I didn't read the original thread but I have personal experience with this. With a traditional packing you need it to drip to be sure there is a bit of water between the packing and the shaft. If you over tighten, the packing will overheat, and it will wear the shaft. It is an interesting point though, if you're up on plane, there probably not a lot of water getting to the packing, drip or no drip hmmm.