Packing Flake

[CLFman]

I just bought my first can of flake tobacco, Mccleland Blackwoods flake tobacco. At first I was like wtf is wrong with my tobacco, I am such a newb. Good thing a quick googling showed me that my tobacco is indeed okay. Going to try the fold and stuff method tomorrow.

Quick question, what is a flake tobacco pipe? Is it something that is perhaps a bit taller?

 

[monbla256]

You bought a good blend/mixture to start IMHO, some may disagree ( there's a lot of that here ) . As for an "official Flake" pipe, there are as many theory's and ideas as to what that is as there are styles of pipes ! There are so many variables involved that one really could not factually say one style over another. i find the flakes that I smoke, smoke well in my bent bulldogs and pots. That's for ME. Try different styles and sizes as you learn how flake tobacco smokes till you find what is YOUR flake pipe. Take your time, relax and enjoy your tobacco

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Nice, Monbla, you're finally starting to take a friendly opinion point-of-view rather than "grandaddy knows best." :lol:

...but, CLF, he speaks the truth. A flake pipe, to me, is a pipe that seems to deliver the smoke from your flake tobacco the best for you. There's a lot of hoopla about smaller pipes being good for flake, which in my experience is partially true, but a larger pipe can and will smoke flake just fine. From my vantage point, flake tobacco is dense and intense. The smaller bowl means the unsuspecting, distracted smoker won't get 3/4 the way through a bowl, suddenly stand up, and realize he's green with the nicotine shakes (or at least minimizes this possibility). The idea of a true "flake pipe," one-size-fits-all is total bollocks.

Fold-n-stuff methods for the tobacco throw my game off sometimes, I never got it right. I somehow always clogged my pipe. So, as stated months ago, I ball it up a bit in my palm, or "chunk-n-stuff," because certain darker flakes fall apart anyway (Dark Star, 2035).

Meh, good luck, find what works. Enjoy the ride. 8)

 

[monbla256]

That's what happens when you become a Pepere (familial Quibecois for grandad ) But he has started out in his flake journey with a VERY good one !! I still smoke it occasionaly now and then ( practicing my redundancy here ) In fact, I just finished a bowl of my current fave flake, Oxford Flake from Peretti's which IMHO, IS NOT a McC's blend/mixture but rather a distinctive tasting flake in itself I'm getting to enjoy the smoother, less in your face taste of Va's more and more as I get older. Kinda like adding cream to your coffee as you get older!! You have a lot to look forward to

 

[Ol'Dawg]

At the 2005 CORPS show in Richmond, Mark gave me a demonstration of his method. He folded the flake several times and rolled it between his palms a few seconds til it looked like a little ball of yarn. He then molded it to fit the pipe bowl and gently pushed it in.

For several years I used his method on most all flakes except the very tough ones (thick Kendal Cream flakes being one). I was surprised to find it even worked on Stonehaven.

Then by experimenting I found I could fold a flake, then twist it between my finger tips, molding it at the same time and achieve about the same results much quicker. My method also maximized the flake density better than Mark's method.

Jim

Mark Chambers from the Knox staff is directly responsible for how I pack flake. He said, "I fold up a flake and put it between the palms of my hands and fluff it up." He didn't give me more information, but his words stuck in my mind. It took me about 5 years to implement what he said.

So, say with a flake the size of University Flake,

I fold it in three and tear at the divisions.
I stack those three pieces of intact flake
I then tear them down the middle, top to bottom, following the grain of the flake
I then take each of the three divided halves of the flake between my palms, and rub
them back and forth
but stop just as the strands of the grain are loosened
After rubbing these stacked strands, all with the grain going in one direction, I place the
two rubbed out bundles of strands together and fit them into the bowl.

With this preparation I maximize both the density of the flake and the property of combustibility of tobacco strands that have been loosened.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

BF isn't really a true flake, its a broken flake. You'll have a tough time finding large enough chunks to fold and stuff. I'd rub this one out especially if its new to you. Also a word of caution. This is great blend, but it really doesn't come into its own until the tin has been open for week or two. Not sure why that is. Simple lettling it dry out for a few hours doesn't seem to help.

