The other day I lit up my thin-walled cob to keep me occupied during the slow moments while cleaning my firearms ... and I stumbled upon something that proves I am slow to pick up on some things. I had read a comment once about "stirring the bowl" and had no idea what the fellow was talking about. I had also recently read people saying that the thickness of the bowl wall was of little or no consequence to the flavor or enjoyment of a pipe, and I wondered how they kept the bowl from getting too hot to hold.
Well, while pushing a brush through the barrel, an experiment popped into my head. You see, until now, I have always put flame to my tobacco when the smoke stops coming out the stem. It occurred to me that the tobacco is tamped and doesn't allow much oxygen in there while it burns. What if I used the pipe tool to loosen things up a bit to let some air in ... would the tobacco spontaneously reignite?
Turns out, it works. Stir the 'baccy a bit, and like magic it starts burning again! Except for when it has really cooled and gone out. This may come as no surprise to most of you, but for me it was a hand-slap-on-the-forehead moment. At any rate, I can now enjoy a bowl without burning my hands, even in my Country Gentleman's cob. Thought there might be others out there that might benefit.
