A few noob questions

[Chris0673]

Hey guys! Poking my nose in from the pipe side. Sure smells great over here! lol Anyway, I had a few questions to ask of the more seasoned cigar smokers.

1. How important is it to keep your cigars in a humidor?

2. Can you rehydrate dried up cigars?

3. How do you prevent "runners"? Where one side of the cigar burns faster than the other?

4. Lacking a real humidor I've been keeping my cigars in a cigar box with a "water bag" (one of those bags with those gel things you let soak in water). I keep the whole thing inside a rather large Ammo can I picked up while deployed. This serves as my "travel case" as well since it pretty near indestructible. I keep a few pipes, some pipe tobacco, and a few other smoking tools in there as well. My question is this...how difficult would it be to convert this ammo can into an actual humidor? And is it ok to keep the pipe tobacco stored in there with the cigars?

5. Any of you guys/ladies in western New York? I'm pretty central to Buffal, Olean, and Geneseo.

[Horseshoe]

Step 1: Buy a Tupperware container

Step 2: Buy some Boveda packs. I prefer 65 rH large packs. One pack for each 25 sticks.

Step 3: Put cigars and Boveda packs in the Tupperdor and close lid.

This is a cheap fool proof method for a humidor. Proper Humidification is key. If your stick is not humidified properly it can lead to burn issues which could be the issue with your runners(canoeing). If you are going to spend money on the hobby, back up your investment with proper Humidification. It is cheap to do! I recommend you getting a digital hygrometer as I prefer XiKar as it has a nice warranty. Calibrate the hygrometer every 6 months, I prefer the boveda calibration kit.

To bring dry sticks back to life, let the sticks rest in a properly humidified container. You want to increase rH a little at a time. Slow and steady.

[lvfcrook1503]

1. How important is it to keep your cigars in a humidor?

Doesn't have to be a "humidor per say" could be a tupperware container, cooler, Ammo Can...Anything with a solid seal. Just make sure to clean it well and remove any smells. Throw in a few pieces of spanish cedar to get it smelling nice. For these types of set ups Boveda would probably better than a water pillow

2. Can you rehydrate dried up cigars?

Yes! Although if they are older or have been dried up for a while, the flavors won't be as good.

3. How do you prevent "runners"? Where one side of the cigar burns faster than the other?

In my experience this is usually from construction so there's not much you can do. Smoke slow and be sure to get an even light when you first spark it up.

4. Lacking a real humidor I've been keeping my cigars in a cigar box with a "water bag" (one of those bags with those gel things you let soak in water). I keep the whole thing inside a rather large Ammo can I picked up while deployed. This serves as my "travel case" as well since it pretty near indestructible. I keep a few pipes, some pipe tobacco, and a few other smoking tools in there as well. My question is this...how difficult would it be to convert this ammo can into an actual humidor? And is it ok to keep the pipe tobacco stored in there with the cigars?

http://www.ammodors.com/ <<about that easy lol. Not sure on the pipe tobacco as I'm not a pipe guy!

5. Any of you guys/ladies in western New York? I'm pretty central to Buffal, Olean, and Geneseo.

I'm a Jersey guy

Hope this helps lol

[Browns7213]

[QUOTE=lvfcrook1503;19322]1.
3. How do you prevent "runners"? Where one side of the cigar burns faster than the other?

In my experience this is usually from construction so there's not much you can do. Smoke slow and be sure to get an even light when you first spark it up.
/QUOTE]

Jimmy's right that this can be a construction issue, but this can also be caused by improper storage. Hence the importance of your first question.

[Will46r]

The running can also be caused by a bad cut at the head. I also rotate my cigar while smoking, it seems to help even out the burn.

[Nature]

Welcome to Cigars!

1. How important is it to keep your cigars in a humidor?
Very important for the long term for maintaining flavor. Important in the short term from burning properties. Storing cigars at the proper humidity maintains the oils and flavors as well as creating proper conditions for desired burn behavior. Allowing cigars to dry out will result in loss of flavor, hot burns ==> off flavors, and possibly cracking of the wrapper. A short term outside of the humidor for up to few days depending upon conditions prior to smoking is OK. Some people may leave a cigar in an un-humidified box as a practice of "dry-boxing" to slightly dry the cigar out before smoking.

