Bands On / Bands Off?

[Herf N Turf]

Pretty simple. Do you remove the band from your cigar before you smoke it, or leave it on until the burn requires you remove it?

The urban myth as to the history of the band goes something like this. Back in the Victorian era, both men and women smoked cigars. At the time, current fashion was that women wore long white gloves. Holding a warm cigar would cause the gloves to be discolored and the stains wouldn't come out. Bands were either added, or modified to be larger, so the woman could have enough room in order to hold the cigar and not stain her gloves. The rule of thumb was that women left the band on, but men should take it off.

That always begs the argument that it's nothing, but straight marketing.

Another position has traditionally been that to avoid damaging the cigar, one should wait until the burn ring is close enough to the band to warm the glue. Sounds good in theory, but having tried this hundreds of times, it doesn't work. The glue is simply too tenacious.

As a general rule, I prefer to remove the band as part of my pre-light ritual. I remove the band first, toast, cut, light.

[JollyRogers]

I tend to leave the bands on. I do this for two reasons, first is I think it gives me a nice base line for how far into the cigar I am. Second is I think bands look cool and tend to look at them in closer detail as I'm smoking my cigar. If I take the band off ahead of time I tend to not really look at it again, which to me is a waste of sometimes good artwork or graphic design.

[B daddy]

I like to show what I'm smoking and see what others are smoking. At minimum its a conversation starter. I tend to hold the cigar by the band as well. I wear white gloves pretty much every where I go.

[HabanoMan]

Seeing as how I age most of my stuff the band usually just slides right off. (The cigar usually becomes a tiny bit smaller when aged) If it doesn't slide off I will wait until it comes off easily. One exception to this is when I am doing a review. I think the band adds a bit of "pop" to the images.

The only downside to removing the band is that my dry cleaner charges extra to get the stains out of my white gloves.:p

[Billb1960]

Stay tuned for a Gloves On/Off poll...

[Bowtech4ever]

Remove. Started out smoking with them on, until one evening at an outside bar in Tampa. I had enjoyed many a local brew, when I was offered a cigar. Paying no attention, I fired it up, and went about drinking and yakin, until I encountered a horrible burnt taste. It was the band burning, and a really thick metallic one at that. Since then, I make sure to remove them just after examining the cigar.

[Billb1960]

I generally wait until the burn line gets 1/4-3/8" away from the band then remove. That way if I somehow damage the wrapper I've enjoyed a significant portion of the cigar carefree.

[wabashcr]

Like most others, I also wear white gloves. Bands on.

[HTML5 Gordon]

I tend to leave them on until I get about mid way through the cigar. There's no real reason why I leave them on though, as I stopped wearing white gloves back in the 80s.

I do recommend everyone always remove the band from the foot of cigars that have them before lighting. Just a friendly tip.

[anthony d]

I only wear one glove, ala Michael Jackson, but it happens to be on my smoking hand, so I leave them on.

[MattyMatt]

Stays on until the burn gets close.

[Billb1960]

Just FYI wearing white gloves after Labor Day is a fashion faux pas.

[HIM]

Quoting wikipedia here but I thought this was the origination of the band...

"cigar historians credit Dutch-born cigarmaker Gustave Bock with the invention of the cigar band in the 1830s, when he ordered paper rings with his signature on them placed on every cigar intended for export to Europe.[1] In this way, an indication of quality and prestige would be lent to Bock's products, he believed."

Anyhow, I leave the band on to have something to hold on to. The idea of a sweaty last third of a cigar isn't very appealing to me.

[Jordan23]

I leave mine on until I have to remove it.

[Hardheaded]

I tend to leave them on. There have been times that I cracked the wrapper a bit or cut a wee bit too much of the cap off, and some clever moving of the band keeps things together and smoking fine.

I also smoke alone 99% of the time, so showing off or seeing what others are enjoying is of no concern to me. I simply leave it in case I need it, and remove it when the burn dictates it is time.

[gordo1473]

I leave the band on. That way I know what I'm smoking. I get forgetful and need a reminder. That is why I always go around wearing a name tag.

[Horseshoe]

If the band slides off, I take it off. If it doesn't slide off, I wait until the band warms up enough to easily pull off. I have had too many sticks mess up a wrapper because it was "glued" to the wrapper. I do not ever leave the band on to flaunt.

