In Which Pipe Do You Sail Your Navy (Flake)?

[lightxmyfire]

I was taking out my jar of G.L. Pease Sextant this afternoon; which I usually smoke in one of my MM cobs. I wanted to try it out in one of my briars and the question hit me, what should I smoke this in?!
It strikes me that Navy flakes in general are mostly VA’s with a touch or so of Latakia. Do I put it in my VA pipe, or my Latakia pipe? What do you all do?
*For the record I ended up filling up my Latakia dedicated Savinelli with wonderful results. But I’m still curious what you all do.

 

[jaytex1969]

Latakia may ghost your Virginia pipe, to an extent. Virginia will not ghost your latakia pipe, but may be overshadowed by the ghost in the pipe.
It's more of a matter of degrees that a yes/no situation. Ghosts will fade and sometimes even have pleasant effects. I keep a pipe for VA's only, two for lat blends only, then a "melting pot" pipe or two, also.
Experiment and you'll find your system.

 

[newportpipe]

Experiment and you'll find your system.

Right there ^^^

 

[Chasing Embers]

strikes me that Navy flakes in general are mostly VA’s with a touch or so of Latakia.

Navy Flakes very rarely have Latakia in them, and I wouldn't worry about the minute amounts in Sextant ghosting anything.

 

[lightxmyfire]

Thanks for the input ya’ll, I like the idea of having a “melting pot” pipe Jay, deffo gonna give that a shot and keep messing around!

Navy Flakes very rarely have Latakia in them

You’re right! I made an assumption based on the only two navy flakes I’ve had both having Latakia in them, Sextant and the SG navy flake. Makes sense knowing these are outliers that our VA pipes are the place to go 90% of the time.

 

[mso489]

I tend to rub it out and smoke it in almost any pipe. I mostly don't designate; that's for Lakeland aromatics in my mind. Some prefer narrow bowls for Virginias, and some conical bowls like Dublins, but I don't pick up on the difference.

 

[danimalia]

I have a Stanwell billiard that I designate as my utility man. I smoke everything in it, but try not to let one style dominate, so it doesn't tend to develop ghost issues. That's what I would use for a Navy Flake w/ Latakia. Otherwise, I have a MM General cob that I use for lighter flakes and a Stanwell pot that I se for VA/VaPer/Bur flakes.
I never had any ghosting issues with Sextant, but I would rate the Latakia content as above miniscule, so if you're super sensitive to Latakia ghosts, may want to be careful. Otherwise, smoke away. It's a most interesting blend.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I wouldn't worry about a ghost from Navy flake, even the one's that have Latakia have such minute amounts ghosting shouldn't be a problem. If it is a heavily rum cased blend with a naval name maybe I'd consider using a non VA pipe. For your question, I think your VA pipe would do just fine.
I have a couple pipes dedicated to Navy Flake, a Nording poker and a Genod Poker, but that is mostly just for fun/aesthetic reasons. I sometimes load them up in my "anything goes" pipes as well, or a VA/VaPer pipe if it is all I have with me. Quite honestly I would put them in Anything. They won't ghost, and if I pick up a little ghost from the pipe itself and it influences the blend, that's fine with me. I'm a lat lover so it's all good, baby.

 

[lightxmyfire]

MSO,
I also always rub out my flakes, I find them much easier to keep lit and enjoy that way. I Don't have enough pipes to have tested the different bowl shape theory myself, I so far haven't felt like I'm not getting the best out of what I do have though!
Danimalia & Alaskan,
I do love me some Latakia too, and thanks to you guys I'm feeling less worried about the ghost, like you guys are saying it might be interesting to get some Orlik with a hint of Latakia in that VA pipe after a round of Sextant. I'm actually looking forward to trying that now...