Banking the Fire

[Wheels]

My Grandparents heated their small house with a coal stove in the front room. At the end of the day, Grandpa would pile ashes over the coals. He called it banking. In the morning he would stir it up and put more coal in and the fire was still lit.

It dawned on me that this is what I'm trying to do when I smoke my pipe. The goal is to keep the tobacco just smoldering rather that open burning. And it doesn't take much fresh air to maintain a smolder once you get some heat built up. So, I'm thinking I need to draw hard enough at first to get a good burn started and build up a layer of ash on top. And then, just nurse it and tamp lightly to barely keep it going.

And, if it goes out, I need draw hard enough when I re-light to get the heat built up again before going back to sipping.

Does that make sense?

 

[OverMountain]

Sounds about right. Some of the best tamping advice was simply, tamp lighter than you think you need.

Just the slightest press works.

 

[didimauw]

I believe a lot of my issues used to be from tamping. I wouldn't tamp often enough, and when I did, it was too hard. Still when my pipe is going nicely, I forget to tamp when I'm lost in my thoughts. Trying to remember it more frequently.

 

[Briarcutter]

I never seem to "ash" my pipe so it sounds like I'm banking. I rarely remove the ash just tamp it down and relight if needed. Do most folks just let the ash ride?

 

[FLDRD]

I never seem to "ash" my pipe so it sounds like I'm banking. I rarely remove the ash just tamp it down and relight if needed. Do most folks just let the ash ride?

I was never much of an ash dumper, more about slow compression.
Even more so after preferring a "system" pipe.

 

[InWithBothFeet]

One suggestion I saw was to just use the weight of the tamper, although that depends on the tamper in question. My understanding is that you're not trying to compress the tobacco, just push the cherry down onto the tobacco. My bowl packing is still a work in progress, sometimes it's fairly obvious that I didn't pack tightly enough.

 

[kcghost]

Sounds reasonable though it seems you're over stating the need to "draw hard" to get the pipe going.

 

[dottlejockey]

I would only add that if you notice your pipe is starting to stall, simply cover the top with your palm and pull a couple long, slow draws, remove your hand and voila. Back going strong.

I never seem to "ash" my pipe so it sounds like I'm banking. I rarely remove the ash just tamp it down and relight if needed. Do most folks just let the ash ride?

I do this, especially with a taller bowl and only if a relight is necessary. A quick tamp and the removal of excess ash can help the flame relight the ember. JMHO.

One suggestion I saw was to just use the weight of the tamper, although that depends on the tamper in question. My understanding is that you're not trying to compress the tobacco, just push the cherry down onto the tobacco. My bowl packing is still a work in progress, sometimes it's fairly obvious that I didn't pack tightly enough.

Sounds about right to me. Only need to compress the ash a bit. No need to push the tamper once you feel any resistance. The tobacco itself needs no compaction.

 

[AJL67]

I believe a lot of my issues used to be from tamping. I wouldn't tamp often enough, and when I did, it was too hard. Still when my pipe is going nicely, I forget to tamp when I'm lost in my thoughts. Trying to remember it more frequently.

Yah sure THAT'S where your issues stem from .... lol

 

[InWithBothFeet]

Yah sure THAT'S where your issues stem from .... lol

Not going to take the bait.. nope, not gonna do it. I've already had one post deleted this week. It's too soon for another.

 

[AJL67]

Not going to take the bait.. nope, not gonna do it. I've already had one post deleted this week. It's too soon for another.

Always a good idea to learn the lay of the land and keep low to start. We are lucky to have a free site to come to and interact with like minded people that share our hobbies and interests. I have been read the riot act and given a time out once that was enough. We are guests in someone's house they generously invited us into.

I will tell you why i like this site so much, plain and simple it isn't cliquish, many other sites are "the cool kids / old timers" and everyone else, this site is not like that and to me makes it that much better.

 

[Briarcutter]

IMO, the tamper is a tool with a learning curve. There is no same way all the time in every situation. When I smoke Semois for example,after the initial light I really ram it down and it always draws nicely. If I did that same method for other tobaccos I'd never get a draw. Like any other tool, takes a while to get to know it. Couldn't smoke a bowl without one, I've been known to carve sticks when I didn't have any other one. Some scoff at the use of tampers, my finger is not sharp enough to scrape the walls as I like.

 

[didimauw]

Yah sure THAT'S where your issues stem from .... lol

Shhhhhhhhh

 

[ThermionicScott]

One suggestion I saw was to just use the weight of the tamper, although that depends on the tamper in question. My understanding is that you're not trying to compress the tobacco, just push the cherry down onto the tobacco. My bowl packing is still a work in progress, sometimes it's fairly obvious that I didn't pack tightly enough.

This is why I like to use a fingertip most of the time. You're naturally not going to do anything more than touch the surface and then pull away.

I still use a real tamper to gently guide tobacco from the periphery of the chamber toward the center, though.

 

[Sobrbiker]

IMO, the tamper is a tool with a learning curve. There is no same way all the time in every situation. When I smoke Semois for example,after the initial light I really ram it down and it always draws nicely. If I did that same method for other tobaccos I'd never get a draw. Like any other tool, takes a while to get to know it. Couldn't smoke a bowl without one, I've been known to carve sticks when I didn't have any other one. Some scoff at the use of tampers, my finger is not sharp enough to scrape the walls as I like.

As with the ashing, my response would vary from pipe to pipe, blend to blend, and smoke to smoke.
My tamping’s force became much more appropriate after using my finger for a while, but as you pointed out I too don’t like the ashy tobak building up along the sides.
These days, I use bamboo golf tees almost exclusively for tampers and the “weight of the tamper” thought in my head with such a light tamper is training me to a much better level of muscle memory.
I do prefer to scrape them sides and maintain a domed little hot pile of goodness going, and with my preference for .7-.75” chambers the golf tees work great.

 

[bullet08]

Not draw hard. Draw just enough. Unless of course, you enjoy eating ashes.