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Greetings from Afghanistan (and really a question in the message)

SFC_In_AfghanistanSFC_In_Afghanistan Posts: 8
in General Discussion
So, I took the plunge and ordered myself about 40 or so cigars today.  Hopefully it won't be long before my order gets to my base here nestled in the mountains of Afghanistan.

I have a question for you all, since I'm a cigar neophyte:

With my order I also am getting a humidor, so my question is, how long should I keep my mailed cigars in a humidor before I can partake?

I'm also wondering if I made an error with my order, I got 40 or so cigars coming but the humidor only holds 20.  Do I need to worry about the cigars not in a humidor?

I'm looking forward to getting these and trying some new ones throughout my deployment here.

Everyone take care, and thanks Cigar.com for mailing orders to APO addresses!

Very Respectfully,
Sergeant First Class, in Afghanistan

Comments

  • ScramblerScrambler Posts: 746 ✭✭
    Welcome, and I know I speak for everyone here when I say thank you for your service.

    To answer some of your questions, It will take a week to get your humidor set up properly before you want to put cigars in it. Many people here like to "rest" cigars in their humidor for 1-6 weeks, to let them adjust from shipping. All that said though, there is nothing wrong with lighting one up as soon as they get there.

    As for what to do with them while you are waiting for the humidor to be seasoned, and what to do with the ones that won't fit, a lot of us use tupperware, or an ice chest, or anything similar that will isolate the cigars from the outside atmosphere. The plastic bags used to ship the cigars will be fine for a week or two, but it would be best to find something a little more solid.

    Also, I would recommend ordering some humidity beads. Cigar.com doesn't sell them, but the vendor many of us use ships free to APO addresses.

    Hope this helps alleviate your concerns. Enjoy!
  • suprchunksuprchunk Posts: 8
    Well SFC, if you are in the same location as me I have some to share. I also have a humidor I would be willing to let go of pretty cheap - holds about 150. It is already seasoned and would just need to be maintained. No since paying for the shipping if I can let another person get good use of it.
  • SFC_In_AfghanistanSFC_In_Afghanistan Posts: 8
    Scrambler:
    Welcome, and I know I speak for everyone here when I say thank you for your service.

    To answer some of your questions, It will take a week to get your humidor set up properly before you want to put cigars in it. Many people here like to "rest" cigars in their humidor for 1-6 weeks, to let them adjust from shipping. All that said though, there is nothing wrong with lighting one up as soon as they get there.


    Ha!, well I'll try and wait, but since we have a new policy about purchasing tobacco, I'll probably smoke a few before they are "rested"

    Scrambler:
    As for what to do with them while you are waiting for the humidor to be seasoned, and what to do with the ones that won't fit, a lot of us use tupperware, or an ice chest, or anything similar that will isolate the cigars from the outside atmosphere. The plastic bags used to ship the cigars will be fine for a week or two, but it would be best to find something a little more solid.


    Ahh, I actually have a tupperware contain that is just holding some odds and ends that would come in handy!


    Scrambler:
    Also, I would recommend ordering some humidity beads. Cigar.com doesn't sell them, but the vendor many of us use ships free to APO addresses.


    Thanks for this bit of information, I'll search the forum for the vendor you are speaking of.

    Sergeant First Class, In Afghanistan
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    SFC, whats this new policy?
  • SFC_In_AfghanistanSFC_In_Afghanistan Posts: 8

    madurofan:
    SFC, whats this new policy?

    Basically if you live on a FOB or COP that does not have an AAFES vendor selling tabacco, you CANNOT purchase tabacco off the local economy (Local Nationals).

    So what you are seeing here, at least specific to the region I'm in, is if live on a large camp then you will have your dip, smokes, cigars, etc.  But if you live on a FOB (like me) or a smaller COP that does not have an AAFES (Post Exchange) then you have to deal without.


    Take care always,
    Sergeant First Class, In Afghanistan.

