Can You Pack Too Loose?

[mikethompson]

@CoffeeAndBourbon What you are seeing is varied answers from many different pipe smokers. Can you pack too loose? Yes and no. It all depends on what works for your tobacco, in your pipe, and enjoyed by you.

It is a frustrating thing in that way, that so much is dependant on your individual preferences. The only real way to learn is to do it.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

@CoffeeAndBourbon What you are seeing is varied answers from many different pipe smokers. Can you pack too loose? Yes and no. It all depends on what works for your tobacco, in your pipe, and enjoyed by you.

It is a frustrating thing in that way, that so much is dependant on your individual preferences. The only real way to learn is to do it.

That has been my experience too. I was curious as to what others thought. Great discussions!

 

[saltedplug]

I think you should assume no, as most smokers trying to learn how to pack go tight. For years I resisted a gravity pack, but when I went to it I cut the amount of cleaners that I had been using to clear the airway was in half.

Drizzle tobacco into the bowl, and when filled, if you must, even the top and push lightly down with a finger.

That's it.

 

[Papamique]

Can you cook a steak too raw?

 

[BROBS]

I sort of do a two step pack. I gravity fill to top.. push it down a bit with my finger by feel. Then pack it a bit tighter on top of that. Keeps the tobacco at the bottom loose enough it doesn’t plug up or get wet.

 

[saltedplug]

I hate a loose pack, it burns hot and looses flavors. Before I light my pipe I check the draw..........always. I want there to be some resistance so the draw isn't too easy. If my bowl tightens up while smoking all I do is run a pipe cleaner into the bowl and it loosens it right up. There are times I fold and stuff a flake into my pipe and I have to jam it in to fit. I check the draw and there is none. I take a pipe cleaner, run it into the bowl, it creates and airway and I am off and running. Again it if tightens while smoking I do it again. I nice firm pack makes the pipe smoke slower and cooler which gives me more flavor.

Al Hail Pipemaster!

I wish I had talked to you about packing. As I was recommended a gravity fill, and as it lessened running pipe cleaners into the bowl, I assumed that that was as good as it gets. Apparently not.

 

[mso489]

There is considerable latitude, but tobacco is the fuel, and any given amount is only going to burn so long, a little more or less. More tobacco will burn longer if it is still loose enough to have a sufficient oxygen (air) supply.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I had a lot of trouble with packing at first. I think that was mostly due to trying to learn the "methods" of packing a pipe. As soon as I took the advice that I found on this forum, which was, to just put tobacco in the pipe and smoke. It clicked like riding a bike.

who is Frank anyways?..

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

In theory, you could pack too loose. That might have happened to me in the last 40+ years, but I can’t remember. Of course, I am going to have to look in the freezer and the microwave to figure out where I might have put my car keys, but I do tend to do better remembering pipe related stuff.

The worst advice I ever got was that you should feel resistance on a pre light draw, like with a cigar. Way too tight. When I consciously tried a looser pack, the lesions on the roof of my mouth that the dentist wanted me to have biopsied disappeared, never to return.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

In theory, you could pack too loose. That might have happened to me in the last 40+ years, but I can’t remember. Of course, I am going to have to look in the freezer and the microwave to figure out where I might have put my car keys, but I do tend to do better remembering pipe related stuff.

The worst advice I ever got was that you should feel resistance on a pre light draw, like with a cigar. Way too tight. When I consciously tried a looser pack, the lesions on the roof of my mouth that the dentist wanted me to have biopsied disappeared, never to return.

I'm with you on the memory for sure. Drives my wife crazy. I can remember crap from 30 years ago, but can't remember to get things at the store...

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Depending on the pipe, especially with those of wide-open draw or when smoking 9mm filtered pipe without inserting filter I can easily see the situation when one might find he had packed his pipe too loose,,

 

[mso489]

I grew up with my dad packing his Granger into his pipes out of the foil package with his thumb often one-handed. After years of this, he knew exactly how much leaf he needed and how tight it needed to be compressed, all while doing something else with his time and attention. I'm not quite as adept, don't smoke as much, but was imprinted with the moves, so when I took up a pipe in my thirties, the learning curve was mostly complete.

 

[sandollars]

One can for sure pack too loose. It's an easy fix though when compared to packing too tight. Sure you can always run a pipe cleaner into the bowl but if you are sporting a thin walled pipe and pack too tight, you then have to watch the briar temp so as not to damage your pipe's bowl or airway.

If unsure, err on the light side because tampers are your friends. Picks are useful but I only use them to bring down the edges to the top of the char prior to relighting. I don't like to stir up my charred tobacco with the warmed, un-charred tobacco lower in the bowl. It changes the taste of the remainder of the bowl and never for the better. Almost always the second half of the bowl is my favorite half.

This has been my experience. Your's may be different...

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I'm with you on the memory for sure. Drives my wife crazy. I can remember crap from 30 years ago, but can't remember to get things at the store...

Man, I can never go to the grocery store just once. I always have to make a trip the next day to pick up whatever I forgot!

 

[thechristophershow]

Can you cook a steak too raw?

People cook their steak? I've been doing it wrong all these years!

 

[thechristophershow]

If I have a half bowl, I do the three-step method of packing (loose, medium, tight). But whenever I get to that bottom third of the tobacco, I have to do so many relights. I'm thinking I'm packing that first step of the three-step method too loosely.

If I have a full bowl, I've been trying the Frank method lately, which is gravity fill to top, then, essentially jamming a bunch of tobacco in (I know there's more nuance to it than that, but I don't want to write it out; everybody here knows what it is anyway, I'm sure). But the tobacco at the bottom STILL ends up too loose once I get down to it, so maybe I need more tobacco in the jamming stage.

 

[Scottishgaucho]

I've been smoking a pipe for over 40 years yet I am still capable of making an arse of filling it.

 

[lawdawg]

What the others have said about the possibility of packing too loose is right. It is possible... except with aromatics. It’s about impossible to pack any aro too loose. Anything tighter than a very loose pack with an aro is too tight. A sprinkle / gravity filled bowl of Molto Dolce, slightly overfilled and gently pressed down, is the perfect way to have a delightful aromatic smoke.

 

[jpmcwjr]

If I have a half bowl, I do the three-step method of packing (loose, medium, tight). But whenever I get to that bottom third of the tobacco, I have to do so many relights. I'm thinking I'm packing that first step of the three-step method too loosely.

If I have a full bowl, I've been trying the Frank method lately, which is gravity fill to top, then, essentially jamming a bunch of tobacco in (I know there's more nuance to it than that, but I don't want to write it out; everybody here knows what it is anyway, I'm sure). But the tobacco at the bottom STILL ends up too loose once I get down to it, so maybe I need more tobacco in the jamming stage.

Tampers are what might be "too loose".
And if you're having many relights at the bottom, most likely you'd benefit from more thorough drying of the blend before loading.