The Bottom of the Bowl

[smokedragon]

Hey all,
I wanted to ask our more experienced smokers for some advice. Recently, a lot of people have been talking about tobacco storage, and monitoring their consumption to decide how much they need to store. I have been taking a closer look at my use, and have determined I am wasting too much tobacco at the bottom of the bowl. For some reason, I have a hard time getting the tobacco to burn all the way to the bottom. Any tips?

 

[nsfisher]

Make sure you get rid of the extra ash mate. Extra ash will make for a poor relight. You may also want to give your bowl a slight "stir", because if your a "wet" smoker, the baccy that sits in the bottom of the bowl is damp and hard to relight.

 

[smokedragon]

Thanks nsfisher, ill try that out. I was just cleaning all my pipes, and there was too much unburned tobacco in the ash tray afterwards. I definitely am a wet smoker. I cannot clench at all because my salivary glands are over active when I smoke, and I can gurgle any pipe.

 

[smokedragon]

Hey thanks Mike. Yeah I guess the Boswell blend I've been using isn't quite all the way dry. I switch to my tin of MacBaren Vanilla for a bit since it is more dry. Should I not have my Boswell tobacco in jars if it is too wet?

 

[smokedragon]

Oh yeah. I was wondering Mike if you might give me some suggestions for non-aros to try. I tried some mild English from a local tobacconist, as well as some Frog Morton on the Bayou and Dunhill Royal Yacht. Not sure if it was just the blends or what (i smoked them in a broken in pipe), but I found them to be bitter so I have stayed away from the unknown. I always like hearing your straight-forward opinions here on the site. Help this noobie out.

 

[cortezattic]

The moisture you experience is probably from condensation, not saliva. One would be hard pressed to intentionally

get a significant amount of saliva into a pipe stem -- let alone do it inadvertently.
The advice you've been given here is the place to start in addressing the problem. But also consider

other causes of condensation such as: overly aggressive ignition; smoking to rapidly; packing too densely;

starting with a relatively cold pipe or a massive one; local humidity, etc.
And don't be discouraged by these moisture issues. If these things weren't a problem for everyone,

then Peterson would never have invented the system pipe. :wink:

 

[weezell]

cortezattic..+1...

 

[flyguy]

nfisher wrote:

Make sure you get rid of the extra ash mate. Extra ash will make for a poor relight. You may also want to give your bowl a slight "stir", because if your a "wet" smoker, the baccy that sits in the bottom of the bowl is damp and hard to relight.

I'm not a wet smoker but I stir the tobacco after I dump my ash (about 2/3 to 3/4 from the bottom). I thought I was the only "stirrer". I have also adopted another strange habit with pipes that need to build a cake; I save the white ash I dump in a cupcake liner, making sure there are no live embers. When I'm finished and the bowl has been knocked out, I pour the white ash back into the bowl and shake the pipe with my thumb over the bowl. This leaves a coating of white ash on the inside of the bowl which I believe promotes a cake. Does anyone else do this?

 

[flyguy]

Oops! I didn't mean to highjack the thread...disregard above.

 

[pstlpkr]

I have to concur with Cortez and add that a combination of good pacing and control of your sips/puffs and thinking about your tamping technique will be of tremendous advantage.
Tamping is an aspect of pipe smoking that is often overlooked as being part of good technique.

My personal opinions/practices will differ from others (and you will develop your own technique) is to never tamp by pushing the ash down with the tamper but rather allowing the tamper to do the work. The weight of the tamper should be sufficient to compress the ash adequately.

Secondly; I have found that a good Char-light then True-light will really help to extend the burning time.

After the Char-light, let the tobacco go completely out; then, using a twisting motion with the tamper resting on the ash smooth the surface. Doing so will facilitate a good True-light followed by good pacing (as mentioned above) and thoughtful controlled sips and puffs (to keep the temperature of the ember from getting too high [which will cause steam and condensation, and ultimately pipe gurgle]), combined with (in my case) nearly constant tamping will allow you to smoke not only longer, but will nearly always culminate in a cool, dry, satisfying, and exhausted bowl of your favorite blend.

::

 

[mlyvers]

all good advice here. i like my tobac very dry. tapping [tamping] is very important as well as the loading techque. all play a part in being able to smoke all the way to the heel. the heel is the hardest part of a pipe to break in. i laso do not like wasting pipe tobac. if i have to, i will make myself struggle through to the heel. good luck to you sir.
mike.
Edit: I added the word [tamping] to the above. I think that is what you meant. I hope you don't mind. L.

 

[smokedragon]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I've tried stirring the tobacco once it gets to the heel, and it has been better. Ill try some of your suggestions for tobacco as well Mike. Going to watch some more videos and practice mt techniques.

 

[rhogg]

I find that many pipes do not have a draft hole right at the bottom of the bowl. This complicates things, and is compounded by the moisture of the tobacco you are smoking. I find I can only successfully smoke ALL of some tobaccos in some pipes. I usually get pretty close most of the time, but only my most finely engineered pipes will smoke every last drop of tobacco, and then only certain blends with the right moisture content lead themselves to a complete smoke.
A draft hole needs to be at the very bottom of the bowl unless your tobacco is bone dry to burn every last leaf. Most tobacco when burned produces moisture that naturally accumulates at the bottom of the bowl. Sometimes smoking that last bit of baccy is nearly impossible. I try not to worry too much about it if I had a good smoke, and I am definately not going to scorch my tongue on principle

 

[rhogg]

If you really want to finish a whole bowl just for fun out of .03 cent pipe get some 5 Brothers pipe tobacco in the pouch. It burns like dryer lint and will likely elevate you to a new plane of nicotine induced bliss.
It ain't the best tasting thing in the world but I garuntee if you are man enough you'll be left with nothing but ash..... It is about as dry as tumbleweed in west Texas. You'll make up for lost moistue in sweat when the vitamin N hits you. I reccomend inhaling if you are constipated as Nicotine is a natural laxative.

 

[smokedragon]

Bought a tin of MacBaren NAvy Flake. I'll see how it is!

 

[salewis]

Usually, if your can't smoke your tobacco all the way to the bottom it can be due a myriad of reasons most of which have already been mentioned. However, I haven't heard anything about pipe engineering. Often when the draft hole is too restricked or is not in the middle and at the bottom of a pipe it would cause you not to finish the tobacco at the bottom of your bowl. By having a professional open up the draft hole, assuming the hole is at the bottom center already, will diminish the moisture and aid in smoking your tobacco to the bottom of yor bowl.

 

[flyguy]

I have also read on my sites that if you suffer from tongue bite cause by heat/steam, it is not advisable to smoke your pipe all the way to the bottom of the bowl. This being said, I waste very little tobacco, maybe 1/8 of a teaspoon. The taste is greatly diminished in that last bit anyway.

 

[nsfisher]

I waste alot. I fill a pipe smoke it untill I don't want anymore. Set it in the but bucket, when I want another smoke, I take another pipe(sometimes) and dig out the remaining baccy. Usually 1/5 of the bowl get dumped.

 

[andrew]

Bottom of the bowl is like the butt of a cigar, it's nasty

 

[alex87]

+1 on the stirring method. I'd been having a hell of a time getting down to the heel without either getting a lot of moisture and/or very bad burn. So i started stirring and dumping my ash, then relighting and lo and behold, my very first time down to the bottom of the bowl was a wonderful exp. Also i think when you stir and dump your ash for a relight you get a better relight which helps the overall flavour from the smoke...no ashy burn for the first few sips...