Decided to go a whole week without.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by billhud

What's most important in a pipe? For me it's the quality of smokes it consistently/unceasingly provides.

I bow to your devotion for the Niblets by-product.

Hey! C'mon down to the (Raleigh) Triangle Area Pipe Show (TAPS) and I'll buy you a big baggie full of 'em if you can still stand up, hook 'm up and shuffle to the door..

[billhud]

So then, what's your most important criterion in determining the value of a pipe?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by billhud

So then, what's your most important criterion in determining the value of a pipe?

I am a body in motion who changes tobaks maybe once or twice/week so the most important critera changes for me depending what I'm smoking and where I am - not an immutable thing, b'ud. You could ask a skydiver what's the most important thing about a canopy and he'd be forced into replying, "It opens when it's supposed to." But that cannot be the complete answer. The same overperforming canopy on a low altitude daytime desert cargo drop mission might not be the optimal rag for a nightime multi-element HALO jungle mission. Or so I speculate.

I love a couple of cobs on a one day car trip or especially on a boat or motorcycle. On a longer car trip I may prefer one meer in a hardshell case. On the back porch a bigger briar seems to smoke perfectly. And, ultimately, I don't believe smoking quality is necessarily the 24/7 prime directive in Pipeville.

• Durability or convenience may come into play.
• Size matters sometimes - lets face it. BIG bowls have their tobaks or their moments.
• For the sake of a memory any of us might prefer pa-paws old pipe to anything else.
• Aesthetics, everything else being equal, matters to many of us.
• Aesthetics, nothing else being equal, may rule us at one time or another.
• Ego is real. It helps one decide what is better or worse, like it or not.
• For a sense of belonging - we are not all islands - a club pipe may be someones first choice with certain tobaks or at certain times. My CS Forum pipe seems to smoke Old Gowry better than any other pipe Iever smoked. Go figure.

We are subject to changing moods, tobaks, financial circumstances, memories, motivations and all that jazz. The lead dog changes from time to time. The ultimate criterion are not usually static, except with coffee, about which I have final and absolute knowledge. Thanks heaven for that.

So, you coming to TAPS?

[billhud]

So you can't pick the most important criterion? Like I said, it's simple for me --- consistently good smokes as the tobaks will always be the centerpiece in my enjoyment (I too smoke several often and am working though opened tins now), so the quality of the smoke will always be paramount. To each his own. Nothing else to add, really.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by billhud

So you can't pick the most important criterion?

I guess not. I'll try again in a year.

[Subotaj]

Corncobs?
Never, ever smoked that cheap shit.

[pistol]

Originally Posted by Subotaj

Corncobs?
Never, ever smoked that cheap shit.

Wow... You must be REALLY rich and classy! Dork

[Subotaj]

Wow... You must be REALLY rich and classy!

Rich..lol NOT!
classy? why not

[PipesandGOP]

Originally Posted by Subotaj

Corncobs?
Never, ever smoked that cheap shit.

Why must you disgrace the name of Israel?
Yea, they cost about , but why not get a few when you want to try out some different baccys

[JacksonCognac]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

I am a body in motion who changes tobaks maybe once or twice/week so the most important critera changes for me depending what I'm smoking and where I am - not an immutable thing, b'ud. You could ask a skydiver what's the most important thing about a canopy and he'd be forced into replying, "It opens when it's supposed to." But that cannot be the complete answer. The same overperforming canopy on a low altitude daytime desert cargo drop mission might not be the optimal rag for a nightime multi-element HALO jungle mission. Or so I speculate.

I love a couple of cobs on a one day car trip or especially on a boat or motorcycle. On a longer car trip I may prefer one meer in a hardshell case. On the back porch a bigger briar seems to smoke perfectly. And, ultimately, I don't believe smoking quality is necessarily the 24/7 prime directive in Pipeville.

