I typically choose to pinch and go right to the nose, however yesterday I decided to go back of hand and have found that works best for me for toasts and scotchs. I just find it interesting the varying methods and techniques and was just curious about how much others might vary their technique. Ken

I have tried the wet pinch or to vary the “compressed pinch” method and the placing in the nose well it looks odd to me, and none of those have really worked well for me yet, although I keep trying. The back of the hand method for me, at least with toasts and scotches seems to disperse most evenly at the front of the nose vs other methods. I am determined to refine the practice of taking the american scotches as with PACT being up in the air, and Poschl pulling out of the American market they will be for the most part the only locally available snuffs. And well the nicotine hit and price point of them are nice as well, plus a touch of old school southern charm (even if not dipped). Brings up a side point, maybe better in its own topic, I was browsing this: http://books.google.com/books?id=eqkt12fGUxYC&pg=PA85&dq=dry+snuff+nitrosamine&hl=en&ei=desxTLL1EcH6lwfTttW-Cw&sa=X&oi=book\\_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false And they list the NS (Nitorsamine) count of Nasal Snuff much higher than most other smokeless tobacco methods, however that being said I notice it as a per gram figure and realize quite frankly that a gram of dry snuff will last someone all day while a gram of moist snuff would probably barely fill a lip. That being said I wonder what some thing about the American scotches vs the more European styles of nasal snuff as far as health concerns. Just curious, anything to me is better than cigs right now. Ken

Not worried, curious, that is all. Hence the use of the words “wonder” and “curious” in the post you are responding to. I worry more about the health of people annoying me about tobacco usage. Ken

I’m no expert by any means, but I understand that most of the Nitrosamines come from curing and fermentation. Anything that is fire-cured and fermented is going to have a higher concentration, whether it is a Scotch or a Dry Toast. The figures look really high, but as you said they are per gram and not so horrific if you translate them to daily intake. I remember seeing a link to a similar study in this forum where they had to correct the data when they realized they had wildly overestimated TSNA in dry snuff (I believe it was Red Seal). I forget what the correct number was, but it was much lower than what I saw in your link.

This is the link: http://cro.sagepub.com/cgi/content/full/15/5/252#(B)\\_TSNAs—current<FONT%20SIZE=-1>\\_</FONT>levels Go to section IV and open the table. At the end of the section, they give the numbers after further testing. Keep in mind that Red Seal and Bruton both are listed as having over 1,000 parts per million in the original study. [NB: Two dry snuff products with atypically high TSNA levels were re-tested in June, 2004. TSNA levels were as follows (parts per million, dry weight): Red Seal: NNN-3.7; NNK-0.8; NAT-1.3; NAB-0.2; Total TSNAs-6.0 Bruton: NNN-5.6; NNK-2.2; NAT-1.9; NAB-0.3; Total TSNAs-10.0]

It is interesting in parts per million dry weight they still come across very high. Then again portion to portion. I find it interesting as particularly here in the States most people don’t know what to make of the stuff. We have one tobacconist in town who carries non american varieties and he is knowledgeable. In fact he is the one who first showed me how to use them. I go to him for pipe stuff when I smoke pipes. However even our local Smoker Friendly line of stores carry varieties of the American Scotches and their employees seem to know little about it and it is typically on a dusty shelf behind the counter and way WAY below where the “dip” is kept. Ken

They are not very high at all. In the correction note, they state Red Seal to have 6.0 parts, which is half of Kodiak Wintergreen, for instance. You are lucky to have a store near you that knows something about snuff. In San Francisco, which is hub to a metropolitan area of some 6 million people, there is not a single store that knows anything about snuff or carries any product other than those turbo-mentholated Poschls. In my experience the rest of the West Coast is not much better. I yet have to see a can of American dry snuff in California.

I guess I have stumbled upon a benefit of living in the Southeast (as well as a tobacco state). I am in NC. I thought usage of the word nicotine in Cali could get you sentenced to 30 days hard Tofu! Ken

Pretty much. After banning smoking in all of Golden Gate Park, the clueless diva we have for a major is trying to pass a Berkeley-style law that would ban smoking within 20 feet of any public space (bars, stores, anything). I doubt there will be a corner left in the city where people can light up.

