Packing Flake the Fold-over, Full Flake Method

[alfredo_buscatti]

I've been taking flakes and folding them over three Xs over themselves and then just stuffing these folds into the pipe. I know this is the Mac Baren method and that many of you use this, but aside from the longer burn (more tobacco in the bowl), I can't find many advantages, just disadvantages.

1. 4 or 5 matches to get it to light. I stuff so that the ends of the folds are on the top, affording a better light than a crease.
2. 10 more matches during the bowl to keep it lit.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Puff Daddy]

What I do is to fold up the flake as you do, and while it's still help together in my fingers, begin twisting gently back and forth with the fingers of each hand working in opposite directions of each other. This begins turning a tightly pressed folded flake into a woven mass of moderately held together strands. Imagine having a tight section of rope in your fingers and you twist it back and forth to loosen it a bit so the individual fibers become loosened from what was a single mass. But, you do this gently with the tobacco. The little plug in your fingers will have expanded a bit from this, so I then start to work my fingers up and down it a bit to elongate it slightly, which narrows it and then I slip it into the chamber and seat it. With a bit of practice you get a feel for grabbing the right amount of flake for the bowl you choose. If there's too much, break some off just before the last bit is pushed into the pipe and seated. I then take the inevitable bits that fall to the table from the twisting and put them on top for tinder, give a light press and set fire to it. Usually 2, maybe 3 lights and we're off.

 

[shootist51]

I don't see that you are doing anything "wrong". It kind of depends on what you are looking for from the tobacco.

Typically, Flakes and cube cuts take a lot of relights as compared to the ribbon cuts. If the number of relights is detrimental to your enjoyment, perhaps these cuts are not for you.

I have found that a bit of drying is called for on most tinned tobaccos, but especially with flakes. The drying helps the burn, but I still find I need more relights with these types of tobacco.

For me, the advantage of flake tobacco is that you potentially have three different smokes in one tobacco. I find that fully rubbed flake tends to produce a milder flavor, while cubed is a bit stronger, with folded producing the most intense of the three. Also, the coarser the cut, the longer the smoke tends to be.

If I could give you any advice, it would be to dry your tobacco, and after the char light, smoke the tobacco in SIPS, rather than puffs. Tamp only to settle the ash, and only when the tobacco will not take light without it.

Flakes require some work, for that reason I tend to smoke only when I have the time to do it properly and almost exclusively Virginia flakes. Don't become discouraged, once you decide that flakes are for you, the work becomes part of the ritual and it's well worth the effort.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Puff Daddy, thank you for your illuminating response. I can readily see how your method would loosen the flake and cut down on relights. Mark Chambers once tried to tell me how he did the same thing that you are advocating. As best I can recollect he would fold the flake and put it between the palms of his hands and fluff it up a bit, thus loosening the strands.

I'll have to give both methods a try and see what works best.

Thanks again!

 

[MisterE]

What I do is to fold up the flake as you do, and while it's still help together in my fingers, begin twisting gently back and forth with the fingers of each hand working in opposite directions of each other. This begins turning a tightly pressed folded flake into a woven mass of moderately held together strands. Imagine having a tight section of rope in your fingers and you twist it back and forth to loosen it a bit so the individual fibers become loosened from what was a single mass. But, you do this gently with the tobacco. The little plug in your fingers will have expanded a bit from this, so I then start to work my fingers up and down it a bit to elongate it slightly, which narrows it and then I slip it into the chamber and seat it. With a bit of practice you get a feel for grabbing the right amount of flake for the bowl you choose. If there's too much, break some off just before the last bit is pushed into the pipe and seated. I then take the inevitable bits that fall to the table from the twisting and put them on top for tinder, give a light press and set fire to it. Usually 2, maybe 3 lights and we're off.

What he said...

Indeed, just folding it over can make for a frustrating experience at times. I remember my first stab at it after reading th same MacB article. The bowl got so plugged up after lighting that it totally closed off the draw! I didnt realize how much it expands when lit!
I find, if the flakes are fairly dry, folding works nicely, but if not (Peterson UniFlake comes to mind) you´ll have a bigger pile of burnt matches than tobacco!! I basically do the same as SP, but scrunch it like an accordion a few times- same result. Then I tear off about an 1/8th inch off the top of the "plug" and sprinkle it over the top after it´s packed. Lights well that way- kind of like kindling.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed with PD,,,, AB!

