Filling your bowl; the "Frank" method.

[Nutiket_32]

tried this out earlier in the evening. burned great (best ive had so far) and only had to relight once, which was my fault for letting it just sit for about 5 minutes. someone up above remarked that it might be to much of a hassle to pack this way, but i dont think so. maybe it is just because this is the way i have used since i started, but i can pack it as fast as my friend that used the more common three layer method.

[Nutiket_32]

tried this method out again this afternoon.
Pipe: aldo velani
Tobacco: old dublin

I was having some burn problems, partly related to the tobacco being just a tab too wet. I used the little needle thing on my pipe tool to poke a hole straight down the middle and relit. The hole stayed there for as long as i smoked. The tobacco burnt infinitely better, never had to relight. however, the pipe became ridiculously hot. This pipe generally smokes a bit warm, but this was burning to the touch, i had to hold way up on the stem. Any thoughts?

[Kayak_Rat]

Smoke slower or use a non-VA tobacco is it. VA seems to burn warmer for me.

[Nutiket_32]

i believe old dublin is more of an english than a VA. I was smoking a bit fast tho.

[IHT]

Originally Posted by Nutiket_32

Any thoughts?

sure, i have thoughts.
i always thought anna nicole smith was hot, in a trashy way.


seriously. what portion of the bowl do we normally have a difficult time burning the tobacco?
the outside.

with the way the frank method works, the bowl burns from the outside in, because the outside is where the air flow is. the hotter outside tobacco should, logically, equal hotter walls of the pipe.

just my take. i don't go so extreme on the packing/mashing portion of the frank method, and it seems to work pretty well for me, not getting too hot and still allowing the middle to burn just as fast as the outside.

[Nutiket_32]

Originally Posted by IHT

with the way the frank method works, the bowl burns from the outside in, because the outside is where the air flow is. the hotter outside tobacco should, logically, equal hotter walls of the pipe.

just my take. i don't go so extreme on the packing/mashing portion of the frank method, and it seems to work pretty well for me, not getting too hot and still allowing the middle to burn just as fast as the outside.

seems reasonable, thanks

[Mad Hatter]

I use this very often, anything other than flake that will hold together long enough to stuff in the bowl gets this treatment. Makes for the best smoke but at times I have a problem with the bowl being a little short lived (not a question. I understand WHY that is). Still a work to perfect.

[TimB]

To those that are worried about the torch, I find a really good lighter with a soft flame does the trick nicely as well, though I leave the flame over the tobacco for three or four seconds rather than one. I personally feel much more comfortable with this level of control than a torch, especially when outdoors.

I use an Old Boy and it works like a charm.

[Cheeto]

yeah as far as the torch goes... I've never had any real problem just using matches. I'm sure the torch works great when you get the motion down, but I don't want to risk harming my pipe every time I try to light it.

[dls]

Tried this with 2 bowls this afternoon in my corn cob. Worked great, i think i have a new way of packing the pipe! Even burn, not a single relight, but i did notice the same thing that Nutiket noted, the pipe seemed to be unusually hot.

[blacklagoon]

The first time i tried the frank method it gave me really bad tough bit so i dont know what happened but i think i need to give it another try.

[earnold25]

well apparently i suck at this method of packing just as much as any other. My tongue was burning once again

[Mad Hatter]

I don't get the tongue burn issue. I do light with a Bic but I've been doing this methos with VAs and MacBarens tobaccos and I have no problem at all. Maybe you biters need to adjust the dryness of your tobacco to fit the method. Maybe youre too dry or too moist

[dls]

That's interesting... I've even tried it with an aromatic (I like cherries, sue me.) and had no problems with tongue bite. I'm a pretty aggressive smoker as well.

[earnold25]

i could just be a terrible packer.