Who else prefers a cob?

[Cool Breeze]

Just wondering if I'm the only one. Of course I started out with a MM Legend I picked up from the local drug store so I could see if I even liked pipe smoking.

Well of course I loved it and have picked up a few decent briars over the last few months. But I just keep going back to the cobs.
Maybe it's because I don't have to be careful with them. Heck, I've been known to smoke 3 bowls back to back to back without a second thought.

Anybody else actually prefer a cob?

[PMR]

I really like the taste that cob imparts to some tobacco but I still enjoy my briars too. Hearth & Home Burley Kake, Shenandoah as well as many Cavendish heavy blends taste great in my cobs. I think I'm about 50/50 on cobs, in pipe count and use.

[Mister Moo]

Since taking my first MM Legend out for a spin (about 10 years ago) I gradually began smoking cobs as much or more than meers and briars combined. When I smoke a cob I'll reach for the MM General or Basil Meadows "Corndog" classic almost all the time. They are both cool, dry smoking pipes and, as most Missouri Meerschaum cobs are, easy to keep sweet smelling and very durable.

One of my uncles lived in DC most of his life - former OSS turned buttoned down urban bureaucrat type, suit/tie - and he smoked a pipe constantly. I only ever saw him smoke a cob. I figured he was cheap but, when I asked, he showed me racks of briars that he gave up on once his discovered cobs. He said they smoked better. Imagine that.

[Emperor Zurg]

@Moo, that's a cool looking cob/bulldog hybrid thing you got there.

I have a few briars, most of them thanks to @NeverBend . I do enjoy them a lot but I'll never give up on cobs I don't think. I keep going back to my dirty old MM Pride. It's just the right size, been banged about, stuffed in a pocket, dropped in the snow, dropped on the cement and it's none the worse for wear. If it finally croaks some day I'll just yank the forever stem out of it and cram it in a new one. It does everything well and it's far more durable than you'd expect. It's hard to beat a good cob.

[Desertlifter]

I have somehow accumulated my share of briars (pretty sure they magically mulitply in my pipe bag), but I do love my cobs. Some blends are just better in them, particularly Lakelands and aros, IMO.

[Lostmason]

So far I've tried a cob all of twice, I keep tasting burned corn. While it isn't really offensive, it is distracting. I still like my briars more, but I'll try a few more bowls to build up the cake or char to see if it improves.

[Emperor Zurg]

So far I've tried a cob all of twice, I keep tasting burned corn. While it isn't really offensive, it is distracting. I still like my briars more, but I'll try a few more bowls to build up the cake or char to see if it improves.

I smoke VaPers until the corn taste goes away. I actually enjoy the taste of the curing cob along with a VaPer. I hate to see it go. I'd imagine the corny taste wouldn't go so well with an English blend tho...

[Mister Moo]

So far I've tried a cob all of twice, I keep tasting burned corn. While it isn't really offensive, it is distracting. I still like my briars more, but I'll try a few more bowls to build up the cake or char to see if it improves.

Gone in one or two more smokes.

[Branzig]

Cobs Rule! This is my current "smoking rotation." I just replaced most of my old ones last year, so these all have a lot of millage left on them!



I still smoke a lot of briars, I get different flavors out of briars that I just can't get out of a cob, so I can't say that I prefer a cob necessarily.. But cobs are the best for when on the go, smoking something that you have never tried before, or blends that will ghost the jeebus out of a briar.

I also find it almost impossible to smoke a cob wet, which is a huge plus. They're super cheap too, which makes it easier when I "accidentally" throw one playing golf

[Tgs679]

Can't say I prefer them but I smoke them at work more often than not because I worry about wrecking my briars on a job site.