Smokers: brands, tastes, and practical problems

In My Humble Opinion
21
  • what brand do you smoke and why?

I roll my own…Drum is the brand.

  • what’s a big smoking habit and a not-so-big smoking habit?

As I roll my own, I rarely smoke in the car (unless really, really bad traffic, for obvious reasons) but I smoke about 20 thinly rolled per day.

  • what are the logistical problems with smoking (other than the obvious of finding a place and people making rude remarks)?

Luckily for me, in Las Vegas you can still smoke in bars and most restaurants have a smoking section, so - no problems there.

  • do cigarettes go bad? What does one do with stale cigarettes?

I buy Drum in a tin, so it is always fresh.

  • comparatively speaking, how does smoking a cigar or a pipe compare to cigarettes?

Don’t like cigars or pipes…and now that you bring it up, always laugh at the “dudes” visiting Las Vegas and buying cigars. You just know they have either never smoked one in their life and/or are doing it with their buddies because they are in Vegas, it is supposedly a “cool” thing to do here, and the wife/girlfriend isn’t around to bitch about it.

22

You guys give fantastic information. Thanks!

The character in mind is an ex-military cop, and well, the world went and ended, so at some point, he’s going to run out of ciggies. Thus, while he’s battling the hordes and other unpleasantness, he’s also going through nicotine withdrawal.

I’m curious. What exactly is the difference between regular and lights? What is menthol and why do people like it?

23

How exactly will he run out of smokes? If he breaks into one tobacco store, he’ll have at least a year’s supply right there. Plenty of lighters and/or matches in stock, as well.

On the other hand, if he’s on a desert island or battling mutant zombies in the rubble of once-great cities, discomfort from nicotine withdrawl is going to be pretty far down the list.

Regular vs. light is like caffeine vs. decaf, whole milk vs. 2% or regular vs. light beer. I’ve found regular blends pack a lot more buzz, and I like my buzzes a little more controlled.

Menthol is a flavor – I’ve always described it as “minty” but it’s probably more like menthol cough drops. Some people like it, more hate it. One piece of smoker’s lore is to switch to (or from) menthol if you really want to stop, because the other kind never tastes right.

24

When I do smoke a cigarette, it’s menthol.

Without putting too fine a point on it, menthol is an anaesthetic. Thus, you can make a “lungbuster cigarette,” but by making it menthol, your prey (oops, I should say, your customers) won’t notice that it is stronger than other cigarettes. The menthol numbs the throat.

In actual fact, and even though I like regular-flavour pipe and cigar tobaccos, menthol really is rather nice. It tends to be smoother, and I like how the “harsh edges” of cigarette tobacco are “rounded off” by the menthol. As a pipe smoker, I have to say that making a menthol cigarette is no different in flavour to the consumer than is making a vanilla- or cherry-flavoured pipe tobacco. Although I would imagine that no cigarette smoker would appreciate a vanilla- or cherry-flavoured cigarette.

25

It makes your whole mouth tingle-- sort of like the cooling sensation you get from some cough drops.

I’m one of the ones who hated it, and thought that eventually switching over might make me stop smoking.

Thanks for the bummer, buddy! :wink:

26

another canadian smoker here…

  • what brand do you smoke and why?
    i have no sense of brand loyalty, though i do have a group of usual suspects. i most often smoke player’s, dumaurier, belmont milds, benson & hedges, or peter jackson. though sometimes i will opt for french (gauloises) or u.sian (usually camel or winston, as they are the most commonly sold u.sian smokes, at least in this neighbourhood.) and i usually, though not always, go for the lights version of whichever brand i choose, as i mostly find the regulars too harsh, and the extra lights too light. my choise of brand is pretty much random… today it’s benson & hedges special lights. yesterday was dumaurier lights. i don’t know why.

  • what’s a big smoking habit and a not-so-big smoking habit?
    as mentioned above, canadian cigarettes come in packs of 25 (well, they come packs of 20 also; that would be a “small pack.” when canadians speak of packs, though, we usually refer to 25s, or “a large pack.”) i smoke less than a pack a day, around 15 - 20 smokes, depending on the day, what i’m doing, etc.
    over a pack a day would be considered heavy, 1/2 - 1 pack per day about average, and under 1/2 per day a light smoker.

