Here's some bad news on five finger bags.

[shilala]

I managed to get in touch with the gentleman that drop-ships five finger bags for Gargoyle and found out what's up.
Gargoyle isn't out of business.
Though he had no idea their website was down and that their phone numbers no longer work, he assured me that they're changing the way they do things, still exist, and are phasing out cigar paraphenalia.
So far as five finger bags go, they're not going to happen. There are gazillions of three finger bags sitting in the warehouse and they absolutely have to be moved out or there will never be any more five finger bags.
That's for sure.

As the conversation happened I got the distinct impression that there just will never be any more finger bags, period (once the three fingers are gone).
This is just one of a bunch of products the parent company offers, it's a very low profit item, and although they're important to us and we love them, their importance to the manufacturer and distributor is near zero.

I also found that they are patented. As such, manufacture is protected to the extent of the patent. That doesn't mean that someone can't make five fingered resealable bags, it just means that no one can make them the way they're made, kinda.
Long story short is that I've talked to a few poly bag makers and so far they can only make two finger bags.

The point of sharing this story is that I've been waiting for months on five finger bags to become available again. I know lots of you guys are waiting, too. I've decided I'm not waiting anymore because it looks like I'm waiting for something that's not going to happen at least in the next year and it's highly likely that they'll never be available again.

I'm going to continue to try to get them made if at all possible, but that looks less likely with each conversation I have.
I know how to make them, but they'd take lots of hand time and cost a lot, so although I could make them for myself, making them for others is highly unlikely.
It may be a good idea to get some three fingers while you can. I had a bunch but I just cleared them out in the WTS forum. I'm not sure if I can score any more, either.
Sorry, guys. I thought some of you might like to know this stuff. :(

[AD720]

Bummer.

I will certainly be reusing ALL of the bags that I have/received. Even the ones with writing, etc.

Thanks for doing the research Scott.

[j-easy]

Thanks for the info, I was waiting for them to become available before i jumped in on the noob pass and PIF. you spoke about making your own 5 finger bags, if you don't plan on making them and selling them would you mind sharing some information, is this something all the BOTL could make at home for themselves with some basic equipment?

[md4958]

Thanks for letting us know Scott! Are they willing to give us a super deal on the three finger bags?? I see a potential group buy in the works.

Also, when I visited JR Cigar in NYC they putall your purchases in SIX finger bags. I wonder if these are made by the same manufacturer???

[av8tor152d]

Good to know Scott. Might have to grab up some of the 3 finger bags myself.

[MikeyC]

That does stink. I think we all need to committ to recycling our 5 finger bags. :tu

[shilala]

you spoke about making your own 5 finger bags, if you don't plan on making them and selling them would you mind sharing some information, is this something all the BOTL could make at home for themselves with some basic equipment?

You can make finger bags with an impulse sealer.
The heat has to be perfect and the bag has to be of the right material to work without making holes. It's a tightrope act to get everything right and will probably require resistorizing the impulse sealer, blah, blah, blah.
So the answer is "maybe". If it turns out to be real simple, I'll definately share whatever I find out with the brothers here.
If it turns out to be tough, I'll just build an impulse sealer with four elements and make them myself by the gobs.
It's a project that's about 20 deep in the shilala cue right now, but I think it's worthwhile. I just need to get things off my bench before I can mess with it. I gotta make some money before I end up living in Vinnie's basement. :)




Also, when I visited JR Cigar in NYC they putall your purchases in SIX finger bags. I wonder if these are made by the same manufacturer???

I'm sure someone somewhere can make more than two compartments in a bag. I just haven't found them yet. :)
Minimum order is always 35,000+ bags, so you got that, too.
It's very highly unlikely that the patent owner does the manufacture, so if I get lucky I should be able to find the guy with the machine that makes the bags. If I can do that, I'm sure he'll be able to help out.

[Volt]

Hmmm Thanks for the info Scott. Do we have a source on the 3 finger stuff. As teh fiver is now dead and teh sixer is the new standard :D

[shilala]

Hmmm Thanks for the info Scott. Do we have a source on the 3 finger stuff. As teh fiver is now dead and teh sixer is the new standard :D
Mike, I don't even know if a guy can order 3 fingers now.
Gargoyle's website is gone and their numbers are disconnected.
I don't even know if I still have the dropshipper's address and he sounded like he won't/doesn't take orders. I more or less asked him, too.

