Did you roll or pack your own to cut costs?

[cliff5550]

Don't miss it one bit!
When the price of cigs kept going up and up a few years ago we decided to buy one of those table-model cig makers, the filtered tubes and the bags of tobacco from our local smoke shop. We sat at the table at least once a week for about four years packing the little slot, cranking the handle and packing the tube, and filling about a carton, at about 10 cents a smoke. Then the tax on tobacco went up, doubling the cost of a bag and we went looking for alternatives. That's when we found vaping. Soo much better.
The cig machines, bags of tobacco and boxes of tubes are long gone and we couldn't be happier!

 

[AngusATAT]

I never went that far. I just bought the cheapest generics that I could find, which as of a little over a month ago, was $27 a carton, which wasn't too bad. I refused to pay $5 or more for a packs of cig, like some other folks are doing. It's just outrageous.

Every time I load a cart now, I give a symbolic middle finger to our beloved government.

 

[arkangel]

I'm with you...IL counties have been slamming smokers with taxes for years, so I went the RYO route: had an Excel, with Vera Cruz Nocturne tubes and cranked out a few packs at a time. When I started researching vaping, it looked at first like it was going to be a similar hobby, with filling carts, cleaning atty's, etc. I ended up getting a KR808D and the cartomizers couldn't be simpler.

I agree that I"m well finished with the loose tobacco and the cranking...and with smoking--haven't had an analog since I got my starter kit!

 

[NJDrew]

I did and still have all of my supplies. It was a cheap alternative to pre-mades, but since the most recent tax hike, it doubled the cost. I used to be able to make two cartons for about $20, these days mixing cig tobacco and "pipe" tobacco 50/50, its about $25 per carton. Still a cheaper alternative to pre-made analogs, but I would spend 20 mins a night making cigs for the next day. I certainly dont miss the time it took or mess it made.

 

[Brachinus]

I started making my own in March, after yet another tax hike (and just before the tax on RYO tobacco went from $1 a pound to $25 -- I used "smooth pipe tobacco" after that, same tobacco but technically a "pipe cut" so no big tax hike).

I'm hoping e-cigs will be even cheaper in the long run, but certainly I'm spending more right now, between equipment and trying out various liquids.

Unlike Angus, I don't live in the tobacco-growing South, so I was paying upwards of $8 a pack for my unfiltered Camels. The cheapest I could have found would have been around $6, so still not much savings for a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker.

RYO was a great alternative, cost-wise, and the daily chore of making new batches of cigs (and trying out different flavors and blends of tobacco) made the switch to vaping much easier for me, since I was already accustomed to having to do more for my smoke than just open a pack and light up.

 

[Deschain]

Rolled my own for the past several years...saved me a lot of money, but probably didn't do my health any good going over to filterless, hand rolled smokes.

I have one and a half pouches of rolling tobacco and half a dozen packets of cigarette papers a few feet from me...I keep looking at them and wondering if I will ever use them again...I think my faithfull old Zippo lighter has gone dry as well.


.

 

[ProfessorDaffy]

Don't miss it one bit!
When the price of cigs kept going up and up a few years ago we decided to buy one of those table-model cig makers, the filtered tubes and the bags of tobacco from our local smoke shop. We sat at the table at least once a week for about four years packing the little slot, cranking the handle and packing the tube, and filling about a carton, at about 10 cents a smoke. Then the tax on tobacco went up, doubling the cost of a bag and we went looking for alternatives. That's when we found vaping. Soo much better.
The cig machines, bags of tobacco and boxes of tubes are long gone and we couldn't be happier!

I think rolling cigarettes should be left to the cowboys in old movies.

Convenience is a big issue with most smokers as well as price. $.10 a smoke is $2.00 a pack and I was paying $3.00 a pack buying Pall Mall's by the carton (as of 6 months ago). And I though having to stop off at the gas station on the way home every week or so was still a pain in the .....

I do a little DIY and love it. Mark the outside of the bottle, 2/3 e-juice, few drops of flavor, fill the rest of the way with VG/PG, and shake. You gotta love DIY when you can mix up the equivalent of 5-10 packs of
cigarettes in about a minute. I'm guessing it's about $.50 a pack.

I'm still recovering a little from my first month of buy-everything e-cig fever, but I'm already starting to see a return on my investment. It was never about the money. I'd be happy to spend exactly what I spent on cigarettes ($90 a month isn't a lot to most of you). I never quite smoke because I enjoyed it. But I never knew what enjoyment really was until I picked up an e-cig. 2FUN2QUIT.

--Prof Daffy

 

[ProfessorDaffy]

Rolled my own for the past several years...saved me a lot of money, but probably didn't do my health any good going over to filterless, hand rolled smokes.

I have one and a half pouches of rolling tobacco and half a dozen packets of cigarette papers a few feet from me...I keep looking at them and wondering if I will ever use them again...I think my faithfull old Zippo lighter has gone dry as well.


.

Oh, man! I loved my Zippo! I think I'm going to refill it and use it for lighting candles or something. The best part of smoking cigarettes was the smell of that Zippo when you pop the top! That puppy would stay lit in a hurricane! I do NOT miss trying to light a cigarette on a windy day one bit.

--Prof Daffy
P.S. I will also not miss trying to smoke while wearing puffy gloves! I was always afraid of catching them on fire and you couldn't hold the filter very well. My 510 should be a walk in the park with gloves on.

