Moving soon, any precautions I should take?

[CamoSutra]

I'm preparing for a move to another town 50-60 miles away in about a month. Naturally I intend to transport my cigars personally by car.

Does anyone have tips on anything special I should do to keep my cigars (in desktop humidors) safe during their travel to our new home? All three humis are pretty full, and if anything they'll be fuller by then. I'm thinking they should be okay as long as I weight the humidor lids with other items to keep them from bouncing open. (I might even wrap the humidors with plastic wrap, just to be safe.) And of course I'll let the humidors rest undisturbed overnight or longer once they're installed in my new home office, in order to recover from any temperature and RH changes during the trip.

[TreySC]

You should be fine. Like you said keep them from bouncing around, maybe even throw a little bubble wrap in the humi if it isn't completely full.

[bluenoser]

I'd definitely put some bubble wrap or something inside to make sure they don't move around inside the humi while travelling, bout all I can suggest.

[CamoSutra]

TreySC and bluenoser, thanks for the bubblewrap idea. I may do that, but I'd rather just pack them the rest of the way full of cigars. I can hit the Devil Site a time or two, and bid a profitable farewell to the local B&M; then I'll put a couple of days' worth of favorite cigars into a 15-stick traveldor, fill the desktops to the gills, and put any overflow into my other traveldors and/or a tupperdor.

Another thought came to me: I think at least two of the desktop humidors will fit into the 36-quart Coleman I already have in anticipation of making a coolerdor. Bubblewrap to cushion/fill, and they may not even notice a change in temperature while they're traveling.

I'm actually much more concerned about getting the cigars there safely than I am about the TV, stereo, computers and other electronics. Of course I want everything to survive the trip; buying replacements would seriously cut into my cigar-buying money! :stogie:

[OnePyroTec]

If you were to host a HERF at your house before you moved, you wouldn't have to worry about anything :cool:

[CamoSutra]

If you were to host a HERF at your house before you moved, you wouldn't have to worry about anything :cool:
I just might do that. Or at least take an assortment to the music store down the street where I hang out (and gift cigars to the proprietors and instructors) for an after-hours herf. I've been meaning to take my Jazz Bass in for a new bridge and a good setup anyway, and I need to do that soon.

[Browns7213]

Bubble wrap inside the humi is all you need. And I think it goes without saying transport them yourself don't let movers or friends assisting you as movers handle them. No one will treat your stash as well as you not even your significant other.

[CamoSutra]

Update: After today's delivery from The Devil Site, I may not need much bubblewrap in my humidors, except to fill the space inside the lids. All three are stuffed to the gills, with overflow in five- and fifteen-stick traveldors.

Can't wait to get relocated. The second bedroom in the new apartment is going to become my office/study/workroom, and home to the cigars. Over time it may become a full-blown man cave, leaving the living room fairly neat for guests and the bedroom ... well, you know. :rolleyes:

[Deke]

I would just smoke them all and restock after the move....

I did the same thing a few years ago -- mdke sure humis were in a place they couldn't go flying if I had to brake suddenly.

[CamoSutra]

I've tried to put it off as long as possible, but it looks as though I'm going to have to bite the cigar -- uh, bullet -- and make a coolerdor before I move to the new place.

It's so dry here that all three desktop humidors have been losing humidity faster than I liked, one of them much faster. Last night I painter's-taped them, and that fixed two of them right up; they're holding moisture nicely again. One of them is actually so tight that I may have to remove the tape when spring arrives and the humidity rises. But the third one, a 50-count I've had for more than ten years, still had a loose lid after applying a layer of tape. So I laid down a second layer, and the lid's still loose. This is also the only one of the three where the lip is on the box-part rather than the lid. Much as I would like to keep using it (as a humidor), I don't see how I can; besides, I don't really need three desktop humidors, I just need decent storage. (I'm thinking the good 50-stick box will go into the living room, the 100-count into the office.) So the leaker will become a catch-all box of some sort, and its contents will get a new home.

