I must be doing something wrong.....

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Coreios

Lifer
Sep 23, 2022
1,614
2,677
41
United States Of America
Well, just filled my Falcon Coolway with some lovely Pertersons 'My Mixture 965'. This time I used the 'Frank Method'....WHAT DIFFERENCE!!!
  • Stays lit longer
  • Cooler smoke
  • Uses much less tobacco - I am probably getting two bowls to what used to be one now
  • I can really taste the tobacco now
One more question if I can please? How many bowls a day is an average? I mean I tend to smoke and leave to go back later.

Thanks again!
Yeah there is no average. I smoke up to 6 a day one day, then none, and another day 1. Just do it when you want to.
 
Jul 28, 2016
7,565
36,060
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
Even though the 3-step packing is not a good method to fill a pipe, before YouTube, Google or even the internet, the 3-step was always the recommended method. Even the tobacconist in pipe shops recommended it. How times and knowledge have changed.
On YT Muttnchop Piper's channel may be a useful source for any new piper
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,400
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Hi everyone,

I have several pipes now after returning to the past-time after some years. I have Falcons to Peterson's....but the one that I seem to get on with is a Falcon Coolway 23. Why? Well, the smoke (regardless of the leaf) seems richer and more enjoyable down to about halfway down the bowl. Then it all seems to go wrong, it starts to get hot, bitter and definitely less of a pleasurable experience. This seems to be the case quicker with the other pipes, just slower with the Falcon. I think I am packing the bowl correctly - using the three stage method (small amount at the bottom, gently tampered, the next pinch tampered a little firmer and the last pinch a little harder again… so what am I doing that dictates I seem to be having to throw away the last third of each bowl I smoke?

Thanks in advance!

Tony
packing a pipe is hard to teach. It's more of a knack. My suggestion is try a few different methods and see how it effects the experience.
But it takes some time before it really clicks and becomes a natural zero thought near instant process.
The way I pack a pipe is a modified version of the three step method and I find it easier and more effective.
Gravity fill the pipe (sprinkle the tobacco into the chamber and tap your palm on the heel of the pipe to level off the tobacco) I do that for the first 2/3rds of the chamber (some variation with certain blends and cuts) and only press the top 1/3rd down.
So just to step by step. Grab a pinch sprinkle it into the chamber gentle tap the pipe repeat until there is about a 1/3rd of the upper portion of the chamber empty. Sprinkle more tobacco into the chamber (usually makes a bit of a mound over the rim) and then press the tobacco town with the flat surface of your thumb. Check the draw by sucking on the pipe stem. Once you start feeling a very slight but noticeable resistance on the draw you're good to go. Works good for me.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,400
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Even though the 3-step packing is not a good method to fill a pipe, before YouTube, Google or even the internet, the 3-step was always the recommended method. Even the tobacconist in pipe shops recommended it. How times and knowledge have changed.
it's a fine way to pack a pipe. One should be able to get a consistent pack job and an easily smoked pipe.
 
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DrTeeth

Might Stick Around
Sep 2, 2022
94
319
Indiana
shiftdrinkpodcast.com
Yeah and if you're new and go to YouTube or Google it's the first method you see! Terrible method!
This is what caused me problems that ultimately led to quitting the pipe back in my 20’s. Of course, no real internet to speak of then, and the local tobacco shop guys were more interested in talking with their friends over cigars than teaching a young pipe smoker how to pack a bowl.

Of course, I’m back now. And the internet is insanely helpful. But sometimes TOO HELPFUL. Everyone has their idea is the “best” methods. These boards are much more helpful than most of what I’ve seen on YT.
 

Coreios

Lifer
Sep 23, 2022
1,614
2,677
41
United States Of America
This is what caused me problems that ultimately led to quitting the pipe back in my 20’s. Of course, no real internet to speak of then, and the local tobacco shop guys were more interested in talking with their friends over cigars than teaching a young pipe smoker how to pack a bowl.

Of course, I’m back now. And the internet is insanely helpful. But sometimes TOO HELPFUL. Everyone has their idea is the “best” methods. These boards are much more helpful than most of what I’ve seen on YT.
I also quit and came back for that reason. I like lots of opinions though. Sometimes one thong doesn't work for me but someone elses is perfect for me. But yeah there are no best methods. I do think that the 3 pack method is bad for so many people that it shouldnt be the first thing every new person sees.
 

chopper

Lifer
Aug 24, 2019
1,480
3,317
There's nothing 'wrong' with the 3-step method per se, it's just that newbies are usually tamping down too hard between each 'fill'.

