Humidor problems

[clarko]

Hi there,

I just got a small travel humidor, it's about 12" x 6" inches, so it fits about 12 cigars. It has a cedar lined bottom and the case is leather. Anyway, it came with a hygrometer and a little metal humidifier. So I followed the directions to season the humidor, calibrate the hygrometer, left it for 8 hours, etc and everything was cool. But within a couple days, the humidity dropped to 60. So I added a Credo humidifier I had from before, so now I have 2 humidifiers in there, and I just soaked them in distilled water yesterday and installed. Now today, according to the hygrometer it's at 55%.

Not sure what I should do here... any suggestions? I'll try putting some distilled water in a dish in there.

??

thanks!
clark

[Bkcloud114]

Sounds like you have something like this.... Travel Humidor
If you do... it's good for really short trips but is not air tight to hold the humidity.

If you're looking fo something inexpensive to keep cigars in.... use a piece of Tupperware, Rubbermaid or get a small cooler.....

[jaewing]

If it is what the previous post linked to then he is right about the longevity of this humi. It is from Thompsons. This was the very first thing I purchased with 10 cigars included. Unfortunately the hygrometer and humidifier are complete GARBAGE!!! You did good my getting a new humidifier but I would also not trust the hygrometer that came with it.

Use it like BkCloud said . . . only for short trips or unless you are prepared to check it daily or every other day.

I too would suggest buying an inexpensive wood humi. If you like Thompsons their Cherrywood is good and cheap. It usually comes with a lighter, cap, cigars or something. I have one in my office but I added a small jar of Humi-care and a better hygrometer (the one that came with it was plastic

[wrath186]

Take a look here for travel humidors. I picked up one of the large yellow ones last year for vacation and it works fantatic. Recenly replaced the supplied foam inserts with trays I picked up from Heartfelt industries. You can get a digital hygrometer for about 20bucks. Throw that and some humidity beads in there and you should have a near perfect climate. I have used this for travel on my bike. I lash it down and off I go. Never had a problem with the condition of the cigars. I have even revived some that were too dry to smoke in it.

http://dryboxes.safeshopper.com/8/cat8.htm?805

Hope this helps.

[clarko]

Interesting, thanks for your replies.
Yep, it was that thompson one. My first. And alas, I see I should have done some more homework first! Oh well, glad I'm not the only one here who got that one. :)
I see I can still return it, so maybe I'll do that and try to get something that is more reliable.
Other ideas in that price range? (>$30)

Thanks,
clarko

[clarko]

Ok, other newbies out there?
So I'm looking around and finding lots of places offer a first timer 25 smoke humidor for about $30. And I'm wondering if anyone has anything to say about these dealers:

Famous Smoke
http://www.famous-smoke.com/cigars/cigarhumidors.cfm
Offers the capri with 20 dominican coronas, humidifier

Neptune
http://www.neptunecigar.com/accessor...ory.asp?id=788
with humidifier and hygrometer

National Cigar
http://www.nationalcigar.com/index.p...roducts_id=248
with humidifier and hygrometer.

Cigar caddies
http://dryboxes.safeshopper.com/8/cat8.htm?805

And of course there are those saying, hey, just use tupperware... it's airtight.


It seems like the consensus is that the hygrometers that come with these are crap and so I'm better off to get a separate hygrometer?

thanks,
clarko

[Bkcloud114]

I would have to disagree with anybody who recommends buying a Thompson Humidor. The one I bought had a glass front, opened like a door and had 3 drawers in it. I was never able to keep the humidity stable. I was told it could have to do with the weather, the heat in my home, the amount of (or lack of) cigars inside of it. I far as I could tell the seal was good. I put it on e-bay and sold it. The guy who bought it e-mailed me with this response:

I purchased your humidor and have purchased several locally, online and on e-bay as an effort to enhance my own custom humidor construction project. Yes, I took you Thompson humidor and totally destroyed it. Removed all the hardware, checked the calibration of the hygrometer,(off by 15%), removed the liner, door inner trim, exposing the inserts of the box. Like all the others, it was made of cellulostic fiber-board with a fine sliver of Spanish cedar. Mostly for looks, I don't see how enhancements can be made to any cigar with this method of storage. No problem, just what I expected. I have recently purchased one more, an Italian made desk top and exposed it as well. Same results, however it did have a Honduran mahogany liner of about 3/8" thick but only on the sides of the box. That will conclude my research. Results of all the humidors purchased were pretty, but not practical for a real cigar aficionado. I understand why mass production forces manufacturers to utilize such techniques during construction but don't understand why consumers buy these boxes. They really don't do much for cigars.

If price is an issue as it was with me, I would have to strongly recommend some type of a cooler. With summer approaching they are everywhere in all different sizes.

Just my 2¢

[clarko]

So I returned the Thompsons humidor, after I smoked 5 of the 10 included cigars, they took off the $7.50 for shipping + about $9-10 for the cigars, which was more than I expected them to. anyway. I got that capri humidor from famous smokes. same problem really. I have put in a digital hygrometer filled their humidifier, put in my credo humidifier, + a small dish of distilled water, and still haven't gotten the humidity in it over 66%. ???

Maybe those beads are the only way to go with these cheap humidors?
I decided against the cooler/tupperware idea for now but i think i'll experiment with that, too...


c

[clarko]

Maybe it's the change in the weather. The hygrometer is now showing 73% , fairly stable. Seems better.
I may just have to leave that dish of distilled water in there full time.

c