Best bowl for flake?

jvs68 · May 15, 2016

Hey gang,
I've made the transition to flake and it's a wonderful thing. I opened a tin of MacBaren Navy Flake a couple months back and fell in love. I've bought some medallions too, but right now am really liking flake. I am about to try Dunhill flake for the first time as soon as I post this question!
My question is definitely a newbie one. The only problem I've had with flake has been fitting it a bowl with enough depth to handle it. Is there a preferred depth of bowl that fits flake well?
Thanks!

andrew · May 15, 2016

Tall bowl, narrow width seems to be the consensus.

iamn8 · May 16, 2016

Wow! I actually agree with Bill!!! My favorite flake pipes are both squat Bulldogs.

pitchfork · May 16, 2016

Smaller is usually better, but some people will insist on a medium-to-large (Group 4) bowl. You should basically avoid really large bowls -- if you can fit multiple flakes in one bowl, it's probably too big.
Some people will prefer tall, narrow chambers, others will prefer squat pots and princes. Different bowl shapes will give slightly different smokes with the same tobacco.
Bottom line, don't use a giant bowl and don't overthink things.

bigpond · May 16, 2016

The simplest solution is to tailor the flake to the depth of your bowl rather then the other way round. You can tear or cut off the excess length. My flake pipes vary from 1.15" to 2" in depth and .62-.94" in width. Imo depth makes very little difference while width will slightly alter the presentation of higher or lower notes in a blend (from narrow to wide). Your preference is absent consensus. Smoke whatcha got.

blueeyedogre · May 16, 2016

Different people will tell you different things. I prefer a smaller bowl..... .75" diameter or less and 1"-1.5" tall but GL Pease swears by a wide pot style. I say give all your pipes a try and see what give you the best results.

jvs68 · May 17, 2016

Thank you, gentlemen!

cobguy · May 17, 2016

MM Mark Twain ... perfect flake smoking pipe:

pipeanddrum · May 17, 2016

We are all assuming a fold and stuff method right? Does the size/shape of the bowl matter much if the flake is rubbed out? I found that shorter, squatter bowls are better suited to tobacco blends with varied constituent leaves, allowing space for all the flavors to combine and narrower bowls seem to suit virginia blends better because they seem to burn slower allowing for the sweetness to develop. Is there rhyme or reason to this or am I imagining?

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