Humidors

[jhuggett]

I need some suggestions for entry level humidors for a buddy of mine. He's been a part time cigar guy for a few years and is thinking about getting into it a little heavier being he is newly single. :lol:

He was looking in the 100 dollar range and I remember someone (I think PB) telling me that the lower end humidors weren't very good. So I thought I'd check with the pros for him.

 

[Davey]

You can get some very decent humidors int hat price range. I own a $400 one and my $90 humi is the one I currently use. It's not so much the dollar amount as where/what kind you are getting.

MANY shops on-line will charge stupid prices for a humidor, while the right $100 spent can get you a great one. Stay away from high profile names ( such as Dunhil, Romeo/Juliet) that are fantastic indeed, but you are paying 35% more just for the name.

A good humidor will have nice hinges that move and are fitted well, and the top will seal well...perhapos even give a slight "whoosh" sound when the top is lifted 3-4 inches and just let go. It should (generally speaking) not slam down. Also worth ntoing is that a good humidor WILL allow a SLOW exchange of air over time, an dnOT be airtight as this is not optimium for cigar storage/aging.

Make certian the humi is Spanish cedar that is Kiln dried. If the seller does not know..stay clear of it ( unless you are familair with the line).


Shoot me a pm or email with any questions, but I am sure there are many here who can offer excellent advice. MY brother Lucky should pop up here soon when he sees this post, and will no doubt think of somthing I forgot to mention. :lol:

 

[jhuggett]

Thanks Davey, you and your bro have been most helpful with my questions of late.

 

[Davey]

:cheers:

Thanks Jason. You're making me feel like "one of the guys".

 

[jhuggett]

I thought you were Davey! :lol:

 

[Rail Man]

I've had hits and misses with "cheap" humidors. The first I got was from Tampa Humidor for something like $20 because it's all I could really afford. Despite conditioning it and placing several humidifiers in the thing I could only get it to keep at 70% when it was completely full.

My current mainstay humidor I used was purchased from Thompson Cigar (one of "their" humidors) that holds a little over a box of cigars. I think I got this for something like $30-40, but it also came with a bundle of Thompson's crappy house cigars, but the humidor was worth the money. I conditioned it when I got it in 2005 and haven't had to again until just recently, but that's because it's been nearly empty since August. It seems to hold humidity really well despite the fact it's rarely full. In the winter I have to supplement the humidifier that came with it with one of the gel humidifiers, but it seems to do the trick.

A few years ago when I got some great deals on a few boxes of cigars I ran out of space between the Thompson and Tampa so I purchased a generic humidor from our local liquor store that also sells some cigars for the grand price of $10. I conditioned it and it has been amazing! It holds humidity just as well as the Thompson, but this may all be some sort of lucky accident.

Aside from the $10 humidor I took the risk of buying both off the internet, which I wouldn't really recommend, I think I just got lucky. You should still be able to get a good humidor at a reasonable price at a cigar store. The main thing is a tight seal and all the corners well sealed as well.

Good luck!

 

[luckydogguy]

Here are some humidors I would buy if I was in the market for one. Ebay tends to have the best prcies and if you check out someone's feedback, it should give you an idea if the humidor is of good quality.

I have found that the glass top humidor tend to have a better seal. I don't know if the craftsmanship HAS to be better or not. But, I like those. Also if you have a glass top, you don't have to keep opening the humidor to check the RH. Just keep the hygrometer at the top so you can see it. Also the placement of the humidification system is very important. If it's kept TOO close to the cigars than you will over humidify the ones that are close. A humidor with a neutral position for the humidification system.

Another point to look for is teh "Count" of the humidor. A humidor that says it is a 75-100 count humidor. It usually mean that it will hold 100 corona sized cigars. If you like bigger ring gauges, well, that will cut down on how much your humi will hold. So adjust accordingly.

Here's the links:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CIGAR-HUMIDOR-GLASS-TOP-75-100CT-NEW-FREE-ACTIVATOR_W0QQitemZ230215916452QQihZ013QQcategoryZ11675QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/300-ct-GLASS-TOP-SHOWCASE-CIGAR-HUMIDOR-SUPER-CAPACITY_W0QQitemZ270207668437QQihZ017QQcategoryZ11675QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The above link is NOT really a 300 count humi. Davey used to have this one and it holds about 150 tops. A good quality humidor that usually sells at a great price.


You can always do a search on Ebay for: "glass humidor"

All the Glass tops will come up in all the sizes.


Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Jason,
Your package ships out tomorrow. Enjoy!


Lucky

 

[Davey]

Nicely done, lil' brother ( see Jason?) :lol:

 

[jhuggett]

Thanks guys! I'm looking forward to it Lucky.

BTW my buddy has now decided to get a nice furniture piece humidor so it looks like he's really going to take the plunge. :lol:

 

[Davey]

Very nice indeed.
Poor bastid!! One of the reasons I have been focusing more on pipes is the my cigar addictio...er, HOBBY, was getting pretty expensive.
9 pipes later and a couple hundred dollars worth of weed I am looking to pick up later...and here I am again where I started!! Keep us posted, indeed.





Paul, you should post some pics of your walk in we built. Jason might get a kick out of our shoemaker job!

 

[luckydogguy]

I can't figure out how to put a picture in here.


Help!


Lucky