Cob Stem

[Flatfish]

What is the difference between an acrylic and plastic cob stem?
Do the plastic ones end up looking like a chewed pen top?

I've noticed all the ones I like the look of are plastic. Eg the apple diplomat and the cobbit dwarf. Everything is made to a price point I suppose.

 

[warren]

What is the difference between an acrylic and plastic cob stem?

Mostly longevity and cost. I consider cobs to be "disposable" so, plastic is fine. Some guys here consider them daily smokers and prefer something more substantial.

 

[Buffalo]

Cobs are my bang around pipes. However, even though they are relatively inexpensive, I and many others may wind up smoking them for several years. With that being said, I despise the stems that come with them. They are very soft and they do get a chewed up look relatively quickly. To combat that, you can buy a forever stem from various retailers, or if you are lucky enough to be close to a pipe maker, they can cut you a stem to suit your tastes.

I'm blessed to have the tools to make my own pipes, so I have made several "forever" stems to suit me, as soon as I get a new cob, the factory stem gets pulled and thrown in the stem box and one of my good stems reside until the pipe can't be smoked any longer.

 

[bullet08]

I don't chew on stem. So shouldn't make much difference. I don't even bite when clenching. But I like the look of MM with acrylic stem.

 

[FurCoat]

I don't usually clench but when I do I'm working in the yard or turning wrenches. I have yard cobs for these occasions and perfer the plastic stem that comes with MM cobs. They are soft and easy to clench. Replacements are cheap and available.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I've noticed all the ones I like the look of are plastic. Eg the apple diplomat and the cobbit dwarf. Everything is made to a price point I suppose.

Yes. If I'm going to spend more than $10 on a pipe, it's going to be something other than a cob.

 

[edger]

I like the plastic stems, not the relatively expensive aftermarket ones. The pipes are cheap and functional the way they come.
Would Nancy Pelosi in a bikini be an improvement. I think not, unless you hit me in the head with a hammer.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I won't buy another cob but when I did own and smoke them, the airflow in the original stems was perfect. Even the ones that I had for many years never needed replacement stems.

 

[Sgetz]

I find the cheap stems to have a mouth feel close to vulcanite. The forever stems are much harder and less easy to clench

 

[makhorkasmoker]

For me those plastic stems are one of the main attractions to mm pipes. They don’t slip out of my mouth when I clench and they’re easily and cheaply replaced. That said I’ve never had to replace an mm stem even after years of hard use.

 

[DanWil84]

I don't like the plastic stem from a cob, very much prefer the acrylic one from the Carolina Gent for example.

 

[mso489]

I did tend to gnaw up the soft plastic stems that come on most cobs. I bought several Forever stems in acrylic and that solved the problem. More recently, Missouri Meerschaum has made special edition and a few of their standard pipes with acrylic stems, so all of my more recent purchases are those.

Especially if you have a number of pipes that you smoke in rotation, MM cobs seem to last about as well as briars. This may not be true if you are talking about pipes forty or fifty years old, but MM cobs can last for decades, so I don't think of them a disposable, for my purposes.

Also, the Forever stems and stock acrylic stems can be re-used on MM cobs if you do actually encounter a burnout or cracking of the bowl and/or shank, which it happens I never have.