Before I go into the in's and out's of hand rolling, I am well aware of the harms of smoking, it's consequences, but we are all going to die so we might as well do it being happy. I would have died happy had I not smoked, but I've been smoking for nearly 40 years, I enjoy it so bugger the consequences.

For a starting price of around £2.50 you can buy a packet of papers and a 12.5g pouch or packet of tobacco. Now we all like our fags differently so depending on how thick you roll them you should get between 15 and 30 fags for your outlay. This compare to almost £5 for 20 tailor mades means that they are basically half price. So there is one benefit.

I believe they use a substance called salt peter to help keep tailor made fags alight, this is missing from hand rolling tobacco hence they go out quite easily, which obviously can be a bit annoying.

The hassle of actually rolling your own can be quite therapeutic or it can drive you mental, I have big problems trying to roll them by hand so I use a small hand rolling machine which makes the process so much easier. I also use filter tips which can be readily purchased in most good tobacconists. Another advantage of rolling your own is that you can buy different brands of tobacco and mix them until you find a blend that you like best. Some tobacco's are mild others a bit rough mixing can provide the smoker with quite a nice alternative.

I go through phases where sometimes I buy tailor mades and sometimes rollups it all depends on my mood but one thing is for certain a roll up is a far better smoke, it has more flavour and is far more satisfying.

I have tried to stop on a few occasions, and failed miserably so I'm not going to put myself through the stress anymore.

All in all roll ups are a better smoke and can save you a fortune, if you do not smoke take my advice and don't start getting off them is a nightmare and few succeed