Seven Bowls In: Tips and Comments Appreciated

[wackytabacky]

Learning and smoking with tongue bite, it was really good reading through this thread. I've been trying to slow down my puffing.
A few things I am learning...
I found that if I tamp with my finger it helps from packing too tight or my finger will get burnt, but I can also get a feeling on how tight the tobacco is packed.

I also try taking in fresh air either through my mouth, nose or both while taking a draw on the pipe. A looong slow draw is also helping me to taste the tobacco. I try keeping my tongue off the stem or the pipe seems to get gurgle.

I also have a 'go to' pipe, but Im finding different types of tobaccos smoke differently in the pipe. I like the MM corncobs. They are great for an inexpensive beat around activity pipe. Fishing, shooting, etc. d

Keep on tokin !

 

[lithicus]

Learning and smoking with tongue bite, it was really good reading through this thread. I've been trying to slow down my puffing.
A few things I am learning...
I found that if I tamp with my finger it helps from packing too tight or my finger will get burnt, but I can also get a feeling on how tight the tobacco is packed.

I also try taking in fresh air either through my mouth, nose or both while taking a draw on the pipe. A looong slow draw is also helping me to taste the tobacco. I try keeping my tongue off the stem or the pipe seems to get gurgle.

I also have a 'go to' pipe, but Im finding different types of tobaccos smoke differently in the pipe. I like the MM corncobs. They are great for an inexpensive beat around activity pipe. Fishing, shooting, etc. d

Keep on tokin !

I'm glad you enjoyed reading through this! I hoped documenting my journey would be helpful to others. I'm entirely new to tobacco pipes. And although I've smoked other pipes, hookas, cigarettes, cigars, just about anything and everything you can imagine in the past, tobacco pipes are a whole different beast. Almost everything is different than my previous experiences and I've had to toss ideas embedded in my thinking and learn to start from scratch. I've learned a lot and am glad you have as well!!

I, too, find tamping with my index finger or pinky helpful at times. Especially as the bowl gets low. I can get a much better feel for things, but it does make a mess of my finger So, I've been trying to stick to and learn using a proper tamp. I mostly only use my finger if I'm watching a movie or something late at night as I can't really see what I'm doing with the tamp; granted with experience most of it should be done with feel.

I have gotten some gurgle more recently and I think it is mostly due to me smoking entire bowls with only the breath method. I'm still trying to perfect that. I guess I haven't learned how to avoid the drool and/or learned how to avoid blowing back too much into the stem. I'll try to keep my tongue away from the stem more and see if that helps!

I'm not sure if I've gotten tongue bite or not... I figured it would be of those things where if you have to ask then you don't have it. I will say that I do get tingling on my lips, tongue, and roof of my mouth. But, I assumed this was just the nicotine. It never bothers me, prevents me from smoking more, nor does it ever last very long.

Also, I did get my MM corncob finally! It has provided some great smokes I am going to make a separate post regarding some of my concerns. I think I'll get more feedback/advice there. Basically though, the wooden stem of my MM corncob is cracking... in 3 places no less! It has no effect on the draw/smoke as far as I can tell. I emailed MM and they told me it was likely not my fault. Just a result of using natural material. They suggested I stabilize the cracks with superglue, which I did. But, I do wonder if others experience this as well or if it is a sign I'm smoking way to hot or something...

I do seem to struggle still with keeping pipes cool. And now that I've smoked out of a few pipes and different blends, I can at least confirm it's not the any specific pipe or blend. I imagine keeping a cool smoke will come with time. I still find that there is a balance for me between puffing too hard and keeping the thing lit.

The only other thing I haven't ventured too far into yet is clenching. I find it much more difficult to control my smoke when clenching and am hoping to get better at smoking while holding the pipe first.

 

[Puffaluffaguss]

Sounds like everything to be said has been said, but I didn't read through all 4 pages so forgive me, either your as drunk as me or you taking this way to seriously. Enjoy your tobacco and your pipes, you spent hard earned money on it am I right? Forget for a seconed life's troubles, That my friend is when you will truly enjoy your pipe, no matter the baccy in it. Oh and by the way, right now I am drinking some rare burban and enjoying a sample of the Esoterica " And So To Bed" from the box pass, (Thank You Kind Sir, who ever placed that beauty of a sample In the giant box of samples which is the box pass, (excuse me I'm drinking ). But yeah, enjoy it and your experiences, Stick around for awhile, I'm glad I did.

P.S. Don't worry, as long as your pipe isn't hot enough to burn your nose when in contact with nostril skin, your pipe is not gonna feel any discomfort. Smoke, live, love , I'm sorry, I'm tipsy .

 

[lithicus]

Sounds like everything to be said has been said, but I didn't read through all 4 pages so forgive me, either your as drunk as me or you taking this way to seriously. Enjoy your tobacco and your pipes, you spent hard earned money on it am I right? Forget for a seconed life's troubles, That my friend is when you will truly enjoy your pipe, no matter the baccy in it. Oh and by the way, right now I am drinking some rare burban and enjoying a sample of the Esoterica " And So To Bed" from the box pass, (Thank You Kind Sir, who ever placed that beauty of a sample In the giant box of samples which is the box pass, (excuse me I'm drinking ). But yeah, enjoy it and your experiences, Stick around for awhile, I'm glad I did.

P.S. Don't worry, as long as your pipe isn't hot enough to burn your nose when in contact with nostril skin, your pipe is not gonna feel any discomfort. Smoke, live, love , I'm sorry, I'm tipsy .

No worries!! This is all very sound advice whether you were drinking or not!

I do enjoy my pipe and blends (and bourbon!), but I do worry at times about burn out on a pipe because I was smoking it too hot or something. I appreciate your comment!

