Your best packing tobacco

[WVOldFart]

I was enjoying a pipe full of possibly 1950's Brown and Williamson Sir Walter Raleigh made in Louisville, Kentucky that I managed to get about 5 years ago from some people who bought property and in one of the sheds, on a stud was a tub of unopened Sir Walter Raleigh. I offered them a reasonable price for the tub and have sparingly enjoyed it. It was such a great tobacco that all you had to do was scoop out a bowl full, press gently on the top, light it and set back and enjoy the flavor. Seldom if ever do you have to relight. This is one of the luxuries of the old codger blends. So just for conversation sake, I was wondering what pipe blends pack similar for you. I still have about a quarter of the tub left and I hate the thoughts of finishing it because the new Sir Walter Raleigh is a major disappointment.

 

[pantsBoots]

Amphora Burley & Full Aroma
Mac Baren Navy Flake (I cube cut it)
Sutliff Match Ready Rubbed

 

[Chasing Embers]

I just gravity fill everything.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Any Virginia Flake if dry enough. It's what I'm used to.

 

[dottlejockey]

Packing has become autonomic. Hardly a thought, whether it's gravity feeding cube cut, fold and stuffing flake or tightly packing some dry shag. Quick n ez. I get to the setting back and enjoying the light up soon enough either way.

 

[FurCoat]

Five Brothers

 

[Grangerous]

Crooner. Gravity fill. Cube cut.

 

[OzPiper]

I just gravity fill everything.

^^^^^
Flakes are first cube-cut
Shag and ribbons torn/chopped into short(er) lengths
Coins either fully rubbed out or chopped

 

[9mmpuffer]

Any Balkan mixture that is ribbon cut and packed the German method.

 

[Zamora]

PS Norwegian followed by Three Nuns

 

[bullet08]

They all stick out on top. Don't have patience to play with 'em. Let them burn!

 

[sablebrush52]

Everything packs well, since I know how to pack. SWRA, which I bought 7-8 years ago, lights easily and doesn't need a relight. Same with Yorktown as it just smolders quite easily. Escudo (the real stuff) of which I just opened a tin, packs easily and rarely needs a relight.
I still have an infamously difficult McClelland flake to dry out, Tawney Flake, which is rumored to be coated in fire retardant.

 

[Skippy Piper]

I use the three pinch method for ribbon cut tobacco, shag cut tobacco (though I do pack shag a little tighter), and rubbed out flakes or plug/rope slices and I've never found a blend that gave me any particular trouble. Some need more dry time than others, but they're all easy once you get the hang of it... except for Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake, that one will always have you relighting it till the cows come home no matter how thoroughly you rub it out, how much dry time you give it, or how you pack it.

In terms of the "easiest" though, I'll go with Gawith Hoggarth Kendal Dark. You could be drunk as a skunk in the middle of a hurricane and still manage to pack a pipe of Kendal Dark and keep it lit with no trouble, until you pass out or get hit by flying debris at least.

 

[tschiraldi]

G&H Brown Flake A and PS Luxury Twist Flake, both fully rubbed out. Just codger scoop and go. I think you are going to get a lot of different answers here as I believe most will name the blends they smoke the most. Once you get to really know a blend and have spent time with it, you develop a method of packing and smoking that blend. I always have to “learn” a new blend to see how to make it behave.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I like those really fine pebbly grains I get when I crumble up a C&D plug cake, like Folklore or Night Train. They can be gravity filled easily (or scooped) and just gently nudged down. Other than that, I don't find many cuts to be impossible or tricky to pack, just those plug cakes are easier for me, with my one-handed codger scoop method.

 

[crashthegrey]

I like those really fine pebbly grains I get when I crumble up a C&D plug cake, like Folklore or Night Train. They can be gravity filled easily (or scooped) and just gently nudged down. Other than that, I don't find many cuts to be impossible or tricky to pack, just those plug cakes are easier for me, with my one-handed codger scoop method.

I never imagined I would be a codger scoop sort, but it just works so well. Literally almost any tobacco is simple that way.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I never imagined I would be a codger scoop sort, but it just works so well. Literally almost any tobacco is simple that way.

I might play around with those "method" packings if I am setting down with some time on my hands, but for the most part, I am packing pipes while driving or working on something. It's sort of more rote muscle memory than a style for me.

 

[crashthegrey]

I might play around with those "method" packings if I am setting down with some time on my hands, but for the most part, I am packing pipes while driving or working on something. It's sort of more rote muscle memory than a style for me.

Exactly. Pure utility, thus the great codger title of the method. I am usually covered in briar dust or ebonite dust, or stain. One finger is a lot easier to wipe off.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Exactly. Pure utility, thus the great codger title of the method. I am usually covered in briar dust or ebonite dust, or stain. One finger is a lot easier to wipe off.

I must have missed the news that you're making pipes. I need to check those out!

 

[BingBong]

Folded and stuffed European flakes are generally easy, with the exception of S. Gawith's fine products which might need an entire box of matches. For the charring light.