Cigar Poker

Dark Roast

Not a game. But a tool. Had a 5 Vegas A today that was really tight. I have read about cigar pokers and how they are supposed to help loosen up draw on a tightly packed cigar. I was curious if anyone has ever tried one. And did it work or was it just a BS gimmick?

ironhorse

I have had one for a while but that was when I had a smaller number of cigars wasn't doing the best job at resting my cigars or keeping a consistent humidity. It does work really well though, but you have to be careful not to poke through the wrapper. It also will only really help with the draw, not so much the burn.

Garen B

I used a straightened paperclip for the longest time and used my pocket knife last saturday at the herf to loosen up the draw on an RP Edge Lite. Both worked wonders. But be careful with the paperclip, it's really easy to have it go through the wrapper like ironhorse said.

Stryker808

ive used the "drawpoker" tool (http://www.cigarextras.com/images/view.aspx?productId=71 sorry not promoting the site, it was just the first image that showed up when i googled for it). It works just fine. the guide works ok keep the needle straight. I think you can find em for like $20 or so.

fla-gypsy

I just bought some bamboo skewers you use for cooking, .99 for a whole bag and keep a few around to loosen up a stick when needed. I have done the paper clip trick too. The trick is not to pierce the wrapper. Some sticks are impossible to fix though.

stephen_hannibal

Yeah I have one rarely have to use it but when I do it works wonders.

jlmarta

Dark Roast:

Not a game. But a tool. Had a 5 Vegas A today that was really tight. I have read about cigar pokers and how they are supposed to help loosen up draw on a tightly packed cigar. I was curious if anyone has ever tried one. And did it work or was it just a BS gimmick?

I'm too much of a tightwad to spend the $20 or so for one of the ones advertised, but I made my own out of a piece of the smallest-diameter coathanger wire I could find. I made it long enough to go all the way through most sticks and even fashioned a handle on the end so I could twist/turn it when necessary.

It works great - - but, like as has already been said, you need to be careful not to come out through the side of the stick.

Marty

Hays

Ya know, for the first time in a while I had a stick completely plug up on me tonight - as in, the foot was still completely burning, but I couldn't draw a single wisp of smoke. I tried using my pipe tool poker (same diameter as a paperclip, roughly), and rather than open it up, it just collapsed the entire inside of the cigar. It was a total goner after that...Really bummed me out! It was a RP Fusion Double Maduro that I've been wanting to smoke for ages, and it crapped out with 4+ inches to go :-(

Duder2

Bummer about that Fusion MM Hays, those are great sticks. I've made some pokers out of some thin stainless welding rod. It works good most of the time. Like Gypsy said though, some sticks just can't be saved.

bacon.jay

There was a guy in my local shop that had a draw poker that was disguised as a ballpoint pen. It looked pretty cool, and it even had the spade-end with the ridges along the length to clear out leaf particles to open up the draw.