When your down to the last 25% in the bowl?

[tarak]

Spencer I probably tamp more than twice...maybe 4-6 times, but I think we all have our own stride that works for us.
Pipesmokingtom- don't worry. In my heart, I'm an acoustic player. That picture just makes me look the least fat. I own more acoustics, have waaaaay more hours on acoustic, and no one has ever accused me of being a great lead player.
Again, just look less fat, and I know how vain we all are around here :nana:

 

[pipesmokingtom]

no one has ever accused me of being a great lead player

Nor I. Sokay... the ladies love the rhythm/voice combo way more than a guitar solo.

 

[darthcider]

Once I stop enjoying the smoke I dump what's left.

Why continue with something you aren't enjoying?

 

[mso489]

Then it's unanimous. Why would you smoke a quarter bowl, or any fraction of a bowl that tastes bad? Thrift? Oh, please. Dump it and pack a different pipe, with a different blend.

 

[okiescout]

Welcome, bigbaldbenny. Like everybody says, enjoy the next one until you don't.

 

[jackswilling]

This review of Anniversary Kake, by Pipestud, is consistent with most/all the above:
"I was a little concerned as I neared the bottom of the bowl because the sweetness left and the Perique got a little too strong for me. Subsequent bowls were smoked to just past the halfway point and then dumped. Some may say that's a waste of tobacco, but, its the way I best enjoyed this blend, thank you very much."

 

[matchstickman]

No, damnit! If you don't smoke every last little fleck of tobacco to a powdery ash then you're doing it wrong and it was all for naught and you are the worst pipe smoker ever!
:mrgreen:
I kid, I kid.
In all honesty, it is dependent on the blend for me, but with most I usually wind up with a little bit of dottle at the end. Flakes generally wind up with more dottle than most other blends. There are a couple of very fine ribbon cut blends I smoke with regularity (Kendal Kentucky, Dark Birdseye, and C&D Exclusive), that I can burn almost all the way down to the bottom. Like others have said, when it stops tasting good or you stop enjoying it, just dump it out. The stuff at the bottom generally smokes way too hot anyway because it has absorbed all the tar and nicotine from all the tobacco above it.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

You ever put a blend you care for less in the bottom because you don't figure on smoking it anyway? I've totally done that.

 

[matchstickman]

You ever put a blend you care for less in the bottom because you don't figure on smoking it anyway? I've totally done that.

I usually have to fuss with my smokes so much to get them ready the way I like them that I feel like this would be more work than I would want to put in, but I could see how that could be handy, especially in my bigger bowl pipes.
I have, however, layered smokes before with the intent of enjoying both blends. I once layered Five Brothers in on top of Old Joe Krantz. I was later looking for the plate number of the Mack truck that nailed me square in the face.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Dumping bulk cheap whatever at the end instead of half a flake of Escudo or Aged Burley Flake hurts my soul a little less.

 

[bigballdbenny]

Thank you all for the educated and honest opinions. It's nice people like you that make this even more enjoyable. If I am seeing the common theme clearly, it's that the most important thing is that I should enjoy the smoke. Take my time enjoying it and get rid of it as I no longer enjoy it. Developing my pace, my favorite blends and my pipes play important roles as well! I am so stoked to have this journey ahead of me! Thanks again to all!

 

[rcstan]

As you slow down, you might get further toward the bottom, but not always. There are a lot of factors in that equation, but like the others said, if it starts getting hot and nasty, dump, wipe, wait to cool down and try again. The bottom layer of baccy acts like a filter.

 

[weezell]

Surprisingly, I never have to dump a cob.

I will not say never, but its rare for me to do...

 

[okiescout]

I was later looking for the plate number of the Mack truck that nailed me square in the face. :rofl:

 

[saltedplug]

About a year ago I modified how I smoke the bottom of the bowl. I try not to dump ash during the smoke and get away with doing so as I smoke group 3s and 4s, so the amount of ash is less than what would be accumulated were I to smoke larger pipes. If I find that I can't relight through the ash, I tap the side of the bowl and dump ash. In doing so only at times does appreciable tobacco fall out, and if it does I reinsert it.
I smoke down to the last 1/8th or less of the tobacco, and the signals that bring the smoke to an end are that I hear the moisture released from combustion sizzling in the bottom of the bowl, that it lights but the smoke is hot or that it hardly lights. To me there is no point in smoking down to the proverbial white ash. I want to smoke, not over smoke, and I feel that obsessing over smoking every last bit of tobacco is effort for very little return.

 

[saltedplug]

double post

 

[stvalentine]

When I first smoked pipes when I was a young guy many years ago there was a written "rule" to smoke every pipe down to the last bit of tobacco because "it would be good for the pipe". The idea was to dry the bottom of the bowl and to give it a nice coating over time. But man, what did I plague myself with this concept! 8O It tasted bitter and harsh and more than one time I´ve got the taste of the juice! Yuck!
I can´t tell you how relieved I was to hear that those days are apparently over. Now I just toss the dottle and stick to the good tasting bit.

 

[fishfly]

Then it's unanimous.

Not quite. I smoke almost every bowl to the dregs. I paid for it, I'm going to smoke it! But then, I've been accursed of being a bit cheap.

 

[glpease]

Lot's of good advice, here, especially not smoking the bottom of the bowl if you're not enjoying it. No reason to suffer through something that doesn't bring you pleasure!
I routinely smoke to the bottom. It took me a while to get there, but to me, it was worth the journey. The first thing was learning not to pack the bowl so tightly. It made a huge difference for me, both in the way the tobacco tastes, and the way it smokes. The second was learning not to tamp so much or so hard. The weight of the tamper is usually more than sufficient to "settle" the ash and make re-lighting possible. I used pack the pipe too tightly, and tended then to poke and prod and play with the ash top so much that, despite my good intentions, it became impossible to get the resulting brick of soggy tobacco to light with anything short of an oxy/acetylene torch.
As you travel down this strange road we're all on, your habits will probably change and develop into what works best for you. Some folks love the last 1/4 of the bowl the most, others don't. They're all right, as long as they're enjoying what they're doing. It's no crime to dump the last part of the bowl. I once knew a guy that loved vintage Three Nuns, but only enjoyed the first half of the bowl. He'd buy new TN to fill the bottom, then top it with his treasured vintage stuff and enjoy the hell out of it. Half way through, his smoke was done, and he was happy not to have wasted his precious gold.
As far as "ruining" the pipe goes, it will be necessary to maintain the cake a little more carefully to prevent a very uneven surface. After finishing the bowl, but it's not going to kill the pipe as some might think. It will likely result in a "sour" heel if the pipe is smoked too much without letting it dry, but that's not the end of the world, either. Swab it out, shake the ash, do whatever works for you, and just keep an eye on it. When the ridges start to be noticeable, a little reaming will make things right again. When the taste starts to suffer, a few pipe cleaners and a little alcohol (cheap vodka is great for pipe cleaning) will help. MOST of those "off tastes" result from gunk in the shank, anyway, not gunk in the bowl.
And, whatever you do, enjoy it. Pleasure over panic is what pipe smoking is all about, as so many have said.

 

[alexnorth]

I don't know if my limited experience will add anything not already said but I seem to get a wet, sour, bad-tasting mess at the bottom when I've smoked to fast. Slowing down and not drawing so eagerly on the pipe seemed to help me get more out of the full bowl.