Thread: New to Humidors

So I just started enjoying cigars about 2 months ago after my uncle gave me one of his as a gift. Since then, I would say I've had about dozen or so since. However, I've read quite a bit here and everyone has humidors. I was just wondering if you guys could help me out in finding like a good quality humidors that fits I'd say 15-30?

However, I am a college student so I don't have a full wallet, haha. What's the maintenance like on them? How often do you have to buy those "packets?" Should I even be looking into one (I smoke maybe once a week; great to just relax).

Oh and thanks to those who posted those stickies and so on for those new to cigars.

J.

well welcome to L4P and welcome to the wonderful world of cigar smoking...

having a humidor will be sure to keep you smokes nice and moist to ensure the cigar is nice and fresh and burns evenly... dry cigars will flake and fall apart, and taste unpleasent.

maintenance is pretty easy on them.. buy one, season it, put your water packet or gel or crystal jar in there, be sure it gets to and stays at 70% humidity.

another great thing about having a humidor is you can buy cigars by the box, or a few at a time and let them sit inthere til you need one.. ( most places give a discont when you buy a box)

I picked up my first box from the local tobacco shop. The owner was nice enough to sell it to me for like $3. Its one of the Camacho triple maduro boxes. I can get about 10 stick in there, along with the crystal jar.

Since the budget is tight, it may be an option to grab an empty box from a local shop. It should tide you over til you can swing for a bigger humidor.

Welcome to the 4.

Humidors are almost required, what is your budget? Certain appearance you want?

Should be lined with Spanish Cedar, I like glass tops because you can see what is in there without opening the humidor, need a gauge that you can read on the outside.

The more you pointless open and close the humidor the less efficient it is. The 4 has a few gurus in the field of Cigars. That can add to the list.

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

I would say my budget is 35 to maybe 75. I looked around and I gotta admit, those ones with the glass tops seem perfect. I'm still on vacation, but I did some research online, there is two cigar stores so once I get back I'll stop there and see what's there.

There was some other thread where some guy posted a link to a website that had a lot of them but I got really confused on this crystal, water, gel stuff. This might be a stupid question, but do you need to like plug it in?

CD Wall - How long do those boxes usually keep for? That might be a good option.

Thanks,
J.

No plug in, basically you add water to the "container" to maintain humidity. I like gel seems to hold a constant humidity a lot better for the price. Boveda packets are really nice, actually going to be moving to them in a few months.

Originally Posted by Forfend

No plug in, basically you add water to the "container" to maintain humidity. I like gel seems to hold a constant humidity a lot better for the price. Boveda packets are really nice, actually going to be moving to them in a few months.

Okay cool, I'll look into gels. How long do they last before you got to replace them typically?

J.

Checking in for information. Would a wood box with Boveda packets around 75% humidity to account for the 5% loss be fine? Or would you run distilled water and boveda together? I'm looking at buying one soon as well. Same price range as you OP.

You don't need water with Boveda its ready to go which makes it real nice. It all depends on the seal, if you close a dollar bill on it and you pull on it.

A) It rips amazing seal
B) real hard to pull still decent seal
C) pulls easily - need a new box

Originally Posted by JGiefer

CD Wall - How long do those boxes usually keep for? That might be a good option.

Thanks,
J.

That all depends on the shop, if thats what you mean by keep. Some keep a pile and others toss them once they're empty. As for how well they keep cigars, they are cigar boxes so they should keep them for a good period of time. Mind you, they are not humidors and shouldn't be used instead, but its a good option, IMO, to start you out and keep a few sticks fresh until you can get yourself a humidor.

If the box has a good seal, I would just pick up a digital thermo and crystal jar to start. Get things going like you would a humidor (get your temp right although you would assume its been treated to some degree but what's the harm doing it again) and go from there. I would assume if you treat it like the temp humidor it is, it would last you for a couple of months or longer.

I'll put it like this: I've had mine since July. I've got a jar and digital thermo in it and is regulated to 70 degrees or so...69 or 71 from time to time. The ten sticks I keep in it are still good. No problems at all. However, when I do start buying more stick or boxes of sticks, I'll invest in a good humidor, as I should to keep them fresh. Until then, its ain't broke so why fix it.

Just my .02 cents.