Trouble finishing my smoke

[wolfie90]

Ive noticed while smoking my pipe the last little.bit in there doesnt burn all the way. I continuosly have to relight each puff. I do good till then but its just that last little pinch left. Is this normal or is there suppose to be nothing but ashes left? By the way ive been smoking the prince albert soft vanilla and heavenly gold, happens with both. Also i tried letting it air out for bout 20 30 minutes on a paper towel before i smoked but same results.

 

[cigrmaster]

The end little bits that are left over are called dottle. Don't get worked up about smoking every tiny bit in the bottom. When you are done you are done, you don't want to smoke ash and bitter tobacco. Just dump it out and fire up a new bowl.

 

[schmitzbitz]

Welcome to the forums wolfie90. Don't sweat the relights - they are a part of pipe-smoking to be savoured just as much as the tobacco itself (unless, of course, you are planning on partaking in a slow-smoking contest). So too for the dottle (the bits of tobacco left in the heel after a smoke) - unless you are finding a huge wad of sopping wet unburned tobacco, you're on the right track.

There are a few things that I can suggest to help - but I should note that pipe-smoking is very subjective; and while this works for me, it is inevitable someone will note that I've got it all wrong.

First and foremost, know that you are on the right track, however you may find that your tobacco is still too moist. I tend to prefer mine closer to crunchy; aromatic blends (which you are smoking) usually get a couple of hours of airing in my house before I look to load them.

Second, I would suggest you take a look at some of the videos by Bob Tate just to the left of this post (you may have to scroll...). They outline the different packing methods, and how to utilize them. From my experience, a bowl packed too tightly just won't stay lit (conversely, a bowl packed too loosely will burn the hell out of your tongue). Here, many suggest starting with the '3-stage' method, but I say jump right in with the 'air-pocket' method - it is quite easy (no guessing just how hard women and children push...), and results in a flavourful, cool and dry smoke that burns very well ninety-nine percent of the time (and I suspect that 1% is really a result of too many cocktails and a poor pack, rather than a fault of the method itself).

Finally, tamping etiquitte. Many people talk about tamping with every relight, and after every third puff or some silly such thing. As a rule of thumb, I don't reach for the tamper unless the smoke has grown thin to the point of non-existance, or when the flame doesn't reach the unburned tobacco for all the fluffy ash. This keeps one from ending up with a tightly packed ball of tobacco with a cap of steam-sealing ash from forming. When you do tamp, tamp very lightly - you really just want to crush the ash, and leave the tobacco undisturbed.

 

[martiniman]

Trying to get that last little bit is an easy way to get tongue burn.

I always think I'm done but when i clean my bowl I'm always surprised at how much is left.

 

[mick]

As odd as it may sound, I find the more I know and read the worse my smokes have become. I too suffer from too much dottle (1/3-1/2 a bowl), and it's costing me quite a bit smoking expensive tobacco (I iz po'). Smoking a pipe has been less relaxing and more frustrating, sadly. For example, I learned on these forums of a method to use your tool opposite the draft hole to allow oxygen, but when I tried this, it resulted in 0 draw. =/ I was relighting today and somehow feel like I singed my nostrils (not sure what happened there). Anyway, just wanted to chime in an say that this is really one of the most daunting/frustrating parts of a novice piper.

 

[bobpnm]

Patience with the learning process is important for my enjoyment of pipe smoking. Hobbies should be fun and relaxing. For the first dozen or so bowls, I bailed out if started going bad. When I got to the point where I could do a pretty good job of smoking most of the bowl, I bailed out when I had to constantly re-light. Now when I stop enjoying the smoke, I find that there is very little tobacco left in the bowl. When I was a beginning cigar smoker I asked a veteran smoker if I should smoke the cigar to the band. He told me to smoke it until I didn't like it anymore. That seems to work for me with pipes too. All of us who are beginners have much to learn. Give yourself time. - bp

 

[buster]

Wolfie, I see this all the time. I am looking for small pipes at the moment because of thIs. Though I also find I can smoke half a bowl and come back to it a day later and still enjoy it. Not the same(IMHO) in regards to th cigar world. You can load a pipe, give it a light and go to sleep. Then smoke it the nex day.

 

[wolfie90]

Thank you guys you all have helped me tremendously. Im still trying to learn all the names( like dottle) ive still got along way to go.

 

[buster]

No hurry, take your time and smoke slowly. As a friend of mine said, "if you think you are fishing to slowly, then slow down." same rule applies to pipe smoking. S L O W D O W N & enjoy it

 

[crpntr1]

When I have this problem, usually I think its cause I didn't dry my baccy long enough, I dump the ash off the top and then stir it all and just relight and go on.

 

[shawn622]

Man, i dont even like the bottom of my bowls. I dump the last 1/4 of every bowl i smoke...

 

[kcvet67]

It sounds like the drilling of your pipe is a little bit off. Ideally, the airway should enter the bowl exactly at the bottom. If the airway is above the bottom of the bowl, it will cause the symptoms you're describing.
Run a pipe cleaner all the way into the pipe and look down into the bowl. If you can see a gap between the pipe cleaner and the bottom of the bowl, that's your problem. You can use pipe mud to build up the bottom and that should take care of it. (There are quite a few threads on pipe mud, just use the search function to look them up.(

 

[baronsamedi]

If you're smoking an OTC aromatic and smoking it too fast, there will be more condensation in the bowl (not to mention the propylene glycol that is probably already in the tobacco) making the last bit too wet to smoke properly. Slow way down and adjust your cadence and tamping.
I also have a pipe that is drilled off center and I have to use the pick on my tamper to raise the tobacco up slightly toward the end. It makes for better airflow and once that's established, I tamp to re-seat the ember and off I go. If I miss my window and need to relight, I pick ant unburned tobacco from the edges, fluff up the pile, tamp to my desired draw and then do the relight. Usually works.

 

[taerin]

Please don't smoke the dottle, it is that little bit of tobacco on the bottem of the bowel that has become wet from the tar, your pipe will generally go out when it reaches that point, it may also taste really bad, or differint. The relights are just from it being excessively wet, it's better to either call it quits or pack a new bowel, rather than to smoke that last little bit up. Wetter baccys will tend to have larger dottles.

 

[auspipe]

I do not reccomend trying to get the last little bit, I was at the bottom of the bowl last night and sucked a hot ember through the stem hitting the roof of my mouth. Not pleasant!

 

[wolfie90]

Idk if the holes off or not ill have to look when i get off work in the morning, ill try to let it dry out longer to. Ty guys you all are awesome.

 

[mick]

Can dottle size be reduced by packing less in the bowl? If I smoke half of a bowl, certainly half of the bowl of dottle cannot remain! Anyone have experience with packing/smoking non-full bowls?

 

[taerin]

If your fears were true, small pipes wouldn't sell!

 

[foggymountain]

Personally, I rarely smoke the bottom. It bothers my stomach & raises my blood pressure.

 

[maduroman]

smoke part bowls all the time....
sometimes when i smoke a flake tobacco i wad it up in a bowl and push it just part way down.
btw, i find the longer i smoke, the les tobacco it takes to fill the bowl...
excess dottle can be caused by clenching the pipe and overfilling along with smoking to hot.
slow down and enjoy...