The Escort, Pressta cigarett machine, from CTC, Roll Your Own Magazine review of the month, RYO, The Magazine of Roll Your Own Cigarettes

A great percentage of roll your own smokers, especially those who want to create their own filtered cigarettes get started with RYO by purchasing smoking kits. These kits usually include a few ounces of tobacco, some filtered tubes, and an inexpensive injector. If they like the results they usually move up to a better, larger injector like the Supermatic or Supermatic II (shown below - see review in the Jan/Feb issue). In many cases the lower quality, cheaper tube injectors supplied with these kits can dissuade a potential ryo enthusiast from continuing with roll your The Original Supermatic Tube Injection Machine

The Original Supermatic Tube Injection Machine

own products long enough to realize the ease with which ryo filtered cigarette rolling can be accomplished. We get lots of letters from such people who are frustrated and down right dissatisfied with the process and it almost always has to do with a cheap inefficient tube injector. These lower quality injectors have some common problems. First of all they are usually hard to hold on to as you work the sliding mechanism (which is basically the whole top of the device). Secondly, the cutter (the part that trims excess tobacco from the chamber as the lid is lowered is usually plastic and though at first it is sharp and hard enough to accomplish the trimming (as long as you don't overfill the chamber) with constant use the plastic edge becomes dull and can even be scored by hard parts of the tobacco, like stem pieces.

To avoid the cutter playing too prominent a role in the process most people quickly find it necessary to put very small amounts of tobacco in the chamber. This results in cigarette tubes that are only partially filled and not packed The Excel Tube Injector tight enough to keep the tobacco in place. For the most part, we recommend the crank action kinds of machines like the Supermatic or the Excel, (at right) we reviewed last issue (click here to see the Mar/April review of this machine) as they have metal cutters and compression chambers that are separate in function from the pusher assembly. The fact is, however, if you use just the right amount of tobacco and are careful to use only thinly cut long strand tobaccos like Dutch style halfzwares and other fine cuts that may even be shorter in strand length, the cutter will become much less of a problem. The plastic cutter is strong enough if not abused with hard chunky tobacco. Since many people will find these smaller machines to be convenient for traveling, the only real remaining problem is the difficulty in securing a good enough grip to get a smooth sliding action. Now this problem has been solved.

The Escort Tube Injector with Base The Escort tube injector from CTC (the black part in the photo at left) can be ordered with an inexpensive base support (the red part in the photo) that allows the user a far better purchase (grip) when using the machine. Even with the base (which separates from the injector for storage or travel), the unit is far more transportable than the crank action machines. And to our surprise, our cigarette production was nearly as efficient as the ThePresstaTube Injector with Base crank type affords. Now of course the plastic cutter will still wear out but the injectors themselves are very inexpensive and the base will last a long time. All in all, the system works very well as long as you adhere to the recommendations above as to tobacco types.The Pressta (shown at right) is identical to the Escort in price and design and the base is interchangeable between the two. We have both and prefer the Escort, probably only because the black color looks better to us. These machine are widely available at most tobacco shops and online roll your own tobacco sites.

NOTE: The following may prevent a lot of you from doing damage to any tube injection machine as you are getting to know them. There are 3 issue areas which must be addressed for a successful injector experience. If you follow these, you will find the injectors to be an irreplaceable asset to rolling your own cigarettes.

Select tobacco carefully: It should NOT be hunks or heavy bulk cut. It should NOT be overly moist like most pipe tobacco. If you wish that special vanilla or other flavor to add to your cigarette tobacco either dry pipe tobacco very thoroughly and then break up the bulk parts by crunching and rolling between your fingers before you mix with your cigarette tobacco, or order pre-flavored tobaccos from a reputable tobacco shop that uses appropriate cuts for cigarette injection machines. The best tobaccos for this machine are long, fine or medium cut shags. Do not over-dry tobacco as powdered "shake" tobacco will also jam the machine.
Clean the machine regularly by turning it over and shaking gently and/or blowing the tobacco residue from the mechanics underneath. Remove rubber base, if applicable. A fine, dry brush works great. Follow instructions on lubricating if necessary.
Never force the machine to push tobacco. Never tightly fill the tobacco chamber - lightly tamp down from a pile over the chamber entrance. If the machine starts to jam, STOP, immediately, return the handle or slider to the open position, and clear, with a toothpick or other sharp (but safe) object, the tray area leading to the cigarette tube of all jammed tobacco. This is most important as excess pressure on the system, in order to forcefully push through jammed tobacco, will damage critical mechanisms.

The Supermatic Street Price $39.95 - $59.95 All Metal Body Replaceable Compnents	The Escort Injector Street Price with Base $12 - $16 $8.50 - $12 (inj. only)
The Escort, Pressta & Supermatic, & Excel Tube Injection Machines are registered products of The Clinton Tube Company. They are available at most fine tobacco shops that cater to the RYO (roll your own) smoker

EDITOR'S NOTE: These reviews are solely for the convenience of people of legal age who already smoke, are trying to cut down on smoking, wish to spend less money on their smoking, want to roll their own cigarettes from high quality tobacco, and, in general, wish to have a far more satisfying, and economical smoking experience when compared with smoking pre-manufactured cigarettes. We, in no way, encourage people to smoke. Further, we prescribe to a sane, more logical approach to smoking that involves common sense as to quantity coupled with a strong desire to manage the habit until it becomes an occasional, freely chosen, diversion, that can be fully enjoyed with minimal health risks. Finally, we strongly encourage those who do smoke to take it outdoors, or to appropriate environments where tobacco can be enjoyed away from those who do not smoke, most especially children. We do not sell tobacco or related products from this site; We distribute information about our perceptions of the quality of what is available and where it can be obtained. If you are under 18, it is illegal to buy tobacco and you should immediately exit this site. If you do not smoke, it would seem illogical to start.