Bad Idea?

[Mister Moo]

Heck no. You can learn a lot from a new Mario Grandi about tooth-denting bits, scorching pipe rims, wet smoking from uncaked briar and fumbling/dropping a nice piece of wood that you'd never learn from a cob.

I started out with a briar and never had a problem (except for denting a nice piece of vulcanite - hey, I was stressed!) and scorching a rim and wondering where all the water was coming from. I still have briar pipe #1 and it cleaned up fine and smokes very well in spite of me.

If you start with a new briar, mind where the flame goes, smoke half bowls for a while (it's less wet that way) and, even if mid-smoke, swab with a pipecleaner as soon as it gurgles. Have a ball.