humidors

pill0wbl0ck

Im trying to puchase the perfect humidor for my cigar needs. I have noticed that some humidors have the hydrometer inside and some have it on the outside.. Is there a preference? Same question for glass tops?

bass8844

Welcome to the forum.

It all personal preference. Just make sure that its lined with spanish cedar. Everyone and their mom here will recommend that you get a digital hygrometer. The ones that come with the humidors (analog) are pretty much glorified paper weights.

Also look into getting some humidity beads. They do wonders and they work about 100x's better than the foam that comes with the humidors.

GET THE BIGGEST ONE YOU CAN! Of course this all depends on your budget and space constraints....but I say that because 99% of people regret on getting one thats too small.

Also take a look around the past threads. Tons of info waiting for ya. Enjoy!

j0z3r

bass8844:

GET THE BIGGEST ONE YOU CAN! Of course this all depends on your budget and space constraints....but I say that because 99% of people regret on getting one thats too small.

Or go with my suggestion....just forgo the humidor and begin construction on a walk-in, it'll save you a headache in the end...and you'll be the envy of every man here.

In all seriousness though, do buy the biggest one you feel comfortable shelling out the dough for, I say this while looking at two good sized humidors that are packed, and a full cooler-dor. You always buy more than you really need, it's an inevitability.

Welcome to the forums, we're always good for a suggestion or twenty.

Luko

bass8844:

Welcome to the forum.

It all personal preference. Just make sure that its lined with spanish cedar. Everyone and their mom here will recommend that you get a digital hygrometer. The ones that come with the humidors (analog) are pretty much glorified paper weights.

Also look into getting some humidity beads. They do wonders and they work about 100x's better than the foam that comes with the humidors.

GET THE BIGGEST ONE YOU CAN! Of course this all depends on your budget and space constraints....but I say that because 99% of people regret on getting one thats too small.

Also take a look around the past threads. Tons of info waiting for ya. Enjoy!

I would actually recommend the analog hygro...ok, just kidding. Just trying to shake things up a bit.

What they said is true, go bigger. I have a 75 count and I would never have dreamed when I start buying sticks in July 08 I'd want more. Now I want a cabinet, or better yet, a walk-in.

Krieg

Luko:

bass8844:

Welcome to the forum.

It all personal preference. Just make sure that its lined with spanish cedar. Everyone and their mom here will recommend that you get a digital hygrometer. The ones that come with the humidors (analog) are pretty much glorified paper weights.

Also look into getting some humidity beads. They do wonders and they work about 100x's better than the foam that comes with the humidors.

GET THE BIGGEST ONE YOU CAN! Of course this all depends on your budget and space constraints....but I say that because 99% of people regret on getting one thats too small.

Also take a look around the past threads. Tons of info waiting for ya. Enjoy!

I would actually recommend the analog hygro...ok, just kidding. Just trying to shake things up a bit.

What they said is true, go bigger. I have a 75 count and I would never have dreamed when I start buying sticks in July 08 I'd want more. Now I want a cabinet, or better yet, a walk-in.

That's great advice, that is why I went from a 20 ct humi to a 100 ct. I still have an analog hydrometer, but I am eventually gonna get a digital. Whatever you get, just make sure it's something you will be happy with and will last you awhile. I prefer the Glass tops (which you already know) because I like to look at my smokes without having to open the lid and also wouldn't happen to open the lid to check my digital hydrometer when I get it.

kuzi16

if you have a girlfriend/wife, i also recommend you get the biggest you can right away. if you get a small one and fill it she will just start to tell you that "you already have enough cigars"
...and we all know that is untrue. you can never have too many cigars. if you get the big one right away you will not have to explain to her why you want another one. If i had heeded my own advice my first humidor would have been the size of my second and my second humidor would be a small cabinet. instead i have a 50ct and a 120 ct.
what did i know? i was new.


the digital hygo is a good idea as well. it still needs to be calibrated. just because its digital doesnt mean that its perfect out of the box. you need to know how far off it may or may not be.

kardar2

kuzi16:

if you have a girlfriend/wife, i also recommend you get the biggest you can right away. if you get a small one and fill it she will just start to tell you that "you already have enough cigars"
...and we all know that is untrue. you can never have too many cigars. if you get the big one right away you will not have to explain to her why you want another one. If i had heeded my own advice my first humidor would have been the size of my second and my second humidor would be a small cabinet. instead i have a 50ct and a 120 ct.
what did i know? i was new.


the digital hygo is a good idea as well. it still needs to be calibrated. just because its digital doesnt mean that its perfect out of the box. you need to know how far off it may or may not be.

