New [OLD] snuser - used to handroll cigs - long post UPDATE

[fedora]

Hi everyone. Just joined and started using snus. Got catch dry euc - put it in, felt like my upper lip was hit with a Halls flavored baseball bat! As soon as that died down, it was great. Very strong on the first hit and as a first try at snus.

Then tried LD mini portions - oh, so much nicer. Was actually pleasant and I liked it. I don't mind the salt from snus. Got so excited with these two I ordered 3 loose rolls, hope to get them tomorrow and will give them a shot with the "poormans ice tool". Will see how that goes.

Otherwise general thoughts on snus and tobacco. I am a tobacco enthusiast. Cigs, pipes, skoal, cope, redman and even nasal snuff (sneeze!). Now snus - by far, the best delivery system out there.

Now - to all the comments about cig smokers. I handrolled. Not the usual store brands - but good tobacco from good companies. There are many, many types, flavors, cuts, you name it in tobacco. In fact - one of my enjoyments (in my 20-30 cigarettes per day) are all the different types of CIGARETTE tobacco. I settled on one or two - but there are so many to try and use. D&R Tobacco has many different types. The guys who smoke only one brand, like Camel or whatever, they stick with these. But I consider myself a tobacco enthusiast, and handrolling is the way to enjoy smoking tobacco, trying different types, etc. So there is a niche market of cig enthusiasts - the handrollers (not the usual convenience store brands though).

Now - with snus, a better tobacco product, I can try all the different types and play around and find my likes and everything. And I am trying to cut down my cigs too - and the snus works wonders. A constant flow of the nic - its great. No smelly smell - no rushing off to have your break. Just a nice mini - hardly anyone notices.

General thoughts on snus (or similar):

Tried Oliver Twist. Nice nic hit but sugary, gives me a funny nicotine feeling for some reason. I think they put aspertame in it or something as I am alergic to that and get a slight headache using it. But super discreet.

Piccanell. Very cool. Discreet. Nice tobacco (no major nic hit) but really a good delivery system. Not sweet - nice saltiness.

To the beginner (IMHO)

1) Upper lip burn. Take care and don't worry. It goes away.
2) Don't swallow too much "juice" - stomach might feel funny.
3) If quitting cigarettes, don't smoke and snus at same time - weird!
4) Friends think your strange - keep smiling.
5) Read this forum.

I want to thank all you folks here for your good advice and getting me going, wouldn't have known what to get from northerner (good service - 3 day delivery to LA from Sweden!)

I've found the best of tobacco delivery systems in my 15 years of tobacco use and will try to come off the cigs - but can't promise - as the cigs I smoke are quality, no additives honest to goodness tobacco, handmade by myself.
But snusing beats them anyhow.

Can't wait to make my first pris (hopefully tomorrow) and try loose!

Thanks again to everyone here.

[cocsp2002]

I just started snusing myself not long ago, (I'm still on my second can of my first order) and I have to agree, one of the best nicotine delivery systems out there; and how about the taste? One of the best descriptions I've heard since I've come to this forum is "like really good tea." Good luck with your los delivery, I like the los a lot, but it's tough to use if you aren't near: a. a trash can or sink and b. something to rinse your mouth out with afterward. It's definately not like taking out a dip where you can pluck 99% of it out with your fingers and then just either swallow or spit out the rest...Oh no no, this will leave "mud" in your mouth (think of if you put a spoonful of ovaltine under your lip and tried to take it out), so the best way is just to get a mouthful of water (or whatever) and swish until it all comes loose. But hey, welcome to the forum, and good luck to you![/list]

[---Nicotinic Acid---]

Fedora: I am in your EXACT situation. These pre-packed smokers have it SO MUCH easier than us when it comes to quitting. I see posts saying "I never actually enjoyed a cigarette just the nicotine" and I CANNOT relate.

