Got My First Cob and Have Two Questions

[brooklynpiper]

All you need to know, apparently, is pipes are like women.
And if that's true I've had some real cobs

 

[ophiuchus]

I have two that take a filter, and I always smoke them with filter, either the Medico or balsa.

I always take my filter out because I like the open draw ... but I've wondered for years how it might be with a balsa insert. I might have to finally fer-cryin'out-loud try it. ::

 

[jason64]

thanks all for comments, much appreciated. With my briars, I usually rest them at least 24 hours after a bowl, do I need to do the same with cobs?

 

[jason64]

Also I left that thing (shank extension?) at the bottom as majority recommended, but some unburnt tobacco get accumulated around it

 

[ray47]

With my briars, I usually rest them at least 24 hours after a bowl, do I need to do the same with cobs?

No need to rest a cob. If you find it's getting somewhat funky, just take the stems off and put them outside in direct sunlight. They'll be sweet smelling in no time. I find that about 2 or 3 hours does the trick.

 

[jason64]

awesome, thanks a lot.

 

[mso489]

Always liked cobs, easy to smoke and pleasantly durable. I like them even better now that I have fitted them with Forever stems or, more recently, bought them with acrylic or Vulcanite stems on the originals. They cost a little more, but not much, and it's worth it.

 

[olkofri]

Also I left that thing (shank extension?) at the bottom as majority recommended, but some unburnt tobacco get accumulated around it

In the same box where I store my pipe cleaners, shank brushes, and other cleaning paraphernalia, I have an unbent paper clip just for cleaning that hard to reach bottom of corn cobs where no pipe tool pick dares to poke.
My cobs have no toby detritus lurking below.

 

[jason64]

A follow up question, is there any difference between the amount of flavor you get from a cob vs briar?

 

[davek]

They taste different. I like a cob better, but that is very certainly personal preference. One thing you can confidently say about all types of pipes is that they may make a blend taste different. If you don't like a blend in a briar, try it in a cob, try it in a clay, try it in a meerschaum. You could end up liking a blend which was mediocre to you.
I make hillbilly churchwarden type pipes from cobs and briars. I have found that a blend will taste a little different in a *longer* pipe.

 

[cajomu]

I think the best blends to smoke in cobs are straight Virginias and VaPers. Burley-based blends are also good in cobs. English blends, not so much.

 

[dcon]

If you choose to obtain additional cobs, I differ in that I don’t leave the wood shank in the bottom of the bowl. I cut it out and use pipe mud to create a new bottom and draw hole. I leave a drill bit, followed by pipe cleaners to create the proper hole until the mud dries. I do this with all of my cobs and love the way they smoke. You Tube it.

 

[mso489]

If new cobs have a cob flavor, it is only the first bowl and fleeting. I have barely noticed it and experienced it has a kind of greeting from the cornfield from whence the bowl came. The shank-end in the bottom of the bowl seems like a structural fact and has never caused me a second's concern. A pipe nail or pick will clear out any ash, but ash has always just fallen out for me. Cobs are the easiest pipes to smoke, so don't over-think them. They somewhat smoke themselves. I've always said, I'd smoke a cob in a tux; it's an elegant old tradition. Mark Twain smoked a cob in his white suits, as did General MacArthur in full dress uniform, I believe.