Does Anything Really Smoke Better Than A Cob?

[kola]

I have over 50 MM cobs...refitted with custom vulcanite and acrylic stems. Great smokers....and a bit nostalgic for me as they were my very first pipes at age 14. I still love a good briar pipe too. The only pipes I have zero interest in owning or smoking is Meershaums/clay pipes.
just one of many:

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[kola]

another:
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[kola]

 

[perdurabo]

Look we all want a Dunhill, but until we have one, a cob will do!
Briars are great, some of mine smoke great. My cobs preform better. In the end it's all about the individuals taste. I think all would say a cob has its place in their collection. Usually it's a tool we use to let our briars rest, If we only have a few briars, like myself.

 

[hakchuma]

Brairs are for metro-sexuals. Cobs are for smokers.

 

[bphilli75]

No muss, no fuss... For me it's hard to beat a cob loaded with H&H Classic Burley Kake. I use either a medico paper filter (I cut em in half) or a Savinelli balsa insert. I'm from Missouri too, so... :0)
I really love briar pipes, but with my budget these days, I'm grateful for cobs. To me the smoke just as well.

 

[warren]

I don't need to "dress up" my MMs. Smoke 'em as is and they do just fine. A cheap, acceptable smoke and when you drop one over the side, step on it, etc. nothing much lost. They are what they are and sometimes are the perfect tool.

 

[royodhner]

I think that a pipe is a pipe. Briar, cob, or meer - each genre has gems and dogs. The pipe is just a tool to burn tobacco, and they're not complicated: fill the end with the big hole full of tobacco, put the end with the little hole in your mouth, set the end with the big hole on fire, and imbibe the smoke through the end with the little hole. That being said, there are seven blends that I think smoke especially well in a cob - better than in any other type of pipe: Orlik Golden Slices, Erinmore, MacB Golden Extra, Samuel Gawith Grousemoor, Gawith & Hogarth Sam's Flake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Granger.
My pipe mentor, my late uncle Danny, was well-known for his trademark MM cob and Granger (or Velvet when he couldn't get Granger). I remember when I got my first "good" pipe and tobacco, back in 1981, he just chuckled and commented that one day I'd come around to a cob and some Granger. 30-some years later, I understand just what he meant.

 

[feloniousmonk]

I would love to one day try those strange looking pipes. I'm too new to the hobby to know what's good & what "just looks good". So far I'm enjoying the hobby immensely & liking the very positive vibes I'm getting from everybody on this site.
You all seem like a cool crew. Very glad to have found this place.

 

[jon11]

This can't be a serious question.....I hate cobs and they smoke horrible compared to my other pipes. Now I'm not talking about basket pipes bc I don't own any, but compared to an artisan pipe they are not even in the same league. Whoever wants to convince themselves that a cob smokes better than anything else go ahead but either you haven't smoked a good pipe or you are in denial.

 

[kola]

Jon is a corncob closet smoker.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I have a few cobs, and do smoke them on occasion, but every time I do, all I think is that the smoke would be much better in a fine briar. Still, a cob does offer a certain level of utility that is indispensible in certain circumstances. They are the pickup truck of the pipe world.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

The entire subject boils down to personal preference. My feelings about smoking any given blend in either a Cob or a $500 artisan pipe are completely neutral.
From a geometry standpoint Missouri Meerschaum Cobs are practically flawless, the only reason I can find for someone to object is that at first some of the flavor of the Cob comes through, which should stop after a few dozen bowls, basically the same as Briar.

Or if you don't like the feel of the standard bit, which is not uncommon.
As far as I can tell once either one is broken in there is absolutely no difference in performance between the Cob or Briar of similar engineering. And usually you have to pay half a Grand for Briar with an airway as wide and consistent as a Cob.

That said, I don't have any problem with my thin airways either, it's all personal preference.

 

[cigrmaster]

Cigrmaster:

I think people should smoke what they love no matter what it looks like. Just don't ask me to love it.

If one of your pipes turned out to be a Cob dressed like a Briar would you wash your mouth with soap and shower for three hours straight?