[tenbaseg]

Jeez. I was just about to post a WTB for some finger bags. I have ZERO left.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully something will emerge soon.

[HK3-]

Bummer. That blows. Those little bags rocked.

[elderboy02]

Thanks for the info. I just don't understand why they don't raise the prices of the bags if they are not making much of a profit off of them.

[Yazzie]

Look on the bright side. when they are all gone we will just have to start sending each other full boxes :r:r:r

[shilala]

Thanks for the info. I just don't understand why they don't raise the prices of the bags if they are not making much of a profit off of them.
If Gargoyle is doing away with cigar accessories, price doesn't matter. Even if they double the price, it isn't going to make any difference in an unprofitable line of items.
I would have thought they sell more of these bags than they obviously do, but if you consider that you can only buy them at one place in the world, they must not have been concerned about marketing them.
Kinda like me and my beads. :)

[Volt]

If Gargoyle is doing away with cigar accessories, price doesn't matter. Even if they double the price, it isn't going to make any difference in an unprofitable line of items.
I would have thought they sell more of these bags than they obviously do, but if you consider that you can only buy them at one place in the world, they must not have been concerned about marketing them.
Kinda like me and my beads. :)

Ummm If you get out of the bead business, can we get a heads up to order some :)

[shilala]

Ummm If you get out of the bead business, can we get a heads up to order some :)
When I get out of the bead business, it'll be because passed the whole shootin' match off to someone who wants to make some money.
That's what I do. I invent stuff, do all the fun parts, and then pass it along. Been doing it for lots of years and I've created some really cool stuff.
I just don't enjoy the business/marketing/selling thing. It's too much drudgery and the whole time I'm doing it I just want to be doing something else. I tried it. Blech.
I LOVE researching and inventing stuff, it makes me happy.
All the rest sucks. :)

[Silound]

For those of you that use a LOT of finger bags, you can buy a Traco TISH-100 Impulse Sealer for around 50 dollars. Buy boxes of 1000 polypropylene bags in the size you need and seal your own finger bags down to custom sizes.

I have access to a slightly larger one, the TISH-200 that does an 8" long seal (the 100 model has a 4" seal), so I can adjust my seal size as needed. Both models make a seal about 2mm wide, and as far as I've been using it, I buy just plain cheap 8x8 or 8x10 2mil/4mil poly bags for around 35-40 dollars for a case of 1000.

Granted that's a time consuming effort if I needed 1000 bags right away, but I have a handful made and can make a handful more if I ever need them.

[av8tor152d]

Ummm If you get out of the bead business, can we get a heads up to order some :)

I agree Scott I would have to order enough to fill any and all storage devices I would possibly ever own. To include my B&M when I retire from the Army.

[shilala]

For those of you that use a LOT of finger bags, you can buy a Traco TISH-100 Impulse Sealer for around 50 dollars. Buy boxes of 1000 polypropylene bags in the size you need and seal your own finger bags down to custom sizes.

I have access to a slightly larger one, the TISH-200 that does an 8" long seal (the 100 model has a 4" seal), so I can adjust my seal size as needed. Both models make a seal about 2mm wide, and as far as I've been using it, I buy just plain cheap 8x8 or 8x10 2mil/4mil poly bags for around 35-40 dollars for a case of 1000.

Granted that's a time consuming effort if I needed 1000 bags right away, but I have a handful made and can make a handful more if I ever need them.
Can you keep them airtight with that sealer? We used different sealers back in the day to seal the same material (gussetted poly bags) and they were an incredible pain in the ass to keep them the right temperature. I can't even imagine how painful it'd be putting 4000 seals in 1000 bags. :D
I used to have a girlfriend whose parents owned a balloon business. I used to get coralled into making balloons when they did parades and weddings. We used heat sealers on the mylar balloons.
I had about a 500 balloon limit and I was looking for the door. :r

[shilala]

I agree Scott I would have to order enough to fill any and all storage devices I would possibly ever own. To include my B&M when I retire from the Army.
I'm gonna go put five pounds on the WTS board right now.
Consider yourself heads upped. :r

[av8tor152d]

I'm gonna go put five pounds on the WTS board right now.
Consider yourself heads upped. :r

Are you saying I need to start stocking up, I still need to pay you for the second set of vino drawers lol.

