Be a Dipper
So you've discovered the world of dipping and/or chewing tobacco. Just like being a smoker, there are a few rituals and customs which are an essential part of this interesting tobacco use.
Contents
Steps
- Learn to dip or chew. This page is for those who already learned this step and would wish to make dipping apart of their every day lives. If you don't know how to dip or chew there are a few pages on this site (How to dip tobacco) and many videos on youtube also used to teach how the product is used.
- Pick your brand. While you first start dipping you will be tempted to try new brands of dip but, like cigarette smokers you will be drawn to mainly one throughout your dipping and spitting career. Mine personally is Grizzly or Kodiak wintergreen. The type of dip you choose depends on what kind of person you are. If you like a good nicotine hit, Grizzly, Kodiak or Copenhagen will be the perfect fir for you, if your a bit on the broke side Longhorn and Kayak are offered for a very cheap price. If you want something to just relax and take the edge of the day, Skoal is the ultimate favorite. All and all, it is up to you.
- Choose your spitter. Despite the fact that dippers don't smell like an ashtray nor have them scattered around the house. We are cursed with the unused "Spitter." Spitters can be anything including water bottles, milk jugs, soda cans, coffee cans and even the ground we stand on outdoors. Use soda cans or styrofoam coffee cups with extreme caution for these are more prone to some nasty leaks and spills. Plastic soda and water bottles are the best choice because you have the option to put a cap on the spitter when you're not using it (no spills). Be sure to use bottles whose drinks are not the same color as dip spit (iced tea, coke, Pepsi etc.) which will prevent a very displeasing mix up. Coffee cans work well because of the wide target and potion to seal it off. But, if you want a less disgusting and non-spilling spitter, try a MUDJUG, a portable spittoon that does not spill (even when you turn it up side down)to order one visit their site, MUDJUG.com they have all sorts of designs and offers.
- Decide what kind of dipper you are. People chew and dip for a majority of reasons. If you like an occasional chew here and there while at work or just in your down time then you might not want that nasty water bottle on your car floor for your friends to see. If you chew or dip because you can't smoke in your workplace, be sure to monitor your use on each product, the high nicotine content and effect of the stomach that chew has does not mix with the head rush of a cigarette and will get you sick. Each dipper has a set of customs so my advice is to fit your dipping in your life without disturbing it or the others around you.
- Learn how to multitask. The best advantage of dip is that you can do so much during the day with both of your hands free and still get your nicotine hit. This is a must if you want to be a "professional" dipper. While working on a task "let's say cutting wood" (a very manly and very fun dipping activity), put your pinch in and split a log, spit on the ground while repositioning the other and repeat. Try to figure out a pattern some are more complex than others. If you are plowing snow, you may have to prop a spitter in a cup holder for when you are in the truck and then have to resort to spitting on the ground when scooping sand. You may have to be creative and some may backfire on you the first few tries.
- Learn to drink with it. This is another key essential. The best technique is to suck your "dip lip" in as tight as possible and proceed to drink you beer, coffee or soda. Make sure the beverage flows right down your tongue and straight down your throat without touching the dip. Be sure to practice as you may swallow the juice during this (and get sick) or the dip and drink will get mixed resulting in a strange after taste (especially if it is Grizzly Wintergreen and Orange Juice...EW!)
- Learn more multitasking" there is so much more you can do with a lip in. Some people can sleep with a pinch in and others who can eat with one. The more you know how to multitask the more fun dipping will be.
- Use your dip at the appropriate times. Popping a dip in during your Great Aunt Helen's funeral will get you many glares and stares. So will carrying your spit bottle along with you in the Mall Complex while going bra shopping with your teenage daughter. And the women at your wife's baby shower will be really disgusted. Like smoking, there is a time and place for dipping. It may be incredible awkward to have a dip while all your friends are smokers. The best advice I can say is use your discretion. The best part about smokeless tobacco is that it is allot easier to hide so if you do find yourself in one of these positions just use a solid colored non see through spitter and pretend it is a drink or keep it carefully hidden and spit when no one is looking.
- Keep your mouth clean. The warning labels will tell you why. Just because dipping causes irritation to the mouth, doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. The most important of all steps is to brush your teeth three times a day. If your lip gets a white patch or feels a bit scaly, use the other side of your mouth until the side you usually use heals up. Mouth wash is also a good thing to have if you dip straight or natural flavors. One of the big reasons why smokeless tobacco users get these gum conditions is that they don't take care of their teeth. just brush and floss and try to avoid sugary snacks between dips (you don't want to add more irritation to your mouth).
Tips
- Learn the terms and techniques dippers use. Learn how to finger pack your dip cans, or crack the label open with your thumbnail. If you meet a dipper and don't use these terms, you will get laughed at a little.
- If your brand of dip has a website feel free to sign up for it. You'll get allot coupons and merchandise can be purchased (you aren't a dipper until you have a Skoal baseball cap or a Grizzly T-Shirt)
- Make some "Chewing Buddy's". Like smokers, it gets a bit awkward to chew or dip by yourself. Make some new friends who dip so you can have somebody to talk about this wonderful habit with. You may be asked to spot a dip with somebody who's short a can or even have to bum a dip yourself. Some times you and your dipping friend might need to share a spit cup if supplies runs low.
- You can also learn to "Gut" or swallow the dip. This technique comes in handy when you lock your spitter in the car or just simply forget one. Gutting , however can cause discomfort to the stomach and even ulcers. It is a painful trick to learn and takes years of practice and use.
- Be careful when spitting on the ground, if someone steps in your spit and sees you with your can out or your bulged out lip, your bound to hear an earful.
Warnings
- If you have children, be sure to keep your spitter hidden and out of reach. The last things you want is for your child to take a spit out one thinking it is a drink.
- Throw your spitter away ASAP after being used.
- Just because you can use smokeless in allot more places in which smoking is banned, some places (like schools and some airlines) do not approve of dipping on their premises mainly because of the mess spitters leave behind, the grossed out reactions other people get while watching someone dip or it's just because they think all tobacco is bad (See step 7)
- Smokeless Tobacco can cause mouth cancer.
- Many higher class people find dipping dusting and will give you dirty looks.
Things You'll Need
- A can of dip
- Something to spit into
- A deep passion to dip
