Cobs are all I own. I like 'em. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the juxtaposition of smoking high quality, expensive tobacco in a pipe that cost less than the tobacco, lol. Further, whether us dudes want to admit it or not, we are 'accessorizing' when we buy pipes, including how it 'looks' on us. I ain't purdy enough, nor own the appropriate clothing, to accessorize with anything other than cobs. Add to that Mark Twain is about my favorite author, pipe smoking aside, and I spent my previous decade, that of my 30's, as a whitewater raft guide, and well, Huck and Tom with their cob pipes on the river, etc., lol.
I made a decision, early on, that The Universe had given me ample indication that I am to be a cob smoker, and to deal with that fact and stay away from briar, so I listened an obliged, lol.
I like my cobs, and actually wish serious pipe makers would take the cob bowl seriously to give me more options than just MM or customizing my own (which I don't mind - personalizing my cobs). In fact, I'm loading up a cob (a Country Gentleman that has been ridden hard and put away wet and still holding up just fine) with some Solani 779: English Luxury Mixture (Solani 633: VaPer Flake just barely lost out for getting loaded up) and getting ready to fire it up.
There are definitely some absolutely stunning and artistically beautiful briar pipes being made, however, and I do wonder if I'll buck The Universe's decision for me at some point in the future ...