When it comes to packing a bowl my experience is such that I want a certain amount of resistance before I light my pipe. The saying of packing looser than you think you should is not the best way to pack a pipe in my opinion. I want there to be resistance like sipping a milkshake through a straw. The reason I want resistance is that my bowl will smoke cooler than with a loose pack. The looser a bowl is means the hotter it will smoke in my experience. If for some reason I pack it too tight, I will just run a pipe cleaner through the stem to loosen it up.
I cube cut most of my flakes and use the 3-4 step packing method, this is when I want resistance. If I do a fold and stuff, then I want it looser so that when the flake expands it has the room needed. As far as a smaller pipe, I use the same methods as above no matter what size pipe. Try cube cutting and pack with some resistance and see if that gives you a cooler smoke.
As far as packing a ribbon or other cut besides a flake I use the same method of packing 3-4 steps but look for a little less resistance than I would for a cube cut flake. A loose pack no matter what type of cut will lead to a hotter smoke in my experience.
