Got a Corn Cob

Damn, hard to beat a Missouri Meerschaum. They just do the job so well. I have both filtered and

unfiltered MM cobs, and I sort of shift to suit the tobacco and the situation. If you are walking or

working, the filter does keep the pipe drier for sure. You do need to rotate pipes. You can get that

bag of ten MM's (they're seconds but all functional) for $30, which isn't a bad investment. You could

put a few aside for guests if you plan to buy a briar or two as you go along. I have a number of good

pipes, none real expensive, but a few upscale. But I am always surprised how good it is to smoke an

MM cob. As you likely know, MM's are made in Washington, Mo., just west of St. Louis, and they

unquestionably the finest and best corn cob pipes available.

The filter is not really helping that at all, what your experiencing is that the pipe has such a large opening inside that the moisture can't gather in a large enough quantity to cause issues like in other pipes. I notice any pipe with a large opening seems to smoke much drier, what you have is almost like a system pipe
Try it without the filter, it will still be a very cool and dry smoke.

I do not use the filters. Try it with and with out and see what you think. Cobs smoke great and are inexpensive. What's not to love?

I love cobs. They smoke great and allow you to have a "rotation" quickly and cheaply. Actually, my cobs turn out to be not-so-cheap because I get forever stems for them. Even with a forever stem they are far from pricey. Depending on my mood, there are times when I think there is nothing finer than some Carter Hall in a cob. I'm going to have some now. I smoke my cobs without a filter (many, maybe all, of the forever stems don't accept filters), but if you like it with a filter . . . whatever works best for you.
I'm no expert on saliva, but the consensus here seems to be that not much saliva runs down the stem and that the moisture you are collecting in the stem is probably condensation from the burning tobacco: your tobacco is too moist or you are puffing to furiously, or both. I tend to believe this because most of the time I smoke pretty dry, but I have some blends and some pipes that gurgle a bit, so I'm thinking its not me.
Experiment a bit. Let a bit of tobacco dry out before smoking it. Also try slowing down your puffing. Not that I'd know; I tend to puff like a locomotive. But that's what the others here always say.
Nevertheless, you can't beat a cob, especially for the price. And, if you like the filter, hey, they are pretty inexpensive. Enjoy.

They do seem to work better filter-less the only problem is if you suck a little to hard or anything to that extent, you may get a leaf or ash, but no big deal.

~Ron

My trick is to blow out right before filling it up, I find bits of ash get loose when they dry (missed from cleaning). If your sucking up bits, your baccy may be in too small of pieces.

Yeah I've seemed to notice that some of my cube cuts may be a little small Eric, and I know about blowing into them my problem lies in remembering to do so.

~Ron

You know what they say about giving advice right? Do as they tell you, not as they do I am always forgetting to blow into it and I am always chocking on some long forgotten speck of ash! Even in briars.

HaroldT----- You might consider that the cob that you bought kind of fits with your Avatar. " Guy on tractor smoking a corn cob". What do you think?

In the past I never much liked filters in my pipes, but lately I've taken to using balsa filters in my cobs. They do absorb moisture and block ash (a problem with cobs with bores wide enough to accept filters), and they don't become super soggy like paper filters and for pipes designed to accept filters they seem to regulate the airflow so you can't smoke 'em too hot.

I've gone filter and without and the main reason I don't use them is that I don't want to keep up with buying them. I do seem to recall, but never tried, somebody (nsfisher maybe) saying that a 2" piece of doubled over pipe cleaner will work in place of the filters.

You'll never go wrong with a cob. Go to their website and get a bag of 10 assorted seconds that smoke just fine for 30 bucks plus shipping. The ones I got only have the tiniest cosmetic "flaws" and barely distinguishable from my firsts.