Rolling your own cigarettes

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Who does this?

I think I'm about to start. Ensuing poverty and spending £50 plus every week on B&H do not work.

What is the best tobacco to buy? How much does it cost to smoke roll-ups and maintain, say, a 20-a-day habit? How long can you take the tedium of having to perform this trick 20 times a day before you go back to buying proper packs of cigarettes and just cut down on the food instead?

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

classic. i used to do this. i miss it. about the only thing i miss about smoking.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:20 (twenty years ago)

I rolled with Drum for about two years back in the mid-90s, when it was still cool. It's actually really gross, and it makes you look like a hippy. You're better off quitting (duh).

― Huk-L, Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:20 (twenty years ago)

you're better off quitting because it's bad for ya, but looks-wise nothing beats pretending you're humphrey bogart.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:26 (twenty years ago)

Actually, this is odd, I happened to just buy a package of Top for a buck 69 US. Comes with 36 papers. I've never done this before either. Haven't gotten to them yet. I'm pretty sure they'll all look like Js.

― jim wentworth (wench), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

top is gross, dude.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:37 (twenty years ago)

It's not rolling up that's a pain in the arse, it's sucking away at the spindly little fuckers. They just don't deliver smoke like proper cigs. I've tried smoking roll-ups before and I'd rather stop. (Well, I'd rather they invented non-lethal cigarettes.) Students and hippies only.

― Jetlag Willy (noodle vague), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:53 (twenty years ago)

This should be called the Rolling rolling your own cigarettes thread 2005.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

kenan to thread.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 19:11 (twenty years ago)

(xxpost) Don't be stingy with the tobacc-y and you'll have a nice full cigarette as opposed to a headache-inducing toothpick. And Top is *nasty*. Prison swag. BaliShag or Samson are my faves.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 19:14 (twenty years ago)

This should be called the Rolling rolling your own cigarettes thread 2005.

at least it's not called "this is the thread where we roll our own cigarettes".

i think this is mostly dud, whats the point in smoking if you can't look glamorous?

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

Y'know what, I kind of miss it. NOt in the sense that I crave a cig - chemical dependency or whatever you call it - but I miss having a cigarette. I'll probably never smoke again, but, deep down, if I let myself go (and not being pregnant) I would start smoking right frigging now.

*sigh*

― nathalie's baby (stevie nixed), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

how the crap do you roll cigerettes. i just cannot do it.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 19:25 (twenty years ago)

It's not too hard to pick up. Much cheaper, and much less satisfying, I think, which is kind of a gamble: you could wind up smoking a lot less (good news), or you could wind up rolling one every ten seconds (bad).

― nabitsy, Tuesday, 7 June 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

Classic (if you're a smoker). When I was in Europe last summer my buddy and I switched from normal, shitty cigs to Drum handrolls on the premise that the hassle of rolling would make us smoke less. My friend J0n was rolling them in under 20 seconds ONE-HANDED while walking down the street 3 days later.

Personally, I love the ceremony. It makes smoking a conscious habit, instead of a some tic.

― giboyeux (skowly), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

I can't even roll a joint to save my life!

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

i'd pay to see that movie.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

I used to enjoy the ceremonial aspect of rolling, but even with a big fat wodge of tobacco I don't find them half as satisfying as ready-mades. Also, since the majority of my smoking nowadays accompanies drinking, anything that requires less manual dexterity is a godsend. And proper cigs just do look cooler.

― Jetlag Willy (noodle vague), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

I have rolled a couple today. Didn't taste so great, and afterwards I had a proper one anyway (still have a few left in a pack). Part of the problem was, as Jetlag Willy says, the spindliness of the thing. I didn't have a clue what to ask for in the shop, I just asked for filters and got these things that I now notice are "extra slim." So maybe I will get some fatter ones tomorrow, we'll see.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

Has anybody ever tried one of those little rolling machines? They really are more hassle than they're worth.

― Jetlag Willy (noodle vague), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

You know who's great at hand-rolling? Fishermen. Particularly the ones that hang out at the local in Harwich. People be rollin'.

xpost We may have footage (I was in Europe making a documentary).

― giboyeux (skowly), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

Classic. After smoking for a year, I smoked a hand-rolled one and got the best nicotine buzz ever, even better than non-filter Camels.

You could always pick up a little rolling machine if you suck at the rolling part.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)

Dud for all the reasons other people gave, mainly because they're a lot less satisfying. Classic if the hassle/devaluation of smoking makes you quit.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)

xposts - a friend in high school had a cheapo rolling machine that was great for joints, I can't imagine it being worse for tobacco.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:50 (twenty years ago)

the ones where it's a metal case, you close it, and it shoots out a perfectly rolled cig/joint are awesome

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:51 (twenty years ago)

I got this thing from some tobacco company once that was a like a crappy plastic hammock on wheels.

