Thank you for the links, I'm not sure about dropping $50 on a pipe yet but it gives me an idea on what a good pipe is. I did like the description of the tobacco, sounds wonderful
You're welcome. Orlik Golden Sliced (OGS) is my most often smoked tobacco, and my "deserted island" choice. Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake is my second choice. Cob pipes are cheap, others here say they are a good starter option, I don't disagree.
Do you by any chance have a good local pipe shop? There are a lot of advantages to buying from a local B&M. You get a chance to hold the pipe see if you like the way it sits in your hand, check out the draft hole engineering. The closer to the bottom of the bowl, and centered, the better it will be. I'm very fortunate to have a really nice shop near me, and have known the proprietor a long time. That really comes in handy! Buying a pipe by Internet is a bit of a gamble until you get in a range of $90 and up. That's not to say you can't or won't get a good briar for $50, but the odds of a really quality pipe go up as the price does. I agree that cobs are a good way to start in an inexpensive manner. But make sure it is a Missouri Meerschaum brand. Some other cob brands are really poor pipes. You can get MM cobs for $5 to $12. I absolutely agree with @Bama Samurai, that a Virginia is a much better tobacco to start with than an aromatic. Orlik Golden Slice and Peter Stokkebye Navy Flake are both great choices to start with.
Earlier evening pipe, Esoterica Peacehaven in a Stefano Santambrogio. Late night pipe, Newminister Superior Round slices in a Briary counter pipe. The same pipe I won The Briary's slow smoking pipe contest with.
Skip, owner of The Briary, presenting me with the 4th Generation pipe I won for finishing 1st in the pipe smoking contest. http://www.thebriary.com/Annual-Event-2016_p_2366.html
I tend to be the cheap pipe lover around these parts. I don't think I've spent more then $20 on any one of my pipes and they all smoke pretty well. I have had issues with bubbling finish and holes slightly off but I have fixed them and enjoy those pipes now. I also like Aromatics but agree with Chris that an unflavored virginia would be best to start. a light rum casing would be a happy medium. Orlik Golden Slices or Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy flake are both good. Any medium bowled Missouri Meerschaum cob pipe would work well. The Missouri Pride is a good example and costs less then $10 most places.
I'm sure there's someplace here in Phoenix to shop. I searched "tobacco" on Google maps and hundreds of locations showed up. Thank you for your suggestion on a brand of cob pipe to look for, I'll most likely start my journey there. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
That's 2 votes for a Missouri Meerschaum cob pipe. I definitely want to start with an inexpensive pipe, I'm not too sure how much I'll smoke yet. Thanks for the suggestion. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Sunday morning before anyone else in the house is out of bed, CH in an old Pioneer african meerschaum.
LOL, yes, that and my fat fingers trying to go too fast on my iPad! I very frequently post something and immediately have to edit it, LOL!
Here's a link to Missouri Meerschaum: https://corncobpipe.com I might suggest avoiding the very small pipes, and get a medium to large bowl. I might also avoid for now the very large pipes like the General. There's nothing wrong with them, but to get started there are better choices. One other note about cobs, when they're brand new, you'll get a little taste of the pine stem for the first few bowls, but it goes away fairly soon. You can also buy them from most pipe internet shops like Pipes and Cigars.
Thank you for the link, I have been researching all morning. I know that there are varying circumstances but how long can I expect a corn cob pipe to last? They are often referred to as being disposable on-line.
There are other places that have MM corncobs, like http://stores.ebay.com/North-40-Cutlery/Missouri-Meerschaum-Pipes-/_i.html?_fsub=4336658013 or aristocob.com. Their prices may actually be better than direct from Missouri Meerschaum. On the pipesmokersforum, there's a 10 bowl a day smoker who's seeing how long a cob lasts. He's been smoking one cob only for about 6 weeks and was above 454 smokes on Friday. http://pipesmokersforum.com/community/threads/can-i-be-a-cob-killer.52583/page-7
The owner of aristocob.com has a YouTube channel and some of his cob pipes are abused and heavily smoked and still doing great after 10 years+. I can buy the Missouri Pride at a local gas station for $4.98 each. Even if you need a new one every year or burn one out or even crack and break it, who cares? It's only a $5 to $6 pipe. I also have a few Casillero 9mm filtered Briar pipes. They are a mid sized bowl and all 3 of them I got smoke well but they are the ones that have crappy finishes. I've sanded one down and now its great. Of the other 2 the dark brown one has started bubbling but the red one has not. I bought then as a 3 pack for something like $40. It came out to about $13 a pipe. Dr. Grabow and Kaywoodie are decent lower priced Briar pipes too. If you are going to be gentle with it a clay pipe is fairly cheap and pretty fool proof since there is no break in or special cleaning. They do get hot in the hand. I hold mine but the little hook under the bowl or by the stem like a cigar. I got mine for about $15. I have all the pipes I just listed off. I happen to have older Dr Grabow and Kaywoodie pipes but I hear the quality is still really good. Both mine are from the 50s. Pipesandcigars.com is a good place to go to look. If you see something that appeals to you just ask on here about it and someone should be about to tell you more about the brand and their experience with that brand. For the next few days they have 10 special pipe samplers that are pretty decent deals. If you want a decent low cost aromatic try Captain Black. I think they sell in bulk for about $3 an ounce. Carter Hall is a raved about OTC tobacco. I can only get the jumbo cans of it locally so I haven't tried it. Half and Half is pretty good too and its very cheap. Don't forget a pipe tool. I have a few czech tools a pipe nail and a horseshoe pipe nail. all of them are between $0.75 and a few dollars depending on where you get them. A roofing nail works just fine too. You will also need pipe cleaners and if your Pipe takes a filter, you might want to try some.
Smoking one or two cobs exclusively, I suppose it is possible to burn one out. Some of the MM cobs have a hardwood plug in the bottom to help prevent that. I don't smoke my cobs every day; but I've had most of them for quite a few years and have never burned one out. I might suggest getting a couple of cobs of different styles, primarily for variety, but that will also allow the cobs to rest between smokes. That's not as necessary as with briars, but I like to do that anyway. Another tip about cobs is you really don't need, and in fact it is undesirable, to build up a cake in the pipe as you would with a briar. Maybe every couple smokes or so, wad up a paper towel so it is a snug fit in the bowl, and twist it around to remove any cake starting to develop. Also, from time to time, I will double up a pipe cleaner , dip it in some cheap vodka or any other spirits, and wipe the bowl interior. You will need to clean the bits, just as you would with a briar, using pipe cleaners and some type of spirits. You can buy pipe sweetener, and Everclear is perhaps the best cleaner of all, but any kind of bourbon, vodka, etc will work. I like vodka because it is more neutral. Some may like a little taste imparted from bourbon or rum, as those are frequently used as flavoring agents in aromatic tobaccos. After cleaning, I would allow the pipe to dry for a while before smoking.
The MM cobs I have have the stem across the bottom of the bowl and that acts a bit like the hardwood plug. I don't try to get all the ash out of the bottom of my cobs. I let it build up and fill the spaces around the stem so I have a nice protective layer of Pipe Mud (Ash and spit) evening out and protecting the bottom of the bowl. I'm also kinda gentile about tamping and pickin out the dottle so I don't poke a hole in it.
