Quick question for some of you more ‘experienced’ snuffers here… Am I doing something wrong? I’ve been using Toque Quit pretty heavily for the past few days. Primarily for the nic hit, but also for the rather simple, mild aroma; some of the stronger smells (medicated, citrus, etc) are just too much flavor for constant use. I do understand that the finer snuffs, toasts and the like, are very easy to inhale too hard back into the throat…however, it seems I absolutely cannot, no matter how lightly I sniff, avoid getting it all back there. I’ve never sneezed, but I think that’s just the way I am. (I don’t sneeze from inhaling things, I sneeze from the sun/bright lights lol) Anyways, I love Toque Quit, but I can’t take it without inhaling to hard and coughing. I can handle the burn and the cough, as it’s temporary and not that bad, but it seems there must be a better way. Is this just part of the joys of taking toast, or am I doing something wrong?

Common question. Quick answer. The trick is to sniff while holding your breath. Also you can control the speed and direction of the snuff as you release the pinch with your finger position. Practice makes perfect. The first part you can practice without snuff.

It just takes time. Between this post and using the search button, you should get a plethora of tricks to use and different methods to try when you’re still learning it. Believe me, it takes a long time and effort to get any results. It’s definitely worth it. Good luck, I’m sure you’ll get it in time.

@xander “sniff while holding your breath” Forgive me, but this sounds contradictory… I bet I look awfully strange trying to figure this one out LOL!

Contraventional but not contradictory. Try it. This you can practice even without snuff. Snuffster once put it like this (paraphrasing) “snuff as if you are smelling something good cooking when you walk into the kitchen” Somone else put it “be like a whale and close your blow hole” - this is how a whale can open its full maw underwater without choking. You don’t have a blow hole, but you have the equvalent, and chanes are you already know how to manipulate it. You just have to learnt to associate that movement with snuffing.

@falconfive - “sniff while holding your breath” isn’t as peculiar as it may sound… Before taking the snuff, if you just breathe in a bit and hold your breath and then sniff, it really does help for finer snuffs. You may still cough, or get a little watery eyed, but not so much!

@falconfive - another way of putting it (what @Sloth just explained): Since you are taking a big breath and holding it, you have taken your lungs out of the equation. They are too powerful for the job. So HOW do suck in air without your lungs? Fair question. If you practice taking a tiny sniff while still “holding” the chest full of air, you discover the suction is created using the back of your tongue and throat. Its not necessary to know this (and it takes a bit of introspection) but it might help better describe this “tiny sniff while holding your breath” business. One other solution for throat-snuff- Search for the threads about using a straw or tube to *blow* the snuff up the nose. If done while holding the breath (using cheeks as bellows since, again, the lungs are out) it never hits the throat. I assume its because the snuff cant get past the static air at the top of the nasal cavity. … I happen to be fond of it and use it for the finest of snuffs. Good luck!

Thanks ALOT for the help guys. Like I said, the cough, burn, watery eyes, etc. I can deal with; I just didn’t know if I was doing something wrong or if I was just sensitive to the fine, dusty nature of it, being as I’m new to this. I will definitely practice the “taking a breath and THEN sniffing” technique…also, @Gsnuff, the way you explained it help clear up some confusion. I think I inadvertently achieved this before I read your post, but I didn’t know if what I was doing was ‘proper’ lol. Practice makes perfect, eh?

One word practice. Pain is a good teacher at least about how not to do something.

Toque Quit is not a toast. It can dry out pretty fast and tends to get a bit “dusty” after a while tho. Aside from the above suggestions, consider storing it in the vegetable crisper of the fridge or re-hydrating it. It shouldn’t be moist but it does need some moisture. For me it makes the grind feel heavier and easier to control.

My tricks are 1; drop the adams apple for a light vacuum, 2; use the facial muscles to give a “nose kiss” , or 3; with lust in the heart, greedily sniff hard, quick and turbulent. Totally serious here.

One thing I’ve learned from this forum that helped me was to inhale through the opposite nostril you wish to load.

With toasts I usually lick my finger tips to *lightly* moisten them before I take a pinch, then flick my wrist to shake off any excess. Two advantages to this: 1) It makes them much easier to snuff. 2) Bigger pinches and less snuff ‘falling by the wayside’ when you insufflate it. Of course, this works with the scotches and fine Indian snuffs too.

For me tight pinch, slow release works well

Slowly getting the hang of it; everybody’s nose is different I suppose, and as far as noses go, I’ve got a pretty big schnoz lol. My nostrils are a giant gaping hole designed for launching fine snuff straight through to the throat! I’ll keep experimenting though…Quit is my go-to all-day snuff, and I’d like to avoid the cough and distorted faces while in public lol…

I was about to write TheBoggart’s advice too! ‘Wet pinch’ works well with dry fine snuffs and it’s tidier.

