THE FRANK METHOD

I've tried it but like you I couldn't really tell any difference. I first ran across it on a pipe blog, can't remember which one it was. Thanks for posting the video, I hadn't seen that before.

I have tried it a few times and i must say didn't care for it. I mostly smoke flakes and in general prefer the tobacco fairly dry, and I think Achim Frank's method is just not well suited for me.
Incidentally, I've seen several videos of other people explaining his method and some of these pipe mavens clearly do push the wad directly downwards to the chamber -- just the very thing Herr Frank advices against.
BTW, I'm curious why do you YOU TYPE YOUR TO TOPIC TITLES IN ALL CAPS?

I just keep filling my pipes with tobacco until they are just beneath the rim with about the same firmness of a stale spongecake.

I've been using this method for years and it works great in way less time than the Frank Method.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=james+fox+tobacco+video&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=507238384667A3D04C64507238384667A3D04C64

The method demonstrated by Fox is like magic!

The problem for me is that I am too clumsy,

and I get tobacco crumbs all over the place. :lol:

So I just use the three step method.

You are suppose to type only the first letter of each word in caps when authoring a title.

Click to expand...

This rule is so misplaced. If you're going to have a writing style guide rule on the website, how about:
1. Make words plural by adding S, not 'S. It's tobaccos, not tobacco's.

2. No acronyms ever.

3. Make your titles descriptive rather than trying to add mystery with vagueness or an ellipsis.

4. Make an honest attempt at spelling words correctly. No one expects perfection, but please try.

5. Seriously, no acronyms.
Adoption of any one of these would be far better than the totally randomly enforced Rule Number Nine.
Regarding the Frank Method: the one tobacco I've done this with is GL Pease Fillmore. I prefer the air pocket method, if I'm going to do anything fancier than rubbing and stuffing.

:lol: I fill my pipe. I press it down. Not too much, so that I still have a nice draw, and it's about 1/4" from rim and springy. Light, tamp, relight, and off I go, tamping occasionally. Or not.

It works best in conjunction with the Beans Method.

It was great to have so much advice on how to load tobacco into a pipe, back when I was getting started.
Fortunately I quickly gained a feel for it, kind of like driving a standard, it seems complicated at first then before you know it you're on automatic pilot.

@papipeguy I came across that video a few months ago and have been using it since.
It works really well for me,so much so in fact that it has stopped me apeing Captain Ahab and throwing my pipe over the taffrail!

I can't say that I've ever used this one before. I've done the fold and stuff, the three pack method and the palm roll method. For me it depends on the pipe and the cut of the tobacco, and also that particular tobacco. I've found that different pipes and different tobacco's like to be packed different. I'll have to give this a try and see how it works out for me.

I like the frank method if I have a huge bowl I'm going to smoke for 2 hours. If it's a group 1, I just stuff, use my thumb to press down while turning the bowl.

"THE FRANK METHOD"
This is not to be confused with the very frankly method.

escioe

I agree and disagree on the matter of the acronym. On one hand, it is truly annoy when someone uses a acronym without being aware of it. One just says it, and one doesn't care how the listeners/readers receive it. But, one the other hand, if one use a acronym while one's perfectly aware of what one's using, then one knows the character and the subtext the acronym brings. Take our community for example, we have our own terminology: YABO, PAD/TAD, etc. If you know what they are, you are one of the community, and if you don't, well... And what I've noticed is that YABO is more popular in the Youtube/Instagram community while PAD/TAD is more of forum guys, so there is that. So I think it is absolutely unfair to throw the acronym into the trash bin.

But since we started this conversation, I'd like to know why some native english speaker handwrite in such a bad fashion when they just mix the capitals and the minuscules like "HeRe". I'm not a native english speaker so I don't know why they do it and frankly it just drives me nut.

All right, let me get back to the Frank Method. I used to use it and it suited my need but then I was smoking a 9mm pipe so that could be different. Now when I try to use that method it just end up too tight and too difficult to draw. Now I mainly use a mixed method of Frank and two/three stage: Spread the tobacco in, shake the bowl and repeat until the bowl is full, press it to the middle, spread and shake again to the top and press it down to the 2/3-3/4 position, then I'm good to go. The Fox Method seems pretty interesting, and I've heard it, or a variation of it, on a Chinese forum so I'll give it a try and I'll give you guys a feedback when I have some thoughts about it.

My apology to OP, I hope the conversation goes back to the packing method itself ASAP (I imagine escioe is pissed haha, well no hard feelings OK? ...Oops. ;P )

Asked completely without irony, what's YABO?

@ grouchydog
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I thought that yabos was a euphemism for certain feminine, er..., charms?