Smoking outdoors

Since moving down here to Florida, we have been strictly outdoor smokers.  It was hubby's only request of me (and applies to him as well) that we not smoke in our new house because despite its age, it smells like it has never been smoked inside of. (Yeah, bad grammar ... whatever.)  Most days, that results in pleasant pipefuls in the sunshine:

However, we have had two hard frosts (in different weeks) and a couple days of constant rain in the five weeks we've been here, and the first real rainy day made us realize our old carport roof leaks.  That means I have been stuck with quick cigarettes on the tiny porch while wearing the wide-brimmed straw "Florida tourist" hat in case the wind kicks up.

Last night, it was only a light drizzle with a light breeze, so we were able to sit under the old carport after a weekend of yardwork to enjoy a pipeful:

Yes, I enjoy playing with yarn.  I can only smoke my corncob pipes when I have my hands busy, because those and the small fruitwood pipes from rekamepip are the only ones I can clench.  Last night's little victory smoke was GLP Sextant, just because I hadn't had some in a while and boy did it sound just perfect.

Inaugural smoke for the Buescher cobwarden

I finally selected the tobaccos (plural) for the inaugural bowl in the Buescher cobwarden.  I chose to parfait three Virginia blends: H&H AJ's VaPer on the bottom, then a generous middle layer of McClelland 5100 Red Cake, topped off with a few pinches of McClelland Virginia Woods.  This corncob pipe is smoking like a champ!

enjoying my Buescher cob-watden

tamping the Buescher corncob churchwarden

Odd cobs

The corncob mania continues here (hubby is still participating as well) and has expanded to include a few odd cobs.  First up is an unsmoked cobwarden I won with a minimum bid on the evilBay.  I'm not sure just how old it is, but it sure didn't roll off the factory floor in the past couple decades since it was made by Buescher.  A bit of Google-fu has yielded up the information nugget that Buescher shut their factory down in the early 1990s, although there is quite a bit of speculation the company was a subsidiary of Missouri Meerschaum the whole time.  It has ridonculous proportions, which is exactly what attracted my attention.

My Buescher corncob churchwarden

Double-decker two-cob bowl of the Buescher cobwarden

Buescher cobwarden unsmoked after all these years

For the record, I do intend to smoke this unsmoked Buescher cobwarden ... a totally unsmoked cob is an unloved corncob pipe!  I'm just trying to decide which blend would be the awesome inaugural bowl.  After this long of a wait, it deserves a gangbusters-great tobacco for the occasion.

Now, my next two cobs are NOT made of corncob ... although they are made in the style to mimic a corncob pipe.  I got a message over at PipeSmokersForum from a fellow who goes by the handle of rekamepip offering to send me a couple pipes to smoke, in exchange for honest and thorough reviews of them, as he is still somewhat new to this style of pipe-making.  It's an ideal trade for us both: I get pipes, and I have a blog and am quite the chatterbox over at that forum (along with being on two other forums).  Here is his favorite style, a red pipestone carved into a cob shape:

Pipestone bowl with pine cob-style stem

red "rock cob" by rekamepip

It's a nice pipe, and very interesting and downright neato ... but it's too heavy for me to be able to "clench" due to my whacked teeth.  I did smoke it once, but had to set it down to cool after it got below midbowl.  Hubby is wanting to give it a go this long holiday weekend, as he thinks it looks really cool.

Now, for the one rekamepip sent me that I absolutely LOVE: the fruitwood "cob".  It's carved from the wood of a cherry tree, but there is a shape in pipes called "cherrywood" which causes confusion when you have a pipe carved from cherry-wood but in a different shape.  So, this is my hardwood/fruitwood cob:

Fruitwood "cob" made from cherry

hardwood poker made cob-style

Let me say again: I LOVE THIS PIPE!  It is extremely lightweight and balanced, which means I can actually clench it and do other things with my hands ... like typing this post.  It's easily the equal to my old Hirschl & Bendheim Cobb when it comes to efficiently turning tobacco into ash - but it does stop just short of the "smokes itself" stage (which I feel is good).  Now, for the best endorsement I can think of ... I really want another one (and will be commissioning one after the holidays probably) and I won't even haggle over the price.

