My First Corn Cob

[mikethompson]

you can beat the out of them & not feel bad about it.

They can certainly take a lot of abuse.

@King Bulldog , several years ago I did a test on a cob to see how durable they are. For a 'disposable' pipe, the results were surprising.

Long Term Cob Torture Test: 6 Months Under The Elements :: Pipe Talk

Just took delivery of a Huck Finn cob courtesy Smokingpipes. I used Super saver international shipping, and the package was well packed and secure. How durable is a cob? How porous is the bowl? The conventional wisdom is that briar, being dried, aged, and much harder makes for a better pipe...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[PA Piper Mike]

I probably abuse my cobs the most. As for the exposed wood shank in the bowl, smoking your 1st few bowls all the way down may give you a taste that gets gnarly. But that's normal...it's just that portion in the bowl that's starting to burn. Just don't go thinking that it's a normal thing to have every time you smoke, it's not. After 4-5 bowls it goes away (if you get it at all). Once you break it in, the thing will end up being a work horse.

One thing to note, after a while, you may start to notice cracks developing along the corn seems. It doesn't happen to all, but I'm thinking this is common, since most of my well used cobs have developed those cracks. None of which have affected the pipe negatively.