Tobacco Sticking to the Walls

[cosmicfolklore]

If it is only burning the center chances are you are still smoking too fast, creating a heat center. Tamp those pieces in but slow your cadence and see what happens.

Actually, I would say the complete opposite. I prefer to only have the cherry in the middle, so that there is tobacco surrounding it to push the flavorful oils from the leaf into the smoke, for more flavor, since the actual burning leaf doesn't have much flavor. I only maintain this by smoking very slow. I notice that if I start to push my cadence a little too hard, the cherry goes out across the whole diameter of the chamber, where the smoke is hotter with less flavor.
But, this is just my experience.

 

[proteus]

If you are seeing tunneling you are probably not lighting evenly or you are drawing too hard. You want smoldering not actual forced air burning like a blown forge.

 

[Briarcutter]

are probably not lighting evenly

Yes! I've found it works best to get the whole top glowing, tamp it re-light and that usually gets it done. Sometimes depending on the tobacco cut and moisture this may have to be repeated. I think the key is to get the whole surface burning,tamp,re-light.

 

[ziv]

So I read the thread on this forum called "On smoking slowly...", tried it to the best of my abilities, and I think smoking slowly does resolve the issue of tobacco sticking!

 

[Searock Fan]

When lighting your pipe, light it around the edges. Don't worry about the center, it will take care of itself.

 

[crashthegrey]

Actually, I would say the complete opposite. I prefer to only have the cherry in the middle, so that there is tobacco surrounding it to push the flavorful oils from the leaf into the smoke, for more flavor, since the actual burning leaf doesn't have much flavor. I only maintain this by smoking very slow. I notice that if I start to push my cadence a little too hard, the cherry goes out across the whole diameter of the chamber, where the smoke is hotter with less flavor.
But, this is just my experience.

But you are not getting tunneling. There is control of the ember, like you have, and burning a hole through the center. That is usually big, heavy draws periodically. An attempt to slow but still too large of a draw.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

But you are not getting tunneling. There is control of the ember, like you have, and burning a hole through the center. That is usually big, heavy draws periodically. An attempt to slow but still too large of a draw.

With Flakes, I always get walls of tobacco surrounding my cherry. (cough cough, weird thing to write, ha ha). And, only most of the time with ribbon. This is how I get the tastiest smokes. Otherwise, I just wouldn't smoke a pipe with tasteless smoke. To each their own.

This used to be the forum standard, "don't try to get the cherry to burn all the way across." But, I guess the forum's standards shift. YMMV

 

[crashthegrey]

With Flakes, I always get walls of tobacco surrounding my cherry. (cough cough, weird thing to write, ha ha). And, only most of the time with ribbon. This is how I get the tastiest smokes. Otherwise, I just wouldn't smoke a pipe with tasteless smoke. To each their own.

This used to be the forum standard, "don't try to get the cherry to burn all the way across." But, I guess the forum's standards shift. YMMV

We are not disagreeing, but there are subtle nuances between your techniques and someone attempting them.

 

[jbfrady]

I agree with virtually everything said here but with one caveat. I owned one pipe - by a rather well-known maker, no less - that tunneled on every smoke. I tried matches and lighters, putting it out and relighting it, and I tried several different tobaccos, all to no avail. Once you'd smoked the bowl, you'd dump out no less than 40% of what you'd loaded. It's the only pipe I've ever owned that had such a problem, which sucks because it's the most expensive pipe I've ever owned and I like the guy who made it.

All that to say, 99% of the time it's technique. But I'll be damned if it didn't happen one time without technique involved.

 

[LeafErikson]

Tobacco sticking to the sides of the pipe is pretty normal. Don't worry about it.

 

[BrightDarkEyes]

Oh, I thought by the title that this was going to be a new tobacco moisture level test for newbies.

When I first saw this title I thought this thread was going to be about someone finding a tobacco so wet that it stuck to their wall when thrown at it like a piece of cooked spaghetti.