Damn I thought I was the only person with a wife that thought the same thing LOL

phobicsquirrel

kardar2:

kuzi16:

if you have a girlfriend/wife, i also recommend you get the biggest you can right away. if you get a small one and fill it she will just start to tell you that "you already have enough cigars"
...and we all know that is untrue. you can never have too many cigars. if you get the big one right away you will not have to explain to her why you want another one. If i had heeded my own advice my first humidor would have been the size of my second and my second humidor would be a small cabinet. instead i have a 50ct and a 120 ct.
what did i know? i was new.


the digital hygo is a good idea as well. it still needs to be calibrated. just because its digital doesnt mean that its perfect out of the box. you need to know how far off it may or may not be.

Damn I thought I was the only person with a wife that thought the same thing LOL

lol, that's good advice right there!

kuzi16

phobicsquirrel:

kardar2:

kuzi16:

if you have a girlfriend/wife, i also recommend you get the biggest you can right away. if you get a small one and fill it she will just start to tell you that "you already have enough cigars"
...and we all know that is untrue. you can never have too many cigars. if you get the big one right away you will not have to explain to her why you want another one. If i had heeded my own advice my first humidor would have been the size of my second and my second humidor would be a small cabinet. instead i have a 50ct and a 120 ct.
what did i know? i was new.


the digital hygo is a good idea as well. it still needs to be calibrated. just because its digital doesnt mean that its perfect out of the box. you need to know how far off it may or may not be.

Damn I thought I was the only person with a wife that thought the same thing LOL

lol, that's good advice right there!

i wouldnt lead you guys astray.

pill0wbl0ck

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input and yes my fiance get pissed with every cigar I smoke

Jetmech_63

pill0wbl0ck:

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input and yes my fiance get pissed with every cigar I smoke

LOL, it only gets worse

kaspera79

pill0wbl0ck:

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input and yes my fiance get pissed with every cigar I smoke

....hmmmm, I hope you can work this one out.

cheyman

I started out with a 50 ct.... and quickly moved to a 300-400 ct...I think next will be the cooler-dor.

Luko

pill0wbl0ck:

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input and yes my fiance get pissed with every cigar I smoke

Sorry to hear that pillow...you know what they say about lots of fish in the sea.

gmill880

Luko:

pill0wbl0ck:

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input and yes my fiance get pissed with every cigar I smoke

Sorry to hear that pillow...you know what they say about lots of fish in the sea.

What exactly does she find objectionable about it?

TRumble24

I have a question and this thread looked appropriate. I just bought my first humidor, and now I need to charge it. Looking around on various cigar websites I see two methods. One says to wipe down the wood with distilled water or solution, and the other says pour distilled water into a shot glass and leave it in the humidor until the hygrometer reads between 65-70%. Which method is the best or has worked for you? I'm leaning towards wiping the wood down, it seems the more popular method, and I've got a few hours to think about it while my hygrometer calibrates!

dutyje

Use the shot glass. It takes longer, but it won't shock the wood and risk warping.

Also, I know the advice is to wait until your humidity reaches 65-70%, but I disagree with this. If you simply wait until the ambient humidity in the air is at 70%, the wood will have just begun to absorb moisture. The wood will absorb moisture much more slowly than the surrounding air, so you would need to sit at a high (virtually 100%) humidity for a longer period of time (1-2 days) in order to get the wood primed.

I'm about to get a new humi in myself, and it's got a glass top. I'll be testing out this theory while I prime my humidor. My expectation is that I will break through 70% humidity within the first 6-8 hours, but I certainly wouldn't call the humidor "seasoned" at that point. I'd also expect the hygrometer to "bury" itself (it shows "--") before 12 hours have elapsed. Still, this doesn't mean that the wood is fully seasoned yet... but it should mean that the wood has begun to absorb moisture. I don't know of a good way to tell when the wood is properly (but not overly) seasoned. If the humidor is running a bit moist out of the gate, it would be simple to just prop the lid and let it settle for a while.

phobicsquirrel

Duty, eroy looks very sad in that photo, you need to give him more love! lol.. Yeah I would say leaving a humi for about a week. That's just my thought. I think that would give a good time frame.

rmccloud

I have always used a small bowl of water, over the shot glass. This will allow you to put a larger amount of water, and greater surface area, into the humidor and may help it season a little bit quicker than just an ounce of water at a time from the shot glass.