 

[Puffaluffaguss]

No worries!! This is all very sound advice whether you were drinking or not!

I do enjoy my pipe and blends (and bourbon!), but I do worry at times about burn out on a pipe because I was smoking it too hot or something. I appreciate your comment!

Damn I'm surprised at my spelling while half a fith of burban is in my system lol. I'm just glad my post wasn't just gibberish and nonsense lol pat on the back for drunk forum typing lol.

 

[RookieGuy80]

Using my finger to tamp has been a huge help to smoking my pipes. Just a little touch to contact the ember to the unburned tobacco below. In fact, now the only time I use a tamper is either on my MM Eatons (the bowls are too narrow for my finger to fit) or on the charring or initial light. If nothing else, it's a neat for people who don't smoke a pipe watch you tamp with your finger and see their faces as they try to work out how you did that.

The gurgling could be many things. A pipe cleaner solves many of them, though (unless you have a deep bent oom paul or something like that). Sometimes it's a certain blend, others it's the pipe, often it's me. For me and my varying milage, it's something I've learned to ignore if everything else is good.

Keeping your pipe cool will indeed come with time. But as long as you can still comfortably hold the pipe, you're doing OK. Don't worry too much about keeping it cool. As you develop your rhythms it'll happen naturally.

Clenching is a personal preference thing for sure. Play around with the button and your teeth as well as roof of your mouth. You might find a way that works for you. And if not, that's cool too. Nothing at all wrong with holding your pipe.

 

[lithicus]

Using my finger to tamp has been a huge help to smoking my pipes. Just a little touch to contact the ember to the unburned tobacco below. In fact, now the only time I use a tamper is either on my MM Eatons (the bowls are too narrow for my finger to fit) or on the charring or initial light. If nothing else, it's a neat for people who don't smoke a pipe watch you tamp with your finger and see their faces as they try to work out how you did that.

The gurgling could be many things. A pipe cleaner solves many of them, though (unless you have a deep bent oom paul or something like that). Sometimes it's a certain blend, others it's the pipe, often it's me. For me and my varying milage, it's something I've learned to ignore if everything else is good.

Keeping your pipe cool will indeed come with time. But as long as you can still comfortably hold the pipe, you're doing OK. Don't worry too much about keeping it cool. As you develop your rhythms it'll happen naturally.

Clenching is a personal preference thing for sure. Play around with the button and your teeth as well as roof of your mouth. You might find a way that works for you. And if not, that's cool too. Nothing at all wrong with holding your pipe.

This is all very helpful and reassuring!!

I agree that you get much better control over tamping with the finger. It's just that little bit of touch, as you point out, that helps bring you and the tobacco together. I find myself lately using both my finger and the tamper, usually using my finger for the "center" of the bowl and only using the tamper to get the edges of the bowl. It's been working fairly well for me, but I'm still working through a lot of my techniques to get the best smoke and most pleasurable experience.

The gurgling has not been much of an issue for me. I think when I do get it, it's likely a combination of me smoking too hot and not having dried the tobacco as much.

I expected the cool pipe would come with time. And I've never gotten anywhere near close enough to not being able to physically hold the pipe. It has gotten hot on occasion in the hand. But, not so hot it's uncomfortable. I appreciate your reassurance or advice about not worrying too much about keeping it cool. This has been my single biggest worry in pipe smoking and not having to worry about it as much will certainly help me enjoy the smoke more!

And in regards to clenching, I do often find that using the roof of my mouth is most comfortable. I wasn't sure how common this practice was, but you even mentioning it leads me to believe it's not as uncommon as I might've previously thought. I'm sure having a comfortable clench will come with more time and experience.

Thanks again for all of your comments!!

 

[wackytabacky]

How does a person use the roof of their mouth to hold a pipe ? How looooong is the pipe stem? Im not understanding this.

 

[lithicus]

Well, I'm not sure I can explain it... But, my understanding is that most people essentially rest the pipe stem on their lower teeth and then place the button inside the mouth such that the button "hangs" or "snags" on the top row of teeth. I find that when I do this, my straight pipes "hang" fairly low unless I really clench it and use jaw strength to "lift" the pipe. But, this still results in a fairly unstable pipe for me. It has a tendency to slide or swing around and it will bounce.

I find if I place the button just a little bit further inside of my mouth (maybe a half inch or so) and let the button rest near the root of my teeth/gums or on the roof of my mouth/palate, then it solves a lot of these issues. For one, my straight pipe doesn't hang as low and requires no jaw strength to hold it in place. Granted, it still doesn't stick straight out of my mouth; it does still "hang" some. But, it also makes the pipe as sturdy as can be. So, no sliding or bouncing.

It probably sounds weird, and there's not an easy way for me to test this... but I don't think I'd need a button to clench my pipe the way I do. I don't really take advantage of the ridge on the button at all. So, I'm pretty sure I could get by without it. Which again, probably sounds weird to most as this is literally the point of having a button

And just to be clear, I'm not placing the button of the stem in the center of the roof of my mouth. It is very close to my teeth, but more on the gums than on the teeth. I think this is still considered the roof of the mouth, but maybe saying that I place the button on the gums inside of my mouth would be more accurate. So, these stems don't need to be very long.

Don't know if that helps or not, but you can't say I didn't try!!

 

[wackytabacky]

I understand, describing something can be difficukt to put into words. I agree with the bottom lip on the stem. why is it needed… unless Im hanging upside down.

 

[RookieGuy80]

How does a person use the roof of their mouth to hold a pipe ? How looooong is the pipe stem? Im not understanding this.

Your bottom jaw is the pivot point. The button rests on the roof of your mouth instead of the upper jaw on a tooth. And the stem is as long as most stems.