Cobs take a lickin' and keep on tickin'

[Blackbeard's Delight]

My old MM cob (my first pipe) was looking at me from the back of the drawer. It was my first ever pipe from a nearby pharmacy and now it looked like it barely survived a house fire. I learned to smoke with it and it shows the signs of being smoked too hot- the lacquer on the bowl is charred on the outside, charring on top on the rim of the bowl, burned cake in the bowl, cracking of the finish around some of the kernal shapes. Yikes.

But it looked at me like it was patiently waiting. I got some Dr Grabow filters and decided to give the cob a cleaning... I reamed it out, cleaned up the bowl, ran a couple pipe cleaners through the stem and a new filter. Guess what? It still smokes like a charm! Shocking. I had been so close to throwing it away several times, but something made me hold onto it.

Now I feel like I've come some kind of full circle going back to my first pipe. And I am surprised it works so well despite the abuse from my amateur puffing almost a year ago. It inspired me to add another cobb to my first ever online tobacco order (from CigarsInternational.com, which should be arriving tuesday!). If a fancy high-end briar is like hanging out with James Bond, then a cob is like spending time with an old high-school buddy.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Bad thing about hanging out with Bond, and least the Craig version, is someone is going to die I keep a cob on the shelf in my garage. They are tough.

 

[Boro62]

I keep a cob as my run around pipe I carry on me

 

[COHunter]

I smoke a cob pretty much every day. I keep one in my truck so I can indulge on the commute to and fro. They really are wonderful smokers and will take all sorts of abuse. The nicest thing is the price, can't beat a ~$7 pipe that smokes like a champ.

 

[PugslyCat]

I have a cob in my office rack and a couple down at the farm. They were purchased to fill out the rotation until I could get something better. Although I'm not partial to them, they don't seem to be going away.

 

[Schmitz Bitz]

I too have a lot of love for cobs. I seem to keep one in every tackle and tool-box, junk-drawer, and pack I own. I actually buy bags of 2nds from Missouri Meerschaum to pass out at gatherings to the people who inevitably wander over and want to try pipe-smoking.

 

[Shave_Rat]

OK, you all convinced me. I ordered 2 diplomats and one 6 1/2 inch churchwarden stem for one of them.

 

[syngent]

Lol I've never smoked a cob... have held one once as I gave one as a gift and thought it n poor taste to try it first lol one of these days ill remember to add one to an order

 

[michiganlover]

Lol I've never smoked a cob... have held one once as I gave one as a gift and thought it n poor taste to try it first lol one of these days ill remember to add one to an order

They are available for $5-$10 each. No reason to not try one out!!

 

[wolfmanxiii]

Great post! When I first started with a pipe I got caught up in wanting a nice fancy curved briar pipe. I kept buying different pipes thinking that one day I would find that magical amazing briar pipe that smoked everything wonderfully. After the initial excitement of the new hobby and looking sophisticated with my nice briar pipes I slowed down and started looking for whatever smoked best for me. That's when I went back to cobs and now my briars see almost no use. I'll come back to visit them someday, but I found what works for me and there's no point in fixing it if isn't broken.

 

[BigKev77]

Get yourself a forever stem from walker briar works and you will enjoy those cobs even more. I have been smoking cobs for the better part of the last 10 years and those forever stems are the best things since...

 

[Shave_Rat]

Get yourself a forever stem from walker briar works and you will enjoy those cobs even more. I have been smoking cobs for the better part of the last 10 years and those forever stems are the best things since...

Yeah, I ordered one of those as well as the 2 cobs I ordered yesterday. I can't wait till they get here.

 

[_JP_]

About the last time I smoked a cob was on a fishing boat out of Belmar, NJ. They took to calling me "Popeye."

 

[JM]

love the cob

 

[Pescara]

I recommend the MM Pride--the bowl is left completely natural. It smokes noticeably cooler than my Washington or Diplomat.

 

[Hunter]

Even though I have yet to smoke one I find cobs to be an amazing enabling tool. I give one to my friends with a pouch of tobacco, then tell them how much it is. And they are amazed! They always ask how much my pipes are and I tell them and they get that look of well that isn't a bad price if you want to spend that money look. Yesterday when I taught my friend how to smoke he was elated, second best part of the day more or less. The best was when I made him put on a kilt and he was astonished by how comfortable it was!