Three consecutive sips instead of just one

[mrmachado]

And then some rest.
Could this technique cause pipe problems?
I find more pleasure smoking like this, than with just 1 sip alone.
I'd like to listen to opinions.
And I am sorry for the consecutive threads.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

As long as you're not puffing so fast you're heating up your pipe, this should be fine, if it works for you. Different smokers have different techniques. I usually take a long slow draw, breathing through my nose as I draw. It's what works best for me, and I seem to get more flavor that way.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I usually take a long slow draw, breathing through my nose as I draw. It's what works best for me, and I seem to get more flavor that way.

Same. I can take up to 30-40 seconds to fill my mouth with smoke.

And I am sorry for the consecutive threads.

No worries, you ask questions to learn. Fire away!

 

[mithridate]

I have same habit. One sip just isn't enough - I tend to draw at least another, if not third in a row. Feels more satisfying, though I've thought myself whether it is a good idea or not.

 

[georgebmcclelland]

As long as you're not puffing so fast you're heating up your pipe, this should be fine, if it works for you.

Hear, hear. ::

 

[woodsroad]

You are over thinking it.

Just enjoy.

 

[mrmachado]

@woodsroad: My previous pipe is pretty beaten up, so I want to preserve this one as much as I can...

 

[hawky454]

Dude, I dare you to try to burn that pipe out, chances are you won’t be able to, even if you try. Most burn outs are due to hidden sand pits and impurities in the wood. Of course it would be easy to burn out your pipe by loading it up, giving it a true light and hanging out the window at 80 mph down a highway. In short, burn outs are very rare and overstated leaving the novice pipe smokers wary of even slightly sipping on the thing. I been smoking (recklessly) for a long time now and I’ve never even remotely come close to burning out a briar, not even a cob and I’ve always heard those things burn out quickly, I still have a couple that are 10 plus years old.

 

[mrmachado]

@hawky454: I have a Savinelli that I bought 3 months ago and its walls are quite thin by now.
Any idea of why this has happened?
Some say that trying to light leftover tobacco does this because you end up "smoking the wood from the pipe", but I can't think it's just that.

 

[hawky454]

I’d have to see some pictures but that doesn’t sound right, the walls should be thicker with carbon build up after three months of frequent use. You’re saying the walls are thinner that when you bought it? Did you buy it new or used? Are they thinning evenly? A burnout wouldn’t burn your walls down evenly, essentially there would be one spot in the bowl where it burns through but if you’re getting a burn out in three months time, it sounds more like a faulty pipe than a user error. In my experience briar is some tough stuff and there’s a reason why pipemakers stuck with it for so long. Life is too short to worry about burning out your pipes, there are much better things to worry about such as dropping the pipe or sitting on it, cracked shanks are certainly much more common than burnouts.

 

[mrmachado]

Unfortunately it did happen... In 3 months. Take a look. This chamber is now HUGE and wasn't as big as this before...
This huge space was protected by a thick layer of cake, but when I removed the cake after some salt and alcohol treatments and scraped most of the rest, the wood consumption was revealed.

 

[olkofri]

Well, not to be fiend's advocate but a professor at my varsity once told me that every year he got his dad a pipe for his B-day. I replied, 'wow, he must have had a large collection!' He said, 'no, he had only one: he'd burn a hole through every single pipe he owned. Thus, every year I bought him a new one'. I've been curious ever since as to how can someone do this consistently, but the professor wasn't a pipe smoker himself, so he couldn't give me details. All I can do is wonder and speculate.
There, now I've made Machado even more paranoid. Muhaha! :twisted:

 

[mrmachado]

@olkofri: :crying:
The thing is, I didn't even smoke like a freight train with this pipe. I smoked a bowl throughout the day most of the times, because I inhaled and counldn't handle all that nicotine and other poisons coming down all at once.
So it's a big mystery for me.
My only bet is that, as I tried to light the leftover tobacco many times, this may have caused some damage.
Don't know if doing this is enough to bite so much wood though.

 

[seanv]

How thick can the cake be after three months? I’ve had pipes for years that smoke often and I have not reamed them.

How did you ream it?

How did you apply the salt and alcohol treatment?

Stop taking the relaxing and enjoyable aspects out of your pipe smoking experience Machado. Just observe, experiment and relax. This isn’t meant to be a stressful rule oriented hobby.

 

[woodsroad]

Unless you are puffing like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8grHpQAB1jA

There is no way you can do that by just smoking it.
Follow this guy's lead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eMf6tOPmqg

And maybe some day, you'll be able to do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvkKSqd-74o

 

[mrmachado]

@seanv Thanks for the heads up, but now I'm just trying to figure out what happened to my Savinelli so I avoid the same mistake(s) now.

 

[seanv]

My guess is that you over reemed it. The cake likely wasn’t as big as you thought and you probably removed some actual wood.

 

[mrmachado]

@seanv does the wood come out black? Because I haven't seen anything brown coming out when I reamed it.
Just tons, tons, and tons of black powder.

 

[olkofri]

Maybe whatever the charwoman used to clean it might have reacted to the heat or with the chemical compounds of the blends and thus damaged it.
I'm not gloating or boasting, but I don't build cake in my pipes (they're thoroughly cleaned after each smoke, once they've cooled), I have a fast cadence (sippuff every 10 seconds), have to be relighting constantly (though I use a soft flame, which is what you seem to be using too!), and none of them are damaged. This is really puzzling.
Here, this is the bowl of my Vauen:

You can see that my aggressive cleaning with paper towels has removed most of the pre-carbonated coating and even scratched the wood, but there are no holes or burnouts.
Note: I am 'aggressive' when wiping with paper towels, but I'm very gently when reaming with the Czech tool.

 

[mrmachado]

@olkofri: She later said she didn't use anything, just removed the ashes (don't know how, since they were well packed).
But how to explain the sudden horribly sour taste? Some very weird shit must have happened.
Anyway, the Savinelli mystery is still unsolved.
If reamed wood comes out black, then the mystery is solved... I reamed the hell out of that pipe (with a scraper and with a knife).
By the way, yours seems to be a nice pipe. Would look great with a layer of cake in the chamber. :lol: