I have a question regarding flakes and packing
So I am pretty new to smoking pipes but I always liked flakes better than other tobacco cuts, I always seemed to have an easier time with flakes for whatever reason. Not a perfect time, but a better time. So I have a question regarding packing flakes. First some background.
Yesterday It was a beautiful day outside, with minimal wind, so I figured it would be a great time to read some Sherlock Holmes and smoke my pipe. Years ago when I first became interested in pipe smoking I bought a tin of Solani Aged Burley Flake (this tin is older than 7 years old but not older than 10 years) and I squirreled it away for the future. Since my first 4 noggins order has not arrived yet, I figured it was time to break the seal.
I took 1.5 flakes out of the tin and dried them for probably an hour on the counter followed by 10 minutes on the window sill until I was happy with the moisture. Using the fold and stuff method I folded the half flake inside the full flake and then folded in half and checked to see how close I was to fitting in my Jeantet Superior 70-8. It would fit, if I used a small amount of force, but I thought that it was a little too tight so I removed 1/4 of the half flake, folded, rubbed the pug between my hands gently to break it up a little bit, slipped it into the pipe, gave it a twist, checked the draw (felt like the pipe does when empty), crumbled the bits that fell onto some paper I was working on, over the top and did my char light. Then I did my true light and off I went, the draw was still very open, maybe slightly tighter than an empty pipe.
Now I wouldn't say I was unhappy with the results, I really enjoyed myself for the better part of 2 hours, but I know there is room for improvement. The first 1/4 went pretty well after I got it going, but after that I started to struggle a bit, It didn't seem to want to stay lit, the smoke was very thin with very little flavor, and I kept having to put my thumb over the bowl and puff 2 or 3 times to stoke the flake, obviously this lead to a hot smoke trying to keep it lit. It didn't smoke too wet, I did have to run a pipe cleaner once (I removed the stinger when I restored the pipe) but the dottle was pretty dry when I emptied the pipe. I also noticed that it stayed lit better if I set the tamper on top and slowly puffed.
So here is my question.
How much force is too much when packing flakes? Is there a similar test to the "how cooked is your steak test" that can be done using your hand (pinky to thumb =rare, index to thumb = Well done)? Or any example of pressure required to load the folded flake into the pipe? I think that I may have been a little on the light side of the pack and because I couldn't tamp the flake down like you would ribbon cut I struggled through the rest of the bowl. I am mostly wondering if I should stick with the 1.5 flake next time or If I was still packed too tightly. When I loaded it, if I set the flake plug (1 1/4 flake folded) in the bowl, I could have probably tapped the side of the bowl and it would have worked its way into place. Basically I am just wondering if I should add more or less tobacco for my next attempt, and if this is a dumb question, I will just try one and roll with it, but I figured it may be worth getting pointed in the right direction.
Thanks in advance!
So I am pretty new to smoking pipes but I always liked flakes better than other tobacco cuts, I always seemed to have an easier time with flakes for whatever reason. Not a perfect time, but a better time. So I have a question regarding packing flakes. First some background.
Yesterday It was a beautiful day outside, with minimal wind, so I figured it would be a great time to read some Sherlock Holmes and smoke my pipe. Years ago when I first became interested in pipe smoking I bought a tin of Solani Aged Burley Flake (this tin is older than 7 years old but not older than 10 years) and I squirreled it away for the future. Since my first 4 noggins order has not arrived yet, I figured it was time to break the seal.
I took 1.5 flakes out of the tin and dried them for probably an hour on the counter followed by 10 minutes on the window sill until I was happy with the moisture. Using the fold and stuff method I folded the half flake inside the full flake and then folded in half and checked to see how close I was to fitting in my Jeantet Superior 70-8. It would fit, if I used a small amount of force, but I thought that it was a little too tight so I removed 1/4 of the half flake, folded, rubbed the pug between my hands gently to break it up a little bit, slipped it into the pipe, gave it a twist, checked the draw (felt like the pipe does when empty), crumbled the bits that fell onto some paper I was working on, over the top and did my char light. Then I did my true light and off I went, the draw was still very open, maybe slightly tighter than an empty pipe.
Now I wouldn't say I was unhappy with the results, I really enjoyed myself for the better part of 2 hours, but I know there is room for improvement. The first 1/4 went pretty well after I got it going, but after that I started to struggle a bit, It didn't seem to want to stay lit, the smoke was very thin with very little flavor, and I kept having to put my thumb over the bowl and puff 2 or 3 times to stoke the flake, obviously this lead to a hot smoke trying to keep it lit. It didn't smoke too wet, I did have to run a pipe cleaner once (I removed the stinger when I restored the pipe) but the dottle was pretty dry when I emptied the pipe. I also noticed that it stayed lit better if I set the tamper on top and slowly puffed.
So here is my question.
How much force is too much when packing flakes? Is there a similar test to the "how cooked is your steak test" that can be done using your hand (pinky to thumb =rare, index to thumb = Well done)? Or any example of pressure required to load the folded flake into the pipe? I think that I may have been a little on the light side of the pack and because I couldn't tamp the flake down like you would ribbon cut I struggled through the rest of the bowl. I am mostly wondering if I should stick with the 1.5 flake next time or If I was still packed too tightly. When I loaded it, if I set the flake plug (1 1/4 flake folded) in the bowl, I could have probably tapped the side of the bowl and it would have worked its way into place. Basically I am just wondering if I should add more or less tobacco for my next attempt, and if this is a dumb question, I will just try one and roll with it, but I figured it may be worth getting pointed in the right direction.
Thanks in advance!
