Rigid Black Char Forcing Harder Tamping Pressure?

[cosmicfolklore]

Awww, you do get respect.....

That's Rodney's, "tough crowd, tough crowd" tie tug gif. Maybe I should have used this one...

 

[AtlasAirborne]

I'm just trying to add some levity to your thread. I tried to make it so that no one would ever read it as serious, because sometimes... you know... dumb people.

I love discussing things like how larger pipes smoke cooler, but them 90% of the comments are all "stop overthinking it." Where is the fun in that.
Having some tobacco left at the end of the smoke is just a part of the nature of the game though. I mean, I don't ever have dottle left over, because I will smoke my pipes till I taste ash, but most here never get that, nor is it safe to keep relighting to try. You will smoke every last thread of tobacco when you just relax and learn to smoke without worry, grasshopper. But, relighting the last little bit of dottle leads to potential in scorching or burning out the small section of wood between the draft and chamber.
I hate to say it, but THIS is one of them "stop overthinking moment." dammit!!!

I'll take creative writing exercises over "Why are you even thinking about this, bro?" any day of the week

As for the tamping, I'm starting to think it's another case of "You want to sip at it, gently, barely" ... ~proceeds to do a best-effort impression of sucking the entire bowl through the stem~

 

[LeafErikson]

Sometimes after tamping I also put my finger over the top of the bowl and puff to get it going again. If I over tamp I just smack the open end of the pipe to loosen up the bottom. Every pipe and blend is different.

 

[hoipolloiglasgow]

One consistent take I've seen on tamping is "only compress the ash, only using the weight of the tamper".

I've been finding that often, when my pipe refuses to take/keep a light and I think the bowl is done, I won't have a buildup of ash, as much as 20-30% void, a mottled ash cap at the top, then half a bowl of stiff black charred leaf and 20-30% untouched leaf at the bottom (which may or may not be moist, but in this case was crispy-dry).

I packed a second bowl today and instead tried a pre-relight tamps where I applied just enough pressure to fully crush any char but not compress the remaining tobacco, and found that not only were relights trivially easy, but the bowl smoked all the way to the bottom and the remainder was almost all ash, apart from the bits that get stuck either side of the cob stem.

Here's a full album with some comments.

What gives? Is the presence of rigid char a failure to dry my tobacco enough? I aim for "just audibly crispy". Tobacco is Sutliff Match 759. I came across this post suggesting it could result from exhaling moisture through the bowl, but that seems unavoidable if you're breath-smoking so I don't know what to make of that.

Personally, I do the same thing. Don't over think it. Apply just enough pressure to where it starts to work and while you are moving smoke in your mouth at the same time. That's another 'secret', tamping while smoking. Don't mash your tobacco down too much to where it ruins the pack of the bowl. I have tampers that weigh nothing and tampers that are solid metal that will work with just that pressure alone.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I pretty much do not tamp ash, unless it's just a light cover. In all cases, a light touch.

And, I almost always draw while tamping when lit. If it's gone out for some minutes, I'll use my finger for a better feel on a light tamp.

Enjoy!

 

[Non-Mentholated Black Man]

When i started i bought one of those tobacco journals

Dottle diary has a much nicer ring to it.

 

[woodsroad]

I'm going to be the voice of reason here, despite what these others say. I think that you should worry more. Too much laid back, don't give a crap going on these days.

You are not a role model.

 

[InWithBothFeet]

.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

If you're currently just tamping straight down, try angling your tamper a little and making little scraping motions, to create a pile of ash in the center and expose fresh tobacco around the edge. That should help with the relights.

This, ! Creating a sort of dome helps keep things centered to get more of a complete burn.

I would also add maybe run a cleaner down the stem and shank a few times throughout the smoke to whisk some of that excess moisture away.

 

[FurCoat]

Try using you finger. I'm not a fan of tampers, just never really worked for me.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Try using you finger. I'm not a fan of tampers, just never really worked for me.

Same