When loading flake tobacco, I usually take the fold and stuff approach. I figure about how many flakes I'll need to load the bowl, put them together and fold in half the long way then again the other way...to loosen it up a bit I'll give the two ends a little twist. I hope that makes sense.
Another way I handle flake is to break it into strands, not fully rubbed out, and fold those over and pack.
I like these methods because I think they give you more of the intended flavor than rubbing a flake out into a ribbon cut, I also think it tends to smoke longer.
Joe's method above works great. However, flakes folded like that will take a very long time to smoke. If I have the time I will do it that way too, it also seems to be a little more of a milder bodied smoke when folded than fully rubbed out. If you want a little fuller bodied smoke (at lest that has been my experience) then you can use a clean pair of scissors and cut it into a cube cut or to the length you want and then rub it out. You can also just rub the full flake out by hand either way it is the same result. It will smoke at a normal time and the flavor does change a little for me when compared to the fold method. You can also take a flake and instead of folding like the above post talks about you can turn it and roll it like a piece of gum. It is similar to the fold method and I get the same style of milder but longer smoke out of it. It basically depends on my mood the flake style and my pipe. In both of the fold and roll method, however, the false light causes the tobacco to puff up more than a ribbon style cut so you will need to leave a little extra room at the top of the bowl otherwise you will have the burning tobacco puffing up and onto the rim of your bowl. The tar and stuff is hard to remove so avoid this if possible.
I'll have to try the break into strand/fold/pack method; never thought about that before. I've only tried the fold and pack, and it's just never worked for me, so I usually just rub them out without a second thought.
Joe's method above works great. However, flakes folded like that will take a very long time to smoke. If I have the time I will do it that way too, it also seems to be a little more of a milder bodied smoke when folded than fully rubbed out. If you want a little fuller bodied smoke (at lest that has been my experience) then you can use a clean pair of scissors and cut it into a cube cut or to the length you want and then rub it out. You can also just rub the full flake out by hand either way it is the same result. It will smoke at a normal time and the flavor does change a little for me when compared to the fold method. You can also take a flake and instead of folding like the above post talks about you can turn it and roll it like a piece of gum. It is similar to the fold method and I get the same style of milder but longer smoke out of it. It basically depends on my mood the flake style and my pipe. In both of the fold and roll method, however, the false light causes the tobacco to puff up more than a ribbon style cut so you will need to leave a little extra room at the top of the bowl otherwise you will have the burning tobacco puffing up and onto the rim of your bowl. The tar and stuff is hard to remove so avoid this if possible.
Good points. I find the way I treat flake depends on the particular tobacco also, some just don't work for me when folded or rolled.
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Another way I handle flake is to break it into strands, not fully rubbed out, and fold those over and pack.
I like these methods because I think they give you more of the intended flavor than rubbing a flake out into a ribbon cut, I also think it tends to smoke longer.