I smoked American Spirit, Daughters and Ryan (Two Timer is my favoritie), Peter Stokkebye export brands, Jester, Samson, Bali Shag, etc etc...........all of which are light years ahead of pre packed smokes in terms of flavor and nicotine. And for LESS money than snus costs me.


Anyway I have no advice, just lettin' you know it's not just you.

Something worth trying is to make nasal snuff from American Spirit original rolling tobacco. Just bake it in the oven @250 until your house starts to smell (this will be a very good smell, like you're cooking a load of bread). Then put this into a coffee grinder and grind very fine, and add a dash of baking soda. This will give some VERY strong snuff.

[fedora]

Nicotinic - hey - thought I was the only one out there like me, trying the painful switch from high quality smoking tobacco to higher quality snus. Very rough. I might be stuck with both forms of use!!

That American Spirit idea sounds a bit rough. Do I have to bake it or can I just dry it out and then grind it and moisten it? Can I use some other tobacco. I use D&R Three Sails, my favorite. Also love Stokkebye's Amsterdam (awesome!).

The other thing - for smokers out there and people commenting on "sticking with one brand": for a hardcore smoker - switching your brand usually gives you a nasty little cough until you get used to the new brand. Not so with Snus. Switch, switch, switch - all good.

[toekuttr]

Ryback, 2Xer, 3 Sails, Jester, anything PS or D&R.......I'm in the same boat. I can't relate to "don't even enjoy smoking" either, I love it! I didn't start Snusin to quit anyhow, but can see that I most likely could with relative ease.

I don't want to quit smoking, and probably won't (having over 10 lbs of premium RYO's a little too tempting anyhow) but I gotta say, I can go days at a time now without a smoke, and often prefer a Snus now. I have cut down to a pack or two a week, a couple weeks I've had no smokes at all.

I did recently have a Newport, haven't had one in quite a while, and can empathize with smokers who no longer enjoy their habit. Those pre-cons nowadays are crap!

[sagedil]

Room for a crusty old vet in here?? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

It's not that we didn't like smoking, it's the addiction that made us smoke, ALL the time, that then gets translated after we are free to "I hated smoking"

I LOVE smoking, I still do. I never came to snus to quit. I just needed a crutch that allowed me to make it 4 hours through my shift running a fundraiseing call center without having to leave the floor. I only Quit" cause I just started liking snus much better. The nicotine delivery is SO much smoother, I am just grateful to be released from that yo-yo like affect of huge hit of nicotine with smokes, followed rapidly by a nicotine crash.

I STILL smoke occasionally. But now, only when I want to. Some months, that might not be at all, others, I might buy a pack and smoke it. But snus has freed me from HAVING to smoke.

So rule # 1 with snus. There is no supposed to. Enjoy whatever forum of tobacco you find pleasurable at the moment. A fine cigarette, A hookah pipe, a cigar, snuff, Oliver Twists, snus. Whatever you FEEL like. All snus will do is ensure you don't HAVE to do any of them.

There is a physicality to smoking that I will always enjoy. The feeling of smoke going in and out of my lungs. I still enjoy it, but only on my terms now. I have snus to thank for that.

[fedora]

Sage - wasn't trying to knock ya! I love my smoking - especially the good quality stuff. It is its own experience. I just wanted to add my 2 cents in about pre-packaged stuff and the good quality RYO stuff - and offer the "scientific" observation that switching brands usually turns your throat to sandpaper (rather than always a brand loyalty).

I'm new to it and lovin' the snus.

And after 2 days I learned something very important:

I don't HAVE to have a cigarette - first time in 14 years.

THAT is a result of snus and its great flavor, saltiness, constant flow of nic and generally better tobacco form.

Cigs are nice - but they gotta be GOOD cigs, with good tobacco.

Thanks for your post and all that you've put into the forum - I've been reading as much as I can here.

