I've Been Corrupted (A Cob Story)

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toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
Well, I know they are around here somewhere, but I will be damned if I can find my regular pipe cleaners! I have tons of bristle, but I cannot find a single regular fluffy cleaner. So I went online to order ten more bags of them. Hey, while I'm there, might as well get a 19 oz. tin MB Virg. No. 1. I've been without the stuff for ages and it can be a great sweet, mouth-watering smoke both alone or mixed with other things.
Then I said Oh what the heck! All this talk of Mixture 79 by so many people, I've never tried the stuff, can licorice or anisette really make a good blend? It is just strange enough that it might be worth a try as a desert smoke as I do like licorice candy and liquor, so, I bought a couple ounces. I have lost my mind.
Then all resistance to the inevitable finally collapsed around me, I've never like corncob pipes (never tried one either), I always considered them super-cheap non-committal throwaway pipes for classless people with no social graces, I mean--- WHO walks around in public with a piece of corncob in their mouth? Look at that guy! But so many people here have raved and raved about them, their dryness and coolness, like a meer, and MM has elevated them to the high end, I need another pipe like a hole in my head but I simply cannot resist not trying one with all I've read here by so many really-satisfied people so I just picked up a Legend bent (almost went for the General) and I look forward to trying it out.
My greatest fear is that all these cob people will be right and I will find my briars sitting collecting a lot of dust as I buy up a collection of MM cobs! We shall see in a few days.

 

lonefrog615

Might Stick Around
Nov 19, 2015
73
0
I can assure you that cobs, though wonderful, will never replace the tactile and visual joy of briar. That being said, I smoke one nearly every weekday. They are my work pipes ;)

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,345
You will find that they all have turns. Work pipes, maybe, but some blends just sing a bit better in a cob.

 

perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
Toobfreak, I think you'll find that cob to be a great addiction to your hobby/habit. :)
There has only been one tobacco that I've smoked in a cob that does better in a Briar and that's GLP Westminster. But that Briars stem cracked because its a cheap piece of crap basket knock off, what do you expect? It's the second one that I've acquired from the local B&M, that's had a stem issue. So, Westminster, for the time being goes back to the cob, what a let down. I don't smoke heavy Lats all the time so a $200+ Briar isn't happening for Latakia bombs around here. Oh well.
I do believe cobs reveal more flavors, in the case I think I liked the way this particular briar hid certain notes in Westminster. See you around the pm toobfreak! :wink:

 

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
I can assure you that cobs, though wonderful, will never replace the tactile and visual joy of briar.
I'm sure. I love a beautifully grained and finished briar! And the smoke can be sublime.
some blends just sing a bit better in a cob
That's what I'm thinking and counting on! I've come to the conclusion that a good meer is the ultimate smoking pipe, a briar is the most beautiful, but a cob has more than a basket full of meer-like qualities , and in a light and very affordable pipe. Can't wait to try it.

 

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
I do believe cobs reveal more flavors
Would you guys say that cobs ghost easier or about the same as other pipes? And can they be un-ghosted? Do they take a salt bath?

 

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
Not if you try to smoke one outside in the cold!
For me, a pipe is a leisure activity. I only smoke outside in pleasant weather, sitting in a rocker where I can sit back and enjoy the fresh air and quiet of nature. I guess you're saying that meers don't take to extremes of temperature stress! Keeee-rraaaack!

 

fitzy

Lifer
Nov 13, 2012
2,937
27
NY
Last time I smoked a cob outside my office I had several different people stop me and say "I didn't think people actually smoked corn cob pipes"
I think they have their place particularly for stuff I'd be afraid of ghosting my briars with but for me they will never replace a good briar. Part of my problem is the diameter of their bowls are too small. I personally prefer wider bowls for latakia based blends.
They also come in handy when fishing and doing outdoors shit where I don't give a crap if I ruin the pipe.

