I've put this off for years. Other members have posted about them. Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes, a bag of "10" seconds for $34. Shipping $8.50.
I have to say it was a fun box to open.
The bag contains 11 pipes. (Actually 10 pipes, plus one pretend, toy pipe suitable for a very small, politically incorrect snowman.)
Counting all 11, the cost is $3.09 per pipe. If I include shipping, then it jumps to a whopping $3.86 per pipe.
Even if I exclude the pretend pipe, it's still only $4.25 per pipe.
What about the defects that render them 2nds? I'll generalize by saying that the "X" marked onto the bottom of each bowl (to indicate a 2nd) is the most noticeable flaw. Most of these have a small chip in the plaster near the top of the bowl. The tall bowl (the "General": $11.69 when equipped with nicer bit) has a 1/4" crack in the cob at the very top, leaving only several inches of good bowl.
The "Shire Cobbit", which has the longer, Churchwarden-like bit apparently flunked because the tenon on the bit was spun slightly off-center.
The one style that I have purchased most consistently over the decades is the "Legend", though my purchases have been infrequent. Shucks! They sent me 6 of them. (I have a MM Legend from 1971 that I still smoke. I've gone through a half-dozen bits on that one.)
Many of these pipes include a Medico filter (the white thing in the bit). These work fairly well at catching condensation, but must be discarded after maybe 1/2 dozen bowls. MM Corncobs still smoke perfectly well if the Medico filter is left out.
If you have no pipes (or few pipes), and want to have a collection large enough to allow them to dry-out between bowls of tobacco, this is a no-brainer. Although seconds, they are all smokable pipes. And who buys a corncob to impress anyone?
They do require some break-in (that small number of bowls that don't taste quite right), though not much of a break-in.
Buy them here: http://corncobpipe.com/10-pipe-grab-bag-of-smokable-seconds.html
The style of pipes you get is random, so your selection is not likely to look the same as mine.
Bob
I have to say it was a fun box to open.
The bag contains 11 pipes. (Actually 10 pipes, plus one pretend, toy pipe suitable for a very small, politically incorrect snowman.)
Counting all 11, the cost is $3.09 per pipe. If I include shipping, then it jumps to a whopping $3.86 per pipe.
Even if I exclude the pretend pipe, it's still only $4.25 per pipe.
What about the defects that render them 2nds? I'll generalize by saying that the "X" marked onto the bottom of each bowl (to indicate a 2nd) is the most noticeable flaw. Most of these have a small chip in the plaster near the top of the bowl. The tall bowl (the "General": $11.69 when equipped with nicer bit) has a 1/4" crack in the cob at the very top, leaving only several inches of good bowl.
The "Shire Cobbit", which has the longer, Churchwarden-like bit apparently flunked because the tenon on the bit was spun slightly off-center.
The one style that I have purchased most consistently over the decades is the "Legend", though my purchases have been infrequent. Shucks! They sent me 6 of them. (I have a MM Legend from 1971 that I still smoke. I've gone through a half-dozen bits on that one.)
Many of these pipes include a Medico filter (the white thing in the bit). These work fairly well at catching condensation, but must be discarded after maybe 1/2 dozen bowls. MM Corncobs still smoke perfectly well if the Medico filter is left out.
If you have no pipes (or few pipes), and want to have a collection large enough to allow them to dry-out between bowls of tobacco, this is a no-brainer. Although seconds, they are all smokable pipes. And who buys a corncob to impress anyone?
They do require some break-in (that small number of bowls that don't taste quite right), though not much of a break-in.
Buy them here: http://corncobpipe.com/10-pipe-grab-bag-of-smokable-seconds.html
The style of pipes you get is random, so your selection is not likely to look the same as mine.
Bob
