I smoke corncobs, clays, meerschaum and briar pipes, mostly with an English blend that's heavy on latakia. Clays are about the only ones that are pc on the frontier, I suspect. Cobs give one a very good smoke. So does Meerschaum and briar. Clay takes some getting used to. Since the pipe is supposed to be porous, I've always been leery of smoking one made of metal. graybeard