Do Missouri Meerschaum Hardwoods Last Longer Than Cobs?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I'm a big fan of Missouri Meerschaum cobs for taking out on walks, to work, or anywhere I might worry about a more expensive pipe getting dropped or scratched up. They smoke just as well as any of my vastly more expensive briars once they're broken in and the shank gets a good char on it, but my one complaint is that they never seem to last more than a year and a half or so of smoking once a day or every other day before the cob material itself starts cracking and more or less falling apart.

Maybe it's just the intense fluctuations in humidity throughout the year where I live in Minnesota, or that I tend to use my cobs for wetter aromatics that I wouldn't want gunking up a more costly briar pipe, but at this point I've been through two Country Gentlemans and a Cobbit Shire and they all lasted about a year to a year an a half of once a day or every other day smoking before the finish on the outside started falling off and the cob began to crack and separate. I do thoroughly pipe cleaner the stems of my pipes and rub down the bowl with a folded up pipe cleaner after every smoke once they're broken in to prevent excess cake buildup, so the short lifespan hasn't been due to lack of maintenance, but my cobs still don't seem to last terribly long.

I don't overly mind replacing them once a year or so, since they're not at all expensive, but being faced with the prospect of replacing two Country Gentlemans and going through the foul green wood tasting break in period once again I was wondering if I might be better off picking up a couple Missouri Meerschaum Ozark Mountain Hardwoods this time around instead? Do their hardwood pipes tend to have a longer lifespan than their cobs? I've heard they smoke quite well, so I figured it was worth asking to see if a few hardwood beater pipes might save me the yearly process of having to replace and break in new cobs.

 

[OzPiper]

Calling @mikethompson
A cob vs hardwood 6month torture test !
Go for it 🫵

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I don't know why your cobs aren't lasting longer. Even my cheapest unfinished cobs--an Eaton and a Morgan--have lasted many years and what must be thousands of smokes. I had one cob crack so badly that it seemed beyond repair and I chunked it, but that happened only once and fairly early--after only a year or two of smoking. And I keep and smoke these cobs in un-air-conditioned places in muggy Central Florida. I don't baby them. They get dropped, thrown in motorcycle saddlebags, handled with dirty or greasy hands. They look like hell. Some of them have required mudding, and I have to replace a stem now and then, but otherwise they're fine.

All that said, I also smoke MM hardwoods, and they seem just as durable. If they are more durable, I can't say because I haven't had troubles with cobs.

I'm wondering if it's the wet aro's you're smoking. I smoke mainly dry burleys in mine.

 

[mikethompson]

@Skippy B. Coyote, in terms of how durable cobs are, this thread might be of interest to you:

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

@OzPiper, I still have my Chinese cob currently in the 'lab', I guess I should check on that one!

 

[ThermionicScott]

I'm happy with my MM Hardwood. It's certainly no less durable than a regular cob.

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I'm wondering if it's the wet aro's you're smoking. I smoke mainly dry burleys in mine.

That's my best guess as well, since lots of people's cobs seem to last half a decade or more but mine rarely make it past the one year mark when fed a regular diet of Cult Blood Red Moon and Captain Black original. It seems like the walls of the cob absorb a lot of moisture from the aromatics, and when they've eventually absorbed enough moisture they start expanding to the point that they begin to crack and split horizontally from every side.

I've never had one burn out at the bottom or on the inside of the bowl, they all fail the same way cracking apart horizontally along the outside walls of the pipe and spreading inwards. I'm hoping hardwoods may be less inclined to absorb moisture than a cob, since that sure seems like what's going on here.

 

[olkofri]

I've two of their hardwoods. I never smoked them steadily, and one developed a "vent" at the point where the stem meets the bowl. It's not a crack, but whatever it is the pipe now has an exhaust, which makes it smokable. It's now a display piece. I wouldn't buy another one.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

That's my best guess as well, since lots of people's cobs seem to last half a decade or more but mine rarely make it past the one year mark when fed a regular diet of Cult Blood Red Moon and Captain Black original. It seems like the walls of the cob absorb a lot of moisture from the aromatics, and when they've eventually absorbed enough moisture they start expanding to the point that they begin to crack and split horizontally from every side.

I've never had one burn out at the bottom or on the inside of the bowl, they all fail the same way cracking apart horizontally along the outside walls of the pipe and spreading inwards. I'm hoping hardwoods may be less inclined to absorb moisture than a cob, since that sure seems like what's going on here.

I can tell you this: the other day the shank came unglued from the bowl of one of my hardwoods. No big deal. I just glued it back. But before I did this I inspected the place where the shank fits into bowl. It looked like fresh clean new wood in there, white in color, all the way through , with no sign that the wood had absorbed any tars or liquid, even though that pipe has been smoked frequently for years.This makes me think that the hardwood is not very absorbent at all. So maybe the hardwoods would last longer for you. This was an ozark, which I think I recall reading is made of beech (?) I have not inspected in this way any of my mm maples

 

[mortonbriar]

Invest in briar!

