Frank Method Rocks

[Berg]

Newbie here; pleased to see the “Frank Method” pop up. Initially I thought “WTF is the Frank Method”; checked out the NY Pipeclub presentation and some YouTube videos and now I know.

Tried it out over the weekend and what a difference! Tobacco actually tastes as it is described on the tin, it stays lit without constant relights, burns to the bottom of the bowl and makes the smoke much longer and relaxed. Last bowl ran close to an hour 15, which I’ve never done before.

I’m sure the old hands on here have methods and finesse that don’t require this method, but as a beginner it should be at the top of the list of things to learn.

 

[mordy18]

Newbie here; pleased to see the “Frank Method” pop up. Initially I thought “WTF is the Frank Method”; checked out the NY Pipeclub presentation and some YouTube videos and now I know.

Tried it out over the weekend and what a difference! Tobacco actually tastes as it is described on the tin, it stays lit without constant relights, burns to the bottom of the bowl and makes the smoke much longer and relaxed. Last bowl ran close to an hour 15, which I’ve never done before.

I’m sure the old hands on here have methods and finesse that don’t require this method, but as a beginner it should be at the top of the list of things to learn.

Exactly. It really isnt that complicated. After a few hundred bowls I realized that a recurring problem was overly compacted tobacco after the 1/2 way point of a smoke as a result of packing and tamping, leading to poor draw, frequent relights, a lot of dottle left in the bowl, and excess moisture. This is exactly what the three pinch method is also getting at. And i’m sure many can load a pipe without thinking about it and have a perfect smoke, and are dismissive of any regimentation or process in pipe smoking. But herr frank summed it up with teutonic efficiency.

 

[captainsousie]

Exactly. It really isnt that complicated. After a few hundred bowls I realized that a recurring problem was overly compacted tobacco after the 1/2 way point of a smoke as a result of packing and tamping, leading to poor draw, frequent relights, a lot of dottle left in the bowl, and excess moisture. This is exactly what the three pinch method is also getting at. And i’m sure many can load a pipe without thinking about it and have a perfect smoke, and are dismissive of any regimentation or process in pipe smoking. But herr frank summed it up with teutonic efficiency.

As Taylor Swift said "haters gonna hate, hate hate, so shake it off".

Personally I use a 3-step pack as a one-step scoop really only works for some people. I take time to make it draw how I like it as I don't get to smoke often. Honestly it really is more down to my lack of distraction that makes the pipe smoke better though. Anyway...

Pack how you wanna pack. I still use the Frank method sometimes. It really works for my aromatic tobaccos but many times laziness takes over and I forget to pay attention to packing as much as I would like.

Ignore the ones saying "you should only use my way" and figure out what works for you.

 

[ophiuchus]

I’ve worked the method, and still occasionally use a simplified version. I won’t knock it; I’ve had good smoking experiences this way. I’m just too lazy, too impatient ...

 

[elvishrunes]

Ok, just tried it and had a perfect smoking bowl from start to finish, right to the bottom, with hardly a relight. Maybe it was a fluke, but ill try it again. Light fill on the bottom, plug on top and I pressed it below the rim...

 

[olkofri]

teutonic efficiency

That's my rule for life: that's why the Frank Method appeals to me.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Except the Frank Method, while perhaps Teutonic, is not efficient for those who can load a pipe just as well in a fraction of the time the Frankophiles can.

 

[olkofri]

Except the Frank Method, while perhaps Teutonic, is not efficient for those who can load a pipe just as well in a fraction of the time the Frankophiles can.

Once you get a disciplined approach down, it becomes muscle memory and can be done real fast. Soldiers would have a hard time in life were that not the case.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Too many steps! Too fastidious!

--
Coach: "Are you just ignorant, or merely apathetic?"
Player: "Coach, I don't know, and I don't care."

 

[olkofri]

Too many steps! Too fastidious!

Less steps than the THREE-layer method!!

