Rolling your own cigarettes
 

Living in France, ciggies are rather expensive, and for a poor ass negro like me I need an alternative. I can't import then from the Philippines at 50 cents a pack, or keep buying them at 6 euro, so I've turned to rolling. I want to know if anyone here rolls their own cigarettes, and how they feel about it. Do the cigarettes burn well? is the tobacco you buy in the stores healthier and lacking the additives that make smoking so harmful? Does it take a gruesome amount of time to roll them? Can you use a filter? Just basic stuff like that, and any other tips you might be able to throw my way (besides quitting, please)

http://stagtobacconist.com/catalog/images/stagryo.jpg

Well, I rolled a few cigarettes in my time... but mostly I rolled greener plants and smoked them... :P

Anyways - it takes a bit of practice, but I used to be able to roll a doob from start to finish in less than 2 or so minutes... I'd do it on the bus between stops, in the back of class behind my laptop, but yeah, it doesn't take too long to roll, and I had to bust up the greenery, and then mix it with some baccy.

Rolling regular cigs though, you can go about it a couple of ways - you can roll them like you would roll a joint, with the loose tobacco and papers - make your own 'filter' out of rolled up cardboard, or I think you can even buy ready-made filters. If you don't want to learn to roll it yourself, you can get a rolling machine - I screwed around with one of those for awhile, but they take a little longer (i found) then if you can do it well yourself... You can also get prepackaged tubes (I know they have them here in Canada, they are called either tubes or sleeves) with a filter in them... they're pretty much cigarettes without the tobacco, I'm not exactly sure how those work, but I think you just stuff the baccy in - when I made joints from emptied out cigarettes, it took awhile to stuff everything in, and it got a bit messy, so I don't know if that's a good option unless you want to make a bunch of them beforehand.

I hope that this helps!

Those cigarette paper + filter combos sound awesome! I hope they have them somewhere near my current residence...

You said it takes about 2 minutes per cig? That's seems like an awful long time.., that's 40 minutes a pack lol.

One does not sit down and roll twenty cigarettes. One rolls a single smoke and the rolling becomes a part of the experience. You might even find you smoke less because of this. I'm not trying to say that you should, but I know that when I used to smoke a lot of the time it was just out of habit because I had one available. When you have to prepare a cigarette, you think a bit more carefully about if you one one.

I'd say that 2 minutes is far more appropriate as a length of time for rolling a doob than it is for rolling a regular cig. The old jazz woodbine tends to be a bit bigger than a regular smoke, and takes more effort to prepare. It shouldn't take even a minute to put together a smoke as long as you don't need it to be a work of art. You can get filters for rolling anywhere they sell papers.

Of course I quit, but when I did smoke, I alway preferred rolling baccy.

Alternatively, you can do it in about 15 seconds with something like this:
http://www.rollies.com/Images/HB-MASCOTTE-SHOOTER.jpg
(tobacco tube injector)
Those bastards will save you an assload of time, making the whole roll-your-own thing actually worth it.

Problem is I mostly smoke when I'm with my friends or in my car. It would bad news if I was rollin' while I was rollin'

And Benjamin, that exact model? or anything similar?

Anything similar will work, preferrably if it completely packs in less than three quick mechanisms.

Definitely. I hear a few guys can roll one with one hand, but I don't advise it. I guess you need to get a little baccy tin and keep a few in there.

There are a few similar things. I've seen one on sale in the UK. I don't know how well they work though.

Yeah, they're honestly awesome. Just make 20 per day, it'll take about ten minutes to do, and put them in a standard cigarette tin. Everyone will think you're trendy too!

I should find a picture of mine!

It's fucking genius, that's exactly what I wanted to do.

Do you know of any health benefits from the tobacco you get in bulk instead of pre-made cigarettes? Do they lack nicotine or tar?

Heh. That's pretty much an impossibility.
It all depends on what you get. Usually the health RISKS are lower, but there aren't any benefits to smoking, ever, obviously.

Although, you can go for a more natural tobacco. I buy a tin of american spirit tobacco once a week. Shit's great, fewest health risks that I've found, and it comes in about a dozen varieties.

I looked into American spirit....that seems to be exactly what I would need. I hope they sell it in France...France doesn't have shit, it's lame.

Oh, and do you use wraps with the filter?

I only use filtered tubes. It's the only way to go dude.

Benjamin, you're the man! That's for the advice dude, I'll take it to heart.

You're so groovy! haha, I thought I was one of the only people who made their own smokes.

A lot of people back home in my little community where I use to grow up practically did this all the time because a pack of cigarettes were always going up in price at least once a year.

I know one my aunts pracctically made rolling cigarettes her social time on saturday nights. Just a group of women sitting at the table playing cards, having a chat and rolling cigarettes.

lol, that's cool. It really sucks that they are trying to make smoking look so evil. I wish they would show such passion and enthusiasm towards people getting drunk. I'm always hearing about people dying in car accidents because they were drunk. I'm not going on a political thing or anything, I just wonder why smoking is so much more evil.

I used to handroll my cigarettes with rolling paper all the time, it got to the point where I could roll 'em Lucky Luke style, with one hand will riding a horse (okay so I made up the horse part...). But now, I've cut back quite a bit so I just buy packs, which saves an incredible amount of mess (but is fucking expensive :mad:).

Edit:
If you want to make it easy on yourself, get a rolling machine like the one in Benjamin's pic. I had one of those for years and you can't go wrong with it.

Bah. I've seen a homeless dude with one arm and a missing finger hand roll cigarettes like a machine. you get to know your homeless dudes in Iowa City. we've got Queequeg with a PSP, schizo guy who pops into random cafes for 20 seconds, guy with tampon tied to head...

Also, seconding American Spirit tobacco, since you probably don't have a friendly Tobacco Bowl near you.

also also belatedly noting that the chap who made this thread is permabanned. :tpg:

Well, I wouldn't base my choice of tobacco on how "healthy" it is. The taste is the important thing, isn't it? If not, why bother?

When I started rolling, I tried out a machine once - and never again. It packed the tobacco too loose and rolled the cig too thin, so it burned down way too fast. Rolling by hand, it took only a little practice, and I had smokes that burned for ten minutes, but still every drag was as good as they come. If available, I'd recommend Buccaneer, whisky-flavored tobacco - tastes like no pre-made smoke ever.

DB

I don't smoke a cigarette for taste. I just want a bit of a 'lift', that's all. I'd like to try the whiskey flavored tobacco, however. Sounds interesting.

Does anyone know how to get of American spirit tobacco in Europe?

This is funny, I am sitting in the living room and my sister, brother, and dad are all rolling their own cigarettes.. hahaha

As for me, I don't smoke... I am too young, my mom would be really sad if I did... lol