― Jetlag Willy (noodle vague), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

yeah those are the ones that suck

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 20:59 (twenty years ago)

Anyone know how to keep smokes fresh after you open a pack? (Aside from smoking them, duh.) I throw them in the fridge, but I don't know if that works so well. Occassionally I'll buy a pack, but it's a waste because when I smoke, it's only a few. I wish they sold loosies at more bars.

― Je4nne ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

When I open a packet it gets smoked, but I guess an airtight tin would be the best bet, Je4nne.

― Jetlag Willy (noodle vague), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

lemon peel in a packet of tobacco keeps it moist (and lemony) could work in a packet of cigs as well.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

maybe a wee humidor?

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

classic. i used to do this. i miss it. about the only thing i miss about smoking.

yup. absolutely. i even had a little leather pouch and everything. i used to keep a bit of apple in there to keep the tobacco fresh, although i'm not sure it actually did anything other than left me with bits of skanky apple all over the place.

i smoked gauloises light rolling tobacco, which i think they stopped making in the mid-eighties (at least, they stopped selling in the tobacco shop on george IV bridge in edinburgh, which to me was the same thing). it was absolutely fucking beautiful stuff, and also made the tastiest joints ever.

my tips: really loosen the baccy up before you roll. take a decent chunk, lay it out on the paper, then shred it up between your fingers a bit more. roll smoothly: tight enough to keep the thing together, loose enough for a really satisfying smoke.

hmm, i need to stop this before i jump in the car and go in search of an all-night tobacconist's.

also: i always thought swan papers were the best.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Tuesday, 7 June 2005 21:43 (twenty years ago)

To all those considering starting rollin', one advice: give it a bit of time tastewise. It will take at least a week before you get used to the different taste and smoke texture. Once you do, industrial cigs taste pretty awful.

― The Emancipation of Baaderonixx (KERERU 4 LIFE!) (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 07:51 (twenty years ago)

OTM!!!

I don't smoke anymore, but the moment I got used to rollies was a revelation. Just make sure the tobacco you use is fresh and moist and use filters.

It's hard to explain, but it's kind of like cheap canned-lager VS real ale. One has a horrible artificial taste and the other is smooth and aromatic.

Plus you can roll as much or as little as you like, depending on if you need a long, slow smoke or a quick blast before the bus comes.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 10:33 (twenty years ago)

which i think they stopped making in the mid-eighties

er, mid-nineties. i wasn't smoking when i was ten, dad. honest.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

whee, i do this. the trick for a roll-up that smokes well and tastes good is to not roll it too tight, use a helthy dollop of tobacco, and CONE IT, my friend. i use Drum and green Rizla.

― g-kit (g-kit), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 10:49 (twenty years ago)

Classic. Using Swan slim filter tips gets negates the problem of horrible dog-ends and gives a nice clean pull. Much cheaper than buying pre-rolled fags too and you know a bit more about what's in your tobacco. If I still smoked I'd be smoking Golden Virginia.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 10:59 (twenty years ago)

i miss doing this too. i smoked 'amber leaf'. using the filter tips also gets rid of the dreaded brown fingerstains (ugh).
i was once rolling one on a train & the guy sitting opposite said he could tell i'd been in prison by the way i rolled my cigarettes. i played along willingly in this fantasy!

― zappi (joni), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 11:06 (twenty years ago)

did you tell him you "loved a bit of snout, nyanyanya"?

― g-kit (g-kit), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 11:11 (twenty years ago)

Dear Drum and Rizla, how I miss you after reading this thread, all these anhedonic years later!

― estela (estela), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 11:13 (twenty years ago)

Also, thinner papere = less CO2 in yr lungs

― The Emancipation of Baaderonixx (KERERU 4 LIFE!) (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 11:38 (twenty years ago)

i really like it - went back to it thru skintness a couple of years back and wouldn't have it any other way. my local shop also sells ludicrously cheap under-the-counter drum, too.

― stelfox, Wednesday, 8 June 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

Goddammit, that's what got me back into smoking after quitting for a year. I was in Barcelona and needed tobacco to, um, anyway I figure that was the best way to have tobacco and not feel tempted to smoke (giboyeux right about that faulty logic of hassle = smoking less). Unfortunately, I also got a box of ultra slim filters for 1 Euro, which negated the potential hassle factor.

I now smoke filtered cigarettes, because I went awhile not buying any tobacco, going on the once-again faulty logic that it'd stop me from smoking altogether. Unfortunately, I just started to bum cigarettes from friends and strangers alike without shame. Sometimes, I hate it how us humans can adapt easily to situations. At least Montreal will be essentially non-smoking in 2006 (yup, faulty logic alert).

― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Wednesday, 8 June 2005 12:30 (twenty years ago)

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