Several years ago, I fitted two of my MM cobs with Forever stems, nice acrylic stems with options to designate the length (shorter than stock if you wanted) and in a good variety of colors, conservative to jazzy. Now I understand, that shop is closed. Meantime, I received as a gift a MM freehand cob with a stock acrylic stem, which is much better than the soft plastic ones. On my one remaining plastic stem, I use a softie. I have a somewhat different notion about MM cobs, and Old Dominion cobs, which are not throw-away pipes at all. Old Dominion pipes have reed stems which are durable and long-lasting. MM cobs will often last a long time, especially in a rotation of many pipes, and when you get them broken in, you may feel they are permanent pipes, not disposable. I understand that some pipe smokers need the throw-away feature if they use a pipe extra hard, but for many of us, MM cobs are permanent pipes that we'll value for many years.