Just a thought as everybody has their own way to do it. Just like everything else with cigars

dutyje

Yes, I actually do the dish as well... a low, wide dish... maximize the exposed surface area. It will evaporate more quickly and season more quickly.

mustluvcigars

dutyje:

Yes, I actually do the dish as well... a low, wide dish... maximize the exposed surface area. It will evaporate more quickly and season more quickly.

thought you told me the best was to throw in the bathtub with me?

TRumble24

I'm about to get a new humi in myself, and it's got a glass top. I'll be testing out this theory while I prime my humidor. My expectation is that I will break through 70% humidity within the first 6-8 hours, but I certainly wouldn't call the humidor "seasoned" at that point. I'd also expect the hygrometer to "bury" itself (it shows "--") before 12 hours have elapsed. Still, this doesn't mean that the wood is fully seasoned yet... but it should mean that the wood has begun to absorb moisture. I don't know of a good way to tell when the wood is properly (but not overly) seasoned. If the humidor is running a bit moist out of the gate, it would be simple to just prop the lid and let it settle for a while.

So I started seasoning my humi, which has a glass top and a capacity of about 50 cigars, with a dish of distilled water and I hit 70% in about an hour...I got mine from my local cigar shop which is an open humidor and divan. Maybe mine has a head start?

kuzi16

it wouldnt surprise me. mine took 24 hours to season but i had a few wide shallow bowls in there not a shot glass with little surface area.

i would also recommend not wiping it down.

TRumble24

So I seasoned my humi for about 2 days with a dish of distilled water, and it seems I may have over seasoned it? I took the dish out and put my humidification device in and let it sit overnight before I added my cigars. The humidity was solid at about 85%. So I took the humidifier out and let it sit awhile again and now its maintaining about 72-75 percent without a humidifier in there. Is this normal? On a side note I see what everyone means about getting a digital hygrometer, I just ordered the Humi-Care Digital Hygro and Humidifier, I won't really know whats going on until I can get equipment I trust!

j0z3r

I'd venture a guess as to why your humidity was so high. First, you didn't have cigars in there to absorb excess humidity. Second, and probably key to the high level, if you used the foam humidifier with only distilled water, there is no effective cap to how high the humidity will go, for this reason you should use a 50/50 PG humidifying solution with a foam humidifier, the Propylene Glycol will tend to keep humidity within a more acceptable range whereas plain old water will just make it really humid with no control.

urbino

TRumble24:

I just ordered the Humi-Care Digital Hygro and Humidifier, I won't really know whats going on until I can get equipment I trust!

Unfortunately, that's entirely true, Trumble. Until you have a hygro you can trust, you don't even know what you're measuring -- if anything. Until then, just let your humi sit with no humidifier in it until the hygro you have now is reading in the 65-70% range. It's not likely accurate, but even if it's off 10 points either way, it won't take too long to get it where you want it when your new hygro arrives.

TRumble24

Another quick question...bought the Humi-Care brand Digital Hygro and Humidifer. Now in the instructions for the Humidifier it says to soak in Distilled Water for 12 hours initially to fully absorb the beads. I know when I used Distilled Water in the foam humidifier that came with my Humi it made the humidity shoot way up. With the Humi-Care, since it uses the beads, am I ok to use plain Distilled, or should I still opt for some solution?

dutyje

just distilled water

dwayne3307

I'm so glad I found these forums, tons of good advice and humor!! Anywho, after reading some of these posts i'm wondering if i'm doing it all wrong. I bought a humidor from my local shop(75-100 ct, pd $140) and after realizing it didn't come with a "how-to" book I started searching the net looking for help. I saw the "wipe down" method was pretty common so I used that to season it. I've had it for roughly 9 months now  and I may have wiped it down maybe 2 or 3 more times. I use the humidifier that came with it and I refill that maybe once every 6 weeks or so. I did buy a digital hygrometer and I really don't have a problem keeping it around the 70/70 mark. So with all that, should I change anything up or stick with what i'm doing?

dutyje

if it ain't broke....

but why do you keep re-seasoning it?

dwayne3307

dutyje:

if it ain't broke....

but why do you keep re-seasoning it?

That's my point, i'm not sure if i'm doing it right or not. I don't know what's normal or not normal with humidors. But I really don't remember the last time I wiped it down.