I have always taken snuff from the back of my hand. I have never found any problem with this method, but I would love to learn how to pinch so that american snuffs will be easier to take. Can anyone give me tips? A step by step would also be amazing. I appreciate any help. Thanks alot. ~Snuffy
Snuffy i am fairly new to snuffing and have been snuffing from the back of my hand until recently, when i sussed out pinching. I take a small pinch with thumb and fore finger raise it to my nostril so they are touching my nostril lightly and gently inhale whist rubbing the snuff gently between thumb and fore finger. I usually do this at my desk or over a magazine and any spillage i scrape either back into the tin or into an empty tin for an interesting mix, this is done using my credit card. This is just what works for me but the result is different from snorting off the back of your hand and some snuff i prefer to pinch and some i will take off the back of my hand. Hope this helps
It seems like such a simple thing but the amount of people that struggle with this clearly proves otherwise. Its very much a feel your own way sort of thing and bizarrely quite difficult to explain, but here goes. 1. Most of us pinchers use an amount about the size of a pea, with half going in one nostril, the other half, unsurprisingly, in the other nostril. To begin with experiment with getting the quantity right. take a pinch and drop it onto the palm of your hand to see if you have got the volume right. 2. When you have the hang of that, which should take all of 30 seconds, go for it for real. Take the pinch and bring to your left nostril (a completely arbitrary point but its the law). 3. The tricky bit. You need to sniff half of the snuff up the left nostril with a short, sharp but relatively gentle sniff - just like the back of the hand thing. The trick is to slightly open your finger and thumb to release half the amount. This has to be co-ordinated with the sniff and I can’t think of any tips here apart from persevere. 4. Repeat with the right nostril. I think its the timing of the sniff with the release of the snuff that gets people, the only thing that will make it perfect is practice. This is by far the most elegant way of taking snuff. Hope that helps in some small way snuffy. Im sure the othee guys will have their explanations.
Snuffster, without thinking, I ALWAYS feed the left nostril first!!! My son, who does not and don’t want to snuff, often comments on this. He has often said to me: " You must change your habbit and be more fair to your nose" meaning I should sometimes feed the right side first. I just can’t do it, left first, that’s how I do it. With finer snuff, I take smaller portions, scared I might get some in my throat. When I take coarse snuff and especially if it’s moist, I take huge pinches because it won’t go the wrong way. It takes a bit of time to get it right. I still sometimes make a mistake and get some snuff right down into my underpants but that’s OK. It’s good to cough a bit from time to time and my wife washes the underpants. So, no problem.
I really appreciate all of the suggestions. I am going to try to take a pinch of Rooster right now, as I type. *Takes out tin, and gives it a shot.* A little too much coughing and not enough snuff went in. I think my problem is when I am moving my finger and thumb back and forth, I compact the snuff and make it sort of flat. This makes it harder to take in, so I try sniffing harder and it all goes in. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. ~Snuffy
Snuffy you don’t have to roll your fingers, i tend to do this with fragrant snuffs so as to increase the enjoyment of the fragrance, To start with just try holding a pinch and sniffing it you will get a little and can then gently open your fingers thus controlling the flow up your nose. I pinch like this with fine snuffs so i don’t cough my lungs up. Also the inhalation should be gentle prolonged and consistent no short sharp sniff and thats how i enjoy my american snuffs. I guess the way i do it is sort of like sniffing a flower and when i feel a slight eyewater i just move my fingers away from my nose.
Surely that should read “right nostril first”… Well, that’s what I do.
Strange really its a bit like walking we all do the same thing just differently. I am somewhat limited as to which nostril to start with as i often find one or another is blocked at various points during any given day therefore i hope you will excuse my bad manners.
Snuffy, snuff is like a lady, you must handle it carefully, softly, don’t squeeze your pinch, just hold it lightly between your fingers. Sniff gently, like smelling your lady’s hair, while holding your fingers lightly against your nose like touching your darling’s lips. That’s the way to do it and the reward will be…like reaching a climax, only nicer, more enjoyable!!! Have fun Pieter
lol… pieter i’m beginning to wonder if you like your snuff a little too much?
Ha. I always do my right nostril first. Whether I’m using a bullet, the back of my hand, or when I try to pinch. Pieter, that was the best description of snuff, ever. Not the way I would have put it, but definitely nice to hear the way other people see it. I’ll give it another shot in a little bit. All the tips are really appreciated. ~Snuffy
Snuffy in addition to all the excellent advise (and I’m a confirmed pincher who very rarely takes off the back of his hand) I’ve a hybrid method for taking toasts. Because toasts are so fine they are a bit hard to pinch. So I use my index finger to scoop out a pinch and treating my finger as a human snuff spoon, as it were, I snuff from the pad on my finger. I tried this after hearing a few people say how much easier they found taking toasts off a spoon, and considering how unlikely it is to go around with a spoon in your coat pocket in this age of metal detectors and wands detecting and wanding as they are. It really works in spades.
