In order to investigate the main factors behind hot coal fallout during cigarette smoking, an in-use behavior survey among smokers was conducted in three locations (Guiyang, Shijiazhuang and Nanchang) in China. In addition, a measuring device was designed to record whether a flicking or tapping force was exerted to remove ash and to record the force applied as well as their characteristic parameters. We found that there was no significant difference among the behavior characteristic parameters of the users in the three locations. The proportion of consumers who applied flicking was higher than the proportion of consumers tapping. There were some differences in the in-use behavior when smoking King Size and Superslim cigarettes. The work could help to develop a suitable hot coal fallout test method.