Are Cobs really better than Briars?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by IHT

[SIZE=1]in a moderator-like tone:[/SIZE] ...(my record on keeping things civil is full of potholes)...

By far my fave post of 2008. You ARE the mod! Love the tone.

The Q: is problematic - like asking how long a ball of string is. I love a cob that's had a few bowls pushed thru it. I just found a long-missing old MM pal the other day (buried deep in the trunk of the car) and enjoyed some Escudo thru it yesterday. All nicked up - smokes great. About the same as my favorite briar flake pipe, except drier.

[IHT]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

You ARE the mod! Love the tone.

thanks, but i hate that ppl view me as only a mod here, when i act as a member. it's not like i showed up here without the same reasons you all did, to talk about pipes/cigars and be a part of the community.
i don't view my activity down here as doing "mod" stuff. i do what i do because i'm an active member (with special secretarial ability).

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by IHT

thanks, but i hate that ppl view me as only a mod here, when i act as a member. it's not like i showed up here without the same reasons you all did, to talk about pipes/cigars and be a part of the community.
i don't view my activity down here as doing "mod" stuff. i do what i do because i'm an active member (with special secretarial ability).

Yes yes yes... of course.

Thus you are...

the....

???

[bigkev77]

[quote=IHT;1518101]thanks, but i hate that ppl view me as only a mod here, when i act as a member.



It's the scary red eyes...sir

[wharfrathoss]

Originally Posted by bigkev77

It's the scary red eyes...sir

indeed
















(thanks IHT for doin' what ya do)

[SAjunidog]

Originally Posted by IHT

thanks, but i hate that ppl view me as only a mod here, when i act as a member. it's not like i showed up here without the same reasons you all did, to talk about pipes/cigars and be a part of the community.
i don't view my activity down here as doing "mod" stuff. i do what i do because i'm an active member (with special secretarial ability).

I've honestly never noticed anything like that. I see people treating you with a degree of respect, but I would say thats because you know your shiz and give solid advice, same reason I would respect evanS or senor moo or something.

[jgros001]

For me, part of this hobby involves the asthetics of a really nice handmade pipe.....you don't get that with a cob. I can handle if someone wants to call me a snob.....doesn't matter because I really think there is something special about many of the handmade pipes out there. Whether it be the grain, blasting, rustication, shape.....but you don't get that with a cob. I have six cobs right now that I am rotating through so yeah (like others have said) they do have a place and function in this hobby for me. Hackert makes a cob with nice stems and mouthpieces which is a nice step up from the regular MMs.....and really the little bit of extra $$ is worth it.

Some of the discussion over this topic is kind of laughable.....like you are defending your sister that was just insulted. I understand that some really like their cobs and some won't go near em.....ain't no thing. As for me, briar is better for a variety of reasons.

As far as IHT the moderator, it is sometimes funny to see posters tiptoe around.....it is definitely evident and I like it.....rids us of most of the garbage posts......although the 'indeed' posts need to go, what is up with that anyway (don't answer....rhetorical)?

[smokehouse]

Originally Posted by SAjunidog

I've honestly never noticed anything like that. I see people treating you with a degree of respect, but I would say thats because you know your shiz and give solid advice, same reason I would respect evanS or senor moo or something.

I don't see were Evan fits into any of this.

[sacmore21]

I don't really have anything new to add to this topic in regards to which is better. I believe that each has their place. The one thing I would say relates to my still being a newbie with pipes. While I love the look and feel of my briars 10x more, I find that I almost never smoke them. I pretty much only smoke my cobs. The reason being, since I am new, is that I'm too afraid of scorching the beautiful briar on my pipes. If I mess up my cob, who really cares? So, from a pure practical standpoint, I find that my cobs are superior. From an astethic point of view, my heart is with my briars. That's my

[hyper_dermic]

Cobs are decent enough smokers, ive usually got half a dozen lying around at any time..
I use em when im in a possibly dangerous situation for a briar.
for example:
when im driving, i dont like using briars because im afraid ill scorch the rim. Doing anything near a body of water. On really windy days.. dont want to burn out the inside of the bowl due to wind.
I probably smoke 1 cob a day...

My briars are an investment, and i try to take really good care of them...
cobs are there to be abused.

A big reason why i CANT agree that a cob equals a briar is because of those horrid plastic stems. They feel like they are going to rip my teeth out.. i cant stand them. Give me a nice thin piece of vulcanite anyday.. (saddle bit or half saddle prefered ) that feel of a perfect stem/bit just cant be matched.. and i find that when you start spending more $$ on briars, you start to see the carvers paying more attention to details like how the stem works with the weight and shape of the pipe, and how the bit feels in your mouth.

the other reasons have already been brought up.. asthetics being HUGE (lets see.. hand carved thing of beauty? or a hollowed out corn cob with a hollow stick shoved into it)
then theres the magical flavor of a well broken in VA pipe..

for those reasons a cob will never share the same place as a briar.. but thats my opinion.. and opinions are like assholes.. everyones got one, and they all stink.


-hyp

[billhud]

The tobacs and the good smokin' of them always has been and always will be PARAMOUNT for me. It's for that resaon I'll always own cobs, smoke cobs, and consider them so much more than simply "a complement to outhouses" . I'll stand by my statement that those who consider them such most do so because they simply don't know any better and most likely make such statements from positions of ignorance

To each his own.

[SR Mike]

I only have two pipes, they are both briar. After reading this thread, I have come to the conclusion that I need to go get a cob pipe and try one out for myself.




Funny how personal opinion is only relative...

[paperairplane]

I have about a dozen pipes - 2 meers, 2 cobs and I guess 7-8 briars. they are all different. I find the pro-briar position of value to be nonsense... For the price of one Dunhill, you could smoke a new cob every day for over 6 months - Say the average cob lasts 3 months, that gives you about 5 years of smoking - imagine smoking the same briar daily for 5 years... there's not going to be a lot of residual value after that kind of use.

I like all my pipes and try and rotate evenly. I like all of them for different reasons:

• You don't like the cheap stem on a cob - I feel guilty clenching the stem of a fine pipe.
• I've never worried about smoking a tabak in a cob b/c of ghosting.
• This notion of 'well broken in' briar is to me over-rated. I am almost anti-cake at this point. I like my pipes clean.
• Cobs get sour - what about briars... I have had some neglected briars get funky as well.
• For under $50 you can push 12 friends down a slope.

To quote a famous cob smoker: "I yam what I yam."

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by paperairplane

...For under $50 you can push 12 friends down a slope... "I yam what I yam."

That's the spirit! Keeping your eye on the ball.