[sagedil]

Good cigs, bad cigs, to each their own I say. But yes, I wasn't always a complete heathen. Even rolled my own way back in my Berkeley neo hippie days. I do understand how much better a true high quality cigarette is, but I still like my Miller hilife sometimes as well. :lol: :lol:

" don't HAVE to have a cigarette - first time in 14 years. "

That's what snus does!!!! But the best part is, you CAN have one when you want one. But wanting one, I bet, just won't be near as often as it used to.

And your welcome, always my pleasure. I love the excitement of new folks as they discover this remarkable world of snus.

[cocsp2002]

I can't really relate to smoking high quality RYO tobacco. I was a camel light smoker exclusively for 8 years. I once quit for over 2 years, only to start bumming camels off of my wife just to get some nicotine. I have to say, one of the most remarkable things about nicotine is that once you've quit, even past the point of physical addiction, you think about it EVERY single day. I'm glad I found snus because it is probably the safest way to deliver nicotine into one's system, and like icing on the cake, it tastes great and no nasty smoker mouth, no coughing, no odor on your clothes! Plus, depending on how you snus, it's pretty discreet. People don't often notice that you have a pris in, or have a portion in. It kind of makes me mad that I didn't find this secret sooner, and that I didn't find a group of people who are so into their hobby as y'all are. Yay snus, I guess...yeah, yay snus.

[Snusophile]

I think I can relate to this. I rolled my own for about half a year in my smoking days. I liked Drum and American Spirit RYO the best, but after a while I simply got tired of constantly rolling them, and eventually I switched back to my KOOL's. When I started working out again after all these years, smoking seemed counterproductive...so I quit with snus and I've been snusing ever since.

[Mongrul]

As a Noob, but a smoker of 30 years, I'm now intrigued by the high quality tobacco I've heard about here or smoking, as well as the snus, which I'm enjoying now while my ribs smoke....mmmmm...... I'd be happy as a pig in shit if I could smoke a great smoke once in a while, while staying off regular cigs with snus. I'll check back....

[cocsp2002]

snusophile - congratulations on quitting. I'm down to just one or two cigarettes a day, and that's usually just hanging out with my wife after we put the baby to bed. occasionally, I'll have one in the morning when I need that "right now" fix of nic, but lately I've been trying to wake up with a portion or a pris of los instead...it's just hard to break that habit, you know?

[toekuttr]

Hey Mongrul, if you want to save some time and learn from the folly of others about RYO, you should check out the site RYORevolution(dot)com. The info and experience there can save you a lot of time and money when choosing between the (hundreds) of RYO brands now available.

Not that I'm condoning smoking, but if you're gonna do it anyways, you might as well smoke pure tobacco doing it. The difference between pre-cons and RYO is quite dramatic to say the least. Many RYOer's cut down consumption simply due to the absence of all the chemicals in store bought cigs (and the huge blasts of nicotine ).

Add Snus to that and you might remember why you picked up the tobacco habit to begin with, and still keep it all under control. Thats what I initially started Snusin for, and now I'm finding it difficult to smoke at all sometimes! I almost always prefer a Snus nowadays. All said and done though, I love smoking and RYO is not only an enoyable way to do it, but might just be a little less damaging too. ymmv

[fedora]

I agree with toekuttr - the "ryo experience" is something. Get different tobaccos, (like finding your best snus) and try them out. Get samples from the various stores.

But I'm trying to cut down on my handmade babbies - down to about 12-15 per day, instead of my usual 25-30. So i am doing better. Can't get past needing those morning smokes, and the one after a meal is important as heck. But now I get the jitters if I have one after snusing. Don't even want it much.

Also - I don't eat a big breakfast, if at all. Need to know what snus does to someone with an empty stomach - anyone got any input on that? (I don't want to try - but thought I could ask and I am sure someone already has!)

[cocsp2002]

I can tell you that I don't snus on an empty stomach...it made me lightheaded and twitchy. Didn't throw up or anything, but I still didn't like it much. I would not recommend snusing on an empty stomach.