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.