New Packing Method

[mattia76]

My friend Ethan (maybe known as The Foolish around here) showed me this a couple of months back at Viking Pipe Club. He told us where he picked it up, but a lot of people have been using it around here with very positive results (though I put a twist on it).

Basically it goes like this:
1. Gravity fill the bowl (This is the part I added). I guess for me this usually also means a pretty good flake rub-out before hand as well.

2. Put your tobacco that you're going to load into the palm of your hand.

3. Grasp pipe in other hand.

4. Carefully (and quickly) turn your pipe rim-down, onto the pile of tobacco in your palm and begin a gentle, corkscrew, twisting motion, which loads the tobacco into the chamber.

5. Adjust as you go and keep turning. What you're doing ideally is creating a fairly uniform plug of tobacco. You may have a slight air pocket at the bottom of your chamber. I always like to push the plug down and spare the rim from scorching. You can also simply add more tobacco to your hand and twist again.

I have found that this works well.

 

[Growley]

I'm going to need a video I think I'm picturing this right...but I'd love to see it done. Do you know if there are any videos on this method? Does it have a name so I can search it myself?

Brian.

 

[Slide]

Minus the gravity feed that is one of the methods I learned shortly after starting smoking a pipe.

It works well.

 

[jefe1037]

im with slide on this one... a little more tobacco in the hand and skip the gravity feed... someone posted a video a while back of a gentleman demonstrating this method. i believe we all had a chuckle about the tobacco burning in the corkscrew pattern as it was loaded. alson skipping the gravity feed makes the "quick flip" unnecessary; my mental image of tobacco flying across the room aside, the same result would be achieved.

 

[kaiser83]

Yup I occasionally do this method as well, minus the initial gravity feed. Learned it here on BoB when someone posted a video of it. Works well.

 

[williamcharles]

Anti-gravitational method, right?

 

[Brewdude]

I remember that vid. IIRC It was Desmond Sautter, of Sautter of Mayfair Tobacconist in London.

Looked like a great way to pack, but one would need the right cut. Seems to me he was using ready rubbed or some such.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Hawker]

I second the "Let's See The Video". What i see in my minds eye is all twisted to shyt. :no:

 

[HCraven]

I remember watching this video of David McGrane from James J. Fox demonstrating the technique. I've tried it a few times with pretty decent results, but I think I need a little more practice to get it down perfectly.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0XHYPso7TXs" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Brewdude]

I remember watching this video of David McGrane from James J. Fox demonstrating the technique. I've tried it a few times with pretty decent results, but I think I need a little more practice to get it down perfectly.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0XHYPso7TXs" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ya, that was it. I stand corrected.


Cheers,

RR

 

[mattia76]

Very cool. I had no idea there was a video.

Out of curiosity (and since it was my own addition, I guess), why are we so anti the gravity fill?

I think the reason I incorporated it was because my initial attempts didn't fill the bowl w/o first gravity filling.

 

[Slide]

I'm not against it :lol: I just learned it without it.

I did try it after I read your description. It worked fine for me.

 

[HCraven]

Very cool. I had no idea there was a video.

Out of curiosity (and since it was my own addition, I guess), why are we so anti the gravity fill?

I think the reason I incorporated it was because my initial attempts didn't fill the bowl w/o first gravity filling.

I wouldn't say I'm against gravity fills at all. I do it all the time with cube-cuts, krumble kakes and finer ribbons/shags like OTC's, and rarely need to do much more than that to them.

You still may be able to load your pipe without the need to start with the gravity fill. You'll notice in the video that Mr. McGrane is actually putting a fair bit more tobacco in his hand than he needs to fill the pipe. You are actually just gently pushing the tobacco into the pipe, after all, and the circular motion helps pack it evenly without having to use excessive force. In this regard, it helps avoid a common misstep when using the three-step method, namely applying too much pressure and over-packing the pipe. As he mentions, though, it is still important to check the draw before you light; you want about as much resistance as you get drinking soda through a straw, but not as much as you feel while trying to suck a milkshake through one.

BTW, I've loaded a couple more bowls in this fashion recently, and I think I will be employing this method much more often in the future. Thanks for reminding me that it's an option.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I remembered one packing adage last fall which continues to work well for me. I had always been concerned with getting as much tobacco in the bowl as possible in my quest for the longest smoke. For that reason I gravitated to flake. I tried using the fold and stuff method but had horrible results with relights. Then I tried matchsticks rubbed out only to the extent that the strands started to separate. Too many relights. Now I take matchsticks and rub them out to the extent that they are each in three or four smaller pieces; pieces, not strands. Bingo.

But the real secret was to strictly follow the advice to never, ever, push down on the tobacco. Gravity fill or plug at the top, which although it veers from this advice, leaves an air-pocket. This method might be better, perhaps filling the bowl gently but more densely and still creating the air-pocket.

 

[bentbulldog]

I must give this a try!

Anyone find that this works or doesn't work with certain tobacco cuts?

 

[Crookshanks]

HEY!! Thanks for this, y'all!

I tried this today with some pretty chunky cut of JackKnife Plug and it worked really nicely!! I'm super impressed!

 

[brianr]

I remember watching this video of David McGrane from James J. Fox demonstrating the technique.  I've tried it a few times with pretty decent results, but I think I need a little more practice to get it down perfectly.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0XHYPso7TXs" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've just tried this method with my Carey Magic Inch, which seems very 'sensitive' to how it is packed.

It was magic. It has 'transformed' the pipe, which I always enjoyed but sometimes struggled to pack "just right".

No 'dottle' and no need to even 'false light' on this occasion.

It also looks a very 'professional' method- calm and in control.

I can see me using this method from now on.

Brian

 

[SteveS]

I've only recently learned this method after many years of pipe smoking and am absolutely amazed at how well it works ... it promotes a more even fill, easier lighting, better draw, cooler and more complete burning with almost no re-lights needed. I don't know why I had to get old before learning this method, but this old dog sure likes this (for me) new trick ...

 

[Hawker]

I've only recently learned this method after many years of pipe smoking and am absolutely amazed at how well it works ... it promotes a more even fill, easier lighting, better draw, cooler and more complete burning with almost no re-lights needed.  I don't know why I had to get old before learning this method, but this old dog sure likes this (for me) new trick ...

X 2 on this one. Been using this method for most of my aro's since seeing this thread 7 months ago.
Plain and simple "It Works".:cheers: