gently against the roof of your mouth on the exhale.

It definitely makes it easier to learn how to do if you push up with your tongue at the same time as you exhale through your nose forcing the smoke into your sinuses.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think some guys just have a problem with this. If you can't do it without a pipe, you're probably not going to do it any easier with a pipe. I tried and tried to show a mouth-breather how to do this at the B&M one day. Some guys just don't have the natural reflexes to breath exclusively through their noses throughout the day, and when it comes to exhaling out their noses while by-passing the lungs is just impossible.

Mouth-breathers, are people who just always breath through their mouths, without being able to just reflexively use their noses. I am not sure why this issue exists, but people like Nicholas Cage are mouth-breathers. Watch him closely in his movies. He never closes his mouth for an extended period of time (giving him a slack-jawed look, or hangdog expression), and it also gives him a unique voice. But, ultimately, they drive me nuts, because you can hear them breath. Yeh, little things like people breathing gets on my nerves, ha ha.
But, when showing a guy how to push the smoke out of his mouth through his nose... he just never got it. I attribute this unscientific bit of data sampling to him being a mouth-breather. My next unscientific bit of exploration will be in the realm of oral pleasures. Do mouth-breather chicks... eh, I don't want to reveal the happy ending. Stay tuned.

 

[deathmetal]

I thought retro was pushing the smoke out the mouth and sucking it back through the nose.

Like the famous "French" style of smoking cigarettes... that's what I thought too.
My advice to people on such techniques is that before going to extremes, make sure you've gotten everything out of the usual method. You may be able to improve the quality of your method and get more out of it.

 

[deathmetal]

I thought retro was pushing the smoke out the mouth and sucking it back through the nose.

Like the famous "French" style of smoking cigarettes... that's what I thought too.
My advice to people on such techniques is that before going to extremes, make sure you've gotten everything out of the usual method. You may be able to improve the quality of your method and get more out of it.

 

[shikano53]

Thanks for all the comments. It works great.

 

[phred]

Mouth-breathers, are people who just always breath through their mouths, without being able to just reflexively use their noses. I am not sure why this issue exists,

Not everyone has wide-open nasal passages. Adenoids, turbinates, even oversized tonsils can get in the way of using one's nose to breathe. And don't get me started on seasonal allergies... I had a cleft palate at birth, and the reconstruction resulted in a restricted nasal airway as there wasn't as much material in the roof of my mouth (which in turn forms the floor of the nasal cavity). Later reconstruction (including moving my entire upper jaw forward) eased this up somewhat, but by then the reflexive use of my mouth to breathe had become habitual - especially in the springtime.
That said, I also played clarinet and bass clarinet during my school years, and learned how to adapt. I never quite figured out circular breathing, but I took to retrohaling when I picked up the pipe with no trouble whatsoever. Not bad for a mouth-breather.:D

 

[cosmicfolklore]

:D As I implied, my study was not exactly scientific. Plus, I may not be the best teacher, ha ha.

Good for you!

 

[oldreddog]

@sablebrush, my apologies sir if my brief post appeared to call into question yours or any other posters knowledge or experience . That was not my intention,

rather I was attempting to soothe the OP's concerns. My thanks for your extensive and erudite response.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If I can attempt to vindicate my foot in mouth remarks :? , I ultimately think that one can smoke a pipe a lifetime without rhetrohailing or snorking, or nose blowing, or whatever you want to call it. Everyone has their own ways to enjoy this hobby. Heck, some guys don't even smoke their pipes, and some people only smoke about six times a year. So really, no one can tell you that you have to do this or have to do that, as there are no rules in this game.

But, if you want to learn to get more taste out of this hobby, then there has been a lot of great suggestions in this thread. But, don't fret over it. It's not like there isn't anything else about this hobby that you can fixate on for enjoyment.
Does that help?

 

[okiescout]

My apologies, I thought retro was pushing the smoke out the mouth and sucking it back through the nose.
Ditto! Me too.