I never would have believed they would institute the smoking in bar ban here in NC but this year sure enough they did. Now let me tell you, even when I smoked cigs, I liked the ban in application, which you can translate too that if an establishment had a no smoking policy I would go there. However in principal I have major problems with the law. In the end it is a group of people trying to legislate away what they don’t like. If they can legislate it away, what is the next step? Ken

^^^LOL

My thoughts also. It should be up to individual business owners to decide on the smoking policy. Obviously here in SF most of them would go non-smoking, but as a choice based on what’s best for their patrons and not an imposition for businesses that are catering to people over 21. That said, I recently quit smoking too, and I see you on liking the reality of the ban if not the theory.

It has helped keep me from smoking. I don’t drink either so me being in bars in general is rare, but I am also a musician on the side so I spend lots of “working” nights in bars. Before the ban and before I quit smoking seeing me on stage with a cig hanging out was not out of place at all. So like my office job my night job I couldn’t smoke at and that was for the best. I just don’t like the cost of the result. Ken

I mostly use the back of the hand, apart from with Toques which I just pinch. I recently bought some Caffe Noir snuff which is pretty moist and won’t stay in the nose so I’m going to have to basically stuff it up the nostrils.

Back on topic… I mostly pinch, but sometimes scoop a little bit with my thumbnail and inhale it as if it were a spoon. In both cases it seems to me that what is critical is not so much the way you bring the snuff to your nostril as the strength of the inhale. I have used the stuffing method with some very fresh Kendal Brown Original. It’s messy and ugly but it does work.

No smoking in Golden Gate? Do they have Nic-Cops patrolling about?

Well inhale draw plus air flow around the delivery method would seem to be conjoined factors. I think that is what I am finding with the back of hand for the scotches. Less seal allows it to “aerate” better. Pure speculation. Ken

There is little that surprises me about San Fransisco and such things. Couldn’t catch one of the most notorious serial killers ever, but they will get you if you light up. Ken

Carol, the only place in the park where you see cops frequently is the Panhandle, which is a hangout for the homeless. The law is not enforceable there for practical reasons (no one is going to pay the fine, and the last thing that the city needs is more folks arrested for not paying fines).However, it gives people the power to call you out. I’ve had a couple of episodes where people asked me to put my cigarette out or else they would call the cops. The law is on their side. In last years’ Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (a free music festival in the park) there were cops on horses! They improvised some sort of smokers area to deal with the constant infringements. Pot is still OK in such events.

Also, in very San Franciscan fashion, they still allow smoking cigars in the golf course within the park. I am moving to Portland in a few weeks, and I will miss many things but not the intolerance. The worst thing is that they have pretty much eliminated all opposition in their ranks. It’s either these millionaire self-righteous loonies or old school Reaganites.

It is so American that in their quest for tolerance they are so intolerant. Just like how our fore fathers came here to escape religious persecution so they could practice their own brand of religious persecution. Rinse, repeat. Ken

I’m keeping it simple using pinch for snuffs that come in tins and back of my hand with snuffs from dispensers. The only situation I don’t always do this is sometimes with schmalzlers from dispensers; I put some on the back of my hand and then take a pinch gently rubbing the snuff between my fingers while inhaling. It seems to release more aroma when done that way, but usually I snuff it from hand because it’s just faster. I don’t use any “wet pinches” or other methods as I don’t have any problems with taking very fine snuffs; a big pile of Dholakia White sniffed not-too-gently - no problem for me

Back of the hand for me. If the snuff is course and moist just snuff harder. Fine and dry snuff softly.

I used to be a pinch-only guy, but now I switch it up with almost every sniff. Back-of-hand, pinch, bullet, or even the schnifter snorter placed right in the snuffbox. I still think a pinch is the “best” method though. I’ve taken a sniff from the tip of a knife on occasion, but that’s mostly for show

I use the back of my hand for snuff in a bullet or a tap box, I pinch the snuffs that aren’t too dry for my amateur sniffing technique, and I usually take dry snuffs with a pipe tool spoon. Sometimes I pinch the dry snuffs and end up wasting as much as I get in my nostrils.

I only pinch.

I always pinch, but for schmalzlers I use my little spoon

You know the knife or less showy spoon technique I think I will try. And I have numerous pipe tools. I guess it depends on the size and style of knife how “showy” it is. Ken

I pinch most of the time, occasionally I use a bullet. Paul Z

mostly spoon. It’s the easiest way for me but sometimes I need to pinch.

Saw a suggestion about a swiss army pocket knife nail file, and well that is working well today. Ken