Looking at some of Patrick Collin’s snuffboxes, I’m very tempted. I’ve got a handful of plastic boxes and metal flasks, which are pretty functional and do the job okay, but I’m tempted by the idea of a dress box. I guess you have to look after them pretty carefully to prevent them from getting scuffed, maybe even carry them in a little bag. Can anyone comment?
Patrick Collins’ snuffboxes. 
Pat is a long time member here @onefortheroad, and does fine work. He can answer your questions and take your order, etc. I own four of his boxes and all are excellent. Now, here are a few things to consider: Wood is wood, and warps. Pat does an outstanding job of matching the lids to the bottoms to make the box seem seamless and give a nice airtight fit, but moist snuffs and or a moist (humid) atmosphere will cause temporary warping. Some of the woods resist this better than others. I have a canary, padauk, cherry and zebra. The Padauk by far resists the most. However, I only ever use them for dry snuffs such as scotches and toasts. I can leave these types in for days and not worry. I can put an SP in, but I better make sure I empty it today. Anything moister than that is inadvisable. Next: wood holds scents. Either dedicate each box to a particular style or flavor, or be prepared to have a ghosting effect of the last snuff influence the new snuff. With mine, which are primarily for scotches and toasts as I stated above, its a non-issue. I have one primary toast box (padauk) and one primary scotch box (canary). If i change the brand of toast or scotch every so often, it doesn’t seem to matter much since the flavors are close and not particularly affected. Lastly, if you are really looking for a “dress” snuff box, wood is not what you want. Wood is casual. Its more formal than plastic or a repurposed bottle/flask of course, and it can look very classy or sensual, but its not formal or dressy. For this, one really needs a silver box, and better still a silver box with a gilded interior. Not only are these the best for dress, they are the best for the snuff. Entry level here is about $200.00 USD, as opposed to wood where $20 can buy you the best wood box there is. I’m not really an expert in this department, but if the box is well made and in good condition (buying new is very hard due to availability and lack of current makers, mostly one needs to buy antique). But the metals and the joints/hinge are key issues to prevent drying etc, and metal doesn’t perceptibly warp either. Silver and gold of coarse when in the right composition also resist oxidation, making them preferable to tin, steel or aluminum. Since I’m getting out of my depth here, I’d pass this topic on to Nigel or Tony or some other real veterans as the real experts, and also advise you to read thoroughly all of the past threads on snuffboxes before making the big investment. Nigel always recommends the book by Hugh McCausland: Snuff and Snuff Boxes and although its out of print, I managed to get a cheap copy on ebay. Other books are available as well, and be sure to read what’s available in the snuffhouse library, much of which has been procured from the public domain. Good luck. Getting the “one” perfect snuffbox can be a one time purchase or take a lifetime.
@Xander, thanks very much for the info. I guess “dress” is relative, I barely know how to do a tie up these days, so it’s not like I need something that goes with my tails that I can take out at the opera. I’m more interested in what you said about wood holding scent. Sounds a bit like the issues with a pipe! But I find I even dedicate plastic boxes to a particular snuff, mainly so that I can remember which one is which. If I do get the wooden box, then I’ll probably use it for Toque Quit, which is always on my list and probably constitutes 50% of the snuff I use. Everything else is just for variety. I sent a message to Patrick, asking him about “double tech” boxes, which I gather are like the “triple tech”, but without the spoon. He said he hasn’t been on snuffhouse a lot lately. A silver box, you reckon? Well, I’ll wait until I can justify a special treat for myself. The titanium flask that Mister Snuff used to offer is another option.
@JakartaBoy, I have one of his Triple Tech boxes & love it. Fantastic workmanship all around.
Mostly for dry snuff. If you do use a moist snuff the wood swells up and lids don’t slide well. Patrick doesn’t recommend using wax to seal the wood pores .But I have with good results. I use a high quality pipe wax and do the inside chamber and underneath side of lid and the hole with a cotton swab and then lightly buff off. I let the parts air dry for a day or so then lightly buff parts before I put them back together. Fill box with a day or two of snuff and enjoy.
@basement_shaman, which pipe wax do you use? I have some bottles of Paragon and Halycon II that I have lying around.
They are perfect ! Paragon for smooth Halycon II for others
If you want silver, buy old and be patient until the right box/deal comes up - and it will. I just picked up a silver box, 90g, circa 1920 for £115 and in mint condition. They are out there, just don’t buy the first pertty thang you see. My rule of thumb is that anything below an inch and a half in length and a quarter inch deep is too small to be easily pinched from. Look for hinges that run the length of the lid - this is a pointer, some other hinge types work but you never know until the thing has been filled and opened several times to see whether the snuff will penetrate the hinge and clog it. Ebay is good if you have an idea what to look for but you can’t inspect the goods, best is a little perseverance at antique fairs. There are two new silver boxes made; one (couple of variants, plain or engraved) marketed by Ari D Norman, the other by Regnas, various designs. I’ve not found any true silver snuffs apart from them. A decent, old box can be bought for their retail price though, and a decent, old snuff box is often superior because the craftsmen that made them were truly expert at what they did with closure tolerances that are simply unsurpassed in modern boxes. There is also a much wider range of choice on the antique market. The rest are pill boxes, simply put, including the ones sold as silver snuffs on snuff retail sites. Sometimes a pill box is big enough, and well made enough to work out ok, but most will clog within a few openings meaning the lid constantly pops open. Small size, short hinges and button openings are the usual give-aways. Cheers guys, Nigel.