• Durability or convenience may come into play.
• Size matters sometimes - lets face it. BIG bowls have their tobaks or their moments.
• For the sake of a memory any of us might prefer pa-paws old pipe to anything else.
• Aesthetics, everything else being equal, matters to many of us.
• Aesthetics, nothing else being equal, may rule us at one time or another.
• Ego is real. It helps one decide what is better or worse, like it or not.
• For a sense of belonging - we are not all islands - a club pipe may be someones first choice with certain tobaks or at certain times. My CS Forum pipe seems to smoke Old Gowry better than any other pipe Iever smoked. Go figure.

We are subject to changing moods, tobaks, financial circumstances, memories, motivations and all that jazz. The lead dog changes from time to time. The ultimate criterion are not usually static, except with coffee, about which I have final and absolute knowledge. Thanks heaven for that.

So, you coming to TAPS?

Mr. Moo, I want to say as an avid cob smoker I think you bring up plenty of valid points. Which leads me to my own point(which I'm pretty sure is the point you were ultimately making); the whole cobs/briar argument in general is a little silly...

"Smoke 'em if you got 'em"

[wharfrathoss]

Originally Posted by Subotaj

Corncobs?
Never, ever smoked that cheap shit.

how do you know what you're missing if you never tried it?-you might be surprised, burley blends especially taste great in a cob IMO-BTW, there's a difference between cheap & inexpensive

[parris001]

Originally Posted by Subotaj

Corncobs?
Never, ever smoked that cheap shit.

Come now fellows. Let's remain gentlemen here. Smoking a pipe is like driving to work. We all get there different ways but the goal is to get there. I'm going to venture to say that the age of the individual has more to do with the cob vs. briar preference than we might want to admit. For me, I smoke with two early 20s fellows that both prefer cob. And it's not that they can't afford a briar or that they have cheap tastes, I think to them they don't feel nostalgic about pipe smoking like me and some of the older members in the forum may. I think aesthetics is a huge factor for me when I'm shopping for a pipe. There isn't a pipe out there that smokes consistently 100% of the time. That's part of the challenge, finding the right combination. For folks that want it easy, there's cigarettes! So being that a pipe may occasionally be temperamental, whatever kind it is, it can and should always look nice in my personal opinion. Cob fans may,on the other hand may feel that a more expensive briar should always give a stellar performance based on it's supposed superiority. And I can see your logic. For me it's a hobby. I enjoy it and pick up unusual pipes when I can. No one here is wrong for their preference. We may just differ in our perspective. We are a brotherhood of whom there are those that wish to see us eliminated. Don't forget that. Everybody enjoy a bowl of whatever makes you happy IN whatever makes you happy.


Cheers

[billhud]

And the cob smokers in their late 40s? I've work hard to get to a stage in life if I want something I can simply get it. Sure, I have briars in my rack. Some factory. Some handmade, but the simple fact remains that I smoke pipes. So I can enjoy tobacco so for me the premier criterion in using any pipe is the quality of smoke it consistently provides. Certainly briars can provide great smokes, but the smoke won't be superior to that provided by a lowly cob. I'll always have a hand full of cobs and likely continue to go through my second half of life smoking them more than briars.

I'll admit that I started this thread to see just what sort of responses might indicate a regard of the cob as little more than a scourge of the hoi polloi. Sadly, I see that's the case of late in this thread.

[bigkev77]

Originally Posted by pistol

Wow... You must be REALLY rich and classy! Dork

LOL.........delete

[RichieR]

So far, I've found that Escudo works best in the MM legends. MacB Vanilla Cream works best in one of those MM "natural" Pride cobs. Hal O' The Wynd works better in my briars, and some blends --I simply do not notice a difference.

You just never know what tobacco is going to work best with what pipe.

As for the aesthetics of the cheapest cobs....I think they look great, and they are excellent conversation pieces...from my experience, most people are surprised when you explain that cobs are actually made from REAL corn cobs.

It's all good fun.