Sam Gawith Full Virginia Flake

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Greetings all.

I'm really enjoying the FVF and also the Best Brown Flake. I just ordered a fair quantity (bulk) of each.

Still not getting it to smoke easily though. I've tried rubbing it out and packing it, like a normal ribbon cut. Doesn't seem to stay lit very easily.

Also, I've tried the "air pocket" method of filling the pipe. Still somewhat troublesome.

In each case, I've rubbed the tobacco out and let it dry at least overnight.

I'll keep experimenting, maybe with my GBD Freehand, which has a larger bowl. I've been attempting to smoke it in a W. O. Larsen, with a moderate sized bowl.

Any advice for a newbie would be much appreciated. Again, I really like the FVF, but I might even like the BBF a bit more!

Thanks very much,

Mr. C
 
Mr. Classic":gftb206l said:
Greetings all.

I'm really enjoying the FVF and also the Best Brown Flake. I just ordered a fair quantity (bulk) of each.

Still not getting it to smoke easily though. I've tried rubbing it out and packing it, like a normal ribbon cut. Doesn't seem to stay lit very easily.

Also, I've tried the "air pocket" method of filling the pipe. Still somewhat troublesome.

In each case, I've rubbed the tobacco out and let it dry at least overnight.

I'll keep experimenting, maybe with my GBD Freehand, which has a larger bowl. I've been attempting to smoke it in a W. O. Larsen, with a moderate sized bowl.

Any advice for a newbie would be much appreciated. Again, I really like the FVF, but I might even like the BBF a bit more!

Thanks very much,

Mr. C
Click to expand...
when your loading your pipe, try for a looser fill. use small pinches & tap the side of the bowl to get it to settle, some times I'll use the pick from my pipe tool to tuck the first half bowl down, But never mush the tobacco, your want plenty of air flow. And resist the temptation to tamp
 
Yep. Except for maybe the tap-to-settle which, when I do it, turns into a steam clog.

The moister your flake is, the looser you pack it. ("Pack" is really kind of a misnomer. Gather some torn-lengthwise-and-then-in-half flake strips up into a round cross-section (cigar) with one end of them more or less square, and insert that end. Stop at the first sign of anything like resistance. Trim the protruding excess away with scissors. (Leave the floor of the bowl clear of tabac. Helps the moisture that accumulates there dissipate unimpeded).

Give it a minute or two between char lights and expect it to take maybe five tries until you're off and running.

When you fight it and try to force flake to do what you want it to, it defies you and makes you wish you hadn't. Several protracted lighting attempts in a short span of time will just create steam. When you let it be how it is and co-operate, you're in for a good time. Which means letting it cool completely any time it starts getting hot or wet at first. Meaning you're pushing it. Let it cool down and dry back out.

:face:
 
Yakster, Good advice, this flake comes from SG very wet the tabac I'm smoking now is from '06, an have to dry it out several hrs. b-4 smoking! Ken :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue:
 
I like to stick about 5-6 flakes in my little zippered baccy pouch, after a couple of days it's ready to smoke. If left too long (over a week) it dries out too much, then I add a couple more fresh flakes to even it all out. I rub out a flake onto a paper plate or sheet of paper and gently stuff it in a narrow diameter bowl pipe. You do have to work at FVF but it's well worth it IMO.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I've gotten more patient with the flakes, and tonight I'll continue with that in mind. Yak, I'll try your cigar roll approach. I think that's close to what I heard referred to as the "air gap" method.

I've seen some comments about smoking the flake un-rubbed, broken into pieces and stacked in the bowl. This sounds interesting.

I may try my freehand tonight, with some Best Brown Flake. Man that stuff smells good. :pipe:

Thanks again,

Mr. C
 
Loose is the watchword/ It swells up more than you think as it absorbs moisture from the smoldering stuff above it. What seemed like "too loose" can turn out to be too tight before too long.

It's a feel thing you get down through trial and error.

:face:
 
It took me a little while before my palate got used to FVF, but after it did...It's my favorite and most often smoked tobacco...I also use it when I parfait with ropes and pigs too...LOVE FVF...
 
The process I use for this and all flake tobaccos is as follows;

Using scissors I cut each flake into 1/8 X 1/8 inch squares.

Gravity feed into the bowl. (Sprinkle)

Light.

DO NOT TAMP AT ALL until the tobacco will not relight, then tamp very lightly, using only the weight of the tamper to flatten the ash. (I use a pipe nail to tamp, so lightly means lightly)

I read about this on another site, it apparently originated on the old Knox boards, but since I discovered it, I find that I have gravitated toward flakes and even with non-flake blends tend to use minimal packing and tamping. I find that it provides for a most enjoyable and cool smoke, almost without exception.

I don't worry that I may have more re-lights as the satisfaction makes it well worth the matches.

I also acquired a wind cap, so that if a smoke is interrupted, I cap the pipe and set it asided for DGT purposes later. My avaerage smoke time using this process runs betwee 1 and 1 1/2 hours per bowl, depending on how I sip.

I believe the gent that first stumbled on this process was named Stein, but whomever it was, I dedicate the first pipe of each day to him :pipe:
 
Smoked my first bowl of this stuff last night.

That stuff IS divine!

Big Fan! Lots of flavor! Very satisfying!

I just poured some of the crumbled up stuff at the bottom of the bag into my bowl and lit 'er up without packing it in. I think it was still a little tight then, and probably slightly damp, but it was good!
 
HoosierPuffer":hrflk3g3 said:
Smoked my first bowl of this stuff last night.

That stuff IS divine!

Big Fan! Lots of flavor! Very satisfying!

I just poured some of the crumbled up stuff at the bottom of the bag into my bowl and lit 'er up without packing it in. I think it was still a little tight then, and probably slightly damp, but it was good!
Click to expand...
Another satisfied customer! :cheers:
 
When I first tried FVF I didn't like it at all. I tried it from tins and in bulk several times with the same result. I much preferred Blackwoods Flake with its rich, stoved leaf. So I put my FVF in jars and forgot about it.

After about ten months I dug out some FVF, cubed it and gravity fed it into a tall billiard. WOW! This tobacco wins the award for greatest change due to aging. It went from "no thanks" to "just try and pry this jar of FVF from my fingers" instantly. Age it and you'll be very, very satisfied.
 
FVF is my go-to tobacco. Definitely improves with age. Incidentally, it is the tobacco on TR with most reviews, rated as a 4-star.
 
No doubt SG FVF is a very good Straight Va. and it sits at or near the top of my list. FVF only gets a rest when I have an open tin of GLP US sitting open.
 
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