 

[Eric in AK]

I used to use the cigarette tubes with the slide-type of cigarette machine... not sure what they're called. When the taxes jumped this year, I switched to hand rolling, figuring it would be more economical. It was: compared to regular packs of analogs going for $8, it was very cheap. Even compared to using the tubes it was less expensive.

It was easy to drop tobacco completely when I got my 510. It wasn't so much the hassle of rolling cigarettes, it was the tarry mess on my fingers and in my lungs that got to me. I was fine during the day, but it seemed like every night as soon as I lay down to go to sleep I'd have a hard time breathing. I'd have to spend a few minutes coughing and trying to clear out the garbage. So, I was down to the equivalent of about 1/2 pack a day by the time my 510 arrived.

I don't miss that stuff a bit, except that I got pretty good at rolling cigarettes that were pretty decent to look at. Since I don't have any other habit that calls for that talent, I guess I'll lose the knack....

 

[Deschain]

I was fine during the day, but it seemed like every night as soon as I lay down to go to sleep I'd have a hard time breathing. I'd have to spend a few minutes coughing and trying to clear out the garbage.

YES! My experience exactly!


.

 

[searcher]

I did MYOs for the last couple of years. I went out to the camper,put in a DVD, and could make a carton in about an hour and a half. I really liked King Mountain Blend and didn't smoke but about half as much as usual. Big tobacco put a stop to that when they had their minions in congress raise the tax to 25 bucks a pound. My cost was 70 cents a pack to make my own and a safer alternative to store bought (basically pure tobacco without the additives). Sound familier to what we are facing from the tobacco lobby with the government?

 

[Brachinus]

P.S. I will also not miss trying to smoke while wearing puffy gloves! I was always afraid of catching them on fire and you couldn't hold the filter very well. My 510 should be a walk in the park with gloves on.

Wow. I hadn't thought of that until just this moment. You're right, this winter is going to be a lot better, and not just because I can "smoke" inside the house rather than putting on my parka and sitting outside!

 

[Keef]

I think rolling cigarettes should be left to the cowboys in old movies.

If you lived in the UK where B&H are £5.76 a pack, rollups would be much more popular

I personally dont like them and was spending £65+ a week on cigarettes a week.

Vaping costs £20 so much cheaper.

 

[Eric in AK]

Wow. I hadn't thought of that until just this moment. You're right, this winter is going to be a lot better, and not just because I can "smoke" inside the house rather than putting on my parka and sitting outside!

I can't wait till we get some -20 (F) or colder temperatures. I want to see if the vapor freezes in the air and makes an ice fog.

It will definitely be nice taking the 510 with me when I'm snowshoeing or ice fishing, knowing I won't have to take off my glove to fire it up.

 

[Keef]

I have only vaped my SD at -7 (C) last winter and it was fine .

If your liquid is 50% pg it will need -29.20 (F) to freeze.

The more pg in the mix the lower the temp will need to be .

The liquid will also thicken up at lower temps so it is best to thin it a bit before venturing out in extreme temps and if possible Keep it in a warm place next to your body not in an external pocket, so the liquid in the cart and the atomiser are at a good temp to vape from the word go.

 

[ProfessorDaffy]

I have only vaped my SD at -7 (C) last winter and it was fine .

If your liquid is 50% pg it will need -29.20 (F) to freeze.

The more pg in the mix the lower the temp will need to be .

The liquid will also thicken up at lower temps so it is best to thin it a bit before venturing out in extreme temps and if possible Keep it in a warm place next to your body not in an external pocket, so the liquid in the cart and the atomiser are at a good temp to vape from the word go.

Oh! So, that's where the anti-freeze comes into play that the FDA is always .....in' about! It finally makes sense! But when it's that cold how do you know when you're through vaping? Taste? Or just keep your cart filled and try not to vape till it's empty. Yeah, I think about this stuff!

--Prof Daffy

 

[Zen_Brew]

Yep Yep

Got my Top-o-Matic cig machine about a year ago. When they hiked the tax on RYO tobacco from about $1 a lb to $26 a lb in April I bought about 6 lbs at the pre-tax price. Now they are cutting the pipe tobacco finer and selling it as a cheaper alternative to cig tobacco as the new tax didn't hit pipe tobacoo anywhere near as hard. So I have a pound or so of pipe tobacco that they have made remakably similiar to the RYO cig tobacco.

Just orderred a VK E-cig Friday and am looking forward to putting the Top-o-Matic away in the near future.

 

[athlon14]

Yes my wife and I made thousands with that misery whip cig machine8-o Originaly $1.10 per pack then the massive tax increase And then vapor all the way Clean since 5/11/09

 

[Kurgan]

God i hated those machines. Everytime I rolled a ... it felt like i was making a store purchase in the 1980s. I lasted a week before i threw it at a homeless person in disgust..

Welcome to ecigs btw.

 

[mrtomdabomb40]

i rolled my own cigarettes also b/c of the costs of regular packs. i usually bought these ryo buy one get ones from the smoke shop. Each pack had 40 cigs, so i got 80 cigs for 5 dollars. used to roll 5 or 6 when i was going out for a few hours, and at home would just roll one anytime i wanted to smoke. probably smoked like 10 ryo's a day, much less than when i smoked regular packs...i tihnk it had to do with my laziness cuz i didn't want to roll it sometimes.