HI there. I have a pinch problem that is the result of several challenges 1. I am blind in one eye (seriously) and the other eye isn’t real great, which also leaves me with no depth perception (something you really need when trying to do especially some things with snuff) 2. I have really small hands and fingers, would wear a size 3 ring if I were to wear one, can put my thumb up the center of a CD’s center hole and other nifty things (but small fingers are turning out aren’t very useful when trying to get a pinch of snuff – and yes I am an adult, a middle aged one, just also a really small one, no I’m not a dwarf so don’t ask, just unusually small) Ever wonder how blind people find their mouths with a fork? (well I have wondered that too) and I can find my own face with eating utensils, but all of this combined makes getting a pinch and not just a little bit of dust in my fingers, then if I can (which I can’t really), then geting that elusive pinch up to my nostril (why is this so hard for me to find? Honestly) without spilling it down my shirt or dropping it before I get there or landing somewhere just off from intended… I dunno… Yes, I have some gross motor control/coordination issues, and I tended to be a fire/burn menace with cigarettes) anyway, pinching is just not working out for me at all, and the problem is I have a total of 4 snuffs that are only in their round tins/containers and just don’t work in bullets, 3 certain toques that just should not be put in bullets and one “Taxi Red” (the Taxi is in large soft chunks and just way too soft and moist and big, almost looks like loose snus in a way – its even really dark like snus and as a side note I also didn’t find the taxi to be very strong at all, I was thinking this was going to be one for great nicotine, not sure what’s gone wrong there. maybe just because I can’t get enough of it into me to find out?) I have really been bullet dependent here: I can take from the bullet or I can pour from a bullet onto the back of my hand (for a while I tried pouring from the bullet onto the flat of my thumb about where I’d take a pinch if I were going to but it rolls off, I don’t have enough thumb surface so back to the back of my hand I went) I can (very carefully!) spainstakingly and in many little scoops (working not to bump any out of the tin in the process) scoop snuff from its tins into a bullet using the bullet itself like a little tubish sort of ‘shovel’ or scoop (this takes a while) but what do you do when you can’t use a bullet for some snuffs and you’re not made for pinching and all you have is the container? Any alternatives? I’ve thought about trying to find a little snuff spoon or something, any other ideas? Anybody know where you can buy a little snuff sniffing spoon in the US?
I use this thing for pipe smoking called a “Czech tool.” It has a little “spoon” on it, as well as some other do-dads for pipe smoking. I picked one up at a local Tinderbox for $1.50. Any tobacconist should have a few around. I think that it holds the perfect amount of snuff, but maybe that is just me.
I often use a small pocket knife in lieu of a spoon, but I find a spoon to be a much underrated way of taking snuff. Spoons are readily available at “Head Shops” if you don’t mind visiting an establishment like that. Personally, I love them. At any rate, I simply can’t do it off the back of my hand either. If I’m not pinching, I sprinkle some on to the area of my bent thumb between the thumb nail and the knuckle, but that wouldn’t work well with the round tins. You could decant them into glass vials, which I often do, and then try the sprinkle between the thumbnail and knuckle. It is much more precise and makes much less of a mess than the back of the hand method. Best of luck!
If I want to use a spoon, I use a pipe nail (under a dollar at tobacconists). Mostly I use the back of my hand, that way if you miss the nose on the first try you can chase it around like a vaccum cleaner.
would something like this work ? snuff tool, snuff store did have them but can’t find it now!
^ +1 I swear by the TripleTech snuff box. In fact, I like taking snuff from it so much that if I am in a rush in the morning and don’t have time to fill it I bring a tin and fill it at work. Plus, the 30 year-old Chinese hand-carved bone snuff spoon that comes with it is pretty cool and measures the right amount of snuff for me. And no, it is not tiger bone.
First of all, thanks everyone for lal the replies! Alexander Ghaffari, I think I might have that exact same tool you’re talking about – in fact one of my first stunts with snuff was trying to shovel it directly into my nose from the sort of long narrow spoob part (its a pipe tool if it sthe same thing, saw a guy in a video about pipe smoking who has one, no idea where I got mine I don’t smoke a pipe but I’ve had this thing around for ‘next to forever) I thought it was just kinda big (for trying to shovel snuff into one’s nose it is) but I can take from the tin with it and sniff from the big-ish (to me) spoon. I will try that in a few minutes after I get done reading over again and replying to all all here). That’s another thing… you guys don’t REALLY literaly mean a pea-sized do you? Where are you getting those peas? the peas I can think of such as come in a TV dinner are pretty big and something that size taken in one turn would pretty much obstruct half or more of my nasal cavity/breathing ability… although with some weaker (to me) snuffs such as “rocket” and “Quit with smoking” natural I can pour an enormous amount on the back of my hand from the bullets and (in multiple sniffs back to back) get quite a bit in… maybe thats a realy big broken up pea-sized. I cant sniff a pea’s with in one sniff though that’s for sure. I’m also making notes in a notepad on some of these ideas… I think a head shop’ is more likely to be weirded out by my going into one then me at them lol (middle aged, kinda 'librarian like a bit heh and disabled) I think just don’t look like headshop material lol, I will check this idea out too. same for a salt spoon idea (never heard of that, never knew there was such a thing). I don’t know what a pipe nail is, but I’m guessing thats a flat sort of thing, maybe like the flat part of the czech tool(?) I think I have. what I have is the same thing this guy holds up in his video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8KUIyqk14Q (He has great videos about nasals snuff and other things and I wandered to this one and saw it) Lol I dont think I’m quite ready for a ‘double snorter’ (somehow I have a good feeling most of the snuff would end up in my throat… and I do like the separation, one nostril at a time, twice the enjoyment that way) triple tech box… (still following links and taking notes here) will investigate this too… I’m going to have to settle on trying one thing at a time (I’m on a budget) even though the tool I have has a kind of large spoon (a bit too big for successfuly fillinga bullet with as well as straight shoveling) I will try just snoffing from it… or maybe using it to pour a bit on the back of my hand (that I can do… I can do back of my hand if I can get it there, generally has been from pouring out of the bullet and straight sniffing from the bullet) and thank you roger for the info about metal bullets being okay for the Togues (I’ll also add that to my list of things to try) Will for just now dig out and try and work with the one item/tool I have on hand – while I check on these other great ideas – thanks you guys, everyone, for all the ideas! I might come back in a bit and say how the thing I have is working out.
