If you aren’t good at rolling cigars, you can always make pipe tobacco.

I know, I keep harping on it… but if you don’t see tobacco as important to survival, I feel for you.

During the worst days of the crash, when I was unemployed, watching friend after friend go broke and seeing folks lose their homes right and left… a good cigar was one of the few simple pleasures that made things better (at least for 45 minutes or so.)

That’s not to say I was rolling cigars personally.

Unfortunately, I’ve yet to master that skill – but this video has given me some hope that I will one day:

The packing of the interior seems to be where my attempts always fall short. I’ve noticed that the elasticity of the tobacco leaf on the interior wrapper also presents problems, though I’ve been working on hydrating it better and my last couple of attempts did quite a bit better.

Sometimes it’s “try, try again,” especially when you don’t have a teacher locally.

If you don’t think you can manage to roll cigars, you might try making your own pipe tobacco or even grinding snuff with a coffee grinder. That works really well and ladies totally dig the snorting and sneezing associated with this arcane pleasure.

If all else fails, it’s pretty easy to roll a cigarette, too, but I don’t go in for those. It just doesn’t pack the “awesome” that a cigar does.

Trust me, though: if things get uglier economically, tobacco is going to be a highly desirable commodity, no matter how it’s processed or consumed.

Learn to grow it.  Then pray you can find a Cuban friend to roll it for you… because rolling cigars isn’t for beginners.