For the time being I suppose I could get by with tupperdors; I already have the containers, plenty of Bovedas and Spanish cedar sheets to go into them, and even enough digital hygrometers (taken from the bad desktop and a couple of tightly sealing traveldors) to put into three of them. But I have more cigars on their way to me, and will probably buy at least one more time before I vacate this address; all of those, along with the contents of all three desktops and the two stuffed traveldors, might fill a cooler enough to get started. My first thought was to do the admittedly trivial work of transforming the cooler and then empty all the cigars directly into it; but depending on the size of the cooler it might be better to place the two good desktops (still full) into the bottom of the cooler, transfer the new arrivals and everything from the bad desktop into tupperdors, and then fit as many of these into the cooler as I possibly can -- a humidors-inside-a-humidor approach, with whatever's handy stuffed around them to prevent shifting or bouncing during the trip.

I'll also order more Heartfelt beads from David when I "get serious" with the coolerdor, and I'm thinking the 70% variety might be better for aging. I'll keep the 65% beads for use in the two desktops, since they'll be holding cigars that are ready-to-smoke. Maybe the good 50-stick box for the living room, and the 100-count for the office.

The cooler I have on hand now is a 36-quart Coleman, one of those with the thick walls and claimed "multi-day" insulation. This may become a permanent coolerdor, simply because it's available. The additional insulation is overkill in my opinion, and the thicker walls steal space I'd rather have for cigar storage, so I may just buy a new cooler (with a good seal but thinner walls) and save this one for picnics and fishing trips.

Comments and better ideas are welcome. Is there any good reason why I should make the coolerdor now instead of using this cooler just as a second-layer insulated airtight container? Are there any real advantages to the Coleman's extra insulation in an air-conditioned home? Is it possible to have a desktop humidor that's too tight-closing, as long as I can still open and close it and the seal doesn't force wood apart causing leaks elsewhere? Anything wrong with padding the 'dors inside the cooler with T-shirts and socks (laundered, of course), old newspapers and other miscellaneous packing materials for an hour's drive? Are politicians who smoke cigars substantially more trustworthy -- or perhaps less un-trustworthy -- than those who don't? Regardless of its actual colors, didn't that dress look better in white and gold? Boxers, briefs -- or Depends?

[Yarddog]

My suggestion...do not trip while moving the humidor.

That is all.

[CamoSutra]

:stogie:

[CamoSutra]

The bad desktop humidor is emptied out and its contents (along with additional cigars) are now in tupperdors and traveldors. Still can't quite bring myself to just get rid of it, so I've decided it will become a resting place for anything cigar-related that I don't need for awhile. At the moment it's holding the HF beads that were in it when it was still a humidor), in capped jars. I'll add any spare hygrometers and batteries, cutters, etc. I find as I pack up -- hope there's room for everything. :rolleyes:

Waste not, want not -- except cigars, 'cause I always want more of those.

[Herf N Turf]

I would not use newspaper. Newspaper has a nasty odor to it and the ink will rub off on the inside of the cooler and anything else it touches. I think your t-shirts and blanket idea's the way to go.

Inside the humidors, if you don't have enough bubbly wrap, you can use inflated zipper bags. Just make sure it's tight enough so to prevent movement. If the humidors lock, lock them. If not, pack them tightly enough to where the lid won't be pushed open by the zippy bags.

The cooler idea for the dry house is a good one. It's virtually impossible to keep a wooden humidor from losing moisture in extremely dry climates. Of course, you can always increase the amount of media and service it more often, which is what I did. Eventually you'll probably end up in a wineador, which is what I did.

[CamoSutra]

I would not use newspaper. Newspaper has a nasty odor to it and the ink will rub off on the inside of the cooler and anything else it touches. I think your t-shirts and blanket idea's the way to go.
Good point! And you just saved me the trouble of buying newspapers, since I'm not a subscriber to our daily fishwrap. :)


The cooler idea for the dry house is a good one. It's virtually impossible to keep a wooden humidor from losing moisture in extremely dry climates.
The climate should be much more favorable when spring eventually comes; right now I'm showing 58% outside, but only 32% indoors. Since I have to move both desktop humidors and the cooler anyway, I'd might as well load the desktops into the cooler for the trip, and see what I need to do after they've had a day or two in the new place.

You're right, a wineador may be in my future; I like the idea of being able to store, age and display entire boxes. Plus possibly an un-converted wine cooler for -- you know -- wine! But I'm sure I'll go the coolerdor route first, since they're easy and inexpensive.