All of us here I'm sure, can recall when a newbie how not each bowl was just right and how sometimes, one had to empty out the tobacco and start again.
Funny thing about that though is that having issues with packing is such a distant memory.

It's like as if one day, everything just fell into place.
I had to stop and think "How do you pack a bowl Chopper?" because it's something that I do without conscious effort. I simply just pack a bowl. Muscle memory I think it's called.
Regardless of cut, whether it's ribbon or a flake, my fingers have learnt to pack a bowl just right every time. Except for my small bowls, I use a finger to tamp and that might be one of the things that helped me to learn because a finger is way more sensitive than a tamper.

When I'm packing a small bowl and need to use a tamper, I use way less pressure than when I was a newbie and therein may lay with newbies who are having issues; they're tamping too hard, especially when using the 3-step method.
 

J-Evverrett

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 17, 2021
268
698
41
Meriden, CT
I tried a stop and think about what I was doing recently because I have a brother who is learning. I was trying explain it him. I messed it up lol. My general method is as follows:

open pouch, drop pipe in with bowl parallel to tobacco level, give it a shake to fill, smoosh some more in with finger till it feels right, tamp with thumb a bit. ( kind of tamp a bit on one side and twist) Light twice, with a gentle thumb tamp in between to crush the char. My great uncle showed me that a long time ago, and it works great. I realize it sounds complicated, but it takes less than ten seconds. I should make a video maybe.
 
Jul 28, 2016
7,565
36,060
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
I tried a stop and think about what I was doing recently because I have a brother who is learning. I was trying explain it him. I messed it up lol. My general method is as follows:

open pouch, drop pipe in with bowl parallel to tobacco level, give it a shake to fill, smoosh some more in with finger till it feels right, tamp with thumb a bit. ( kind of tamp a bit on one side and twist) Light twice, with a gentle thumb tamp in between to crush the char. My great uncle showed me that a long time ago, and it works great. I realize it sounds complicated, but it takes less than ten seconds. I should make a video maybe.
This worked satisfactorily to me only with granulated or cub cut tobaccos such as PA or Half and half but haven
t had much of success with either Ready Rubbed long cut or ribbon cut tobaccies
 

J-Evverrett

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 17, 2021
268
698
41
Meriden, CT
This worked satisfactorily to me only with granulated or cub cut tobaccos such as PA or Half and half but haven
t had much of success with either Ready Rubbed long cut or ribbon cut tobaccies
Oddly enough, I smoke exclusively half and half and then Prince Albert for 15 years. It was what my older male relatives smoked
 
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EvertonFC

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 5, 2020
252
482
Philadelphia
One more question if I can please? How many bowls a day is an average? I mean I tend to smoke and leave to go back later.

Thanks again!
You can search the forum if you wish, as there have been a number of threads on how much people smoke around here. You'll literally find everything from 8 - 10 a day to once a month.
 
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krizzose

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,104
18,037
Michigan
Hopefully better packing will fix the problem. If it happens again, avoid puffing hard to get it going again; just let it go out. The gently stir up the ash and remove it as much as can. Try not to disturb the unburned tobacco until you’ve dumped the ash. Then gently pry up the tobacco so it’s loose in the bowl, tamp it gently, and relight.
 
Jan 19, 2023
9
8
I always advice new people to use a variation of the Frank Method and a Gravity fill, gravity fill till the pipe is full then the Frank Method packing the baccy untill it feels tight BUT springy at the same time.
 

Ray Popp

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 14, 2022
173
249
I forget who (on this Forum, I think) said it, but ...
1. Pack looser than you think.
I think each of us figure out over time what works for us and in some cases, what works for each cut type. Just pack it loosely ... and check the draw before you light.
2. Smoke slower than you think.
Some call it sipping on your pipe. I had a hard time figuring out what people meant until I watched some pipe smokers on YouTube. Some other clues, if/when your pipe begins to gurgle, you NEED to slow down. Also, I will as gently as I draw, puff out of the pipe. Not certain what is happening, but the gurgle goes away. This can happen to me on aromatics like Borkum Riff Bronze (it was bought in Italy). And it is a sign telling me to slow down.
3. Smoke dryer than you think.
This is certainly true. It helps ensure a cooler and dryer smoke because the tobacco is dryer. And from what I read, many pouches have large amounts of wetting agent.

This works for me. As folks here will say, YMMV ... but this works for me. I have not smoked a lot recently, but have smoked a lot over a long time. I have forgotten more than I remember about pipe smoking ... and thankfully, there is the internet and are forums today. When I started smoking a pipe, the Internet was the DARPA net and not publicly available, it was before COMPUSERVE and the birth of home computers ... thankfully, there were school buses and I did not have to walk to and from school uphill both ways ...
 
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