Flake Pipes

[Anonymous]

I know we have at least one thread on this topic . . . somewhere. But the Mickey Mouse "search" feature Forumotion provides refuses to search for specific terms (like "flake pipes" and flake + pipes). Instead, searching by post titles, you (I) get six pages of everything including either term.

Anyhow, since NASPC's come up recently, here's a link to the famous Tarek Manadily article on them in NASPC which, IMHO, nails the whole thing. The only thing I'd balk at is that he cites 19-21 mm. i.d., while I'd not go past 20 mm., but would include 18 mm. as defining the "flake pipe i.d. sweet spot."

http://www.naspc.org/Archives/flake.htm

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[Ocelot55]

I seem to recall being told by Greg Pease at the GKCPC show this year that bowl geometry has little to do with how well it will smoke a certain type of blend. It is a theory I had not heard before but have done a little experimentation since then. Not enough to reach a conclusion though.

(Greg, if I misquoted you please put me back in my place)

 

[rothnh]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

He makes a good argument for smoking flakes in a "smaller" bowl. I've had good results using the cube cut and gravity feed for my flakes lately and for me, small bowls do fine, but medium bowls don't present problems here -- sipped slowly of course.

I don't think flakes are going away anytime soon ... there are some new ones, some previously not available in the US, as well as some flakes that are now available again after a considerable hiatus from our shores.

Larger pipes seem to be more "in vogue" lately too.

I'm interested to read other comments on this.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Sometimes I've used Google to get around the janky phpBB search function, "(subject) (subject) www.brothersofbriar.com" (sans the quotes, in the search box, etc.) Not sure if that'll help.

Darned good reading, I seem to recall us posting that article before. Seems familiar.

I've recently been "cube cutting" my flakes for pipes, and practically not packing the pipe at all. It's been wildly successful in some areas, and not in others. Tobacco chamber has been hit-and-miss, a few of my pipes have nearly identical bowl sizes,shape, and drilled size of draft holes, yet one sings with flakes of almost any cut, and the other does far better with ribbon-cut.

Come to think of it, though, very few pipes that are exceptionally wide/tall/large et al are ones I reach for in particular. I think my cobs (5th Ave models in particular) that are taller are an exception, because cobs seem to burn through tobacco pretty quickly, so the extra load is not a bad thing. I think I prefer the bulldog/rhodesian bowl shapes just because the natural chamber dimensions are roughly the same, and I have some good luck with those. The rest are either similar, or get reclassified as "Lat Pipes" which tend to be the taller, narrower bowls.

I love, love, love the list at the end about why pressed VAs are so intriguing. It's a great read, and my experience and thoughts are in-line with it, except the bowl size issue. Shape, I'm not sure about, I just don't know I like "V" shaped tobacco chambers very much, and prefer the "U" shaped ones.

8)

 

[Anonymous]

Two points where your mileage may vary & likely does :

1) Funnel-shaped (conical) bowl interiors are NICE. Roll/abuse the first flake square into a brillo pad & it will easily stay put most (but not all) of the way down as a base to support the cubes poured on top of it.

Result : the bottom of the chamber is EMPTY. Result of result : there's no tobacco there to suck up moisture & turn into a soggy dottle plug. RRR : dry smoke every time.

2) Yep. Shapes like BBDs (chamber height roughly = chamber width) are ideal for Virginia flakes no matter how they're prepared. Taller chambers (billiard et al.) can be more problematic with the-moisture-at-the-bottom issue. BBDs, apples, princes &c. just dry better from the heat of the descending cherry for some reason that I don't understand but don't have to.

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[Kyle Weiss]

1) Funnel-shaped (conical) bowl interiors are NICE. Roll/abuse the first flake square into a brillo pad & it will easily stay put most (but not all) of the way down as a base to support the cubes poured on top of it.

Result : the bottom of the chamber is EMPTY. Result of result : there's no tobacco there to suck up moisture & turn into a soggy dottle plug. RRR : dry smoke every time.

Very cool. It's this Wiley pipe I have that's been driving me batty trying to suss out the moisture issue, because the briar seems to work as intended. I'm gonna try that. One question...does this "brillo pad" bed of tobacco put in first need to stay fluffy, or should it be packed? I'm assuming the former, but... *shrug*

2) Yep. Shapes like BBDs (chamber height roughly = chamber width) are ideal for Virginia flakes no matter how they're prepared. Taller chambers (billiard et al.) can be more problematic with the-moisture-at-the-bottom issue. BBDs, apples, princes &c. just dry better from the heat of the descending cherry for some reason that I don't understand but don't have to.

Well, I kind of blindly ended up there, and it's been good. This is stuff I think I remember GL Pease talking about somewhere on the Interwebz.

8)

 

[Anonymous]

The brillo pad should be springy enough that it stays where you put it, but loosely-enough woven that it doesn't sell & constrict the air flow.

You have to play with it 'til you hit it.

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[Steveaux]

Informative read.

Thanks for the link !

 

[Steveaux]

The brillo pad should be springy enough that it stays where you put it, but loosely-enough woven that it doesn't sell & constrict the air flow.

You have to play with it 'til you hit it.

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I'll have to try this.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I'll report back on this idea. Thanks Yakster.

 

[cigrmaster]

I remember reading Tareks article a long time ago and it still rings true to this day, there is some great info in there.

I smoke flakes almost exclusively and have come to some conclusions along my journey. I like traditional pipe shapes, i.e billiards, dublins, apples, lumbermans, tomato's. I prefer smoking my flakes in pipes that are larger group 4's to small group 6''s with group 5 being the most numerous in my collection. I like thick walls and I don't want a chamber wider than 13/16 of an inch, taller than 2 1/4 and no deeper than 2. As far as preparing my flake, I use 3 methods depending on mood. Lately I have been using the cube cut method for all my flakes and have really been enjoying that method. When I know I am going to be outdoors I will fold and stuff, if I don't have my scissors handy I will break apart the flake with my fingers into smaller chunks, but I never fully rub out a flake.

I began as an English smoker and also smoked a lot of vapers that were ribbon cut, over the years I have come to realize that for me, nothing tastes as good as va and vaper flakes. To my tastes they produce much more intense flavors than a ribbon or course cut. I have a rotation of about 17 or so blends that are all either va flake or vaper flake and enjoy them all. I am always on the lookout for a new flake to add to the collection. I have a couple of new ones coming in week that I am excited to try.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Lately I have been using the cube cut method for all my flakes and have really been enjoying that method.

Same here. It takes a little time, but that's pipe smoking for ya. 8)

 

[cigrmaster]

kyle, I like playing with my flakes, it is part of the fun of them. No reason to ever rush when you are preparing your tobacco for a good smoke.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Flake gives many things: Portability, preparation options, a little more moisture retention, and I always like thinking they look and feel like little pieces of tender tobacco jerky. 8) I love flake tobacco.

 

[rothnh]

I, too, have recently employed the cube-cut prep for my flakes.

The jury's still out here, but so far, I'm leaning with the opinion that my cube-cut flakes do burn more efficiently in narrower bowls that are 1.5" deep or less.

Interesting how you can teach this old dog new tricks

 

[cigrmaster]

roth, the thing I have really liked about the cube cut is the way the tobacco packs very easily and evenly which for me gives me a great even burn. I find with fold and stuff, the burn is not as even and there is more tending to the bowl while smoking.

 

[rothnh]

roth, the thing I have really liked about the cube cut is the way the tobacco packs very easily and evenly which for me gives me a great even burn. I find with fold and stuff, the burn is not as even and there is more tending to the bowl while smoking.

I agree. I think the cube cut improves the flavors as well.

 

[cigrmaster]

roth, I agree about the flavors. They seems to be stronger and more intense than rubbing it out. I have done this method with around 15 different blends so far and I am very pleased with the results in all of them. This is definitely my go to method from now on, unless I am on the road or outside when I need to fold and stuff.

 

[user 2031]

I'm still looking for a briar pipe to use for flake tobacco... I read the article and I believe from it and your discussions that something of this nature may be what I'm looking for. Am I on the right track? Do any of you experienced "flaky guys" (sorry, couldn't resist) have any other recommendations?

Any help is appreciated... here is what I'm considering.

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/sebastien_beo/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=103961

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/sebastien_beo/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=79374

Thanks

Jack

 

[rothnh]

Jack, the article posted here does make sense that a smaller, narrower chamber allows flakes to burn more evenly -- so the bowl depth and diameter appears important and seems to make sense. FWIW, I think that some (me included) weren't "sold" totally on that -- for me, I think it was because for years, I used the rub-it-out technique on my flakes a lot more often than anything else. Now I use the cube-cut method almost exclusively for flakes, in "smaller" bowls and find I get cooler, more flavorful, better results overall. YMMV.