Humidor suggestions?

[friar_jay]

I've found myself in possession of quite a few sticks... far more than my little XIKAR 5 stick travel humidor can hold. As I'm a newbie when it comes to cigar smoking do you guys have any suggestions for a small humidor?

 

[Dutch]

Jay, the problem with small humidors, is that they don't hold enough cigars to keep your humidity level steady. The cigars themselves are responsible for holding most of the moisture level where it needs to be. As you smoke your cigars one at a time, you will notice it becomes more and more a struggle to hold the humidity level where it needs to be.

My suggestion would be to wait to purchase as large a cigar humidor as you can afford, and also purchase an electric humidifier that will hold your humidity level perfectly with little effort on your part.

In the meantime, just get yourself a Tupperware container to use for a humidor. In essence the Xikar 5 stick humidor is exactly that, a very durable piece of Tupperware. The only difference between a cedar humidor and a piece of Tupperware, is that the cedar humidor will breathe for aging purposes. This is why cedar humidors inherently struggle to maintain humidity levels. Also, you need to leave them alone for extended periods of time in order to let them actually age.

The Tupperware on the other hand, doesn't breathe at all, but that is why it holds humidity so well, just like your Xikar 5 stick. If you smoke up your cigars fairly quickly after purchase, purchasing a cedar humidor for aging is just a waste of money.

Also, the humidity packs you see for sale like Boveda are great to use in your Tupperware container, and can be recharged because they are designed to be 2 way. Simply put a sponge saturated with distilled water in a separate empty Tupperware container along with your dried out humidity pack. After they sit for 2 or 3 days, go back and check your pack. You will find that it has moisturized and recharged to like new condition.

I have some humidity packs that I have been recharging for around 4 years now. Eventually they will start to seep moisture out the edges, and that is when I toss them and invest in a new one.

 

[friar_jay]

Okay, alright... I never thought about just using some Tupperware. I don't know how many sticks I plan to keep on hand, but I'm aiming for less than 50. Furthermore, I will not be smoking them left and right... I'll definitely pace myself. After all, I plan to continue being an avid pipe smoker. The cigar is a nice change up, and it's another level to the art of tobacco smoking.

That said, thanks for the advice.

 

[Dutch]

Jay, that's me too. I came to pipes after having smoked cigars for years, and like you stated, they provode a nice change of pace. Especially so if you are experiencing some tongue bite from your pipes, and need to give your tongue a rest. I will sometimes smoke a Peterson P-lip for the same reason.

Once I started smoking a pipe, and buying cigars in quantity when they went on sale, I found myself accumulating cigars faster than I was smoking them. This was when I really began to give my cigars some serious time to age. With a humidor about the size of a bedroom nightstand, I was able to start aging cigars 2 to 3 years before I got them moved thru rotation.

After I had been doing this for about 5 years, I was visiting a friends house one day, who was a member of the same cigar club I had joined. He had essentially the same setup I had, only his large humidor was a huge piece of Tupperware he got at Walmart. Technically, my humidor was supposed to be superior to his, because mine was lined with cedar, and had an electric humidifier to circulate moisture. However, he saved a LOT more money than me, and my guess is that his cigars aged just as well as mine.

Nowdays, I kinda consider a Spanish cedar humidor with an electric humidifier a bit of a gimmick, but they are nice if you can afford to buy one, and are heavily into the cigar smoking hobby.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

I'm aiming for less than 50. Furthermore, I will not be smoking them left and right... I'll definitely pace myself.

Ha! I said something like that...now I'm in danger of outgrowing my second cooler...

 

[friar_jay]

I'm aiming for less than 50. Furthermore, I will not be smoking them left and right... I'll definitely pace myself.

Ha! I said something like that...now I'm in danger of outgrowing my second cooler...

I imagine once the cigar equivalent of PAD/TAD kicks in I'll go crazy... regardless of the current limit I'm setting for myself.

 

[Hiram-2011]

I'm aiming for less than 50. Furthermore, I will not be smoking them left and right... I'll definitely pace myself.

Ha! I said something like that...now I'm in danger of outgrowing my second cooler...

Ha, I said the same thing. I have two coolers near full and a large desktop humidor that holds around 200 cigars full. It's a bad thing to be into pipes and cigars

 

[Hiram-2011]

Tupperware and boveda packets will do you fine. Once you get a lot of sticks a cooler and heartfelt beads does a real nice job. A nice humidor is nice for show and keeping sticks for short term storage. Keep the ones you smoke more often in it and leave the others in coolers for long term storage.

 

[friar_jay]

The other night I picked up an ultraseal Sterilite container to make a Tupperdor. Today, a couple Boveda packs arrived. Now I just need to get down to my tobacconist and stock up with some quality cigars.

 

[Dutch]

The other night I picked up an ultraseal Sterilite container to make a Tupperdor. Today, a couple Boveda packs arrived. Now I just need to get down to my tobacconist and stock up with some quality cigars.

Jay, check out Cigars International online. Their price points will have you filling your humidor much quicker for a LOT less money. They offer combo deals on name brand cigars that offer a lot of variety, and most of the time you will only pay between $2 and $5 per stick when you get a combo deal.

Also, check out their Joe Cigar daily cigar deal. You always get free shipping on your entire order when you purchase the daily cigar deal, regardless the total amount of the order.

They also stock pipes and pipe tobacco. Here is the link-

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/

 

[eklektos44]

The other night I picked up an ultraseal Sterilite container to make a Tupperdor. Today, a couple Boveda packs arrived. Now I just need to get down to my tobacconist and stock up with some quality cigars.

Jay, check out Cigars International online. Their price points will have you filling your humidor much quicker for a LOT less money. They offer combo deals on name brand cigars that offer a lot of variety, and most of the time you will only pay between $2 and $5 per stick when you get a combo deal.

Also, check out their Joe Cigar daily cigar deal. You always get free shipping on your entire order when you purchase  the daily cigar deal, regardless the total amount of the order.

They also stock pipes and pipe tobacco. Here is the link-

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/

+1

 

[tslots]

CigarBid is also a great place to stock up on the cheap. Check out the Free-Fall auctions and go through them several times to see the lowest price before it resets. There are many great deals to be had, but you must be patient and know the prices on other sites.