  • what are the logistical problems with smoking (other than the obvious of finding a place and people making rude remarks)?
    we don’t smoke in any common areas of my house, though in one’s own room, whatever you want (and that goes for smoking of tobacco, or anything else.) even though everyone in the house smokes (at least tobacco)… it just seemed like the common sense way to go. we do get non-smoking visitors. at work, i can smoke, as it is (until the law changes, either june 1 or july 1, i forget which) still a smoking establishment. i just can’t smoke in front of customers. which, again is fine, cause when there are customers, i’m likely to be too busy to smoke anyway. or i just duck onto the fire escape if i want a 5. i also have no problem with the lack of smoking in restaurants, cause i’m there to eat. i can have a smoke when i’m done and have left. no biggie. a dead / lost lighter is, as mentioned, the biggest problem.

  • do cigarettes go bad? What does one do with stale cigarettes?
    stale smokes are a problem most often found when you buy a carton, and don’t go through it very fast… i.e more a problem for light smokers. keeping your as-yet-unused smokes in the freezer will all but eliminate this problem. stale smokes taste like blech! (i know non smokers will say they all do, in which case i downgrade the taste of stale smokes to double-extra blech!) and a light smoker might discard them… a moderate to heavy smoker will likely just suffer through the bad ones, then go buy a fresh pack.

  • comparatively speaking, how does smoking a cigar or a pipe compare to cigarettes?
    i agree with much of what has been said by previous posters. cigars & pipes are smoked differently than cigarettes, and for a different reason. (not saying you can’t become addicted to cigars or pipes… but that is not the primary motivation for those forms of tobacco use.)

27

- what brand do you smoke and why?
Marlboro Box - Reds. Because I like them.

- what’s a big smoking habit and a not-so-big smoking habit?
Hard to say - I smoke strange, I suppose - I smoke one when I wake up, two in the car on the way to work, none at work, then I’m gangbusters all night long. A pack and a half a day maybe? I suppose that’s a fairly medium to large habit.

- what are the logistical problems with smoking (other than the obvious of finding a place and people making rude remarks)?
Smoke getting in your eyes and making your contacts burn - but that doesn’t happen often. People bumming smokes off of you - especially at bars - that’s a problem. Other problems? Being nagged to quit.

- do cigarettes go bad? What does one do with stale cigarettes?
They sure do. I would return them.

- comparatively speaking, how does smoking a cigar or a pipe compare to cigarettes?
I have not smoked a cigar, and the only things I’ve ever smoked out of pipes can’t even relate to cigarettes so I can’t answer this one.

Thanks, guys!
You’re more than welcome, I’m sure!

28

OK, here’s my info as a smoker:

  • what brand do you smoke and why? Marlboro Lights. The non-lights are just too “heavy” for me, gives me coughing fits and just abrades my lungs.

  • what’s a big smoking habit and a not-so-big smoking habit? I don’t know how to answer this as I am not sure just what you’re asking. I regularly smoke 2 packs a day when I’m off working, but do not smoke at all at home. 2 days, 4 days, 2 weeks, I have no problem with not smoking. It’s just not an issue with me.

  • what are the logistical problems with smoking (other than the obvious of finding a place and people making rude remarks)? Finding a place to smoke in air terminals. Some places like Atlanta have many spots were one can smoke. Others, like Memphis, have just one. Others, like Boston have none AND a snotty-nosed kid who will look down his nose at you like you are diseased if you ask if there is a place inside security to light one up.

  • do cigarettes go bad? What does one do with stale cigarettes? They can get dried out after a while, and then it’s like smoking ragweed.

  • comparatively speaking, how does smoking a cigar or a pipe compare to cigarettes? I don’t know, sorry. Cigars and pipes are hell to inhale, so I leave them alone.

29

More questions, because you guys are just too cool and too kind.

What’s the buzz from smoking like? Relaxation? Stimulation?
What’s withdrawal like and how long does it last?
(The problem this guy’s going to run into is that they’ve got bigger problems than running to the corner market for some more smokes, the corner market and most of the rest of civilization that isn’t actively occupied is going to fade back into prairie and bison, and the lady who runs the kitchen isn’t going to put up with a whole bunch of smokes in her freezer, so it may very well become a case of ciggies, ciggies everywhere, and not a one to smoke.)

30

People will always smoke. Anything growing in the wild will suffice. Any psychoactive substance that can be inhaled. will be propagated or culled from the wild, cured if necessary, and put in the pipe to smoke. Much grows on the plains of Bison.

31

Jimsum weed is an oldie but goodie.

32

Corn husks in a bind.

