What is the purpose of "packing" cigarettes?

Question

you know, when you (or they) get a new pack of cigarettes they turn the pack upside down and beat it against their hands. what is the purpose of doing this? i mean, i do it too but only because everyone i see smoking does it. i don't really know the purpose of it.

Answer 1

Packing cigarettes come from the days before the highly efficient way that they are machine rolled today and before the " crush-proof" box that many cigarettes come in today.
Currently ,"Packing" cigarettes is considered cool looking. However, smoking them is not

Answer 2

Packing Cigarettes

Answer 3

Bec., the cigarettes are packed with the filter on top and the open end at the bottom, from the time after its packaging to the time before it reaches its retail shop, the cigarettes and all it's nicotine and secret ingredients tends to follow gravity and a whole lot of it may fall down from the inside of a cigarette stick. That's why any smoker knows the value of all those nicotine should not be wasted so before they consume those cigarettes, they turn it upside down and pack it back, in hoping that the force being done will push back some of those nicotine back or nearer the filter. And besides, a tightly compacted cigarette would tastes better.

Answer 4

My ex husband did this. He said that the cigarettes were not packed tight enough so that when he was smoking it would seem weak.
I'm not sure how much truth there is to this statement. I'm from England and married an American. I have never seen an English person pack a cigarett. Is it because they are manufactured differently? or because Americans have formed a habit of 'Well everyone does it'?

Answer 5

I personally don't notice a difference but this is something I found:

"Packing your pack is done to condense the tobacco in its little paper cylinder. With each puff of a packed cigarette, one would receive thicker smoke, and presumably, a better "buzz" from your smoke. While not the most important thing in the world, an un-packed smoke will taste the same as a packed one, they'll just burn a little bit differently, there are a few things to remember." - from everything2.com

Answer 6

I never thought of it making it last longer. I do it so the cherry doesnt fall off when I ash my cigarette out the window whilst driving. I have had one to many incidents of the cherry falling off, or sometimes coming back in the window and landing in the back of my car out of reach. Then you have to pull over and try to find the cherry unless you dont care about cigarette holes in your interior. Which then makes a good arguement of why you should smoke and drive at the same time, but since i started packing my smokes it hasnt really happened.

Answer 7

I did that for the longest time before I knew what it was for too. Packing the tobacco down makes the cigarette tighter and helps it smoke smoother and longer.

Answer 8

The purpose of packing cigarettes is to simply make them burn longer.

Do this: Get a friend and buy two packs of cigarettes. Have your friend pack his/her cigarettes and leave yours unpacked. Then light your cigarettes at the same time, taking the same length of drags and see who gets done faster. It will be you!

Answer 9

Because the tobacco becomes somewhat "loose" in shipping and beating the pack against one's hand or "packing" helps to pack the tobacco together.
(Why do I even know this, I'm not & never have been a smoker?!?!?!?) Yuck!

Answer 10

A habit left over from when they rolled their own. Packing was important to get the full impact of the nicotine.