  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Wll that sucks. Are you allowed to order from stateside?
  • SFC_In_AfghanistanSFC_In_Afghanistan Posts: 8

    madurofan:
    Wll that sucks. Are you allowed to order from stateside?

    Well I somewhat agree with it "sucking", but I believe we had soldiers stricken ill from what they thought was genuine tabacco, but turned out to be something different.

    As for ordering Stateside, oh yeah, that is why I'm on this site!!!  :)  I got confirmation that my order has been shipped, so hopefully in less than two weeks I'll have myself some cigars.  Soldiers will find ways to adapt, some will have family and friends mail tabacco to them, others will probably write on forums (like this) or email companies and see if they can't get businesses to send tabacco out this way.  Others, will just make friends with those who can travel back and forth to the bases that have a Post Exchange and have them purchase tabacco for them.

    I'm taking this as a good thing, in the short term there will be short fuzes and disgruntled Soldiers, but if it keeps someone from being killed or stricken ill by tainted tabacco then I'm in support of the new policy.

    Hopefully my camp will have an AAFES outlet in the near future (I'm not holding my breath though).  I don't mind spending my hard earned money on some fine tabacco and having it shipped my way, it will smoke all the better when the day is done!

    Take care all,
    Sergeant First Class, in Afghanistan

  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Damn I didn't even think about bad tobacco SFC. Good Luck to you man, let us know if you need anything.
  • FourtotheflushFourtotheflush Posts: 2,555 ✭
    Well good luck geting your smokes. I hope they arrive in a timely fashion, in good condition and you enjoy them.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i second the good luck comment.

    what did you order?
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • SFC_In_AfghanistanSFC_In_Afghanistan Posts: 8

    kuzi16:
    i second the good luck comment.

    what did you order?

    Ummm, well, let me put it this way, I'm a newbie when it comes to cigars, and I didn't do much research before ordering, that stated:

    Private Stock, Robusto, Connecticut, 5.13x50 20ct
    Cameroon Label, churchill, Cameroon, 7.5x50 20ct
    Blue Label, House Blends Super Sampler (Robusto)

    Also had to order a cutter, and this order came with a humidor.  I have MANY months left on this deployment, and will have lots of opportunities to purchase some cigars, and hopefully with a little more reading, and some input from folks like you all reading this, I'm sure I'll get to enjoy some fine cigars that I'll purchase down the road.

    Take care all,
    Sergeant First Class, in Afghanistan

  • Bad AndyBad Andy Posts: 848
    bad tobacco...never. I wouldn't trust buying anything over there period. Plus the cigarettes over there are pretty harsh from what I understand. Cowboy killers got nothing on these things. Wish I would have known about the smokes earlier, I sent a small batch for Holy Smokes in Iraq but they are well stocked right now. I could have sent them to you SFC.
  • SFC_In_AfghanistanSFC_In_Afghanistan Posts: 8

    Bad Andy:
    bad tobacco...never. I wouldn't trust buying anything over there period. Plus the cigarettes over there are pretty harsh from what I understand. Cowboy killers got nothing on these things. Wish I would have known about the smokes earlier, I sent a small batch for Holy Smokes in Iraq but they are well stocked right now. I could have sent them to you SFC.

    Not to worry, my third deployment this way since 2004, I have smoked some harsh "named brand" stuff out here.  I just feel for my younger Soldiers (first time deployers), they were able to by a carton of smoke for about $20, now, well they will have to come up with other means of getting their fix.

    I sure hope I got a new paragraph going...  You know, you have to pick your fights wisely.  I have heard many soldier complain about this policy with such things like "Military sent me here and now they won't let me smoke".  I of course being the the Sergeant First Class that I am, a Professional Soldier, have a few things to tell them.  Just one of them out of the fight, is one to many.  Also, if we are sold some bad tabacco and one of these soldiers was to be "high" and then they were attacked, how effective is that "high" soldier going to be, will he really be able to "protect your back"?

    Anyhow, I degress somewhat, it is after midnight I should be heading to my bunk and get some sleep.

    Sergeant First Class, in Afghanistan

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