For those of y'all wanting to browse his wares for yourself, here is rekamepip's Etsy store.

Feeling Cobbish

Corncob pipes ... people either despise them or fall madly in love with them.  First I tried the cob from the estate box (which I had originally set aside for hubby, who never smoked it).  When I realized how much I was enjoying the old H&B Cobb, I decided to grab a small Missouri Meerschaum Pony cob from the B&M down in Florida when I bought hubby his Randy Wiley briar.  Then, I got that proverbial "wild hair" you-know-where and ordered P&C's Corn in the USA sampler pack ... and when it arrived, I was shocked to hear hubby ask which cob was his.  Not only did he want one of the cobs, but he wanted it filled with my Classic Burley Kake to boot.

What has followed over the past few weeks can only be described as "corncob mania" here in the house, with a generous dose of growing devotion to the CBK.  Along with adopting the Pony cob I bought in Florida, hubby ended up with his own Corn in the USA sampler pack ... not only to keep my cobs safe but to prevent him from smoking up all my CBK stash.  Then, we looked in our local B&M up here and discovered MM Generals in stock.

Hubby smoking his MM General cob

As y'all can see for yourselves, "That's all she wrote!"  Which means, more pictures.

7 cobs small to large

MM Legends, not Diplomats - GAH!

The old MM, in between a new Legend and CG

The old H&B, between a new MM Legend and the short General

Missouri Meerschaum company stickers, then and now (how old is "then"?)

Old Hirschl & Bendheim Irvin S. Cobb corncob pipe

Along with posting here yesterday about the old estate box corncob pipe, I also went to a forum that has cob fans for help identifying the marked-up sticker on my pipe (PipeSmokersForum).  It didn't take long to get the proper spelling of the first name and what the second name is, which then made Googling up info a WHOLE LOT easier!  The manufacturer's name was Hirschl & Bendheim, and they went out of business during the 1980s, although the Irvin S. Cobb line of corncob pipes is apparently still made by Missouri Meerschaum now, and can even be bought to this day at Rite-Aids and CVS stores in some places.

As I loaded up another bowl of Russ O's Angler's Dream, a codger-style tribute burley blend with just enough cinnamon in it to totally WOW me, I decided to snap a few more pics of this old H&B Cobb.

H&B cob with bag of tobacco

the marked-up H&B Irvin S. Cobb sticker

Excellent smoke: Angler's Dream tobacco in the old H&B cob

I am really loving this Angler's Dream burley blend!  I suspect that bag that was sent as an "extra" in a tobacco trade will not last long.  The dash of cinnamon isn't enough to overwhelm the burley, just enough to accent and give it a nice room note.  This smokes just as easy as any codger blend I currently have in briar as well as corncob ... but the cob just brings out an extra little shine to it.  I'm on my fourth bowl of it in about 24 hours, and I even took time out to sleep!

Larger estate corncob pipe

For one reason or another, I cannot salt-and-alcohol the ghost out of some of thee estate pipes from the first large box.  One has a meer-lined bowl, two are obviously glued, one is taped, and a couple I can't get the stems off ... and two are corncob pipes.  The smaller-bowled corncob is a Missouri Meerschaum one, but the larger is not and I am having trouble reading the sticker on the bottom of it.

Sticker on bottom of estate cob pipe

The Washington, Missouri USA part is easy to read, but the maker's name isn't.  I thought the first name was Hirschil, but Google yielded no results.  I am hoping someone recognizes the sticker and/or logo as I am curious.

For the record, this cob pipe smokes a bowl of Carter Hall so easy!  The previous owner must not have been too fond of this one, since the ghost in all his pipes only was noticeable for the initial bowl.