33

For me, physical withdrawal made me feel fidgety, irritable, headachy, and nauseated. This tapered off, and the worst of it was over in about three days. Psychological withdrawal was another thing, though. I haven’t smoked a cigarette since October 1989, but I still think about smoking often. Seldom does an hour pass without my thinking “Gee, I sure want a cigarette.” I assume that if sixteen and a half years of starvation hasn’t killed the monkey on my back, this probably means that me and the monkey are lifetime companions.

34

What’s the buzz from smoking like? Relaxation? Stimulation?
For me, relaxation is the best way to describe it. If I’m really jumpy, it calms me down. If I’m edgy, it calms me down. If I’m nervous, it calms me down - do you see a pattern here? :wink:

What’s withdrawal like and how long does it last?
Hell on earth and it lasts forever. Ok, maybe I’m overstating it, but I’ve never been able to quit because the withdrawl for me makes me crazy and I can’t stand it. It’s not about willpower for me, it’s about the craving.

Actually, upon preview, pinkfreud about says it the best.

35

What’s the buzz from smoking like? Relaxation? Stimulation?

Sometimes, especially early in the morning, it can give you a head rush and make you slightly dizzy. Other than that, it’s a two way street, nicotine is. When you’re nervous or anxious it can calm you down. When you’re sleepy or bored it can liven you up.

**What’s withdrawal like and how long does it last? **

For me it’s marked irritability, mixed with figity tendencies and a non stop sub-concious mantra of “iwantacigaretteiwantacigaretteiwantacigarette”, etc. It’s kind of like having to go to the bathroom really bad while driving home. You can’t really think about anything else, and if you do, you know your thoughts will be back in a jiffy to the problem at hand.

36

What brand do you smoke and why?
Marlboro Lights (when I’m in Canada, Du Maurier Regular). I find they’ve got the best taste and they’re just strong enough to give me that little hitch at the back of the throat when I take a drag. Anything lighter, and it doesn’t feel like anything. Anything stronger, and I’m hacking up a lung. I see no one else here has mentioned it, so I’ll expand by saying that the “hitch” I’m talking about is the little tickle you feel when you inhale the smoke.

What’s a big smoking habit and a not-so-big smoking habit?
What everyone else says. Anything more than a pack a day is a big habit. I’m between 1/2 and 3/4 a day.

What are the logistical problems with smoking (other than the obvious of finding a place and people making rude remarks)?
Driving a stick shift and smoking at the same time. You need a hand to hold the steering wheel, a hand to change gears, and a hand to grab the smoke and hold the lighter. Obviously, it’s no problems on the highway, but when you’re in town, it’s a pain in the ass. The heater gets knocked off, you end up with small little burns everywhere. It’s gotten to the point where I won’t light one until I’m up to speed on the highway.

Making sure you have some for the morning.

Lighting one in the wind (you can tell experienced smokers 'cause they’ve figured out ways around this). Light it inside your coat; cup your hand around the flame; turn away from the wind, whole bunch of things.

Making sure the cigarette’s out in a full ashtray. You don’t want the old butts to catch fire.

Do cigarettes go bad? What does one do with stale cigarettes?
Yup. They go stale. And you smoke ‘em anyways, complaining the whole time about how friggin’ stale it is. Stale cigarettes are much harsher than fresh ones. They hurt the throat somethin’ awful.

Comparatively speaking, how does smoking a cigar or a pipe compare to cigarettes?
No idea.

What’s the buzz from smoking like? Relaxation? Stimulation?
Ah. That’s what gets you hooked in the first place. Your head spins a little, your fingertips tingle. There’s a sense of detachment from your nerve endings. And that lasts for the first three or four cigarettes. After that, you only get the buzz if you’re smoking something stronger than your usual brand, or if it’s been a while since your last smoke. The regular “first smoke of the morning” buzz is a little different: there’s a little lightheadedness, but not much, but it’s still the psychological kick that makes you realize that your day has started.

What’s withdrawal like and how long does it last?
Physically, I’d say withdrawal lasts about a week for the major symptoms. Irritability, shaky hands. You cough a lot more as your body starts to clear the crap out of your lungs.

Psychologically, it’s a kick in the nuts. You’re a coffee drinker. Imagine the situations you’re in where there’s always a coffee beside you. Now imagine having to do that, and not be able to have that coffee. I actually think I could want to quit if I only had to deal with the physical issues. I cannot imagine having a pint of beer without having a cigarette to go with it. Same with a cuppa tea or a mug of coffee. Each has been associated with a cigarette. Even if you’ve just had one, if you sit down at a bar and are given a nice cold mug - you gotta light up.

Hope this helps.