I roll my own as well. I use American Spirit tobacco and whatever tubes are on sale. I don’t use the rolling papers that come in the can, so I have a huge surplus.
I used to be able to buy a canister of tobacco for about $12. That climbed to about $25 after the new cigarette tax hike.
It might be a psychological thing, but I prefer the taste over manufactured cigarettes.
I used to, when it was more convenient to find American Spirit rolling tobacco and some papers I like. I don’t really smoke much anymore (maybe a pack every week or two), but I could easily see keeping a stash of that stuff in a drawer. I don’t know what it is about the AS tobacco, but I like it way more than anything else I’ve tried – the strands were longer, it was drier without being ultra dry. Nothing against Drum or Samson particularly, I just like the tobacco a little drier. FWIW I smoke Prince Albert when I smoke a pipe – it’s dry, but not harsh (to me). Don’t know/care about the flavor, just the kind of smoke I get out of it.
As said above, I’ve seen the prices on rolling tobacco – I think a pack of Top goes for about 5 bucks around here. I used to get Top in canisters in college sometimes for like 7 bucks or so.
I’ve been designated joint roller more than a few times since I went off roll-your-owns – it’s a transferable skill! (I don’t really smoke pot – maybe once or twice a year, as a disclaimer).
My friends and I used to smoke Drum tobacco in high school and university. The smell of a newly-opened pouch was wonderful, but we found that the tobacco would get stale, dry, and crumbly if you didn’t smoke it all quickly enough.
We also used to rip off pieces of the rolling paper package to make little cardboard filters for our cigarettes. Anyone else ever do that?
One of my friends could roll a cigarette while riding a bike. A neat, but useless, trick.
Hell yes – a nice little filter. Also matchbook cardboard work fine too (leave the matches out of the filter, though). Never had enough cardboard from the papers in Drum to get too many “filters” out of them.
ZZ Top – “Could ya roll me another Bull Durham from back there? Aw, can’t you do it with one hand, boy?”
Add a small piece of potato peel to the pack and leave it there for a day or so; the tobacco will be as new. Apple or pear works as well.
I’ve never done the cardboard thing except when rolling joints. Sometimes I buy a pack of menthol filters, though. Once in a while that very strong menthol flavor (much stronger than a regular menthol cig) really hits the spot.
And I can roll while riding a bike, too.
I’ve heard about using fruit (and bread!) but never potato peel.
You get my respect. I have problems rolling while stationary, on a couch!
Potato peel doesn’t give off any flavor at all. Fruit does (and it can be nice once in a while).
I never said that I could roll pretty or in any way good cigarettes while riding a bike. But it resembles a tube and has tobacco in it.
Just for joints.
I’m still impressed, I’d be crashing into trees, falling into ditches etc 
I’ve used cardboard or plain paper as a “filter”. More of a “spacer” actually, it let me smoke all the good stuff and keep heat away from my lips.
I cannot, for the life of me, roll cigarettes. Even with those hand-rolling machines I somehow fuck it up and jam up the works and the tobacco pops out everywhere. Not that I even smoke that much, but it’s now the point where I want to be able to do it just to say that I can.
I’ve never been able to hand-roll. Many people have tried to teach me, but I fail. I did know a guy that did a super-fast one-handed roll against his leg, it was amazing.
However, I do have a handy little machine that rolls all my cigarettes, with filters. I’ve done the paper-wad filter thing in a pinch when we run out, but real filters work much much better.
For anyone who can hand-roll, I challenge you to hand-roll a cigarette with a filter. So far I’ve not found anyone who can do it.
I’ve smoked a pipe in the past, and it never quite worked for me–I was never very good at it (smoked too hot, too wet, tongue bite, kept going out, etc.) and it never gave me the nicotine I wanted as a cigarette smoker. I’d not infrequently finish a pipe and have a cigarette immediately afterwards. That said, I did like Edgeworth Flake (which, IIRC, is a straight burley). Never found a Virginia I could really get along with–hard on the tongue, y’know? (Plus I kept trying those… oh, I forget the company, but they seemed to specialize in Virginias that were doused with catsup at some point in processing. :P) If I could do it halfway competently, and if it weren’t quite so likely to kill me, and if the world were a bit friendlier to the smoking of a pipe–but I’m not going outside for three puffs at work or a bar, and even at home I still prefer not to smoke indoors.
Nah, at this point the plan is to get off the damn weed entirely, for once and for all. Just gotta do it.
redtail23, an acquaintance and co-worker used to do that, though these days when I see him out smoking he seems to be going with ready-mades. If he weren’t in a different department with which I have very little contact, I’d have him do it and make a video for you.
I’d love to see it. I’ve had dozens of folks try, but no luck so far.
My dad uses the little DIY thing that looks like a small stapler. He probably used to roll his own as a youth, but he’s 70 now and when you’re that old you apparently say ‘fuck it’ and take the easy way. 
I like the smell of tobacco when he rolls it, very earthy smell. I don’t smoke though.
Stick a filter part way in the other end, just enough to hold the shape. Pull on the ends of the paper to keep it tight when you lick and seal. It’s easiest to it the backward way where you lick the back of the gummer paper and seal it at the same time. Then pull out the extra filter. Anything hard enough to hold the shape will do.
I use a slider and tubes, but they’re messy and rather inconvient at times ( plus there’s the waste of spilled tobacco, crapped up tubes, etc. I just found a place near me that will roll a carton for you for half the price of the store boughts. Can’t hand roll to save my life.
Absolutely no problem at all.
I used to roll my own using Bull Durham tobacco. I doubt I could do it now, though.
My maternal grandfather used to do the one hand trick; I think I remember him rolling a cigarette one handed behind his back but I can’t swear to that. He could roll one in windy conditions though.
My Dad could roll one-handed. He quit cigarettes before I was born, but when I rolled my own years ago, he asked if he could try. Sure enough, he rolled a perfect cigarette, one-handed. I think I was more surprised at his skill than he was.