The dreaded tongue-bite . . .

[Airborne]

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[Harlock999]

I just don’t smoke my pipes “all the way down.” I don’t put my tongue through it. Over the years, my pipes have not suffered as I keep them clean and rotated. This would not be everyone’s cup o’ tea, but it works well for me to avoid t-bite and I enjoying smoking much more.

Good, sound advice, and I'm with you on #6. I'll give it a go every now and then, but smoking all the way down is kind of an extreme sport, and more than a few pleasant smokes have had a rough ending when I didn't stop when I should have.

 

[forsooth]

I agree -- good points.

I believe that the major cause of T-bite (for me) is the "chemical relationship" of the tobacco blend to the tongue. I began pipe smoking about 6 months ago, and this is one of the most impt. things I've learned. 1Q, BCA, Trout Stream, etc., etc., I can smoke to my heart's content. Anything with a high amt. of latakia or burley, I WILL be rewarded with T-bite (even Lane's BLWB -- "burley light without bite").

Like you, I've started backing off the bottom of the bowl. Many times, I've had a happy smoke, and then re-light to finish the bowl and -- zap! -- the harshness of the vapors on my tongue is the unhappy result.

 

[MartinH]

I have to agree with number 6 as well. I've grown to do it naturally, I have to say, but to the detriment of the smoke. At the bottom of the bowl, the t-bite happens and I stop. Now that I've read this, I will make a more cognizant effort to actually stop before the first t-bite. So, although I've stopped smoking the bowl once I hit the bottom, it seems to be sound advice to stop "before" I have the first attack on my tongue.

Overall, your advice is well written and sound. I certainly appreciate it.

Martin

 

[tin man]

Nice post. I think I need to address #6 as more of a mental reconditioning than a pipe smoking technique. When I was a kid I was always encouraged to eat everything on my plate, waste not want not, and I heard the starving kids in China lecture more than I care to remember. Even though I'm totally past all of that in my logical mind, it's still a hard habit to break.

I'm going to work on this one and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Buckshot]

Excellent advice and a great post.

 

[tiltjlp]

Good advice as far as it goes, except for #6, IMNSHO. I've smoked a pipe for 52 years, and have never had tongue bite. While body chemistry may be a factor in a small number of cases, the real issue is steam and condensation. The most important factor is drying your tobacco, because moist tobacco causes condensation which causes steam which causes tongue bite.

I still use the advice my dad and his friends gave me back in 1959, and I always smoke to the bottom of the bowl and white ash.

Dry your tobacco more than you think you need to.
Pack it looser than you think you need to.
Smoke it slower than you think you need to.
Tamp it less , and more lightly, than you think you need to.
Clean your pipes after every smoke, using pipe spirits of some sort.
Don’t worry if you have a few relights.


Now some folks complain that packing looser means that the bowl won't last as long. While that's true, you end up getting an extra bowl or two from every tin, and you avoid tongue bite, or at least reduce it quite a bit. Besides, would you rather enjoy a 45-50 minute smoke, or get tongue bite and not really enjoy a 55-60 minute smoke? But then again, if you're dumping your pipe 2/3 of the way down, how long is that horrible smoke really lasting?

 

[LIPIPE]

Good advice. Thanks much! Just proves that pipe smoker's need senior pipe buddies for proper enjoyment guidance. I agree with all said, and I learned it all the hard way ..... from personal experience.

 

[Guy]

I never got t-bite… Great points, I also have taken long sabbaticals from pipe smoking over the years, never smoke more than 3 bowls a day and take day(s) off if needed. I live by your items #3 & 4.

 

[CarterHallJunkie]

Good advice. Thanks much! Just proves that pipe smoker's need senior pipe buddies for proper enjoyment guidance. I agree with all said, and I learned it all the hard way ..... from personal experience.

SO very true LIPIPE - and this is exactly why I recently joined B0B - I needed to learn from senir pipe smikers.

LOVE this place!

 

[Dottleman]

Could not have said it better myself Carter! I love to hear tips from others. I've been smoking pipes on and off since I was sixteen, but every lesson I learned was hard fought. There were no forums, and I was never one to hang out at the tobacconist....heck, I considered myself lucky to get in and out with some tobacco without my age coming into the equation! I really feel a sense of camaraderie among the members here. Thanks all.

 

[s.ireland]

Dry your tobacco more than you think you need to.
Pack it looser than you think you need to.
Smoke it slower than you think you need to.
Tamp it less , and more lightly, than you think you need to.
Clean your pipes after every smoke, using pipe spirits of some sort.
Don’t worry if you have a few relights.

I find this to be very true. I don't understand how people smoke soggy wet tobacco straight from the tin that has never worked for me. It wasn't until I started drying my tobacco (in combination with slow smoking) that I was able to smoke bowls all the way down. And for what it's worth I smoke VA and VApers exclusively and I've never had tongue bite.

 

[babysinister]

I would like to add to the kudos for your post, and not only newbies will benefit immensely from it I'd wager, as tongue bite is a perennial challenge for many of us pipe smokers. I cut and pasted your sage advice to my Tips and Info folder in my pipe tobacco database. Thanks.

 

[msmith1956]

Great advice... thanks for posting!

 

[Dutch]

This is one of the most informative threads I've seen concerning tongue bite. It takes a lot of time and dedication to learn these aspects, so that a pipe smoker can truly relax and enjoy his pipe, when everything comes automatically in his mind without giving much thought or direct attention. At that point, smoking a pipe actually requires less attention than smoking a cigar.

 

[NicholasDestray]

If tongue bite is what I think it is, then I've been lucky enough to avoid it in my pipes...but not my cigars! I'd say maybe one cigar in five gives me what seems to match the description of tongue bite. Do any other pipe+cigar smokers have anything to corroborate or refute my experience?

 

[CarterHallJunkie]

I've never experienced tongue bite from ciggs or cigars. Believe me, you'll know it when you get it!

 

[NicholasDestray]

I've never experienced tongue bite from ciggs or cigars. Believe me, you'll know it when you get it!

So it's more than a brief annoyance, but something incredibly awful, perhaps? Maybe I've been fortunate, indeed.

 

[choch]

Thanks for the great post John. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who doesn't like to smoke down to the bottom of the bowl, I always find the tobac to be too moist and harsh at the end. My biggest issue isn't tongue bit, it's the roof of my mouth. It sometimes gets very tender, or even burned there. I tend to smoke too hard at times, and I think that created too hot of a smoke and that burns the roof of my mouth.

 

[Airborne]

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