Notes from a new snusser.

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  • Cap'n SnusBeard
    Member
    • Jan 2007
    • 59

    Notes from a new snusser.

    (If, indeed, snusser is a word!)

    Hello, fine people of the forum! My name is Joe, and I'm a 20 year old recent convert to snus currently residing in Bristol, England. I just thought I'd join up to post about my snussy experiences thus far and to partake in the general forum banter!

    I decided to take up snus in a continuation of a trend I started a few years ago in which every year, I make an anti-new year's resolution of sorts - that is to say, where everyone else vows to give something up, or do something good for themselves, I do the opposite. Last year I gave up salad (I took it back up again this year, though - do new year resolutions work like that? I hope so!), and this year I decided to get addicted to Nicotine.

    I chose snus as my weapon of choice in this task as, to be honest, readily available tobacco products in this country are unappealing at best - Even though I come from a long line of smokers, I've never seen one jot of sense in inhaling foul tasting smoke all day, and I didn't fancy all the health risks associated with it. (I know snus isn't exactly good for you, but neither is anything enjoyable).

    So, snus it was - I'd first encountered it at Wacken music festival in Germany last year when I was camped with a load of Swedes and Norwegians. A Norwegian guy I know gave me a (HUGE) pris of the stuff to shove up my lip and, not knowing what I was doing, the thing promptly fell apart and coated the inside of my mouth - not a good start! Anyway, it didn't taste too bad while it lasted and I remembered it when making my resolution for this year and put in an order for one of those Swedish Match variety packs of portion snus (PORTIONS! What a great idea - no more oral swamp-mush for me!).

    So, here are my opinions on some of those portion packs -
    1) Göteborg Rape tastes like grannies, which is why it really worries me that I actually quite like it.
    2) I wasn't really too impressed with the General stuff - I don't know why, but it actually just tasted kind of... wrong.
    3) I think that Roda Lacket tastes like Dr. Pepper, especially when snussed while drinking coca cola! Try it! I liked it quite a lot.
    4) Ettan portions tasted niiice. While never having been a smoker myself, my father's a staunch roll-up man, and I always loved the smell of his rolling tobaccos - I think this might be why I like the pore tobacco taste of Ettan so much.

    I haven't had a chance to try much of the rest yet, but I'll be sure to proffer my opinions when I have.

    Anyway, after snussing on these for I while I decided to get over my first snussy experience and order some loose stuff - I went for the Ettan, because I knew more or less where I stood with it, and I read somewhere that it's pretty easy to form a pris with. I received the order about a week ago, and have finally got to the point where I can roll a fairly snusable pinch of the stuff. Here are some of my experiences with that -

    My first self-made pris of loose stuff was, like that first mammoth wad of the stuff I'd had at Wacken, a complete disaster - I shoved a sensible amount up there and before I knew it, my gob resembled a peat bog. Not to be deterred, I swilled a load of mouthwash and was ready to try again! I made sure to compress my second attempt a lot more, and it actually worked pretty well - so well, in fact, that I couldn't believe it - and this self-mistrust was to be my undoing! Picture the scene:

    "Wait, it's not falling apart!"
    "Hmm... this is perhaps a bit too successful..."
    *prod prod*
    *prod prod*
    "No, still holding together..."
    *prod prod*
    *prod prod*
    ... MUDSLIDE!!
    "Oh, bugger"

    Not so good. Luckily, my subsequent tries were more successful, but left my hands filthy! So I put in an order for the magical Icetool, which arrived on Saturday morning, and it's all been plain sailing from there. Good stuff.

    So, how am I enjoying my first month of snusdom? Pretty well, actually. At first I took the same approach I take to everything when I first decide to do it - total immersion. No baby-steps, no giving myself a break - I started snussing as if I'd been doing it for years... and this left my feeling not a little bit unwell! Given a second chance, I'd probably be a bit more conservative... but oh well! Now I've settled into it a bit more, I've found that the nicotine certainly helps me concentrate - a valuable asset, as I'm currently studying for a degree in Mathematics!

    I've also found loose snus a bit impractical for out-and-aboutness, so I generally use the portions for when I'm in and around lectures and my workplace, but I definitely prefer the loose stuff for when I'm at home, simply because I like the ritual of making a pris. All enjoyable things should be retualised to a degree, I believe, be it making a pot of leaf tea or even just carefully pouring yourself a pint of lovely bottle-conditioned ale.

    Anyway, this turned into a bit of a gargantuan post, didn't it?! Thanks a lot to anyone who actually read the lot of this mad rambling - I hope it wasn't too dull for you!

    I'll be sure to be around the forums,
    Joe.
  • Zero
    Member
    • May 2006
    • 1522

    #2
    Hey, welcome to the club, mate. That'll learn you for trusting a crazy norwegian at Wacken! :twisted: :lol: That's a serious festival, man! Good choice on the snus - it's not even a fraction as bad for you as every other form of tobacco - chewed, smoked or snuffed. Scientists are still trying, unsuccessfully, to make any link to cancerous disease with it - seems pretty sound, bless the Swedes. I know what you mean about Roda tasting like doctor pepper - I find the portions have this sort of sweet, cherry flavour that's not nearly as prominent (or even really at all the same) compared to the more traditional, loose Roda. Loose Roda is quite a popular snus, really - worth a try even if you were turned off by the portions, although I'm with you on the pure-tobacco flavour. If you want a serious kick, try Skruf Stark, Nick and Johnny, or Strongcut - all very potent snuses.