 

cynicismandsugar

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 17, 2015
773
4
Springfield, Mo
Last time I smoked a cob outside my office I had several different people stop me and say "I didn't think people actually smoked corn cob pipes"
Cobs do tend to get mixed responses. One of my oldest daughter's friends -- a neighbor girl -- saw we smoking a Mark Twain cob one summer evening, and later went on to comment to my daughter, "I only thought old men and hillbillies actually smoked those things."
But, then, a couple of weeks back, I was walking downtown, enjoying my Missouri Meerschaum freehand, and admiring all the holiday lights, when my daughter, accompanied by a couple of her I.B. buddies, happened to run into me. The oldest, a stylish young man, then told my daughter, "Wow, I have to say: that pipe your dad was smoking last night -- if I'd ever had an urge to smoke anything, it would have been that pipe. It smelled great, and looked so classy." Of course, my daughter laughed at him, because, well, she's my daughter.
Love them or hate them, corn cobs do have their place.

 
Mar 29, 2016
1,006
5,540
For me, cobs are for experiencing ghosting mixtures. To keep my preciousss, there I said it, briars from becoming cheap perfumed streetwalkers. Briar and meers are the way to go as cobs give that slight plaster and burnt cob taste to tobaccos.

 

stvalentine

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2015
808
13
Northern Germany
I have more briars than I ever need but somtimes they can be too "serious" for me. Too precious and lacking a certain kind of "lightness" that I find in cobs. With a cob you can enjoy the pure business of pipe-smoking without any distraction. I mean you can even drop it without spoiling your complete day! :lol:
Meanwhile I have a dozen cobs and five more coming - I am truly doomed.... 8O

 

theloniousmonkfish

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 1, 2017
943
497
Congratulations, more need to get over the stigma. People burn them out somehow but I think they might be spitefully smoking the thing to death. They're great pipes, I've dropped/kicked them, lost them in bushes, left in cars, smoked them in snowstorms and other weather, no worse for wear. They look beat within a week or so but never much worse and it's character or whatever. Smoking a cob in public has the effect of eliciting remarks, usually something like "hey, a corn cob!" or "corn cob, cool!", it's not too bad. I like all my pipes and have Briars I would never trade/sell, Meers, and Cobs too. Used ones can be cleaned up and some of the old cobs are really nice. Here's a MM with hardwood plug, bamboo shank, and a vulcanite stem. It has a 3/4 inch chamber over 1 1/2 inches deep. Smokes wonderfully.
img_4031-600x450.jpg


 

papapauly

Lurker
Jan 2, 2017
21
0
I love my cobs! I have 15 cobs in my collection with many briar and even a pearwood. One thing I have found is Missouri meerschaum cobs and burley tobacco's is a match made in heaven. every morning I start the day with a massive cup of coffee and a corn cob filled with Prince Albert. I typically smoke several burley filled pipes in a day and they are all in a cob, I use briars daily as well for when I get the urge for a dunhill or hearth and home type blend. But as many on here have said, they do last and if you treat them with care and respect them the same way we do briar a cob will last many many years. As for being in public I have never really had a reaction from anybody other than "that smells so good!" My going out in public blend is 1-q with BCA and a touch of picyuane and I am told it smells like cookies. Enjoy those cobs everybody!

 

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
as cobs give that slight plaster and burnt cob taste to tobaccos
Well, don't many briars have a steep break-in as well? Some taste horrible the first few bowls. I would think any taste you mention above would quickly dispel once you get that bowl cooked and a little cake going.
Some of mine, and love them all!
Nice grouping!

 

josephcross

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 30, 2015
963
93
Cobs are great. I have a bunch of them for all occasions and they never let me down. Love my briars, but love my cobs too.

 

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,087
6,394
Florida
My first pipe (after having not smoked a pipe in over 35 yrs.) was / is a Missouri Meerschaum Legend I picked up at the local drug store about 3 yrs ago.

I was attempting to circumvent the inhalation of burnt cigarette paper.

It worked! AND, I've discovered the world of pipes and tobacco, not just nicotine for the habit.

When you think about it, cobs are probably one of the first and most effective bowl materials and are quintessentially North American.

What could be more 'organic' than a reed stemmed cob with a bowl of Kentucky Burley or sweet Virginia leaf?

Old Dominion Cobs

5f6711_66868e3d8fb648bfa968dae91ef24527.jpg


 
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