What do you Think about Mesh Balls?

[cosmicfolklore]

Dry your tobacco more, and pack looser, tightening up slightly as you smoke. I can smoke stacked pipes all day long, love ‘em.

But, it sounds like you’re bound and determine to stick rocks in you pipe. So…

 

[mso489]

If you follow the suggestions made in this thread and keep smoking, after several years, you will reduce the dottle. A little gentle artful tamping, sipping not puffing, in addition to drying the leaf and packing loose will all help. Light with a soft flame and move it around to get the whole ember going. Over time, the dottle will slowly decrease and often disappear. Meantime, don't be stressed about it.

 

[bullet08]

Dottie's a bitch and I don't like her.

 

[OzPiper]

All the above advice is sound and sensible.

But I'm offering another opinion.
I was gifted a few Sharrow Philtpads some months ago to use in my meers. They sat unused for a while before curiosity got the better of me. They do result in a much drier smoke, and significantly reduced dottle. In fact if I dry the tobacco sufficiently there is only ash left.

This lead me to experimenting with meerschaum chips and Nording Keystones - with similar results.

I don't use them all the time. Mainly if I don't have time or forethought to dry the tobacco sufficiently.

I suggest you give those mesh doodads a trial. At worst they are a waste of time. If they lead to a better smoking experience for you, then it's a win. There is no right or wrong - only what works. For you ?

 

[romeowood]

They cost pennies, so marginally more than opinions. Try one and see if it works for you.

This sums up the best advice succinctly. The more time you spend with the pipe, the more time you'll have to experiment with details like manicuring the tobacco before you smoke, trying different packing methods, finding what works best for different blends and different pipes, as well as what works with your own preferences. The pipe smoke may be enjoyed by bystanders, but the experience of smoking it belongs to you alone--so the only right way to do it is the way that works for you. Speaking from personal experience, I have a few pipes that, owing to their particular engineering idiosyncrasies, are simply unenjoyable without using meerschaum buttons, stingers, or even (heaven forbid!) filters; I've learned to enjoy them on their terms, and have been happier with this approach than trying to enforce an approach which may not apply to them.

 

[kcghost]

If you wish to waste your money then buy the balls but they aren't needed.

 

[Staggerlee]

As I recall Holmes would leave his bits of dottle to dry on the mantle overnight. I think life is too short to worry about that little bit of dottle. Just knock it out and forget about it. It’s kind of like the butt of a cigar or cigarette.

 

[Searock Fan]

What do you get when hot smoke hits cold metal? Condensation. Not good.

If I understand correctly the idea of the mesh is to keep tobacco bits from blocking the draft hole. It is a problem alright, but there are some tricks you can use to reduce it. Large pieces of tobacco are usually not the problem, it's those little tiny ones that tend to do the blocking. I make it a habit when loading my pipe to use the larger bits at first, then the smaller bits on the top. If the tobacco is loose like in a jar a little shaking will cause the large ones to come to the top and the small ones settle to the bottom. When the jar is full or near full I just use the large bits. But when it starts getting to the bottom that's when I start the separating. Load some large bits the give the jar a few more shakes and... here's the trick. Tilt the jar away from you about 45 degrees, give it a couple of shakes. Now gently tilt it toward you until the tobacco falls over to you and at the top of the pile you should see the small bits of tobacco. Using my index finger and thumb I pick some and top off the pipe. I know, kind of hard to explain.

Not only are there now no small bits in the bottom of the bowl to block the draft hole, but the small bits at the top make the pipe easier to light too. That's it.

 

[anantaandroscoggin]

Most of the time now (it's been since 1973), I tend to get just white ash at the bottom. But I've noted that conical-shaped chambers tend to accumulate soggy dottle hereabouts. Then, there are particular blends (for me, mostly cavendish-bearing blends) that leave dottle.

And then, of course, there are those days when the stars are out of line for me (or is it just the local relative humidity?) that every pipe ends up with a soggy mass at the bottom when finished.

