Cyanide

I live in Edmonton, Alberta, just north of CigarusMaximus. Here it is also many digits below freezing with RH well below 20%. I have done this method with my two new humidors and it worked so wonderfully that I have started to question the need to season a humi at all.

1. Open new humi
2. Fill humi with cigars already aclimated to 65-70% RH (but don't let then touch walls/floor of humi)
3. Fill spaces with little jars of water (I mean as many of those as you can fit in)
4. Throw in digital hygrometer
5. Walk away

When I come back to check (from 1 hr and then randomly throughout the next few days) I find that the RH on the hygros drops to about 60% and then slowly drifts up to 65%. Then, I alter the water containers/bead containers as I see fit vs the weather (with frequent sudden drops in temperature, and concommitent drops in environmental RH...to like 10%, this can be very frequent).

My theory on the matter is this:

The air is by far the easiest element to humidify, then the cigars are probably next easiest, followed by the wood. If I keep the cigars from directly contacting the wood, I have all wood surfaces and all external cigar surfaces equilibrating with the air. The hygrometer will measure the air RH. The cigars and the wood will independantly drift towards the RH of the air. So, keeping the air at or near a proper RH (by the hygrometer), and preventing the cigars from directly equilibrating with the wood, I allow the cigars to be stored in the new humi and the humi to drift to its proper RH all with almost no hassle.

As an aside, I did use the boiled water trick this last time (started about 3 days ago without knowing this thread was started, only boiled the water twice and let sit in humi for about 5 minutes each time), and my new 300 ct humi went from 60% to 65% in about 2 hours and has stayed there, rock solid, since.

Cheers

Cy