[Sweet Cigars]

If the band slides off, I take it off. If it doesn't slide off, I wait until the band warms up enough to easily pull off. I have had too many sticks mess up a wrapper because it was "glued" to the wrapper. I do not ever leave the band on to flaunt.

Ditto for me...

[Cameradude]

After all my white gloves got stained, I bought black gloves. Problem solved. And I keep the band on until I am into the second third of the cigar.

[Tobias Lutz]

I only leave it on in two case- 1. I'm doing a review and will be taking pics or 2. It is glued odd and I want the heat to soften it so I don't damage the wrapper.

[droy1958]

I'm sitting here scratching my @$$ trying to figure out why my white gloves have brown stains. Hmmmm....maybe it's the cigars.....

[bluenoser]

Depends on the situation, if I'm going outside at night to smoke in the dark I usually take it off to avoid accidentally forgetting, but if it's day time, or the band fits too snug to just slip off I'll leave it on for a few minutes until it warms up and loosens the glue.

[FlyersFan]

i generally leave mine on for no particular reason since I normally smoke alone. The band on mine today may have gotten a little singed because I wasn't paying attention to the burn line so maybe it's time to consider naked cigars.

[jhedrick83]

So, nobody here takes the band off so they can strap on this bad boy?

http://www.davidoffmadison.com/index.cfm?edge=shop.itemDetail&categoryID=295&catColor=085AB5&category1=392&catalogID=2361
:stogie:

[gordo1473]

So, nobody here takes the band off so they can strap on this bad boy?

http://www.davidoffmadison.com/index.cfm?edge=shop.itemDetail&categoryID=295&catColor=085AB5&category1=392&catalogID=2361
:stogie:

I have 2 of those don't you? All the cool kids do

[Hardheaded]

So, nobody here takes the band off so they can strap on this bad boy?

http://www.davidoffmadison.com/index.cfm?edge=shop.itemDetail&categoryID=295&catColor=085AB5&category1=392&catalogID=2361
:stogie:

I had to have a custom one made out of seal skin and have it studded with exactly 37 diamonds. This one just was not flashy enough for me.

[MrMotoyoshi]

I never knew that history with the gloves and bands. I typically take mine off after I've smoked about 3/4 of it though.

[Tman]

Some cigars comes with a glue so strong I need a jaw of life to remove it. I just leave it on until it comes off easily.

[BMack]

I live in FL, it's hot and humid for 11 months a year...and I almost always smoke outside. I leave the band on so if my fingers get a little sweaty it doesn't get on the cigar. Also, it's nice to be able to show someone the band of a cigar they may ask you about in the event they're interested in buying one.

[Billb1960]

I never knew that history with the gloves and bands. I typically take mine off after I've smoked about 3/4 of it though.

The cigar or the band?

[MrMotoyoshi]

The cigar or the band?

I take the band off after smoking 3/4 of the cigar.

[thechasm442]

Band goes off when the cigar is burning close enough to it to heat the glue and make it effortless to remove.

[Lynn]

with my tobacco stained fingers, I tear off that band and lick that cigar from toe to head before I smoke it..

[TreySC]

I usually take it off at some point during the smoke.

[Tombstone]

I like to save my bands so I leave it on till I have to take it off. The heat tends to help loosen them up. Also helps avoid too much damage when you get that over zealous employee who schalacks the band to the wrapper like a toddler with a tub of paste.

[herman]

If the band feels tight or has a solid bond then I take it off before I light up so I don't disturb the ash. If it feels easy to remove I leave it on.

[DrBob]

I leave the band on as long as I can. I like the aesthetics of the band, but more importantly I tend to fiddle with my cigar and the band keeps me from damaging the cigar while smoking it.

[Ropey]

I take it off before I light it.

The idea that the "heat" of the cigar "loosens" the glue is bunk. The vegetable glues used in cigar rolling are "thermogels" -- this means that, as they heat, they harden even more. Which makes sense, because otherwise cigars would all start coming unrolled as they burned.

Look it up if you don't believe me.

[Indyhp]

Cut, remove band, toast, light, smoke.

I take the band off before lighting for two reasons. First, I find it is easier to carefully remove a band that doesn't want to let go if the cigar isn't approaching nub-size and there isn't a smoking fire in my face and 1/2 inch from my fingers. The heat DOES NOT make a stuck band easier to remove.

Second, to me it looks either unpracticed or pretentious to smoke a stogey with the band on. That's just how I feel about it, your mileage may vary.