2. Can you rehydrate dried up cigars?
Yes. But if they were dry too long, it is probably not worth it. They won't be the same. If it was not too long of a period you can, but should be done slowly and gradually, depending on how dry the cigar became and the length of time that is was dry.

3. How do you prevent "runners"? Where one side of the cigar burns faster than the other?
Often times you can't, if it is due to construction issue. The best you can do in this case is to touch up the slower burning side with a match or lighter.
Sometimes uneven burning can be caused by storage conditions, such as having a cigar stored too close to a humidification source on one side and thus one half of the cigar has slightly more moisture than the other.

4. Lacking a real humidor I've been keeping my cigars in a cigar box with a "water bag" (one of those bags with those gel things you let soak in water). I keep the whole thing inside a rather large Ammo can I picked up while deployed. This serves as my "travel case" as well since it pretty near indestructible. I keep a few pipes, some pipe tobacco, and a few other smoking tools in there as well. My question is this...how difficult would it be to convert this ammo can into an actual humidor? And is it ok to keep the pipe tobacco stored in there with the cigars?
Any container with a decent seal will work. Your set-up with a cigar-box in a ammo can works great! As someone already mentioned, they make Ammodors just for this purpose. As an alternative you can use a sealed plastic container.

I would not recommend storing your pipe tobacco with the cigars though. The flavors and aromas from the pipe tobacco with merge with your cigars. Being as you like the pipe tobacco, maybe this is a good thing for you! Where you have your cigars segregated in a cigar box, it might take some time, but will still occur. Infused and fire cured cigars should also be stored separately from other cigars.

5. Any of you guys/ladies in western New York? I'm pretty central to Buffal, Olean, and Geneseo.
I think there are a few guys up that way. There is a fine brother @WNYTONY in Olean and I believe he might occasionally enjoy the pipe as well.

[piperdown]

^^^^ excellent responses Gentlemen!

[Monkey]

I'd just like to add to what Horseshoe posted up above. For a small number of sticks a tupperware container with Boveda packs is pretty much perfect. You don't have to worry about seasoning and it is a very cheap investment. The Boveda packs will eventually dry out (they get hard and no longer gel-like when they are done) but they can be rehydrated! Stick them in either a ziplock bag or another tupperware container with a damp sponge until they feel like gel again and you'll have brand new packs. This can save you money in the long run. Maybe keep a couple sets and have one rehydrating while the other humidifies and swap 'em out every so often.

Now for larger storage I recommend a cooler and it's what I currently use. You can use Boveda packs here too but it can get a bit expensive because you'll need a lot of them. A better option for a cooler is to use a bulk humidification medium that you'll occasionally have to spritz with distilled water. The more expensive version of that is Heartfelt Beads but I've heard very good things about them. The cheap-ass version (my choice) is to use kitty litter. It has to be unscented and it has to be the clear silicone crystal kind. Exquisicat Crystals are a good brand for this. The kitty litter works just like the beads, put it in a container with some holes and occasionally spritz it with water to maintain humidity.

For the cooler with HF or KL you'll need a hygrometer. There will bit a little bit of work figuring out how much to spritz your humidification medium to get the desired humidification level (65% is a good start) but with a bit of trial and error it's not too bad.

[theHammer56]

You're gonna love http://www.ammodors.com/ They sound like they'll be right up your alley.

It also sounds like you're not the kinda' guy who is going to tinker with and check on his humidor on a fairly regular basis. Therefore, I would HIGHLY recommend going the Boveda packs route vs. any hydration system that requires a fairly long learning curve and attention to detail. Boveda is as close to "set it and forget it" that there is on the market. Yes, you can skin the cat other ways - but I think your 'other ways' results may be closer to what you're already experiencing. Tupperware, Boveda and cigars: simple. And your Boveda packs can come in contact with your cigars; other systems - that's a big no-no.

[WNYTONY]

There is a fine brother @WNYTONY in Olean and I believe he might occasionally enjoy the pipe as well.[/INDENT]

Mark - just let me know what I owe you for that and where to send it !


Chris - I responded on your other post but yes - Olean here. We were talking over on the other site when you were getting ready to move. I'm all for meeting up for a smoke sometime, other than one or two golf buddies I know no one else around here that smokes cigars or pipe and as you know we have no B&M's in the area.

As to your other questions - I can't add anything to the solid advice these other guys have already given you.
Welcome to western NY !