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Sober-Slap

Lurker
Nov 9, 2022
5
17
49
United Kingdom
Hi guys,
As my first post stated a few weeks back I'm new to pipe smoking. I've just bought my first missori meerscaum corn cob and it came with a massive filter. My question is, do I have to use a filter? Thanks chaps.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,345
Hi guys,
As my first post stated a few weeks back I'm new to pipe smoking. I've just bought my first missori meerscaum corn cob and it came with a massive filter. My question is, do I have to use a filter? Thanks chaps.
Is it a filter, or a cardboard placeholder for a filter?

No, you don't have to use them, many smokers here don't.
 

OverMountain

Lifer
Dec 5, 2021
1,296
4,689
Western Caccalack Hinterlands
Experiences vary. I like filters because it makes the smoke cooler and dryer. I almost never have a gurgle issue while using filters unless the tobacco is wet.

One selling point for me is looking at the fore and aft ends of a charcoal filter after use. The front in is brown and the end nearest your mouth is not. Having filtered smoke for me is desirable.

Good luck and welcome! Glad to hear a UK member is enjoying cobs.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,784
Humansville Missouri
Experiences vary. I like filters because it makes the smoke cooler and dryer. I almost never have a gurgle issue while using filters unless the tobacco is wet.

One selling point for me is looking at the fore and aft ends of a charcoal filter after use. The front in is brown and the end nearest your mouth is not. Having filtered smoke for me is desirable.

Good luck and welcome! Glad to hear a UK member is enjoying cobs.
My first Missouri Meerschaum fifty years ago had a filter, and it worked as advertised. Filters do make the smoke milder, they trap water, and minimize tongue bite and mouth burn.

A half a century has passed now, and I hardly ever use the filters. They work too well, for my tastes today.

Of all the ways to smoke tobacco using a pipe requires the most skill, or maybe a better word is experience.

Filters help a man gain experience in the art of pipe smoking.
 

Piping Rooster

Can't Leave
Jun 29, 2022
398
2,065
Champa Bay
When I first started all the pipes I purchased were filtered. Being a novice they did help a bit with tongue bite and moisture. After almost a decade of smoking they are no longer used as now I have slowed down and learned to sip and enjoy the tobacco and at the same time not burning a raging hot bon-fire in my pipes. Having come from the cigar world, I used to think having billowing clouds of smoke was the way to enjoy the smoke. Boy was I ever wrong! Filters are just a waste of money and flavour that is un-neccessary. Take the time to slow down and practice sipping the smoke and barely keeping the pipe lit. It makes for a wonderful experience.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,675
29,392
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
try it with and without. It's a matter of taste. Think of it like different types of tires on a bike. Depends on how you ride and what kind of ride you want. Check it out. I hate filters personally. But some small percentage of pipe smokers prefer them. And you can smoke with or without them. Basically all they do really is trap moisture and smoke. Some people say they clean up the smoke, but as far as tar and nicotine that junk that's left in them is basically all of the smoke not selected parts of it. But that can make a difference between how much you enjoy or don't enjoy the pipe. Cobs however already just kind of do a similar thing anyways.
 

marconi

Part of the Furniture Now
May 17, 2019
694
5,321
England
I use charcoal filters in all of my pipes because thats what I prefer having tried pipes with and without filters.