[shilala]

Are you saying I need to start stocking up, I still need to pay you for the second set of vino drawers lol.
Hehehehe.
I still don't have them done, so we're even. :D

[j-easy]

would this thing work?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43477

[j-easy]

For those of you that use a LOT of finger bags, you can buy a Traco TISH-100 Impulse Sealer for around 50 dollars. Buy boxes of 1000 polypropylene bags in the size you need and seal your own finger bags down to custom sizes.

I have access to a slightly larger one, the TISH-200 that does an 8" long seal (the 100 model has a 4" seal), so I can adjust my seal size as needed. Both models make a seal about 2mm wide, and as far as I've been using it, I buy just plain cheap 8x8 or 8x10 2mil/4mil poly bags for around 35-40 dollars for a case of 1000.

Granted that's a time consuming effort if I needed 1000 bags right away, but I have a handful made and can make a handful more if I ever need them.

do you get these online? everyone ive found that sells them wants 2x that price

[shilala]

would this thing work?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43477
Dunno.

do you get these online? everyone ive found that sells them wants 2x that price
Try papermart.com. They have the best prices on poly that I've ever found and they're good folks. I've been buying from them for almost 10 years now, if my mind serves me right.

[j-easy]

thanks for the link,

and for anyone that was looking into building an impulse sealer

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Heat-Sealer/

http://www.dutchforce.com/~eforum/index.php?showtopic=16524&st=0&#entry139622

[alley00p]

Thanks, Scott for the info! Hopefully I can get some 3's for the time being! :D

[Silound]

would this thing work?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43477

Looks like the same thing basically, so I'd say yes.

do you get these online? everyone ive found that sells them wants 2x that price

usplastics.com is where I do my business. I go by their warehouse in Ohio about twice a year while traveling, so I can stop by and buy them in store too.



As far as keeping them airtight, as long as you don't overheat the bags (IE just heat them enough to melt a seal) you keep a good seal to them. If you overheat them, you end up causing the bags to rip along the edges of the seal. It took me around 10-15 bags to learn the amount of time to do them, so it's not a costly learning process.

[Volt]

Pretty soon the five finger bag will be as rare as the cargo it carries.

[8lug]

sorry to sound dumb but what is a five finger bag? anybody got a photo

[NCRadioMan]

sorry to sound dumb but what is a five finger bag? anybody got a photo
It's a ziplock bag that is segmented so that you can place 5 cigars in the bag without them rolling around and touching. Here is a pic in this post: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpost.php?p=148016&postcount=410


I thought eveybody already knew these were gone for good. They havn't been available for a while.

[BlackIrish]

I managed to get in touch with the gentleman that drop-ships five finger bags for Gargoyle and found out what's up.
I also found that they are patented. As such, manufacture is protected to the extent of the patent. That doesn't mean that someone can't make five fingered resealable bags, it just means that no one can make them the way they're made, kinda.


Kinda amazed that you could get a patent on a 5-finger ziplock bag. Seems pretty obvious to me, but what do I know?

Anyway, thanks for the info. I always reuse these, and now I'll guard my supply jealously.

[karmaz00]

that sucks. thank god i stocked up

[MithShrike]

I still have about 240 sitting in a shoe box here...

[Bax]

I heard that Fuente bought them all and they're limited release around Christmas, the retail cost is about 13 dollars a bag but C-bid has them going form 30-45 each.:ss

Best cigar bag ever made some say....

[rsamos]

I heard that Fuente bought them all and they're limited release around Christmas, the retail cost is about 13 dollars a bag but C-bid has them going form 30-45 each.:ss

Best cigar bag ever made some say....
I've also heard it's best to let they lay for a year or so before you try to use them.

[tedrodgerscpa]

Reduce, reuse, recycle

[ucla695]

Doh! I’ve been waiting for these to become available again, but I’m glad I know. Thanks for the information.