PS., I meant Roderick where I said ‘roger’ (sorry about that)
Okay… giving up on the “Taxi Red Strong” for now… not because its allegedly so strong (I just don’t see it, its like the rocket or QWS’s to me, nothing like the rooster or garret or stronger Togues_ – but because using the tool I have I did manage to successfully deposit some on the back of my hand (where I am pretty good once something is there) feel exactly like I am trying to sniff literal crumbled chocolate cake (it has exactly that consistency), and I’m having about as much luck with it as you’d expect if you did sniff crumbled chocolate cake. It goes in the “maybe some other day” bin (unfortunately I have more snuffs in there than I have out), but I’m about to have 3 less I think… these three Toques look super good once I get the overgrown Taxi cake out of my nose (most of it fell back down my frpmt anyway) I’m going to give them a go… okay Toast & Marmalade (Spooned from big tin) here we go… okay sniffing directly from the spoon to my left nostril made my left eye water a bit (but it was still nice anyway if that makes any sense to anyone heh) next: Spoon to back of hand, this was better… its going to take a few turns to ‘get to know’ this snuff thats new to me (and the other smaller tins of the other Toques too), can’t tell anything from just a once or twice sniffed, but this gives me access to them now… (“Hello Toque Toast & Marmalade, nice to meet you, how are you, can we sit a while and get to know one another?”) I do think maybe I’m going to look into the box idea especially, and the other ideas (a smaller spoon type device could be hugely useful for this and related snuff moving needs)… I just need a better dispenser method, and I think maybe that box is it (and a little spoon can always help)
@whistlrr I have to stress my prior post. Get the TripleTech box from NicotineRush. I know they are a bit more expensive than the other Patrick Collins offerings, but it is such a well made box that you will get years of faithful usage out of it. I open and close the box 20+ times per day and the sliding wood parts are just as tight and smooth as they were months ago (I have noticed that humidity and heat slightly affect how easily the box opens - but I have yet to lose one grain of snuff from the box). I love the option to pinch, tap out on the back of my hand, or spoon to the back of my hand. I use each method on a daily basis with my preference for the snuff spoon, but I pinch or tap out of the box when I am in a rush or it’s windy, etc. Good luck in your journey to find the best snuff methods for you. Snuffing is really a hobby of pleasure and as with all hobbies, my belief is that you should do what you prefer. It almost sounds as if you are like me, favoring the back of the hand to a pinch.
@LincolnSnuff and all users of Patrick Collins’ Triple Tech Box: How long does your snuff stay fresh in this box? I am interested in possibly purchasing one. I have a teak Wilsons of Sharrow box that I have left snuff in for weeks at a time, and it has stayed fresh. I have heard several people say that a wood snuffbox should be filled from a tin each day because wood boxes are not as air-tight as metal tins. I’m still new to snuffing, and I want to develop superior snuff related practices before I get into a routine that might lessen my snuff enjoyment. Thank you for your input.
@Alexander I have not had any issues with snuff staying fresh in the box, but I tend to pick a snuff in the morning and stick with it all day (unlike others who travel with 5-6 snuffs all the time). I usually only go through 3-4 grams per day so in the morning I fill the box about half full and usually finish it before bed. After dinner I tend to grab several other varieties out of the snuffbar to enjoy while watching TV, reading, or surfing Snuffhouse. The only issue I have discovered with the box is that menthols will leave behind a ghost scent for a couple of days, so if you must snuff menthols from a box - get one that is dedicated to menthols only. I might actually disagree with you about metal tins being more air-tight than wood snuff boxes. Freibourg and Treyer (and somewhat Toque) are certainly the most airtight that I have found due to the gaskets in the lids. I have never had my TripleTech open in my pocket - but I have had more than one McChrystals or Wilson’s tin pop open and leave a nice pile of snuff where it shouldn’t be.
Linconsnuff, yep when I said “the box” that’s what I meant – the idea you mean the “TripleTech” box. I might also try to get some kind of smaller spoon to go with that and I might also get a couple metal bullets (trying to cover all my bases, figuring there nay be some time one snuff works better with one or another… metal bulls may fix my torque trouble, but there’s that taxi sitting there being inaccessable, then you have all the other snuffs that don’t come in bullets and some of them probably aren’t meant for or won’t work in a bullet, etc) and its all more choices to pick from (I admit I like to play with this whole snuffing thing… I play "snuff roulette’ with unmarked bullets and one killer strong in the mix, etc… have enough bullets sitting on my desk right now that if I had a way to mark them differently could probably play chess with them… already thinking about how the tall green ones could be one type of piece, clear short ones could be pawns etc)
looks like just now I’ll have to wait on the box idea since they seem to be sold out. I have bookmarked and will keep an eye on it.
@ LincolnSNuff: That is good to hear. I want one of those boxes, then. Yeah, I just heard that metal tins are better than wood snuff boxes for storage from snuffers on the Internet. I just took their word on it because I do not know better. All I know is that if I want to store chemicals to avoid oxidation, glass amber bottles are excellent (haha, from me being a scientist and photographer).