Flake Pipes

Brothers of Briar

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18 mm. is a nice flake pipe i.d. And the height is ideal too. You'd rather be left wanting more rather than finishing the last part out of duty.

IMO.

:face:
 
For me as I've said, a nice big Pot like my Growley which is THE BEST Flake pipe I've ever smoked . inner bowl dia: 2.18 cm, inner bowl depth: 4.0 cm. Averages 2/2 1/2 hour smokes.

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Yak":iwxun892 said:
You'd rather be left wanting more rather than finishing the last part out of duty.
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Rationing good things in life means you'll have some stashed away when you need 'em most.

Binge/purge styles of enjoyment never made much sense to me, anyway. :cheers:

8)
 
A lot depends on the smoker's rubbing out, packing and lighting practices methinks. I have two pipes that are nice with flakes, both Dublins, that seem to veer away from what would be most likely perceived as briars born for flakes. One is an Aldo Velani with a bowl 1 3/4' deep by just about 3/4" diameter at the rim. The other is a Cesare Suprema with a bowl 1 1/2" deep by 1" diameter up top, kind of a shot glass on a stick. Both bowls are conical in shape. My theory goes back to the fire triangle. The Velani bowl doesn't require the smolder to struggle to spread horizontally, and the slender, conical bowl keeps it moving downward. The more open Cesare bowl makes it very easy for oxygen to penetrate throughout the bowl to encourage easy movement of the smolder and the conical shape etcetc.

I'm also conscious that I load one pipe slightly different than the other, but a show would be easier to communicate than a tell, if that makes any sense. Because the Cesare bowl is so wide it requires a little more "touch" to get the tobak evenly placed and settled.

Subjectively, I'd say flakes generally do better in tall, narrow bowls, but as always the smoker's confidence and personal likes come into play. And some pipes are just more cooperative than others.
 
One pipe that I like to enjoy flakes in is a Chimney Stack shaped pipe. Stanwell and Savinelli and a few other carvers have variations of this shape. I personally have a Savinelli Blasted Autograph Chimney that I picked up in the early 90's. Wonderful Flake pipes
 
I . . . don't . . . understand . . . the chimney bowls as flake pipes business.

So long as you're smoking (broken) flakes with their long axis parallel with the sides of the bowl (you know, smoking flakes in a flake pipe), a group 3-4 size bent bulldog/prince/apple (&c.) pipe's good for around an hour. Is more than that better ?

I've read that the increased length --> increasing flavour intensity. (?)

One thing you're sure to do with a taller bowl is multiply the odds of getting one spot along its length too densely packed, screwing the whole thing up.

:face:
 
Tall bowls allow flavors to build up and intensify as you move down into tobacco that has had smoke pulled through it for a half hour or so (at the bottom of the bowl). Some guys really like this. I think most people prefer a shorter chamber because the flavors remain more consistent.

I love huge monster bowls because I like the way they hum along after about 15 minutes, and smoke with no effort for about the next hour. But you gotta be smoking weak-ass blends to enjoy this.
 
Sasquatch":ntbqiueb said:
Tall bowls allow flavors to build up and intensify as you move down into tobacco that has had smoke pulled through it for a half hour or so (at the bottom of the bowl). Some guys really like this. I think most people prefer a shorter chamber because the flavors remain more consistent.

I love huge monster bowls because I like the way they hum along after about 15 minutes, and smoke with no effort for about the next hour. But you gotta be smoking weak-ass blends to enjoy this.
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This. I like the shorter, what could be considered "OEM" width (whatever that means, I guess, Goldilocks Chamber [just right]) because I've tuned a few tobaccos with this setup, and I know how to get the flavor I want with it.

However, there are some tobaccos that need a little "opening up," so the bowls get wider (bonus points for "V" shapes in that regard). Often, it's because there's an aspect to it I want to experience more. Like Latakia--I don't like too much, but what bit there is doesn't need more volume, it needs an equalizer...maybe a little less mid-range, a tad more bass, and maybe a boost of treble.

