Tamp Dat Ash (Question)

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dctune

Part of the Furniture Now
Quick Q…

When you tamp —not the the gentle tamp after the charring light, but the tamp(s) on the ash that follows— do you tamp it & dump it?

Or do you tamp it & leave it in the bowl all the way down, even relighting on top of it?

I can never make up my mind. Sometimes I even use my little shovel, gently scrape around the edges, and scoop the ash out, then relight and kinda “start over” halfway down the bowl.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,398
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Quick Q…

When you tamp —not the the gentle tamp after the charring light, but the tamp(s) on the ash that follows— do you tamp it & dump it?

Or do you tamp it & leave it in the bowl all the way down, even relighting on top of it?

I can never make up my mind. Sometimes I even use my little shovel, gently scrape around the edges, and scoop the ash out, then relight and kinda “start over” halfway down the bowl.
I tend to dump it around the half way point. I just get a better smoke that way. Oh and with a system pipe I turn the pipe side ways and toss the ash instead of dumping. I also find it burns better near the end if I dump the ash.
 

Jaylotw

Lifer
Mar 13, 2020
1,062
4,063
NE Ohio
I find that if I'm smoking a flake which I've just rolled and stuffed, a quick stir and dump helps the relight halfway through the smoke. Other than that I just tamp the ash all the way down until I'm done smoking. If Ive put the pipe down some time in the last quarter of the bowl and it's gone out completely, I'll often dump the ash then, too, just to get a good light.

I've always viewed a layer of ash as being an insulator for the ember, keeping it hot enough to smolder without having to relight as much, so I do try to keep it there as much as I can.
 

OverMountain

Lifer
Dec 5, 2021
1,296
4,689
Western Caccalack Hinterlands
it has a well that catches the moisture and if you turn it upside down you run a very real risk of having the nastiness run down the stem and into your mouth. But a sideways flick of the ash works wonders.
Makes perfect sense! I’ve been looking at their army mount system pipes but I haven’t pulled the trigger. I’ve decided I can only have TAD or PAD, but not both this year. Good thing 2022 is right around the corner!
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
If you are going to dump the ash on the top of the ember, do that first, then tamp gently. This will give you significant information, since a bowl with some unburnt leaf left feels different than a bowl full of gray/white ash. You can just feel there is no springy leaf left. It's a delicate touch, but it is dependable.