Finishing a Tin is Stressful?

[peteguy]

I was wondering if anyone else finds that with about 1/4 left in a tin things start to become a bit stressful. Maybe stressful is to strong a word, perhaps angst. I swear I start to get the itch to finish the remaining baccy as fast as I can so that I get to open a new tin. Sometimes I smoke more than normal trying to finish that tin. Every bowl I think, one more and this tin is done, and it ends up being 3 or 4 more.
:crazy:
We have PAD and TAD already so what should this be called. And no, SPAZ doesnt work. I tried putting tobacco words to it and nothing comes to mind for the letter Z.

 

[tinsel]

I have the opposite problem. When I get down to 1 or 2 bowls left of a blend I tend to try to hang onto it if it's not a blend I plan on buying more of right away. I always get it stuck in my head that "I may want a bowl of it one day and won't have any if I kill this tin".
The heavy hitters in my rotation, I don't have this issue. It's the fringe tobaccos that I buy just to try out but don't make the cut into the regular rotation. I probably have 1-2 bowls worth of 20 or more blends that I'm hanging onto just in case I feel like a bowl of that blend some day.

 

[mikestanley]

I tend to go to my cellar and count the number of tins I have of the blend that I'm about to finish. So I guess I do stress a little.
Mike S.

 

[tarheel1]

When I finish a tin it allows me to start a new one. Not stressful to me. Gives me a chance to try more blends.

 

[deathmetal]

Depends on the tin. I always get a little wistful when a tin of Royal Yacht goes to join its ancestors.

 

[stickframer]

I swear I start to get the itch to finish the remaining baccy as fast as I can so that I get to open a new tin. 

Yes. I try to finish a tin that's getting low ASAP. I always think there's maybe 2 bowls left but it's always more than that, and it always takes longer than I'd like. It's a strange phenomena. :crazy:

 

[newbroom]

Not so much tins as tubs. the 12 and 14 oz variety. I like to maintain a representation of the major codger players, and I smoke them all regularly. When one brand runs low, I do begin to stress and tend to savor it more toward the finish, stretching its lifespan as long as I comfortably can, knowing a replacement will be required to fill that place in my imaginary necessities list.

I'm talking CH, PA and SWR...pretty much. Each is a comfortable companion.

 

[mso489]

It's definitely a rite of passage, though I'm not sure why. You have to decide what to open next, whether to order more of that blend or something new, whether to smoke it all up as its own blend or mix it with something else, and what you thought of the whole experience of the nearly-gone tin. Sometimes, it is surprising how long it took to finish, or how fast you finished it. It's definitely pause for thought, as is much of pipe smoking. Finishing tubs is sometimes like the end of an era.

 

[prairiedruid]

Sense of accomplishment when finishing a tin......cross the finish line and spike the empty tin; maybe do a dance as I go to open a new taste treat. And I look good doing it; at least that is what the voices say....

 

[deathmetal]

It's sort of like, way back when people used CDs and LPs, deciding what to put on the player next. A transition between chosen experiences...

 

[hawky454]

I have the opposite problem. When I get down to 1 or 2 bowls left of a blend I tend to try to hang onto it if it's not a blend I plan on buying more of right away.

+1 and yes, my heavy hitters are not a problem, either. I have back ups of back ups of back ups for my favorites.

 

[derfargin]

Some of you guys get too much in your head about these kinds of things. I finish a tin when I get around to it. I have about 55 open blends right now, and while at one point I thought I had to get to a certain number before I can open new blends, I realized something. The only person enforcing that rule was me. There's no reason why I can't open every tin I have in my cellar tomorrow if I wish.
So, smoke up your last bit of dust in your tins, or open a tin and smoke a solitary bowl and then open another. All the "stressing" is caused by the person that stares back at you in the mirror.
Let it go, and enjoy it.

 

[ltstone]

I have a few blends that can only be gotten at Pipes and Cigars and they won't ship to Canada, so when I'm out, I'm out

 

[beezer]

I don't find it stressful at all. If I had to describe the feeling of finishing off a tin I'd say I feel a minor sense of accomplishment and that I did a good job seeing something through from start to finish without wasting anything. You see my problem until very recently has been that I'll smoke a third of the way through a tin and decide to pop another one and then another one and then another one. Next thing I know I've got 20 open tins that I've had to jar.
This past year I've told myself no new tin opening until I polish off the blends in my rotation. I just finished a tin of Viprati and ODF and I'm working through some Wessex Campaign Flake and some Sutliff Blend No. 5 next.
I believe another reason I feel no stress is I went way overboard the last two years trying to build up my stock of tins. I know as soon as one tin is gone I've got 100s patiently standing by. I think what might be more stressful for me is wondering which blends I should smoke next out of fear that too much age could be a bad thing (i.e. latakia dominant blends that mellow too much, etc).

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yeh, I tend to grab the deeper wider pipes that hold more tobacco when the tin is freshly opened, and by the times the bottom of the tin can be seen, I am down to my tiny pipes trying to extend it as long as possible. But, I am not so much trying to be a penny pincher as much as just holding on to a particular flavor for as long as possible, and because I know that a fresh tin never tastes as good as the bottom, because it has had time to dry and clam down a bit.

 

[sw0snuff3r]

Sometimes I really want to get to the end of a tin so I can open something new. I have a tin of odds and ends that I bring into work with me, so often the last few bowls worth will go into that and get smoked eventually.

 

[shutterbugg]

If getting to the end of a tin stresses you out, you're not getting enough vitamin N. Time for a stronger blend.

 

[easterntraveler]

Lock top jars solved this issue for me. I open a tin and after a week or so I put the contents into small lock top jars. I have about four tobaccos set up like this and I rotate between them.

 

[hierophant]

I don't if it's stressful exactly, but when I get down to the last quarter or third of a tin, I get obsessive over it. I just want it to be finished so I can open something else, even if it's just a new tin of the same blend. I'll tend to smoke whatever it is almost exclusively and probably end up having more bowls in a day than I normally would. Weird.

 

[peteguy]

I get obsessive over it.

This is it for me too - thanks for clarifying. I knew it wasn't as bad as stress, like I said, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Great responses and yes I am an over thinker.