How much do you rub out your flake

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by MarkC

...So what exactly is a flake?

I think that'd be multiple layers of a tobacco or tobacco blend pressed into a block or rolled into a cylinder (with or without a binding agent), sliced and packaged. It covers a lot of ground. Or, in the words of the famous Marvelettes flake tobacco song, "Listen here, girls. Take this advice, and remember always in life... ...I said there's short ones, tall ones, fine ones, kind ones..."

I'm very engaged in Flakeville right now with some open tins of Penzance & Hamborger Veermaster (kind ones), GLP Union Square (short one), Escudo (fine one), Full Virginia Flake (another fine one) and Reiner Long Golden Flake (very much the tall one). You all get your flake on, now, hear?

[dmkerr]

"I rub out my flake 'til I get satisfied". - Mississippi Fred McDowell

Truth to tell, I hardly ever load a flake into my pipe that isn't fully rubbed out. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong but I find no benefit to the various flake loading methods of fold and stuff over rubbing out the flakes. I do leave the flakes whole in the tin until I'm ready to smoke them because I've found doing so helps the 'baccy retain the proper moisture level. And I find rubbed out flakes burn better for me.

[commonsenseman]

Originally Posted by MarkC

You know that feeling when you're on an early learning curve, and you're learning a lot and suddenly the ground goes out from under you and you're not sure what the heck's going on anymore? Well, that's me with flakes right now. When you people are talking flakes, I'm thinking something like Full Virginia Flake. But I see Union Square called a flake, and I can't even pull a so-called flake out of the tin without it pulling apart. Same with Black Woods Flake. So what exactly is a flake?

(Talk about loaded questions...)

I feel your frustration with flakes, I am still learning to deal with them as well. I've only been smoking them for a few months, & they are very frustrating sometimes. I've had the most luck rubbing them out, it's much easier to smoke that way. I've folded & stuffed a couple times but the tobacco needs to be quite dry, it tends to smoke much slower & is harder to keep lit. But it can be rewarding since it burns much slower & longer, it definately takes patience though, & may require several re-lights.

Several of my favorite tobaccos are flakes, so I'll keep trying!

[RJpuffs]

Originally Posted by commonsenseman

I feel your frustration with flakes, I am still learning to deal with them as well. I've only been smoking them for a few months, & they are very frustrating sometimes. I've had the most luck rubbing them out, it's much easier to smoke that way. I've folded & stuffed a couple times but the tobacco needs to be quite dry, it tends to smoke much slower & is harder to keep lit. But it can be rewarding since it burns much slower & longer, it definately takes patience though, & may require several re-lights.

Several of my favorite tobaccos are flakes, so I'll keep trying!

Smoked ala flake, it will burn much slower, cooler, and therefore more enjoyable. Once it burns, that is. Oh, its also windproof, no watching the embers go flying in the wind.

Two things to remember - 1) flakes want to burn lengthwise (along the "grain"); and d) flakes will expand as they ignite.

As virtually every flake is longer than the bowl, you will have to fold it over. As it is probably also wider than the bowl, you will need to double it over first or slice it into two/more thinner flakes (along the grain). Once you have the width covered (loose fit), fold over the flake 2 or 3 times, depending on the depth of your bowl. You only want about 3/4 filled, not to the top. When you slide the "plug" into the bowl, it should just fit and just not fall out when the pipe is inverted. Any looser, and it will not burn easily. Any tighter, and it will plug up as the baccy heats and expands. Add or remove around the sides, holding the plug in your fingers, to make it somewhat even around and just right to slide in.

Do not tamp down, just poke with finger to get it in the slot. Then most important, take some leftover scraps, and rub it out and put a nice head of loose baccy on it, tamp with finger only gently. Char, and light EVENLY. The loose stuff will ignite fast and if you get it right, the flakes below will also light up evenly. It will then expand and tighten the draw and stay lit well enough. You can get ridiculously long smokes out of a flake, sometimes I don't do it this way for that reason

[commonsenseman]

Originally Posted by RJpuffs

Smoked ala flake, it will burn much slower, cooler, and therefore more enjoyable. Once it burns, that is. Oh, its also windproof, no watching the embers go flying in the wind.

Two things to remember - 1) flakes want to burn lengthwise (along the "grain"); and d) flakes will expand as they ignite.

As virtually every flake is longer than the bowl, you will have to fold it over. As it is probably also wider than the bowl, you will need to double it over first or slice it into two/more thinner flakes (along the grain). Once you have the width covered (loose fit), fold over the flake 2 or 3 times, depending on the depth of your bowl. You only want about 3/4 filled, not to the top. When you slide the "plug" into the bowl, it should just fit and just not fall out when the pipe is inverted. Any looser, and it will not burn easily. Any tighter, and it will plug up as the baccy heats and expands. Add or remove around the sides, holding the plug in your fingers, to make it somewhat even around and just right to slide in.

Do not tamp down, just poke with finger to get it in the slot. Then most important, take some leftover scraps, and rub it out and put a nice head of loose baccy on it, tamp with finger only gently. Char, and light EVENLY. The loose stuff will ignite fast and if you get it right, the flakes below will also light up evenly. It will then expand and tighten the draw and stay lit well enough. You can get ridiculously long smokes out of a flake, sometimes I don't do it this way for that reason

Thanks for the advice! I will try that next time I smoke a flake, hopefully tonight. I think I had been rolling it up then shoving it in sideways, so that's probably why I had so many problems keeping it lit & burning straight down. Adding a little loose tobacco on top has made a huge difference in how well it lights, I think I just need a little more practice with it.

Hmm.....maybe I'll have to open up my jar of 1792 when I get home later.........

[Pipe Organist]

I've been experimenting/sampling flakes and blends that are spun into disks, and here's my experience thusfar:

I find that I have the best luck with flakes and slices if I fully rub them out. I smoke Bac Marren (haha) Mixture Flake and Navy Flake and rub them out fully and load them into the pipe in small amounts, packed fairly firmly. I also smoke MB Dark Twist Roll Cake, and I take the little penny-sized coins and roll them between my thumb and forefinger until they become little pellets of loose tobacco then drop them into a fairly wide-bowl pipe. They unfurl slightly after being dropped in, and I coax them to flatten out everso slightly. I repeat for each coin until the bowl is full.

In doing this, I get remarkably cool and long-smoking bowls of pure pleasure, and have no problem being "unorthodox" in my enjoyment of flakes and coins.

I also smoke Smoker's Haven Krumble Kake and have several tins of vintage Longevity from C&D (the original stuff that was pressed into blocks) and crumble and rub both of them out very fine and smoke them in my taller bowls that tend to be conical, as well as my meers, and again the rubbing tends to make them pack a bit more tightly and firmly, burn slowly and cooly, and last for what seems like days.

I'm re-discovering that pipe-smoking is a highly individual endeavor. Tobacco, pipe and smoker all combine in wonderously diverse ways, and one should experiment with what works for one with maximum enjoyment and minimum stress. Much like keeping fish, pipe smoking is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable, not an obsession demanding compuslive, stress-inducing trauma.

Now, go stuff and light a pipe, pour yourself the beverage you enjoy and savor the moment. In this day and age, moments like this are rare and should be guarded jealously.