Cigar storage question
 

I will be away from home for 4-5 months this winter. My plan is to put my humi in a cooler, along with a box or two, with a 1/2 lb of beads.

Is it OK to leave everything for that long or should I get my wife to open the cooler up once in a while?

Re: Cigar storage question
 

I think opening the cooler up once every couple weeks wouldnt be a bad idea... get a little air exchange going

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I would have her check it and add some water here and there... :ss

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Opening the cooler every couple weeks is good, but it will allow humidity to escape, so you better teach the wife to hydrate the beads.

Or, you could send them all to me and I'll take good care of em for ya:D

Re: Cigar storage question
 

Thanks, but no offense, I trust my wife more. Because she doesn't smoke:D.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

My wife doesn't smoke either ..so she could "watch them" for ya ...hehe


Seriously though as long as you show her how to watch the hygrometer and such once a week check up on them should be good.

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:tpd: I would have my wife check the RH every week, and humidify the beads when needed. If your wife is like mine, she knows how much you care about your smokes and she will care for them as if they were her first born child.:2

Re: Cigar storage question
 

You should be fine if you show your wife how to take care of the beads. I had to have my dad take care of my humi when I was in Gettysburg as it was too hot down there to have them in my apartment. I was really scared at first to let anyone touch my babies but when I got home he didn't f em up and they were in perfect condition.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

I have a pound of beads in my cooler and I very seldom have to add water. Maybe once every 2 months and I'm in the cooler a lot. Just a quick spray with a little distilled water goes a long way.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

Thanks to everyone for the info, and the offers to take care of my sticks:D.

I bought my cooler today (48qt Coleman), washed it and now just letting it dry out.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

walkabout or are the newfie cops after 'ya? :D

good luck & you could always bring the stash with 'ya to make sure the babies are perfectly safe!

Re: Cigar storage question
 

Thanks, I'm going to Alberta to work on my Welding Apprenticeship.

I don't have a huge collection by any means, but more than I want to bring with me. Some will definitely be coming with me, but I'll have to find a warm place to smoke them. The winters are pretty cold up there.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

Great thread guys! I'm getting ready to be in a similar situation, so it's great to read about 'long term storage' where you can't be there all the time.

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In the past I have placed a small glass with distilled water in it in the cooler, as the RH changes the beads should absorb or release water from the air... someone correct me if this is not a good idea please! LOL

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Pure water in a glass? No beads in the glass? Sounds like a very bad idea since beads can't hold much moisture and they are quickly over saturated leading to 100 % RH inside your cooler!

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My RH sits at exactly 65% with 1 lb. of 65% Beads... Guess I better look a little closer, but seems to work well for me.

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Smoke as much as you can and give away the rest. :D

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I'm only going away for a few months, not dying.:tg

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You'll be fine, plenty of people toss the cooler in a closet and forget about it for months at a time when aging boxes. An air tight cooler won't allow the RH to fluctuate enough to be an issue.

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Ah, you have a lot of beads and therefore a huge specific area to regulate the RH! But, why using a glass of water instead of giving the beads some extra water?

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I don't keep it that way all the time... just when I am afraid I won't be able to check on them in a few weeks. Yeah I am lazy! :D

Re: Cigar storage question
 

:tpd:

Without opening the cooler, where's the RH going to go? By putting the humi in there, you're wearing a belt & suspenders. The beads likely won't need refreshing until you're on the back end of your trip. And you don't have to worry about mold because there won't be any extra humidity added.

I think having the wife opening up the cooler to let air exchange introduces more problems than its worth. The less untrained hands in there, the better. Just charge those beads up the night before you leave & let them babies sit undisturbed.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

It depends on the RH in your house during the time. In the winter, the ambient RH tends to be very dry so it's good to check the RH inside your cooler every now and then, I'd say every two weeks or so.

I'm lucky in that even in the winter, the RH in my finished basement (where my coolerdors are) never gets below 50%. I haven't added water to my beads in over a year and a half.

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I think there is something being missed here...where in Alberta are you going to be? We have some BOTL's there...:ss

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In Edmonton. I already know of viesturs near by, and Silverfox in Calgary.

We should see if there are enough BOTLs for a herf.

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Here in the high desert, I put a sponge soaked with distilled water on top of my beads. Not dripping or anything, just well soaked. It's usually dry within two weeks. I never spray my beads though.

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You still in the Edmonton region?

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Nope. I'll be back there early Jan to Late May.

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Wow, that's a long time! Arkansas will miss you...you know you could always just bring your cigars to the herf and I'm sure there will be MANY, MANY volunteers who will step forward to watch them for you. :D

Seriously, we'll miss you and pray everything goes well while you are up there.

Re: Cigar storage question
 

Well, I had my cooler ready to go, and was about to train in my wife on the beads, when another option appeared. I was going to take a bunch of smokes with in a small humi, and a couple of travel humis.

But I forgot to pick up the small one. So decided to just pack up my larger humi (50-70 count) and take it with me. My wife was worried about it getting damaged, so she suggested putting it in my cooler and taking that.

She forgot that the rest of my sticks were in the cooler, but with some rearranging I was able to pack my humi and the rest of my sticks and take the whole coolerador with me.

I certainly don't need them all with me, but it worked out pretty good.

Anyone in Alberta want to herf? :ss

Re: Cigar storage question
 

should be fine, just get her to open the cooler every couple of weeks

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Might be a good idea to pick up a hygro that records min and max of humidity and temp. That way when she opens it to check, she knows what the humidity has been at. If it doesnt drop for three weeks then begins too......she will realize thats when the beads need to be charged.

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Sounds like you picked a great solution, DIY! haha. I travel with a 75ct wooden humi right now, and my vino stays at home, unattended. I did go with the small bowl of distilled water and a bunch o' beads. I had that setup from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and they were rock solid while I was gone!

Re: Cigar storage question
 

A smoker might be a reasonable idea indeed. It might be a little dicey trying to make it all come together however...

Kayaker how long you in town for?

Next week or weekend might be a possibility for me. Unfortunately though the only venue I could offer would be a cold garage. CBaker8 may also be a possibility, but I haven't heard from him in a while (not that I keep close tabs on you all).

I am up for something.

Cheers

Cyanide

Re: Cigar storage question
 

i still condsider myself a newb but i would have her open it up now and then