General ONYX Bullet Proof Edition is Real

On December 21st, Swedish Match leaked the existence of 2009’s ONYX Limited Edition: General Bullet Proof Edition. The name reflects the fact that the can itself is really bullet proof: able to stop a 9mm 9×19/39B or as some in America call them, Cop Killer bullets.

I’m not the first to write about the General Bullet Proof Edition and for a good reason: I wasn’t convinced they actually existed. Among Swedish Match’s many virtues, they have a devilish sense of humor. I just wasn’t ready to jump in extolling the Bullet Proof Edition until I was certain it was real. In today’s Swedish Snus Embassy Diplomatic Package, that confirmation arrived in the form of a real can of General Bullet Proof.

The can is considerably heavier that a conventional metal or cardboard snus can as you would imagine. The lid isn’t the bullet proof part: it’s made of either plastic or carbon fiber. The can is an entirely different story. Slightly larger than a conventional lös or loose snus can, it contained; not a plastic liner as I first thought, but a real plastic can of General Onyx sans the Onyx lid. This explains pictures I’ve seen of General Bullet Proof filled with both Black and White portions. It appears any General regular portion snus can will fit inside! This also explains why the word ONYX isn’t used in the can graphics. The additional exterior depth of the can is the reinforcement necessary to make the can bullet proof.

The lid on the Bullet Proof Edition does not snap into the can as we are accustom to. Minutely smaller than the can diameter, it stays attached to the can by friction. I ruined the snus star formation by turning the can upside down and shaking it vigorously. On the fourth shake, the lid did come off and the snus with it. While anyone is unlikely to shake any can of snus like that, it leads me to believe that if you dropped the can the wrong way, the likelihood of the lid coming off would be greater than with a snap-on lid. Not wanting to scratch the paint or dump the delicious General ONYX all over the floor, I did not put that theory to the test but be forewarned.

I admit I was also tempted to do a field test on the bullet-stopping capabilities of this can. While I have no 39B ammunition for obvious reasons, I do have Winchester SXT9 147 gr. hollow points and Hornady Vector 124 gr. FMJ in 9mm. In the end, I decided against it as I didn’t want to scratch the paint on the can. I may buy another can once they become available for that expressed purpose, though. I will post the pictures if I do.

Only six hundred of the General Bullet Proof cans were produced; with 100 of those purchased by the Swedish Military. Whatever cans Swedish Match has left will be made available for sale to the snus and gun loving public sometime in January 2010. Because we won’t know until January what our Snus Store’s allocation will be, SnusCENTRAL.com is not taking pre-orders at this time.

SnusCENTRAL.org Members will be offered the first opportunity to pre-order/order the Bullet Proof Editions and should keep an eye on the Members Only Announcement section. SMAB has also not released pricing information yet and we will keep you updated on that also.

This certainly will be a very unique offering. I can’t imagine the propaganda machines of Big American Tobacco even conceiving of putting out a snus or snuff proudly proclaiming “Bullet Proof by X”. If nothing else, their lawyers would have a fit. Swedish Match does including the following disclaimer message on the bottom of the can, the Letter of Authenticity, and all their documents discussing the Bullet Proof Edition: “This can is intended for use with snus only. This can should not be used as or in lieu of bullet proof vests or other similar items and we encourage only responsible legal use of firearms.”

Gun lovers and Snus Collectors aside, I could see this can becoming a big hit in the urban club scene. This can is definitely bar-worthy and I could even envision stylish hip hop artists having a heavy gold chain attached to it and wearing General Bullet Proof around their necks. Actually, I would even consider wearing it too if gold wasn’t around $1300/oz.

Of course within days of the first celebrity photographed wearing Bullet Proof by General, China would be flooding the market with cheap non-bullet proof/not real gold chain knock-offs. Never the less, Bullet Proof would certainly would bring General Snus and Swedish Match into the big time glare of the American media spot-light. That would not be a bad thing for them or Swedish snus in general. Hmmm.

This segways into my only open question: where and who came up with the Bullet Proof by General idea? Was it over cocktails or on a hunting trip that a Swedish Military Officer and a Swedish Match Executive turned a joke into a concept into a wonderfully serious and viable product? Is it simply something Americans would never have thought of as we’re having a hard enough time holding onto our Second Amendment rights under a liberal Administration and Congress? Or is it that the Swedish understand the American mindset a little more than we thought? Does it, intentionally or not, have the ability to break big into American Pop Culture? All I know is that I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during the first concept development meeting!

Enjoying my General ONYX secure in the knowledge that an Anti-Snus Terrorist will not be able to assassinate even one delicious portion,

LARRY WATERS