 

[Old school 33192]

I don't think having your ball covered in mesh would be comfortable I'm a boxer brief guy like a nice cotton blend

 

[pappymac]

What do you get when hot smoke hits cold metal? Condensation. Not good.

If I understand correctly the idea of the mesh is to keep tobacco bits from blocking the draft hole. It is a problem alright, but there are some tricks you can use to reduce it. Large pieces of tobacco are usually not the problem, it's those little tiny ones that tend to do the blocking. I make it a habit when loading my pipe to use the larger bits at first, then the smaller bits on the top. If the tobacco is loose like in a jar a little shaking will cause the large ones to come to the top and the small ones settle to the bottom. When the jar is full or near full I just use the large bits. But when it starts getting to the bottom that's when I start the separating. Load some large bits the give the jar a few more shakes and... here's the trick. Tilt the jar away from you about 45 degrees, give it a couple of shakes. Now gently tilt it toward you until the tobacco falls over to you and at the top of the pile you should see the small bits of tobacco. Using my index finger and thumb I pick some and top off the pipe. I know, kind of hard to explain.

Not only are there now no small bits in the bottom of the bowl to block the draft hole, but the small bits at the top make the pipe easier to light too. That's it.

Or you can do what I do.
Insert a pipe cleaner through the stem and into the bowl (only works for the pipes that will pass a pipe cleaner) and then load the tobacco and remove the pipe cleaner.

 

[markus]

I don't mind a bit of dottle at the end of a smoke, however I cannot abide something being in my pipe chamber other than tobacco.
I have a Nording keystones pipe and I do like to smoke it on occasion, but I dislike it when I smoke it all the way the the bottom (too far) and can taste the keystones and what I assume is ash, blech!

 

[Searock Fan]

Or you can do what I do.
Insert a pipe cleaner through the stem and into the bowl (only works for the pipes that will pass a pipe cleaner) and then load the tobacco and remove the pipe cleaner.

Interesting idea...

 

[pappymac]

Interesting idea...

I started doing that when I found myself packing some blends too tight and creating draw problems.

 

[mso489]

I pretty much try to leave out buying extras for pipes, like stones, or mesh balls, or moisture rings, or rock maple inserts. Usually, by adjusting the basics of smoking, you can get a good dry smoke that burns most, or sometimes all, of the tobacco and sustains good flavor to the end. I do use a bit of pipe cleaner in my Falcon for a moisture ring, but I've never bought the rings themselves.

 

[sablebrush52]

Mesh balls sounds like a terrible affliction.

 

[condorlover1]

I use Philt Pads or the meerschaum equivalent which I get from @weezell. I have written about this before both on my blog and on here since these are traditionally used in a meerschaum pipe. They act as an accelerator to the coloring of a pipe and also stopping the airways getting bunged up with fragments of tobacco. If you want to go 'full on' traditional you can used a silver six pence or silver three penny bit. In terms of packing I tend to cut off as many slices of a plug that I judge I will need to fill a bowl. Rub the slices out so that you have a loose ball and then put your pipe on top and roll the ball into the chamber and then press down and add any residue. Here is a handy little video on the subject from James Fox in Dublin which pretty much tells you everything I just tried to explain.

 

[condorlover1]

As an after thought I have seen these 'Mesh Balls' and I personally wouldn't use them but it really is a matter of personal taste. A lot of people would hate some of my tastes in tobacco but YMMV.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Mesh balls sounds like a terrible affliction.

I learnt in Italy that touching mesh balls’a would ward off bad luck

 

[J-Evverrett]

I have seen those, for sale in kits with pipes of dubious parentage on Amazon. I was under the impression they were just screens like for those metal pipes in the gas station lol. They seem like they’d be useful in not having your pipe’s draw restricted by over zealous tamping. They may work for what you’re trying to achieve, however. Try em and see.

The history of pipe technology has been a great search for a better mousetrap. All manner of widgets to stick in, or various designs to get a cool, dry perfect smoke. If it ever was figured out definitively, we’d have nothing to talk about now, lol.