I have noticed that on some threads people talk about various rituals or habits they do when partaking this powder of joy. Hay, I like that one it sounds like something better than just snuff. Ritual just seems to be part of the snuffing experience.What are some of your habits and rituals?
Here are some of mine.
I myself like to fold my hankies in half then in quarters then take each of the 2 quarters and do a 4 part accordion fold. Fold it one more time lengthwise and voila you have 10 nice folds to blow in. Another ritual I do is the way that I set up my snuff. I use a fliptop box, spoon or pipe tool to place a a suitable amount in my thumb dimple then use it to flatten the snuff out. It just seems to work better to break up the the clumps and make things more uniform. The last one I will go into is when I get a new toque tin I take the top 1/8in. off in a small part of the middle of the tin
Then use the contents underneath. I have found that there is more ammonia in that top layer. so until I are it out a bit I dig it out from the hole in the middle. while I am at it I will break the old habit of the chin avatar for this new one.
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Handkerchiefs I fold and re-fold and polish my snuff box with it (I usually use a silver one) I use the handkerchief just to dab and dust with so its always clean, if I need a blow I use a tissue.
Before I take a pinch, I do the equivalent of packing a can of dip, a wrist action and then three taps on the lid.
It occurs to me that I sound like I have OCD at best, insanity at worse.
Starting a snus and vape reviews & info blog. It will start slowly, but as I get more stuff in to try, it will build up.
A pinch will normally be transferred back and forth between the nostrils to distribute evenly - not just half one side then half the other - normally 2 or three sniffs per side per pinch. Re-open the box and repeat if it feels like another pinch is needed. Clean up with hanky (back left hand pocket), but empty/blow with tissue or loo roll.
Snuff when I'm reading a (e)book. Snuff is the best tobacco product for focussing the mind (unless you have a big N tolerance and then that benefit is lost which is why I keep my tolerance low).
@SnuffySnuff There was a great talk given at last year's Chicago pipe show (by an addiction counselor, of all people), titled something to the effect of, "NIcotine: Evil killer or modern wonder drug?". The key takeaways from it were that nicotine, by itself, is addictive but not carcinogenic, and really helps with a lot of medical issues, like ADD, ADHD, and so on. Unfortunately, because of the power of the anti-tobacco lobby, which insists that nothing good can come from nicotine, and because nicotine can't be patented (and thus profited from, as Big Pharma would prefer us to use drugs it can make money on), its benefits are not well known.
Have no fear, though, as Big Pharma is working on producing compounds derived from nicotine (but different enough from it that Big Pharma can patent them, and thus charge large amounts of money for) to solve all your problems. Apparently one of the biggest issues, IIRC, is that a lot of these nicotine-derived drugs have heavy nausea as a side effect.
yeah I'm aware of the benefits of nicotine. if you Google 'nicotine is good for you' you'll find lots of good snuff.
Tobacco, particularly Rustica, helps me a great deal during the winter when I get Winter Depression (aka SAD).
The thing to note with pharma NRTs and ecigs is that they only contain nicotine, but to get the full benefits of tobacco you also need the alkaloids which are processed out by pharma. You can get WTA ecig liquid (whole tobacco alkaloids) but they get very poor reviews. Without the alkaloids, there is no 'buzz'.
But I'm looking into making my snuff usage into something with a bit more class and ritual, I'm thinking of finally investing in a few snuffboxes, some more spoons, maybe even a handkerchief. The sort of things I could pull out while sitting at a bar and look like I'm sniffing classy snuff from a fancy box, and not snorting cocaine.
EDIT: Dammit, I guess I should add that any pre-warms I do are done with St Mike as well ;) That was the whole point of my post and I didn't even include it!
As for actually taking the snuff, Bernard's is box car, one shared between each nostril always right side first. Everything else is one pinch per side, right side first. I used to share the pinch between each side but I have a developing case of SAS (Snuff Acquisition Syndrome) and I need to put a big dent in my current collection before I order anymore. I already have my next few orders planned, including 10g tins of every Toque I'm yet to try (about 20 tins including the Toque USA)
Edit: Thought of something else I always do. If I'm sitting down, I always take my snuff boxes out of my pockets and at work they get left on my desk from when I arrive to when I go home. This really helps keep the snuff fresher throughout the day, I think because it's away from my bodyheat and also because it stops the snuff getting shaken about when I'm walking around (I only ever put a day's worth in a box at a time so there's plenty of space in the for it to move about). It's a noticeable difference
When I wake up in the morning I blow blow blow my nose. 5-10 tissues with a few blows on each, until there's no snuff. Then usually a menthol snuff, get in the shower and repeat the blow. Getting out I then load up the nose usually with a non-menthol and leave it there.
When I take a moist snuff like Bernard first I gently back of hand. Then gently plug the bottom of that nostril with that side's thumb and breath in the opposite nostril. Then plug the other side and forcefully breath in the nostril with the snuff to get it up there. The first step makes sure it's attached to the nose and doesn't fly in my throat when I pull the snuff back :)
Oh a newer ritual, thank goodness I started it has made those WoS/F&T tins infinitely less frustrating, is to hold the tin level and drop it flat a couple times on a hard surface. It settles the snuff down so it doesn't spill on my pants or car etc when opening. Pinching and Driving!
I do that with the Wilson's tins too, even though I only open it to fill my snuff box. It's the only way to make them bearable.
Off topic, my phone autocorrected 'bearable' to 'bearberries'. What in the world are bearberries?! GOOGLE! GET OVER HERE
Edit: Google says they're a bear's favourite fruit. This is amazing! :))
Snuffhouse: come for the snuff, stay for the fruit based revelations