Have you seen the rolling flake method?
Some of the best smokes I have had FVF especially, is when you roll up the flake and plug it, Works really well with thinly sliced flakes!!

 

[Skip48]

I have tried folding flake and that's OK, but I find for me it burns hotter if well lit and I just like it better if I rub it out and fill the bowl after it's loose and for me it smokes better. I started out rubbing it to smoke and then tried the fold fill method, but went back to rubbing and filling. I don't pack it very tight at all and I find it burns better and all the way across the bowl like that.

Just me but I don't see the advantage of folding it for a good smoke and don't find the taste any different. I do have a much easier time keeping the whole bowl lit when using the rub and fill method, but that may just be me.

Skip

 

[illiteratti]

I really think the biggest thing with flakes is not to over pack the bowl, both folded or rubbed. Along with that is not to over tamp. Someone, I forgot who, once gave me that advice and I never got the chance to thank him for it. Basically what I do is to take a flake or maybe even one and a half flakes and fold them in half and tease the folded end before sliding them into the bowl, making sure there is plenty of airflow through the bowl. The drier the tobacco, the less relights, but it still needs more than the ribbon cut tobacco

When I rub the tobacco out, I still pack it much more loose than the regular ribbon cut tobacco, I found that it does need lots of air flow around the tobacco.

When I smoked Mac Baren navy flake, one flake was plenty for the fold over method, but the SG Balkan flake needs about one to one and a half in my Savinelli billiards. They do have a relatively large bowl (by my standards) but my little Barling uses less than a full flake of either. Erinmore flake is the only one that I used two flakes for a bowl and that was rubbed out, and I still think that was a bit too much.

 

[Skip48]

One thing I notice, but don't know if it's like this in all pipes, but the new pipes seems to have a bowl that is about as large at the bottom (inside) as they are at the top. All of mine are older 1980 or before and the bottom of the bowls are all much smaller than the top Inside). Is this part of my trouble with the fold method?

Skip

 

[illiteratti]

I just went and inspected all my pipes, and being that they are all pretty new, they all have pretty consistent bowl diameter all the way to the bottom, so I personally have no experience with packing a flake in a tapered bowl, but I am very interested to see what the others have to say about that. I can see how that can change the way you pack your bowl if you were to do the fold and fluff method.

Maybe try to use less of a flake and put the remnants and broken pieces from the bottom of the tin at the top of the bowl?

 

[Anonymous]

I tend to agree here!
I try to pack flake when rubbed out not to tightly it seems to burn better and not as hot especially with FVF!

 

[Skip48]

Burning hot sure seems to happen when I load my pipe with the fold method and it's really nice when I rub it out and let it open up. I get as much to fall in by gravity as I can then very lightly push it down (not packing yet still filling) then I put as much as I can without hardly any pressure. Then I saw some guy on the internet that said do control how much packing is done he used one of the little low cost nails and held it between the index finger and the next one and without holding it with a lot of pressure you tamp/pack it down. This way it's packs loose enough to let the air flow very well and then easy to light the top all the way across.

I first thought this was not enough, but smoked it anyway to see and it was perfect. I do right after a good light and it fluffs in the bowl tamp it ever so lightly again and then smoke away. It helps even the more moist flake tobaccos do well for me.

I thought that I was right about all my bowls having a tapered chamber. I saw some pipes some place that were for smoking Flake and my thought was , hmmmm, what's different? I think now I know.

Skip

 

[Anonymous]

Good point you make there.
9 of 10 I prefer flake rubbed out!
I get a more even burn!!

 

[illiteratti]

As much as I hate to admit it, I do the fold fluff and stuff method out of sheer laziness. Yeah, I do seem to get a better burn rubbing the stuff out, but when I'm out and about, its so much easier and faster to fold a flake than to pack even the ribbon cut.

I'm such a sloth!

 

[Anonymous]

As much as I hate to admit it, I do the fold fluff and stuff method out of sheer laziness. Yeah, I do seem to get a better burn rubbing the stuff out, but when I'm out and about, its so much easier and faster to fold a flake than to pack even the ribbon cut.

I'm such a sloth!

You are forgiven bro! :cheers: