Packing Vs. Filling a story of progress

[Plazma]

So earlier tonight, I put into practice the advice I was given in my previous thread. I'm glad to say that while I still have not achieved what I believe to be a proper fill of tobacco I at least have made progress towards that.

I took some Continental a store blend from my not so local B&M, I let it sit for about 20 mins. Upon picking it up to start filling the chamber quite noticeable the texture changed in that 20min. period. When I pulled it from the bag, it felt something like damp moss not too wet but certainly not dry. But after the 20mins it felt more like thin cut strips of dry paper.

Instead of doing the frank method I filled it up half way and pushed it down, then I filled up the chamber completely and pushed it down a bit more. This left me with half a chamger full of tobacco I did a bit more and had 2/3 which is what I had intended to smoke. I grabbed a class of water and stepped outside. I had to go threw three matches before I got a solid light.

Here's where things deteriorated slightly, upon my first draws the pipe was whistling. I think I was too easy handed with filling the pipe. But if I took really ginger draws there was no whistling and still plenty of smoke. The other problem I ran into was that the pipe was getting hot. I know part of it was that I was probably smoking it quicker than I should have, but I think that having not so proper a fill in the chamber there was a lot more air coming through.

I also made it through the entire bowl I lost a negligable amount of tobacco this time, what looked like maybe 2 or 3 unburnt flakes. The other thing I found out is that the blend i smoked tonight could maybe handle a bit more drying too, there was a bit of bubbling at the very end, and once I emptied the chamber I could see a glistening bit of moister in the heel.

All in all not a bad night, I'm glad I was able to make some progress in the filling of my pipe.

[SmokinDragon]

packing is still an on battle with me, sometimes I get that perfect smoke from a perfect pack...most times when I'm not really thinking about it too much. When I start thinking about it i tend to pack it too loose.

[Griz]

I've only been smoking for two years and still have trouble filling a pipe. It would seem every type tobacco has a filling method preference as well as the nuances of the pipe you're smoking.

It's been a steep learning curve but patience is the key. I've started to learn what types of tobacco and which pipes give better smokes. If this is something you're really interested in doing, hang in there! We'll all get it right eventually.

[RJpuffs]

It takes time and practice to "get it right", but it will work eventually

Keep in mind the basic principle behind the whole filling/smoking of the pipe. Fire. Fire hot. Hot bad. Yet tobacco needs to "burn" to make smoke, which is the end objective. Thats one reason it is moist. Water. Water cool. Water does not burn. Balance fire and water and you get a smouldering (i.e. just burning, on the verge of going out) pile of baccy, belching plumes of delicious smoke. Objective reached.

But we have the "fill" (don't use the P word!) to contend with. Single flakes of baccy burning perfectly are pointless. The entire bowl full of baccy going up in a furious flash of instant combustion is also pointless (not to mention painful). What we want is just the top layer of the tobacco to be smouldering, at the right moisture level (see above).

Baccy bits need to touch other baccy bits in order to pass on the heat/fire. We can't just squeeze in a solid slab of tobacco, since we also need "air". Fire needs air. Too much air means too much fire, bad. Too little air means too little fire, also bad. So what we want is the baccy to be tight enough to pass on the heat to neighboring baccy bits, as well as the layer below to avoid relights. If you jam the tobacco in too tight, not enough air will pass through (or worse, will only pass through one side or center of the plug). If the baccy is too loose, either too much air will pass (hot) or the baccy bits will not ignite their neighbors or lower residents (relights or hard puffing which equals hot too).

The Frank Fill pretty much idiot proofs the process. Once you get the hang of it, its quite easy to achieve a perfect fill each time. It results in a compact plug with air space at the bottom, and breathing room around the sides (cake helps too). The key to Frank'ing is the squeeze-with-thumb-toward-middle thing, it prevents direct pressure from jamming the baccy down, but it does knot the flecks and bits together appropriately.

When doing the multi step fill (or its variations), keep in mind that the LOWEST layer should be LOOSE. Subsequent layers are going to push it down further. If you jam it too tight right at the start, the next layer will make it even more clogged, and so forth.

While smoking, tamping should be done in a ROUND the bowl motion, NEVER push down with the tamper. You want to flatten the ash only, the weight of the tamper itself is enough to collapes the head of ash and level out the next (burning) layer. Push too hard and you change the compression on the lower levels that are yet to burn.

Don't be afraid to run a pipe cleaner through the stem during the smoke to sop up moisture/drool. Pipe cleaners are cheap. Some pipes and baccy combinations produce more moisture, if you feel its soggy, sop it out - can't hurt.

Finally, send me your excess Casino Cash

[plexiprs]

Originally Posted by RJpuffs

It takes time and practice to "get it right", but it will work eventually

Keep in mind the basic principle behind the whole filling/smoking of the pipe. Fire. Fire hot. Hot bad.

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