[Sticky B]

I keep it on for the pretty

I take it off for the taste

[UncleFesterESQ]

I prefer to smoke my cigar in the buff... you can take that anyway you please.

[Bruck]

I usually take the band off near the beginning of the smoke. It's a habit I picked up in the Victorian Era.

[CigarMan Andy]

If you are interested, this is an article written by a well known tobacco family about fifteen years ago. Because it was for a college course and a grade, I wont reveal which family as per his request. This goes back further than some of the histories we have seen.

Cigar Bands - Hearsay & History

The origin of cigar bands lies primarily in the realm of business and commerce. By the early 1800s the Caribbean island nation of Cuba was the commonly acknowledged source of the finest cigars in the world. Cigar manufacturers shipped cigars in wooden barrels or small wooden boxes which were inscribed with the name of the manufacturer and place of origin, but without any further adornment on the cigars themselves. Cigar bands made of paper were reportedly first introduced by a Dutchman working in the cigar industry in Havana in the 1830s. In Europe it was apparently not uncommon to find unscrupulous merchants attempting to sell inferior, domestically made cigars as a finer Cuban brand, thus Cuban cigar manufacturers soon began to utilize paper bands as a deterrent to counterfeiting and fraudulent marketing.

Paper cigar bands became increasingly common in the following decades as most cigar manufacturers began wrapping each cigar in a small paper band imprinted with their own logo or emblem. The advent of the Industrial Revolution during the Victorian era brought together a number of factors that aided in a rapid expansion of the cigar industry such that by 1870 cigars had surpassed all other tobacco products in sales. Cigars became widely accepted as a relatively inexpensive status symbol.

On the political front, the displacement of many skilled cigarmakers from Cuba during the civil unrest that accompanied that country's Ten Year War (1868-1878) provided the foundation for the establishment of a flourishing cigar industry in southern Florida. By the late 1800s Key West had become one of the leading ports in the U.S. and cigar manufacturing had become Florida's leading industry, its products made more competitive by the lack of the import tax levied against Cuban produced cigars. By the end of the 19th century cigar smoking had reached wide popularity and cigar manufacturing was a huge and thriving industry with billions of cigars sold annually. In the U.S. alone, the federal government had registered over 70,000 cigar manufacturers in business, ranging in size from well-established, larger companies to many thousands of small "mom and pop" firms.

Coincident with the rising popularity of cigars were several developments in printing technology that came about as part of the Industrial Revolution. Perfected by the French and Germans in the early 1800s, lithography represented a third, new major type of printing technology as an alternative to relief printing (e.g., movable type) or intaglio (e.g., etching). Synthetic dyes and coloring agents were discovered in Britain in the mid-1800s, and their refinement, development and mass-manufacture by the German chemical industry in the latter half of the century helped pave the way for inexpensive, widespread and elaborate use of color in printed materials via the chromolithographic process. Lithography soon became inexpensive enough to be widely used commercially. Additionally, the technique of embossing paper was developed at a commercial level by the 1880s, as was gilding, i.e., the application to paper of gold leaf, and bronzing, the application to paper of fine bronze powder mixed with lacquer in order to mimic more costly gold leaf.

Along with the popularity of cigars, these various enhancements to the printing process ushered in the "Golden Age" of cigar-related advertising artwork (circa 1890-1920). The huge number of cigar manufacturers and brands also led to an increased need to differentiate one brand from another. The cigar industry was among the first to employ chromolithography, embossing and gilding in advertising artwork, which, along with aggressive promotion and marketing, further stimulated sales of cigars. Cigar bands, and especially cigar box labels from this era characteristically exhibited detailed, high-quality artwork by accomplished professional lithographic artists. Germany was a major source of the finest cigar box labels and cigar bands during this period, and fine work was also produced in Cuba, the Netherlands, and the United States. Many highly skilled lithographers emigrated from Germany to the U.S. during the 1870s to escape the social and economic upheaval that followed Bismarck's political unification efforts in Germany, and many of them found work in prominent U.S. printing firms or formed their own firms.

Additionally, when one recalls that a century ago illiteracy was far more commonplace, the appeal and practicality of pictures, color, and identifiable designs on labels made good commercial advertising sense. Visual differentiation as a means of communication had long been utilized to distinguish denominations of paper currency by producing various sizes, different colors and designs, and is still common today in many regions of the world with high rates of illiteracy, wherein political parties and their candidates customarily are associated with a certain logo or emblem on election ballots. Logos and brand emblems are so commonplace today that they are taken for granted.