Frozen, I believe I would go into convulsions and be lucky to live.
Cob smokers are going straight to hell, so there. :lol:

 

[prairiedruid]

Hell is a lot more interesting than heaven. Besides all my friends are there....

 

[bentmike]

I think I have 5 or 6 cobs they rest in a bowl out in the garage. I completely agree with peck's sentiments on the cob. The only time I smoke mine is if I am working on some project out in the yard or helping put up hay. For that they work great. But I've found myself thinking the same thing "This is an OK smoke but could be even better with one of favorite briars.

 

[michiganlover]

"I've yet to see an artisan carver smoking a cob at the Chicago show."
Why would they be smoking anything but one of their own pipes! To smoke anything else would be bad business practice (at least in public).

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yeh, ha ha, cobs are great to smoke when there is the slightest potential that it might get damaged or destroyed.

How do I miss these threads like this? This thread has been going on this long, and I didn't get a shot in.

I love the snobbery. I think this hobby could use more of it. Be proud of what you like, and let everyone who will get offended whine where we can laugh at them. ha ha!
But, in all seriousness (yeh right) my issue is that 50% of the cobs I have bought have had issues, and on another thread when I had first got here to this forum, someone suggested that I just use wood glue to fix them. Then there is the weird way the bowls are at the bottom of the chamber. After a couple of smokes and the bottom is completely charred out.
When I smoke mine it is usually when working with machinery outside or in the dirt, and I have gotten into the habit of just smoking it half way, and stuffing some more Carter Hall on top and continuing my work.
I don't disparage anyone for choosing a cob as their pipe of preference. They have a straw hat, cut off blue jeans, and flip flop aesthetic to them. Hey, and I may or may not have been known to be found setting on the back deck listening to Jimmy Buffet and smoking some Carter Hall in a cob, myself.
But, yes, snobbery and righteous indignation, I love it. It shows passion and a humorous self-righteousness that makes hobbies more interesting. If you want to smoke nice briars with the grown ups, get a job, ha ha!!

You guys are great!!

 

[skraps]

Cobs don't do it for me. First off, anyone that says that a cob does not require break-in is nuts. The first 4 or 5 bowls taste like burning corn to me. Second, the bit is never comfortable. I buy artisan pipes (not overly expensive ones mind you) because I like the ability to be able to keep the bite area thin and comfortable. Stem dimensions is half the battle for me. If a pipe is not comfortable to clench, it's going to get moved out of rotation and collect dust.
Then, finally... and I'll admit it... is the look. I just don't like how a cob looks on me. It's not that I'm worried people are going to think I'm a hillbilly, but it's no different than saying I prefer khakis over jeans. Just a preference.

 

[wcannoy]

They have a straw hat, cut off blue jeans, and flip flop aesthetic to them.

Could you imagine a flip flop lover in a shoe enthusiast forum? That's pretty much what's going on here.
There's nothing wrong with cobs, but they're nothing special either. Everybody has one. I have five or six that I smoke in the shop. They don't smoke as well as my briars, and they're about as appropriate for, say, a night out on the town as a pair of flip flops.
Look, cobs are cheap and utilitarian, but that's all. They were never meant to be anything else. They are sloppily thrown together from unrefined, and often unfinished components. They're ugly. They're uncomfortable. They are certainly nothing to brag about, which is why my mind is boggled by all of the cob bragging that goes constantly on.
Most folks will happily sign their checks with a Bic and never visit a forum for writing instrument enthusiasts to brag about it.

Most folks will use paper plates on a regular basis and never visit a dinnerware forum to brag about it.

You don't see anyone bragging about their dinner at McDonald's on a foodie forum.
This forum is about more than just burning tobacco and getting the products of combustion from point A to point B. Otherwise, we would all be smoking cobs, and nothing but cobs, because that is the cheapest, most readily accessible way to get the job done.
This forum is about the pipe smoking experience as a whole, which includes, in a big way, the quality and beauty of our smoking instruments, two categories in which the cob is woefully lacking.