 

[tanless1]

I've not had a problem for either. I do prefer the cob, over the hard wood....cooler smoke(in my opinion)
BTW, that cob can take some heavy smoking and last forever.....as long as you aren't using a torch.

 

[Auxsender]

That's my best guess as well, since lots of people's cobs seem to last half a decade or more but mine rarely make it past the one year mark when fed a regular diet of Cult Blood Red Moon and Captain Black original. It seems like the walls of the cob absorb a lot of moisture from the aromatics, and when they've eventually absorbed enough moisture they start expanding to the point that they begin to crack and split horizontally from every side.

I've never had one burn out at the bottom or on the inside of the bowl, they all fail the same way cracking apart horizontally along the outside walls of the pipe and spreading inwards. I'm hoping hardwoods may be less inclined to absorb moisture than a cob, since that sure seems like what's going on here.

MM has phenomenal customer service. Call them and ask them what’s up. I’m sure you’d get all sorts of useful information.

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Invest in briar!

I definitely enjoy my briar pipes quite a bit, but I'm clumsy as all get out and after accidentally dropping a couple briars on concrete and breaking them I'm pretty determined to not take briars to work or on walks anymore; it's just too big of a loss if I drop one.

I've not had a problem for either. I do prefer the cob, over the hard wood....cooler smoke(in my opinion)
BTW, that cob can take some heavy smoking and last forever.....as long as you aren't using a torch.

Nope, no torch! I just use a Zippo pipe lighter or a BIC, and I do make sure to keep my pipes smoking cool with a slow smouldering ember and never let them get too hot to hold.

MM has phenomenal customer service. Call them and ask them what’s up. I’m sure you’d get all sorts of useful information.

Good idea! I think I shall!

 

[Chasing Embers]

before the finish on the outside started falling off and the cob began to crack and separate

Fill the cracks with Elmer's Glue or buy unfinished ones.

 

[Sig]

I believe it has something to do with the particular chunk of cob too.
Ive got a couple of cheapo MM Country Gentleman and Legend that have lasted many hundreds of smokes from 2005 until now.
But I had a more expensive Diplomat crack down the side within a year.
I have been smoking a MM Great Dane daily for many years...except the few years I stopped piping. But, daily for at least 7 years without issue.
And the Great Dane is kind of known for burning out due to its hourglass shape.
Ive never smoked a hardwood MM but again, I believe its more about the piece of cob than the cob pipe in general.
Pay $18 and get a MM Diplomat and you should have years of enjoyment.
They are the perfect shape and size in my opinion.

 

[Michigan_Bill]

I have two MM Hardwoods, the Ozark and the Zenon bent. They are both great smokers. The Ozark is smaller and thinner and has developed a small crack, which hasn’t affected it much. The Zenon is bigger and seems pretty indestructible. I go back and forth between them, and back and forth between the hardwoods and my clays. Does it get any better than this?

 

[mortonbriar]

My hardwood has survived at the same rate as the cobs, either way I chew through the plastic stem, and then tenon may or may not come loose...

 

[kcghost]

I would expect the hardwood wood would last longer provided you don't drop it on something hard.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

The cobs last longer for me.

I have a couple of Hardwoods that I burnt out. Very disapointing, I really loved those two pipes. I have a couple more I'm trying to break in, but they've yet to smoke as good as the first ones I had.

Eventually the soft wood wears out where it is attached to the bowl. The cobs must absorb the heat better. I havent lost a cob from this yet, even though they are both constructed the same way.

I say cobs for the win.

 

[Bassman65]

I've two of their hardwoods. I never smoked them steadily, and one developed a "vent" at the point where the stem meets the bowl. It's not a crack, but whatever it is the pipe now has an exhaust, which makes it smokable. It's now a display piece. I wouldn't buy another one.

They do that. I’ve had 2 of my cobs vent in that same place. MM told me to just put a dab of white glue over the vent. Seems to work.

Lol. Just saw Chasing Ember’s post. Second it.

 

[mpjetset]

...cobs ... mine rarely make it past the one year mark ... It seems like the walls of the cob absorb a lot of moisture from the aromatics, and when they've eventually absorbed enough moisture they start expanding to the point that they begin to crack and split horizontally from every side.

If they are splitting, maybe trim the cake. I consume cobs like you. I can't smoke a wood or meer like I can smoke a cob, and I abuse them on vacation on the beach or water. It's a nice change from the nice, easy smokes on the patio or in a smoking club.