Anyone tried 'dressing up' a cob?

ericusrex · Jun 4, 2015

I like my cobs. But I can't walk around downtown Boston with a suit, tie and cob. I'd look and feel like a hick. No offense to the hicks on this forum. Has anyone tried staining or spray painting their cobs to look more like wood? I know I can buy tuxedo cobs online but I already have a stash of cobs and no need to buy more. Thx!

brass · Jun 4, 2015

Hmmm, I was going to ask the guys for advice on how to make my briars look like my cobs. :twisted:

elbert · Jun 4, 2015

I prescribe a flask of Gentleman Jack at your hip. You'll instantly be transformed from "country bumpkin" to "Landed Gentleman". Hopefully you already possess the stellar facial hair that will be required to 'sell' this new image.

kanada · Jun 4, 2015

Try a country gentleman... They're already dressed up and a gentleman

huntertrw · Jun 4, 2015

"Anyone tried 'dressing up' a cob?"
My wife made a tiny smoking jacket for one of mine, but it kept falling off.

huntertrw · Jun 4, 2015

ericusrex:
In all seriousness, and regardless of your attire, nothing says INDEPENDENT NEW ENGLAND YANKEE like a cob-pipe. If some pseudo-Bostonians don't get that, then phooey on them.

warren · Jun 4, 2015

Image over substance huh? I can smoke a cob when wearing a suit and tie or Carharts in public and never feel a twinge embarrassment. As that famous sailor stated: "I yam what I yam."
A trying to "dress up" a cob is a bit like putting lipstick on a pig. The pig knows he's God's greatest gift to food and can stand on his own merits.
Put on your old suit and tie, grab a cob and go out and enjoy life! Less fear about what other people will think is good for your self-esteem.

elbert · Jun 4, 2015

I shouldn't make fun, I'm sure we all have hang-ups. I know I'd have trouble smoking a churchwarden in public!

warren · Jun 4, 2015

If one is embarrassed to smoke a particular pipe style in public, don't do it. A cob is what it is and if the OP feels uncomfortable smoking a cob in a suit and tie, fears what others will think, he should just buy a couple of good, inexpensive, utilitarian briars and "fit in."

johnnyreb · Jun 4, 2015

I'd like to make one of my briars look like a cob fer when I unbraid my "stellar facial hair" and go down to the crick with my 6 dogs.

nhpro · Jun 4, 2015

eric,

Get a nice simple briar, it will give a more positive image for you as a professional.
I worked in downtown Boston's financial district for many years.
Enjoy your cobs, as I do, everywhere else!

cmdrmcbragg · Jun 4, 2015

Shots have been fired in the Forum.

jamesrsmithjr · Jun 4, 2015

“But I can't walk around downtown Boston with a suit, tie and cob. I'd look and feel like a hick”

AND?

When one of my daughters graduated from a school near DC and had the ceremony at Constitution Hall, I felt more than proper, walking down Penna Ave, suit, tie, family dressed to the hilt, and a cob stuck in my mug..

The next weekend, another daughter graduated from a school in Pa, an AG school. I felt just as proper in my chinos and a short sleeve shirt, walking across a pasture to the ceremony, with a cob stuck in my mug..

Chasing Embers · Jun 4, 2015

Locally, everyone knows that this hick carries around a 115 year old, single shot, H&R 12 guage shotgun. By total coincidence, no one has ever made a sideways remark about my cobs, churchwardens, or cob churchwardens. :mrgreen:

okiescout · Jun 4, 2015

If your worried about public opinion, these days they probably would not want you to smoke anything. I smoke for the enjoyment and if I want a cob, a cob is what it is going to be. When it comes to fashion, look around at the things you see in any city of any size.

Man, to cob or not to cob is not even on the radar. 8O

newbroom · Jun 4, 2015

Eric, please don't suggest to this forum that a guy with all your tobacco experience does not own at least a few briar pipes? (did ya see how I made my plea a ?)

Not only that, but you gotta go and conflate cobs and these things you call hicks. Sheesh, man.

Most people USE their cobs in public or away from home because they're easily replaced if something untoward should happen to your pipe while your gallivanting.

The strength of character it takes for a man to wear his pink shirt and blue bowtie with a checked summer weight cotton 'blazer' should be strong enough to sport a cob as well. (even that far outside of PTown)

mso489 · Jun 4, 2015

Mindset is the issue here. I have two or three full-dress pipes that could match perfectly with my (seldom worn) tuxedo, and I might do that if the circumstances presented themselves. Though the wedding I will attend this month is a picnic with grilled steak. However, I am an ardent proponent of mixing "the sacred and profane" -- a joke here, nothing sacred OR profane, but you get the idea. I have often taken along my Missouri Meerschaum diplomat as a car pipe when I was in jacket and tie, and felt all the better for playing against character. The message is, I'm a guy who knows how to wear a jacket and tie, and does so regularly, who enjoys a corn cob pipe. You got a problem with that? Not confrontational, but self-assurred. Cob pipes are a noble fact of U.S. history and nothing could be finer. So, here I am in my summer linen suit: Do I want to smoke one of my more elegant briars or my MM large bowl freehand? What's my mood? What would I fancy? Those are the questions. Let the public fend for itself.

frozenchurchwarden · Jun 4, 2015

Actually just a few weeks ago I tried dying a Cob and a MM Hardwood black, which should look great with the 5/16" tenon acrylic stems you can get from Pipemaker's Emporium that just need a bit of sanding to work (and drilling if you want more than a 1/16" draft).

Unfortunately I grabbed my bottle of RIT dye instead of Feibings leather dye so it didn't work very well (RIT dye colours plastics not natural materials).

I'm probably going to try again sometime.

lostandfound · Jun 4, 2015

I don't necessarily ENJOY going downtown, but when I do, I bring a cob. In fact, cobs are the only pipes I smoke in public. I'm certainly not a hick either- it's just that, well... I don't give any thought whatsoever to the negative opinions of others, especially the ones that are more often than not, contained within their craniums.

elbert · Jun 4, 2015

I'll be curious to see how that turns out, frozenchurchwarden!

Anyone tried 'dressing up' a cob?

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