 

[Anonymous]

Call me a flake-stuffing neophyte, but I have taken flakes, rolled 'em into a small single, shaggy ball in the palms of my hand and loaded 'em up in to my flake pipes...provided it was loose enough (which is easy enough to control), I've gotten a great, solid smoke out of 'em this way. Haven't found a need for any ritual beyond this--and I've tried a few. While they all seem to work similarly, for the sake of brevity, I like the two-palms-ball method.

Lately my favorite method has been cubing flakes when I have the time. I cut them crosswise the grain 1/8 to 1/4 inch strips which will break up into little cubes. I just gravity fill and go. No pressure necessary. It really seems loose at first, but when you light it, it expands nicely and fills out the bowl.

Best of Both Worlds : Cut a smallish square, abuse it into a tobacco brillo pad, and seat it in the bowl far enough up that the bottom is clear. Draw through it should be free. Then cut your little cubicles (LOL !) and gravity feed.

If you want fireworks of taste, put it in a food processor and whiz it into little particles. Gravity feed only and next to no tamping.

Flake Pipe : one with an inside diameter (bowl) small enough that you can smoke a folded flake in it with the smoldering part not just going down the center, but evenly accross. 13/16" or less.

Folded flakes last the longest. But the more air you get involved (as above), the richer the flavor is.

As noted, every flake is different.

:face:

 

[Anonymous]

This is great blend, but it really doesn't come into its own until the tin has been open for week or two. Not sure why that is. Simply lettling it dry out for a few hours doesn't seem to help.

This !

A lot of tobaccos are like that. In other cases, the real magic is gone by 48 hours after cracking the tin. Oftentimes it does change, and change dramatically, over the first couple weeks.

Tobacco is female :lol:

:face:

 

[MisterE]

Tobacco is female :lol:
:face:

:lol!:

 

[s.ireland]

Tobacco is female :lol:

:face:

Haha! :cheers:

So that's why I always have much more enjoyable smokes when I tell the tobacco how pretty it looks today while packing a bowl...

 

[PhilD]

Tried some Peterson's Perfect Plug today. Sliced it, cubed it, gravity fed it into a small 1960's Stanwell apple. What a great smoke! I was a little hesitant to try this because of mixed reviews. But as someone here has said "Expecting the truth from the Internet is like expecting gourmet from a mouthful of live wasps." (Sorry about stealing your line Kyle).

Phil

 

[Kyle Weiss]

"Expecting something to stay unique on the Internet is like expecting cinnamon rolls from a dog's rear."

:lol:

Use your 'bacca and sentiments well. 8)

 

[Ocelot55]

I love Peterson's Three P's! I'm glad you found the experience enjoyable. For me, its a better tasting plug than Jack Knife. (Uh Oh, I hope thems aint fightin' words)

 

[Anonymous]

De gustibus non disputandem 8)

:face:

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

De gustibus non disputandem 8)

:face:

I disagree, your opinion is wrong. :cyclops:

 

[Anonymous]

:lol:

:face:

 

[MisterE]

I love Peterson's Three P's! I'm glad you found the experience enjoyable. For me, its a better tasting plug than Jack Knife. (Uh Oh, I hope thems aint fightin' words)

You'll get no argument from me there. 3P's is pretty good stuff.

 

[KevinM]

"Cube cut" flake is a good idea. A variation on the theme is to get one of those kitchen "choppers" used to chop up walnuts, onions, etc. It will have a glass bowll and a bladed gizmo that screws on top of it. The glass allows you to watch your work, and since it's manual, you can adjust how fine you want the cubes to be. Most of the time, you'll still have to rub it out a bit. It's debatable whther it might be easier just to rub it out in the first place. Results are pretty good, though. I once tried a little electric coffee grinder on flake, but it was hard to control the timing and easy to wind up with tobacco dust.

 

[Fishfuzz]

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[KevinM]

LOL!! Yeah, one of those things.

"Flake Pipe" = Whatever pipe you are using at any given point in time to smoke a flake-cut tobacco. Personally, I think "flake" should be limited to true flakes, not partially (usually mostly) rubbed out tobacco.