I do happen to have a snuff spoon/bottle. Perhaps I will give it a try with some dry snuffs. Thanks for the tip! ~Snuffy
Let us know how it turns out for you.
johndeere89, I don’t LIKE snuff, I’m IN LOVE with snuff!!! Best thing ever happened to me except being born. If I never was born, I would never experience the joy of snuffing.
I take a pea-sized pinch and hold it at the front of my nose inhaling gently and evenly. I find that holding the pinch towards the front of the nose helps with drier snuffs. I also inhale prior to snuffing to limit the force of my inhale.
The Wood, thank you!! I’ve tried it “your way” and it’s even better than “my way” !!! So, in future I’ll do it your way (don’t know if Frank Sinatra will like it though). Is that your nose in the picture? Must say, it’s a perfect snuffing nose.
Snuffbox, being a brand new newbie who has little idea what they are doing, I am finding that I often use your way. Use my finger like a little spoon. Seems to be working well enough, but I am waiting for a bullet now from Nicotinerush in a desperate attempt to not make nearly the mess on myself that I have been making.
No, Pieter, that is not my nose. But it is a great snuffing nose! I’m glad you like the technique. Happy snuffing.
i just recently “discovered” that method on my own as well excellent picture description, thanks to The Wood.
I don’t know how many of you gentlemen (our lady snuffers went awol) watched the video of Stephen Fry at Smith & Sons, taking snuff with the young salesman. I’ve noticed that both of them shook off the snuff sticking to their fingers before they sniffed. Well, I’ve tried it and Whalla !! No more snuff going down my throat. It seems to me as if the snuff that clings TO my fingertips and is not pinched BETWEEN them, is finer, dust like, and when I breathe in, those snuff particules go flying up my nose first and “out the back door”. I don’t know where to find the video again. If someone will be so kind as to stick a link to it on this post, it might help some other members who are still battling with the pinching technique.
Thanks ermtony !! That was a quick response.
Funny! I hate to say it, but the guy being British makes it funnier for me!
Well that’s why British films are usually shorter then American ones, It doesn’t take us all day to say a sentence
I guess I meant the “proper British gentleman” all flustered from the hit of snuff. Wouldn’t be as funny (to me) otherwise.
Lol, I see what you mean. The man running the shop is a Cockney (google cockney) They have a language of their own.
I worked on cruise ships with almost all brits, so i know a little about the dialects. At one time i could tell what part of England someone was from, by their accent. Even though I “got pissed” and acted crazy with my “mates” there still is that stereotype (here in the US) of Brits being so refined, drinking tee with a raised pinky and being so sophisticated. It’s the accent I guess! More James Bond than Benny Hill, I guess.
Lol I’ll join with you at the Boston Tea Party old boy.
The container has to be large and deep enough to gather a pinch. I take as much as can be held between thumb and forefinger and gently release a portion into the left nostril followed by the right. The method allows, I believe, for greater control than using the back of the hand. During the early days of snuff taking in Europe the custom was to use the back of the hand as the receptacle at the end of the rasp was too small to pinch from. With the advent of ready-ground snuff and the snuff box it was not unusual to use the thumb and first two fingers to gather a large amount which was then (with a little dexterity) balanced on the ball of the thumb with the index finger used as a brace. Another method is too make a snuff spoon. This is achieved by curling the index finger round the top of the thumb joint (angulated downwards) and tipping snuff into the spoon. This is useful when using a commercial container with a flip-lid. More goes up your nose than over your face as is likely from the hand. Snuff spoons used in competitions are similar to a mustard spoon. The goal is to take fifty spoonfuls as quickly as possible without sneezing. (Another is to consume 5 grams in 60 seconds). The British Medical Journal September 1981 records one subject taking 50 spoons in 46 seconds. The resultant plasma nicotine concentration was the highest ever recorded.
To me, not that I know much, it looks like Fry and the reporter sniffed a lot harder than I have been advised, or have practiced. No wonder both have teary eyes when they are done. The tapping method is a good tip, I shall implement it. @ PhillipS: I beleive the method you decribe is listed as method 5 in the FAQ or beginners guide section. I also use this with pour out boxes, I don’t like back of the hand method. Also I don’t want to win any contests. A pinch every 5-15 minutes suits me. Nicotine is not pleasant in large doses…