New Milestone

Well, I've finally done it.

I have burned through my first cob.

This is the first pipe I bought last November when I first began dabbling in pipes. A Missouri Meerschaum Legend. I had noticed that I seemed to have trouble smoking the bowl all the way down when I knew there was still tobacco in there. This hadn't been much of a problem for me before. Then while cleaning, I discovered the floor of the bowl was soft. Maybe just soft cake from previous bowls not smoked all the way? Nope. The draught hole was well above the floor; about 1/2 an inch! I had smoked through the wooden shank inserted into the cob and was burning through the soft pith of the cob.

A bit of poking with a pipe cleaner and it went right through the bottom.
http://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/...psqxbn2144.jpg

This seems like it should be a rite of passing in the pipe world.

How long does it typically take you to go through a cob?

I have one that is getting soft on bottom but it hasn't burned through yet.
It isn't that old, maybe 8 months or so, but I've given it hell. I've been known to smoke 3 bowls back to back to back in it with no rest. It has been left on the table on my balcony for weeks at a time getting dew all over it. More than once it has started raining and gotten wet.

It's a thousand wonders it's lasted as long as it has.

And it still smokes good..........for now. :pipe:

Congratulations!
I had a soft bottom cob that lasted just about 2 years before I burned through the SIDE. Go figure. I always break in my cobs with a few bowls of stout burley, and after smoking I'll use my pipe tool to jam some of the ash into the bottom and around the shank insert. Kinda like pipe mud but without the fuss of actually making something lol.
Time to upgrade to those fancy cobs with the hardwood bottoms ;)

Call up Missouri Meerschaum and bitch!!!

:D :D :D :D

Damn! Now THAT's exemplary commitment to the sport!

I haven't worn out any cobs lately but then I just recently returned to the pipe world (last fall). The last one that I wore out was a MM, not sure which one but I think it may have been a Legend. It burned out where the stem joins the bowl, not in the bottom where I expected it. I smoked that pipe for several years, can't remember how many exactly but I definitely got my money's worth out of it. Before it burned out, it started bulging in the middle of the bowl.

I think MM will replace that for you if you contact them.