Cigar bands often incorporated a design similar to the larger, more elaborate labels on the cigar boxes. Subject matter and imagery varied widely and often reflected contemporary culture and social interests. Just as many commercial products today are decorated with pictures of celebrities, the practice was also common in cigar labeling. Many well known entertainers, actors, and personalities of the day were depicted on cigar bands and box labels, as were were historical figures, politicians, leaders, patriotic themes, cultural heroes, and animals and scenery. Private institutions, clubs, businesses, organizations and even wealthy individuals often had their own "vanity" labels produced, and labels were often made commemorating special events or celebrations.

Since cigar smokers were predominantly men, other common subjects for label art were, not surprisingly, drawn from the then male-oriented worlds of sports, hunting, and the military. Portraits of women were also very common, presumably as a means to attract male customers, but possibly also as a gesture to women smokers.

Because the finest tobaccos traditionally came from the Spanish West Indies where cigar production originated, cigar labels often incorporated Spanish phrases, names or themes to reinforce the perception that cigars from Cuba and the surrounding region were the finest one could purchase. Common phrases included "Flor Fina" (fine flower), suggesting the cigar was made from the choicest tobacco available, "Por la Noblesse" (for the nobility) suggesting quality that would satisfy an aristocrat, "Non Plus Ultra" (none better), and "Vuelta Abajo" referring to the Cuban province that reputedly produced the finest cigar tobacco. Many labels also advertised the quality of a certain cigar brand by reference to Cuba or Havana. Spanish name references adorned many a cigar produced in places like Chicago and Cincinnati, far removed from the Caribbean.

During the "Golden Age", collecting cigar bands became a very popular and inexpensive hobby, especially among children since the colorful bands were often found littering streets and public places, waiting to be picked up. As part of their marketing efforts some manufacturers also produced sets of bands aimed specifically at young collectors and gave them away as promotional items, though the bands themselves were never actually wrapped around a cigar. Cigar bands were often incorporated into "folk art" such as decoupage and collage. A variety of blank albums were manufactured specifically for displaying cigar band collections, much as they are today for coins, stamps and photographs. The hobby of cigar band collecting is known as vitolophily.

Production of detailed and ornate designs on U.S. cigar bands and cigar box labels diminished rapidly in the years following World War I, primarily due to cost cutting in favor of the newly-developed and less expensive four-color photomechanical printing process, a large reduction in the number of U.S. cigar manufacturers via industry consolidations, the introduction of mass-produced, machine-made lower-quality cigars, and declining overall demand for cigars in the face of growing popularity of packaged cigarettes which began to surpass cigars in sales by the early 1920s. Accordingly, by the 1930s cigar labeling and advertising in the U.S. had become noticeably lower in aesthetic quality and more generic in design.

[Sticky B]

I've noticed our new logo is a "bands on" kinda guy - if that sways anyone???:stogie:

[oleballcoachtn]

I take it off right after I take a pic of the cigar which happens usually in the beginning of the first 3rd. No other reason than I just simply like the look of the cigar without the band on.

[Bruck]

:cool:

[Engineer99]

For me, the band only serves to identify the cigar. Once I've ascertained the identity of the stick in hand, I slip off the band. This used to be a problem with wet sticks that have not had time to acclimate, but not anymore for me. Band slides off easily, stick ready to smoke.

[Lynn]

Part of the pleasure in smokin that cigar is to feel the tobaccos between my fingers..the firmness, veins, oils, you know the feel of it, and that paper just gets in the way...

[Zeede]

I wait until the cherry gets near the band. I think the heat helps loosen the glue.

I had a Sam Leccia White where I tried to take it off early and the band was damaged (the wrapper cracked a little, but the damage was just cosmetic.

[Cool Breeze]

I usually leave them on.

However I tend to remove them first when smoking a RP Edge or a Deisel Unlimited. ;)

[Frankenstein]

I wait until the cherry gets near the band. I think the heat helps loosen the glue.


My philosophy as well

[Demuths1770]

i leave it on espically when im at a lounge and not for status symbol but for a conversation starter. cigar band is a great way to strike conversation up!

[Dijit]

I tend to leave the bands on as well since I have found that many times there is a bit of glue that sticks to the wrapper so I wait for the heat to cause the glue to release. It also helps with preserving the band IMHO for those few that collect or reuse the bands for whatever person.