Tall bowls are wonderful for that crescendo of flavor, especially where a Burley or a blend with cigar leaf is included, however, they also tend to mute other component tobaccos...again, like Latakia--especially if there's too much. Cuts the resonant bass tones, the kind that rattle teeth out of jaws. Great for teenagers, maybe, not for me. Cobs are a perfect example, and part of why I think Storm Front does so well.

Back in Flake Pipe Land, flakes are often (for me, anyway) there or the subtle complexity. The small bowls aren't strictly for flavor, they're for making sure I don't walk away staggering and green from nicotine overload. Otherwise, I'd probably end up smoking for four hours and coating the side of my porch in a carrot-speckled chartreuse.

8)
 
Stack pipes are not for everyone. My post was not aimed at the masses that is why I said " One pipe that I like to enjoy flakes in ....."
Never had burn problems in a Stack, but then again I have been packing and smoking them for years.
 
One thing you're sure to do with a taller bowl is multiply the odds of getting one spot along its length too densely packed, screwing the whole thing up.

Not necessarily, I'd say. The difference between a "tall" and "short" bowl is only a half inch or thereabouts, and you've already sealed your smoke's fate by the judicious placement of the first pinch. I find it somewhat easier to test the density and uniformity of the pack in a narrow bowl. I just poke it downward with a fingertip, because there's not much room for anything else. If the tobacco seems not too springy and not too firm, then it must be just right, so bring on the charring light. But in a wider bowl I also poke around the edges and manipulate the charge horizontally, and I'm not entirely sure that all is well until I'm well underway.

I think a piper can smoke a flake in anything, but may feel more confident in one style pipe over another based on . . . well. a lot of things, I guess.

 
So long as you're smoking (broken) flakes with their long axis parallel with the sides of the bowl (you know, smoking flakes in a flake pipe) . . .
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The difference between a "tall" and "short" bowl is only a half inch or thereabouts, and you've already sealed your smoke's fate by the judicious placement of the first pinch . . .
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What's wrong with this picture ?

:face:

 
JPatrick":izq0mmaq said:
Stack pipes are not for everyone. My post was not aimed at the masses that is why I said " One pipe that I like to enjoy flakes in ....."
Never had burn problems in a Stack, but then again I have been packing and smoking them for years.
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I haven't had a serious burn problem in any pipe (no matter the chamber) in quite a while, probably way back when I first re-started, maybe...those are largely packing issues mixed with tamping/smoking pace issues. Excess moisture/heat being the most insidious.

All of that can be dealt with easily-- eeking out flavor perfection, well that's a journey unto itself. :mrgreen:

8)
 
What's wrong with this picture ?

But the thing is that "flake" refers to the packaged form of the tobacco, and it can be just peeled off and stuffed, or thoroughly rubbed out, which makes it difficult to ID one style of pipe as always and forever, indoors or out, "best for flake." Personally, I like to rub flakes out only as much as needed to insert a ball of well-aerated tobacco in the chamber, an approach that accommodates most shapes, though I think Kyle is onto something with the implication that aged, well-worn taste buds will inevitably congregate toward narrower bowls which accentuate taste. But maybe not. What the hell.

 
I've owned a couple of nice stacks in the past and they smoked very well with flakes. They just smoked long. I'd have to do an ash dump mid way, using the pick on my pipe tool to loosen the ash, then dump it, being careful not to disturb the remaining tobacco, then settle the remaining tobacco with the tamper before relighting.

But, it just turned out to be too long a smoke. Nothing wrong with them, they were engineered well enough, but they left me done before the tobacco was done. The shorter, narrow bowls just seem to be more practical. Still, I'd love to have a Castello Sea Rock 74 with stick bit, helluva cool looking stack ;)

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/italy/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=71372
 
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