Tobacco habits post-SHTF

[ammogatherer]

Let's face it boys (and girls, too): Many of us like our tobacco products. We get grumpy, easily irritated and sometimes flat out angry if we don't get our smoke or dip in at some points of the day, especially in high-stress events that occur unexpectedly (jerk cuts you off, boss is being a jerk, spouse is being a jerk) How have you thought out this fact when planning your contingencies for a post-SHTF scenario?

I am very curious to hear what ya'll have in mind.

[sabian]

I don't see a way of supporting the habit -

I smoke heavily btw

I don't want to be searching for cigs when it all goes down - time to quit ?

I don't want cigs taking up space in my b.o.b ......... so -

the answer is........ if the shtf ------- I get to give up real quick

[Fishbread]

I guess you could always start growing your own now, at least for smokes. Sure to be a lot different than what you're used to but I'm sure it won't be the only thing that changes.

One thing to keep in mind is that smokers have an odor that non-smokers and especially ex-smokers can smell from a long ways off. Smokeless tobacco does not.

[solitary old bill]

If you must continue to smoke, one must learn to either gather tobacco from existing crops, cure and cut it for rolling... (or pipes); or learn to grow their own. As my wife was raised on a tobacco farm...it's no problem for us. However, as has already been stated in this thread...you have the smell, as well as possible evidence of ones presence, (unless ya field strike yer butts, and bury all that is not reused.) I suggest that ya quit...if not be very cautious when and where you smoke.

[DoomGuy]

I recently went 3 weeks cold turkey after being a very heavy smoker, slowly though I am back on it now. Over those 3 weeks I was fortunate enough to have no tobacco or smokers around me and just had to resist the urge to buy. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be after the first 3 days or so.

I think growing tobacco would just be too much drain on resources that would better be spent in food production, and we'll probably be busy enough to not have idle hands, though there will be a lot of cranky peeps around for the first weeks of doom

[Dirtysaxondog]

I'm not a smoker, but I use tobacco for ceremonial/spiritual reasons. Last summer I grew some in my garden. It was easy to grow and the plants are huge. It would not take much to grow enough to support a habit, or even to have some to trade. My guess is that after "the fall", tobacco will be a valuable commodity. All survivalists have gardens...right?

New on the site, and just happened to see this particular thread. I am a gardener, and a smoker. I thought much like you guys and decided to try growing a little last year. I must say, it is very easy to grow. and in terms of size of your seed stocks, tobacco takes up less space than probably any other seed. a single plant produces enough seed to last years. As for SHTF, I do expect there to be a lotta nic-fits going around, and even though I do practice going days without, I know tobacco would make for one helluva barter stash.

For the record, I grew Hopi Ceremonial and Sherazi last year. An unfortunate labeling incident meant that I didnt think my Sherazi was doing very well. It was only about 15" high, and much paler than I expected, so I kept all of for seed and didn't cure it. An old heirloom tradition is not to judge a new variety on one or even two years crops. It may need a little something else in the soil, or maybe you werent holding your mouth right when you transplanted it. Or you could have done like me and had it mislabeled. It wasn't Sherazi, it was Hopi. Hopi only gets 15-20", and nowhere near as bushy as most tobacco, but is supposedly very potent. No smokes later, and I got some Sherazi in a nursery pot, and TONS of Hopi seed in another nursery pot.

Anyone got any good leaf seeds they want to trade? I got a baggy full of Hopi seeds, and if you have seen tobacco seed, you know how many I have...

[oldswordfighter]

A bit of hope for the tobacco addicts out there. Because the native population of this continent were also tobacco addicts, wild tobacco plants can be found from coast to coast. In California the plants are everywhere and grow five feet tall. Just look it up on line for pictures and watch the roadsides for patches. Wait till the plants start to get wilty and old looking and harvest the leaves but leave the blossoms on the standing stock. Come back next year for more. Just like they did.