I find that the only way to stop snuff from hitting the back of the throat is to hold the breath and flex your throat. It creates a tiny amount of suction that is perfect for any grind.

Face down so it closes your throat’s airway. Sniff from your nose and not your throat. Just a quick little *sniff* as you release your pinch and you should be good to go!

@Brandasaur @transistor - I think your suggestions are really interesting and have just spent 2 minutes holding my breath and sniffing in various ways. I look very funny doing this but I’ve concluded something I was never aware of: You can suck air in using various parts of the respiratory system- 1) Diaphragm - to get air into the lungs. Not useful for snuffing… so “hold your breath”… in other words freeze the diaphragm. 2) Back of throat / back of tongue - by flexing these back/down you get a good waft of air into the nostrils. 3) Top of throat / back of nose - same idea as above but you are sucking with movement behind the nose and above the mouth. Good for the smallest of sniffs. Who needs yoga when you have snuff?!

I still have this problem with many different snuffs. Toque snuffs seem to be easier for me, but finer and drier snuffs make me tear up like I’m thinking about a long-gone dog most of the time. Something that helps me is to vary my technique. Before my last order came in, I was pinching almost entirely, with great results. Then, I started having problems again. Switched to mainly pinching from the tin and putting the snuff on the back of my hand (base of the thumb/anatomical snuff box), snuffing from there. Great results. Now I’ve been dumping out of my bullet onto my hand, as that’s been giving me better results than straight from the bullet. When the back of the hand gives me problems, I’ll switch to something else. For some reason, this seems to help with issues for me.

These are the basic techniques I’ve posted before that you can try if you have trouble with snuffs. They have helped quite a few snuffers. This technique is used if you just can’t keep the snuff out of the throat no matter what you try. With your right nostril you could try having the pinch in your right hand and when your pinched fingers reach the nose, reach up with the middle finger and press slightly on the outside of the nostril (on the side of nose not the top) closing the nasal passage slightly. But give these techniques below a shot! Well not everyone is the same. For me I take a pinch & bring it up until my thumb nail and index finger nail just touch the inside edge of the nostril. Then I give a quick light sniff while kind of flaring my nostril by raising the side of my upper lip that I’m taking a snuff on (kind of like the face you would make if something smelled bad). You need to sniff rather than just breathe in. You might try holding the pinch kind of tight and only releasing small amounts at a time & at the same time rubbing your two fingers together. You can also experiment with your head position, sometimes it works by touching your chin to your chest when you sniff. Also turning head left or right. Something else that works is filling your lungs with air before you sniff. You can also try breathing on the snuff like you were fogging a mirror before you sniff. This adds a little moisture and weight to it. Or lick your fingers before taking a pinch. Now one more thing you can try that works for people is bringing your fingers up to nose enough to restrict the air flow. This also creates turbulence so the air & snuff just doesn’t shoot straight down the nasal canal. Also mix around with the amount of force you sniff at while doing this. Sometimes a short fast harder sniff works for people

Whoa, Troutstroker is back! I’ve missed you!

1, Take a pich with your index finger and thumb 2. Pull back your thumb so the pinch is resting on the pad of the index finger 3. Raise the index finger to your chosen nostril, so that the pinch is actually inside the nasal passage and your nose is flat on the finger. 4. Take a short, sharp sniff This technique works for me. The key is forming a seal with your nostrils around the snuff so that no extraneous air is inhaled when you sniff.

I should add, that this works great in conjunction with Snuffster’s advice to take large pinches.

The “fogging up the window” technique’s been working great, but it’s a little time consuming, and doesn’t allow for much discreetness. I like to keep the act of snufftaking down to an efficient minimum…

@tybalt You, sir, are my new hero. I can now hit all the dry, powdery, toasty, snuff I want and I don’t wreck myself. I know it’s an old thread but it just save my little newbie life.

It comes with experience I’ve found. I can take huge pinches of HDT and not break a sweat… or cough or sneeze

@Dogwalla, glad to be of help.

@vathek I’m surprised! At least Quit has some moisture to it… which usually amounts to a little easier ‘consumption.’ HDT is a bit harder for me to take. Well, it used to be. I can take anything now except the whites. They suck anyway

I have found that, along with the short and quick sniff, it helps to push the tongue up and back against the uvula to close off the air flow. I also pinch the nostrils briefly or inhale through the mouth and exhale through the nose for a few breaths after a sniff to clear out any crumbs.