    I like the idea of your resolution - made me laugh. I had a mate who, at about age 20, decided to start smoking just to prove to all the whinging smokers that they were weak and that he could quit if he started. That was about seven years ago now :lol: I'll let you guess whether or not he's still smoking. Snus is the way forward, full stop. Welcome on board.

    Comment

    • Subtilo
      Member
      • Dec 2006
      • 524

      #3
      ... Yeah, welcome Joe

      Comment

      • Cap'n SnusBeard
        Member
        • Jan 2007
        • 59

        #4
        Originally posted by Zero
        Hey, welcome to the club, mate. That'll learn you for trusting a crazy norwegian at Wacken! :twisted: :lol: That's a serious festival, man!
        Indeed! You'd have thought the Brits would have learned that during the Viking days...

        Scientists are still trying, unsuccessfully, to make any link to cancerous disease with it - seems pretty sound, bless the Swedes.
        Which means I can laugh doubly at my cigarette-burning friends when the smoking ban comes in!

        I know what you mean about Roda tasting like doctor pepper - I find the portions have this sort of sweet, cherry flavour that's not nearly as prominent (or even really at all the same) compared to the more traditional, loose Roda. Loose Roda is quite a popular snus, really - worth a try even if you were turned off by the portions,
        Nah, I quite liked the portions, really. They did taste a bit too sweet for use all the time, really, but I liked them now and then.

        If you want a serious kick, try Skruf Stark, Nick and Johnny, or Strongcut - all very potent snuses.
        I'll add 'em to the list for my next order! Much obliged!

        Snus is the way forward, full stop. Welcome on board.
        Thank'ee very much.

        Comment

        • gopherbob
          Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 125

          #5
          Is wacken serious as in black metal? off topic but just curious.

          Comment

          • marspatukka
            Member
            • Dec 2006
            • 38

            #6
            Originally posted by gopherbob
            Is wacken serious as in black metal? off topic but just curious.
            So I've heard. At least Mayhem has played there.

            Comment

            • Cap'n SnusBeard
              Member
              • Jan 2007
              • 59

              #7
              Originally posted by gopherbob
              Is wacken serious as in black metal? off topic but just curious.
              Aye, indeed, but not Black Metal exclusively. It tends to have all the best in Black, Death, Power and Folk stylings of metal, so it suits me fine. For instance, last year I saw Atheist, Korpiklaani and Emperor - some of my favourite bands - who play Jazz-influenced death metal, folk-metal, and black metal respectively. Immortal are playing there this year, though, and they're about as black metal as it gets!

              Good stuff!

              Comment

              • SouthTexas
                Member
                • Jan 2007
                • 28

                #8
                Hey Joe, Where you going with that gun in your hand?

                I'm a newb and enjoyed your post. Cracked me up about your unresolution! Gonna have to try that next year!

                Mathematics! Cool!

                Comment

                • Zero
                  Member
                  • May 2006
                  • 1522

                  #9
                  I've found that the nicotine certainly helps me concentrate - a valuable asset, as I'm currently studying for a degree in Mathematics!
                  Definitely an asset to the mind! I'm in the middle of a PhD in physics (ICL, London) and snus is a godsend - no smoking in the labs or cleanroom but that doesn't stop snus :twisted:

                  Comment

                  • moisty
                    Member
                    • Jun 2006
                    • 38

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Cap'n SnusBeard

                    Which means I can laugh doubly at my cigarette-burning friends when the smoking ban comes in!
                    I'm already laughing at my workmates, watching them put sweaters, coats and scarves on to go out to the newly-installed outdoor smoking huts at work, while I wander around at work with a huge, smug, fat lip! :twisted:

                    Funny thing is they are all convinced that it's me that's going to kill myself with cancer from it, not them and their stinky cigarettes, oh no!! :shock:

                    Comment

                    • Zero
                      Member
                      • May 2006
                      • 1522

                      #11
                      You should show them the swedish cancer statistics and put them next to the swedish smoking vs snusing statistics :lol:

                      Comment

                      • nzkiwi
                        Member
                        • Jan 2007
                        • 141

                        #12
                        I've tried to convince my girlfriend snus is safer than cigarettes, she just roles her eyes. I'm like "look here at these swedish studies". She walks away. I give up. Most people think oral tobacco is more dangerous than cigarettes. It doesn't matter how hard you try to convince them, they have their mind made up. :?

                        Oh well.

                        Comment

                        • Zero
                          Member
                          • May 2006
                          • 1522

                          #13
                          http://www.swedishsnus.com/SMNA_US/m...tpractice.html

                          Among adult males, Sweden has:

                          * Europe’s highest per capita consumption of smokeless tobacco
                          * Lowest cigarette consumption in Europe
                          * Lowest lung cancer mortality rate in Europe
                          * Among the lowest oral cancer mortality rate in Europe
                          * Lowest percentage of smoking-related deaths among developed countries
                          * Total tobacco consumption similar to neighboring countries (Norway, Denmark and Finland)

                          How can you argue with that...decades of brainwashing by cigarette companies, go figure. People these days have stopped using their brains, I tell you. :?

                          Comment

                          • Cap'n SnusBeard
                            Member
                            • Jan 2007
                            • 59

                            #14
                            So is it that tobacco only produces cancer-causing nasties when it's burned/scorched, then? Because that'd make a lot of sense.

                            Comment

                            • Zero
                              Member
                              • May 2006
                              • 1522

                              #15
                              Yeah, only when it ferments or burns, etc - to produce certain nitrosamines. Nicotine itself is just an alkaloid, like caffeine for example, and although there seems to be a widespread misconception that nicotine is a carcinogen, it's not true. Guilty by association, that's all.

                              Comment

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