@Abraxas, thanks for your ideas and input. One day I will get a silver box, but I’m in no great hurry. As a snuff user who has made the transition from being a heavy pipe smoker, I’m still delighted at how cheap snuff and most of the associated accessories are compared to pipes and pipe tobacco. One of Patrick Collins’ best snuffboxes is still about the same price as a mediocre basket pipe. And a good silver box, which must be the most expensive snuff-taking accessory you can buy, is still only the price of a reasonably good pipe. Still, yes, I learned from the early days of my pipe smoking, it’s a good idea not to charge in fired up with enthusiasm for a new hobby and purchasing all sorts of equipment and tools that turn out to be white elephants. At this stage, I’m in the market for nice boxes in the sub-fifty dollar range.
Haven’t smoked my pipe for well over a month now. I didn’t take it with me on my trip to Tibet, it just seemed like too much equipment – I like to travel with carry-on luggage only. I never really started again when I got back, it’s not a matter of being committed to not smoking it. I just tried to light one up now, but I’ve let it go out and taken out my snuff box. And irrelevant aside to this thread, but there’s no doubt in my mind that snuff is the best, cheapest and most enjoyable way of taking tobacco.
With Patrick’s help, I finally overcame some issues with the payment system and sprang for an Oak triple-tech. @Xander, I noted your comments about the Padauk being more resistant to humidity, which is an issue for me, living in the tropics. However, while I was dealing with the payment system issues, someone bought the last one. Oh well, I like the look of the Oak better anyway, really sexy inlay. I’m planning on using it for Dholakia White or similar snuffs. No-one can say that DW dries out quickly, and it works well in a tap box – when I try to pinch from a box, my table always ends up looking like a messy bakery: 
From Walsh Brothers: It will be mine. Oh, YES… It will be MINE!
Really excellent boxes i would prefer to have no spoon so it would hold more snuff and a box that was marked better so you can see which way to open it and i wish someone over here would sell them. Recommended snuff box and great to use
@prluk, you can always get the plain boxes, which don’t have the slide opening on the side or the spoon. Patrick has also spoken of producing a “double tech”, which would be my preference (both openings, but no spoon). I don’t know if he ever got around to producing them, or if he’s sold out, but he doesn’t have any available at the moment. I haven’t taken possession of mine yet, so I can’t comment on the need for the box to be marked better. I’m guessing that once you get used to it, you wouldn’t need it. In his email, Patrick said he was really busy at the moment with other projects, but that he might get around to making more boxes some time in the not-so-distant future.
No. He’s only ever made three kinds. The singles which are the ones I like the most have simple slide lids and a large compartment. The doubles which are two compartment/two lids, but I find a bit small to pinch from; and the triple-tech which you are discussing.
@prluk, you can always get the plain boxes, which don’t have the slide opening on the side or the spoon. Patrick has also spoken of producing a “double tech”, which would be my preference (both openings, but no spoon). I don’t know if he ever got around to producing them, or if he’s sold out, but he doesn’t have any available at the moment. I haven’t taken possession of mine yet, so I can’t comment on the need for the box to be marked better. I’m guessing that once you get used to it, you wouldn’t need it. In his email, Patrick said he was really busy at the moment with other projects, but that he might get around to making more boxes some time in the not-so-distant future.
Oh yes a double box with a larger capacity and no spoon but both openings would be on my buy list straight away
Well, my box turned up a couple of days ago. As soon as I got it, I loaded it up with Dholakia White and took it out for a weekend’s stroll around town to put it through its paces. The lid fits so smoothly you can barely see the lines. It’s still quite tight. Maybe it will loosen up as I use it, but I’m planning on using it mainly as a tap box, so it’s the side opening that is more important. That’s also quite stiff, but not to the same extent as the top lid, and it’s certainly better than being too loose! When I first got it, I filled it up pretty much to capacity, which probably isn’t the way to go if you’re using it as a tap box, if it has a bit more empty space, the snuff probably flows more easily out of the hole. Even so, I would prefer the hole to slightly larger in diameter, maybe 10-20% larger, which would take it up to the size of the hole in the snuffhouse boxes. I could do it myself with a circular file I have somewhere, or have it drilled, I guess. I’ll leave it for now and see how I feel in a month or so. These are minor quibbles, however, I can feel this is going to be my regular DW daily use box. Oh, and I’ve never used a snuff spoon before this. Considering I find DW incredibly messy to pinch, I’m quite enjoying this new mechanism. The spoon holds the equivalent of a medium size pinch, if loaded to capacity. Would I buy another one? Maybe, but not in a rush. I think it’s great for a very dry, powdery snuff like DW, but it probably wouldn’t work so well as a box for the snuffs that you don’t use every day and leave sitting there. For that, I think the plastic snuffhouse boxes probably still have the edge. At some stage, I might get a single tech, or plain box, or whatever Patrick calls it. The zebra wood one still on offer is particularly tempting. Or I’ll wait until Patrick makes a new batch, and get a padauk one, considering people here say that’s particularly resistant to warping. When I asked Patrick about that, he also suggested teak as being very good on that count. It really is a very stylish, practical box. I’m a little bit in love with it. EDIT: After using the box for almost a week, the initial stiffness with the lid is no longer a problem. Now it just fits tightly, the way it should.
Has a double tech box been made yet
Can you still get a Collins triple tech? If so, please tell me how. Thank you.