 

[Chasing Embers]

"you should only use my way"

Yep, got a couple of those here.

 

[mordy18]

Maybe if we called it the "Frank suggestion" or the "Frank shortcut" or "shnitzel" or just call it "stuffe and puffe" it wouldn't trigger people.

 

[olkofri]

Maybe if we called it the "Frank suggestion" or the "Frank shortcut" or "shnitzel" or just call it "stuffe and puffe" it wouldn't trigger people.

Why bother? If they get triggered it's the worse for them: they'll have two tasks: blowing off and chilling out.

And chilling out might require more steps than drop, pinch, stuff and swirl.

 

[BROBS]

ANYONE WHO CRITICIZES MY METHOD WILL BE IMMEDIATELY BANNED!!!!!

disclaimer: I have neither the authority nor the ability to ban anyone.

2nd disclaimer: nor is it your method

 

[alaskanpiper]

2nd disclaimer: nor is it your method

This is true, I’m a three pinch simple tamper.

Unless you mean life in general, in which case the I’m a one pinch simpleton.

 

[Suilven]

The "how do I pack my pipe method" has been discussed ad nauseum including a sticky thread somewhere. But I am posting this in the basics and beginners section because after two years of smoking a pipe and trying every method from stuff and puff, to three pinch, to the scoop from the jar, to the spiral palm swirl method,, I have settled on the Frank method - it works.

I had used it - sort of and without attention to the details- periodically with only periodic success. I recently read the article on the method on the NY Pipe club site and began following the directions exactly (other than the torch lighter). It works -- consistently and with great results. If done correctly, it creates a firm plug of tobacco at the top of the bowl with looser tobacco at the bottom, so that as the ember burns down, airflow is maintained and I get a consistent smoke that rarely goes out. I find the bowl doesn't heat up as much, and tamping and relights are kept to a minimum, and the tobacco burns down to a nice ash at the bottom of the bowl, This has been true across different pipes and blends, although it works best with ribbon cuts.

The most important part is creating the plug with a large volume of tobacco over the top of the bowl which is gently nudged and pushed inwards but not down into the bowl.

Anyway, wanted to share in the beginner's section - I highly recommend new smokers try it,

mordy18,
Big thanks for this! I'm a fairly new pipe smoker and have had inconsistent results using a couple of packing methods. I looked up the Frank "gravity drop and massage suggestion" on the NY pipe smokers site and followed it carefully. Works like a charm for me and simpler than the 3-layer method. My sole variation is to tamp very gently a couple times as the baccy burns down. I'm getting nice long smokes with a more open draw and better taste too. Fewer relights as well. I'll stick with it. Gracias amigo!

 

[mordy18]

mordy18,
Big thanks for this! I'm a fairly new pipe smoker and have had inconsistent results using a couple of packing methods. I looked up the Frank "gravity drop and massage suggestion" on the NY pipe smokers site and followed it carefully. Works like a charm for me and simpler than the 3-layer method. My sole variation is to tamp very gently a couple times as the baccy burns down. I'm getting nice long smokes with a more open draw and better taste too. Fewer relights as well. I'll stick with it. Gracias amigo!

De nada. Enjoy!

 

[saltedplug]

As I remember it the Frank Method made a big splash in Chicago in ~2002, and the two-back board that I was on at the time was filled by reports of the self-proclaimed board's leader's exultation about it.

It was hailed as the pipe world's next best thing to good news for modern man. I thought it completely overdone, and as has already been mentioned above, in general packing methods stress a loose pack at bottom and a firm pack on top. And the idea of buying a torch to accomplish it finished the decision.

 

[telescopes]

I don't have a method. In nearly 40 years I never came in less than 2nd in a pipe smoking contest. Hell, I don't know what I am doing. I just use the force. That, and I pose nobly starring into the double sunsets of my home plane all while smoking a straight billiard.

 

[anotherbob]

if you're a beginner try several packing methods until you get something you're really happy with. At worst you'll probably ruin a few bowls.