Rock Solid And Unpleasant

[waznyf]

Hey everyone,
Don't be deceived by the title for those of you with dirty minds, it isn't a bad post and is pipe related. Just in case you thought that the title was rather dirty :P
Anyhow, as of late I have been experiencing a problem that has never really been an issue before. The problem is that at about the last third or maybe less of my bowl becomes problematic. I find it nearly impossible to tamp any further or enjoy the smoke. It is as if the tobacco beneath the ash has become petrified and it tastes bitter. My first assumptions where that I was either tamping too hard throughout the bowl, the tobacco was too moist, or both.

I tested both of these hypothesis and I believe them to be false. I tamped less and lightly. Usually only when I needed to relight or occasionally through the smoke. I also made a point to use just the weight of the tamper. While this was practice I've needed for some time, it didn't solve the problem.

My last hypothesis was that the tobacco was too moist, but even this proved to be false. I changed baccys and let the second trial tobacco get so dry it was crunchy. I usually like my tobacco on the verge of crunchy, but this was DRY. Even this bowl resulted in the same problem.

Anytime that this happens, I empty the bowl and only a small amount of tobacco comes out with the ash. It's as if I'm cursed to never reach the bottom of the bowl!!!

As a side note, I'd like to let you know that I've been smoking Virginia's when I've noticed this. Also, I haven't used the three step method very well on either of these pipes to break them in. They do have a nice layer of cake that I keep under control, but of course it's not as broken in near the bottom because of this problem.

Please help!
-Frank

 

[dlattim]

Waznyf I've had this happen before. I don't recall what tobaccos it usually occurs with. Sometimes what's in the bowl is just as you described, hard and untampable (is that a word). What I usually do is use the pick end of my tamper and break it up a bit, then tamp, relight and charge on. Seems to work for me. I can't figure out what causes it though.

 

[teufelhund]

I've noticed that before too. It usually is just ash settling toward the bottom. You draw particles downward when you draw and the bowl becomes more tightly packed as you smoke. I think this is why you keep the baccy loose at the bottom; the whole hand of a child... and so on method. I usually don't smoke all the way to the bottom unless I'm trying to build a good cake in a breaking in period, but what works for me is just a little stir and tamp and a relight. It doesn't test as good as the middle but sacrifices must be made in pursuit of good cake.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Frank, I've had issues like this before as well but don't recall which tobacco's or pipes it occurred. I usually just take the poker on the Czech tool and stir up the remaining tobacco and keep going. If it continues to burn poorly and taste like crap at that point then I just empty the pipe and move on to the next one.

 

[cigrmaster]

Waz, are you dumping any ash as you smoke? If you keep tamping down all the ash and do not dump any, this could be your problem.

 

[waznyf]

Waz, are you dumping any ash as you smoke? If you keep tamping down all the ash and do not dump any, this could be your problem.

No I am not dumping any ash while smoking. It could be the compaction of ash
I am glad that I am not the only one who has experienced this problem. Last night I decided to stir it with my Czech tool as metalycigar guy suggested, but it just tasted bitter at that point and I dumped it out.
So with that being said, does that mean it is impossible to smoke all of your tobacco straight to ash? I think I may have done it before, but not too often.
-Frank

 

[cigrmaster]

Waz, whenever my pipe goes out, I stir the ash, tilt the bowl, dump the ash, tamp lightly and then relight. When you relight the flame should only touch the tobacco for a couple of seconds, it could be you are over heating the tobacco leaving the flame on it too long. I always smoke to the bottom of the bowl because the flavor keeps getting better and I am always left with nothing but fine ash. It could also be your packing method. I always check the draw before I light up making sure I do have a decent amount of resistance. If packed too loosely the tobacco will burn hot and rob you of flavor.

 

[waznyf]

If packed too loosely the tobacco will burn hot and rob you of flavor.

cigrmaster, I smoked a bowl of Dunhill Nightcap out of my Savinelli 320 and it smoked all the way to the bottom until I was pulling ash and ember into my mouth. I packed it a little tighter then I usually do. Maybe this was the problem. I suppose only further experimentation will tell me.
-Frank

 

[redbeard]

When this occurs I use my pipe tools poker and mix it all up, tamp again, and relight. Also dump ash as I smoke, usually only if it goes out during. If it goes out I poke the ash to loosen it all up, tamp, and dump

 

[nsfisher]

Ya gotta dump the ash mate, about 2x through out the bowl. I'll bet you noticed that the relights are poorer, the further down you get. Dump the ash and the relight will take. enjoy

 

[kashmir]

Yeah, I don't dump a lot of ash during a smoke, but I do dump some. Especially towards the bottom third of the bowl. Otherwise it becomes progressively harder to light. If the bottom third becomes too compressed, I'll dump ash, insert a cleaner, and take a pipe tool and loosen the plug, retamp, and remove the cleaner. This maintains the airpocket at the base of the bowl. Then I'll relight and enjoy the bottom third. If its just moist dottle, I'll dump, clean and reload a bowl.

 

[cavendish]

Try giving the bowl a little stir (after dumping excess ash out) about half maybe 2/3 of the way through. I had the same issue and started stirring and it solved the problem