My biggest concern at the moment is getting a CBid/UPS shipment that was originally scheduled for delivery Tuesday. First, weather delayed it getting into town. UPS rescheduled delivery for Wednesday and I had to be out when they showed up, so they rescheduled for Thursday. But Wednesday evening/Thursday morning we got ice and snow, and delivery slipped to today, and now to either tomorrow or Monday. (Don't know which day, yet. UPS doesn't normally deliver to residences on Saturday, but this week has been far from normal. E-mail I got was noncommittal, so is status on their website.) I'm not too concerned about the cigars suffering, since the Devil Site usually packs them well -- and either the warehouse is heated, or they'll get an extra beetle-killing freeze -- but I'm getting tired of rescheduling my days around a no-show Brown Truck, and I want to tuck the cigars into bed for a few days before they begin their trip to the new place.

[CamoSutra]

Time has come to start packing the cigars for my move next week. Including the latest two shipments, I now have a 100-count desktop, a 50-count desktop, two 15-count traveldors, seven shallow "temporary tupperdors" and a box of Olivas still in the box with the box in a ziplock; all full or nearly so. Bovedas in everything, HF beads in the two desktops. Empty space under the lids of the desktops will be filled with air-bags or bubblewrap so the cigars don't bounce around. I plan on smoking out of the traveldors until everything is in the new place and unpacked; everything else except the 100-count will fit into my 36-quart Coleman cooler, I think; if not, I'll put the overflow into a cardboard box. I'll just lock the 100-count, box it for transport, and hope for the best.

How many sticks total? Dunno, I didn't count, but I'd estimate around 225-250. (I've been gifting some of my local friends, probably given away 75 so far.) The collection I'm transporting runs the gamut from cheap Casa de Garcias to Avos, Fuentes and Padrons; right now I'm heavy on Rocky Patel, Oliva and Romeo y Julieta, light on several other favorites.

My leaky old 50-stick humidor is now an official cigarstuph box, someplace to keep supplies and accessories. Except it's 'way too small to hold everything, and I keep finding more that needs to be kept with the cigars, so I've filled a couple of cigar boxes and I'm working on a third one. All of these will end up boxed together for the movers to transport.

The way it looks now, I may end up filling the Accord's back seat and floorboard with just cigars and cigarstuph. That means the acoustic guitar will probably go into the trunk, and the rest of the musicstuph will either go on the moving truck or wait until I make a second trip in the car -- which I have to do anyway, since I won't trust movers with most of the computer gear. (I now know the exact location of every bump and pothole between here and there -- lots of them.)

I'll have more space in the new apartment, and I need it; I have too much stuph! The second bedroom will become a combination home office/cigar lounge/library/music room, leaving more usable space in the living room and master bedroom. There's also a patio, larger than the one here, where I can enjoy cigars and beverages when the weather's nice. The apartment community even has a picnic area with both gas and charcoal grills permanently installed, something I didn't have here. Now, if I can just get the manager to swap the small fridge in the kitchen for one of the larger ones they have ....

[CamoSutra]

Whoops! What I thought was a 36-quart cooler is only 28 quarts -- the "36" on the big label pasted to it refers to the number of 12-ounce cans it's designed to hold. When I started loading it up, three tupperdors and a 15-stick traveldor wouldn't fit -- also the 100-stick desktop, but I already knew it wouldn't.

Oh, well. I will pack the overflow into a moving box along with my ashtrays (which I forgot to consider when I started packing "cigarstuph" -- oops!), keep the little cooler for picnics, and buy a larger cooler for cigars after I'm settled at the new place.

Speaking of which: I get the keys Wednesday, movers will be here Friday, I hope to be completely moved by this time next week. Still too many boxes to finish filling, and just making my way through the apartment is getting hard to do. On the positive side, the weather today is nice (finally!) and I need a break from packing; I'm thinking about taking a drive in the country, with a couple of leafy friends to keep me company.

[CamoSutra]

Moving is mostly finished, just a few things left at the old apartment. The cigars made the move safely, which is the important thing. Enjoying an H. Uppmann Toro right now, watching Arrow courtesy of Xfinity on-demand, waiting for morning so I can get Internet turned on. (Using smartphone to send this.) About 25 miles from the nearest Tinder Box, a few miles more to the wonderful Tobacco Corner Ltd. Life is good.

[HabanoMan]

Congrats on the move! :thumb: