Preferred Pipes And Methods For Flakes
- Thread starter petes03
- Start date
I like all manner of tobacco cuts and pipe shapes (excluding most freehands). I am not fussy about stem "fit", as I seem to be able to adapt to most.
Same here. I am not a fan of huge pipes and prefer traditional shapes but only from an aesthetic point of view.
The difference for me from a .75 to a ,82 inside bowl width means the .82 will hold a little more tobacco and makes folding and stuffing a tad easier.
Once the pipe is packed properly and has the right draw, they smoke the same to consistently for me. It could be a Billiard, a Dublin, an Apple. They all smoke great if I have done my job of preparing and packing the pipe properly, I will get a great smoke no matter what shape pipe I use. For me it is the consistency of the pack and using the right pipe, size wise. Trying to jam 5 grams of tobacco in a group 4 is't going to work
Most of my pipes are group 4-5. I can tell if a whole or a partial flake will be the right size. If I am off a little it is easily adjustable before lighting. I never light my pipe until I have checked the draw. I like a little resistance so not too lose. If the tobacco expands use a pipe cleaner to jam in bowl to loosen up/
There are times lately that I have been smoking a few of my big boys, group 6-ODA. My big Ruthenberg Dublin and a group 6 Michael Parks Billiard. Both hold a good 2.5 flakes maybe a tad more. There are a few blends in my cellar that I do like smoking for 2.5-3.0 hours.One blend is Rotary Navy Cut or Brigham Klondike Gold and a couple more I am sure.
Once the pipe is packed properly and has the right draw, they smoke the same to consistently for me. It could be a Billiard, a Dublin, an Apple. They all smoke great if I have done my job of preparing and packing the pipe properly, I will get a great smoke no matter what shape pipe I use. For me it is the consistency of the pack and using the right pipe, size wise. Trying to jam 5 grams of tobacco in a group 4 is't going to work
Most of my pipes are group 4-5. I can tell if a whole or a partial flake will be the right size. If I am off a little it is easily adjustable before lighting. I never light my pipe until I have checked the draw. I like a little resistance so not too lose. If the tobacco expands use a pipe cleaner to jam in bowl to loosen up/
There are times lately that I have been smoking a few of my big boys, group 6-ODA. My big Ruthenberg Dublin and a group 6 Michael Parks Billiard. Both hold a good 2.5 flakes maybe a tad more. There are a few blends in my cellar that I do like smoking for 2.5-3.0 hours.One blend is Rotary Navy Cut or Brigham Klondike Gold and a couple more I am sure.
I smoke a lot of flake. For me I rub them out completely or near completely, depending on the blend and dryness.
It always depended on the flake for me as to fold and stuff or rub out.
Pipe Daddy Did you call yourself "Puff Daddy" on "Brothers of Briar"? On that board I was AlfredoBuscatti." I adored flake because it was. . .flake, and then I adored plugs because they were. . . plugs. Crumble cake was fun because it took a little preparation to get into the bowl, but disappointing because it lacked the press of the former two. Like you I ended up completely rubbing flake out, but that was not for a lack of trying over three or four years to smoke it mostly intact, without an obnoxious number of relights. jpmcwjr You seem to have been smoking the pipe for some time. I'm surprised that you haven't found a thin, comfortable stem a strong addition to your smoking such as Ingo Garbe made [yes, name dropping]. Unlike you, I can't adapt to a chunky bit. Papamique So you don't find that the the's shapes smoke any differently? cigrmaster I know you to be an avid smoker, and in this nothing teaches more fully than experience smoking. Thus I am joyously vindicated in my belief that the quality of the smoke is unrelated to shape or size.
Yeah, that's why I often say diff folks, diff strokes. There are other things where I do discriminate.
Not one bit. The shape of the chamber, I find, does affect how the pipe smokes but not the shape of the pipe itself and not the taste. When it comes to flavor In a blind test I couldn’t tell you if it’s a bulldog or a full bent.
Now, maybe I’m just not that refined. This is a possibility even after 3 decades of pipe smoking. Or maybe because of it?
In what way does the size of the chamber affect how the pipe smokes?
Petes03 mentions that he rubs out his flakes. At that point, it's no longer a flake. Most European-made flakes become a ribbon or shag when rubbed out. American flakes become something kind of like a coarse cut ribbon. To me, the question of what makes a good flake pipe is only meaningful when you leave the flakes somewhat intact, such as with a fold and stuff.
I will only rarely cube cut a flake, that's usually when I am cutting flakes from a plug and get to where there's too little left to slice further, but too thick to consider a flake. I will most often use the fold and stuff when I am smoking outside, as it burns a bit more slowly than when it's rubbed out.
Saltedplug, I agree with you about the importance of a comfortable mouthpiece. Your mention of Ingo Garbe is timely as I recently acquired my first Garbe and am quite impressed. I would say the mouthpiece is excellent, although I slightly prefer those by Jeff Gracik and Peter Heeschen. Saddle bits for me!
I will only rarely cube cut a flake, that's usually when I am cutting flakes from a plug and get to where there's too little left to slice further, but too thick to consider a flake. I will most often use the fold and stuff when I am smoking outside, as it burns a bit more slowly than when it's rubbed out.
Saltedplug, I agree with you about the importance of a comfortable mouthpiece. Your mention of Ingo Garbe is timely as I recently acquired my first Garbe and am quite impressed. I would say the mouthpiece is excellent, although I slightly prefer those by Jeff Gracik and Peter Heeschen. Saddle bits for me!
I do the "roll and stuff" method, where I fold the flake in thirds and then roll it into a little plug. The grain runs up and down in the pipe, so it's not too tough to keep lit. Essentially it winds up like a wad of rubbed out flake.
For pipes: any and every one. I just cram the plug in the cram hole and get goin'
For pipes: any and every one. I just cram the plug in the cram hole and get goin'
Not the size but the shape. Not the taste but in burn qualities.
For some obscure (to me) reason, when adding flakes, I always fold my right knee over my left knee.
If you did I would think it an inversion and take you perilously near to having the pipe smoke you. But heh, you might like a little fire. . .
Never made a difference to me, but I do smoke so slowly that you rarely see the smoke.
Good question. Lemme try it...........Yep, and it turns out that I like being lit up a little bit.