multi daily humidor(s) help/info

Advice please. (begs)
Hello, I have been having trouble with my cigar inventory, most days I smoke a morning cigar, a mid day cigar, and after dinner I will have a cigar with my wife out on the patio, so on most days 2-3 humidor openings per day (my wife only smokes once a day in the evening with me and she likes vanilla- as well as a few other flavors so she has her own humidor and doesn't have (as) much of the issue I do) I have 2 of my own humidors (50-75 counts) because I usually have around 75-100 on hand so I might open one or both each day a few times to choose a stick to smoke. My issue is that I am having a lot of dry-out with my cigars, they crack when cutting (I have several good sharp cutters) and slightly try to unravel during the smoke as they heat up a little and dry out more, the bands even want to slid right off the end by the midway smoke point, I have one humidor set up with 69 boveda packs, and the other I put in 72 boveda packs, 3 per humidor, was trying to see if there was a big difference-both are doing the same thing. Both read right at 68-73% on average (but drop quickly to around 60% when opened). Just tonight I decided to put all the sticks in Tupperware tubs with the boveda packs and re season the humidors for 5-7 days with distilled water in a bowl to see if it helps, also I am going to order 70% heartfelt beads for each one, 1/2 lb. each. I am looking for any advice as to how I should go about storing my cigars? I was thinking about getting a smaller humidor (like 25 count for me and a 10 count for my wife) and while I will leave most of my sticks in the other humidors, every weekend open them up and put a weeks worth in the new 25/10 count ones to get into daily ??? don't know if this is the solution or not. I live in Reno Nevada and summer is warm to hot and dry, and winter is cold (even though snow is outside) still dry, I keep the temp in the house at a constant 65-70 year round (forced air heat for the winter and evaporation cooler for the summer with a air conditioner splurge for that one or two days per summer the evap cooler might not want to keep up) <-- if this info matters ???
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated as I really want to accumulate a nice cigar collection for my self as well as start to get a nice batch for my wife to start collecting, I really do not want to go back to just being able to order a weeks worth at a time as I used to do.
Thanks.

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PAtoNH

Have you salt-tested your hygrometer? Do you have a hygrometer for each humi? The digitals are considered the best but I got by for years with the cheaper analog ones. The humidity drop is pretty normal in my experience as soon as you close the lid the humidity should pop right back. It sounds like you're on the right track with re-seasoning. The boveda packs and beads should do the trick as long as the humis aren't leaking. Are the boveda packs still fresh? (not dry and crumbly). I'm in the process of seasoning a "footlocker" style humidor so I'm also going through this change up. I've had my overflow in an impromptu Cooler-dor and the challenge there seems to be getting the rh down. Guys here swear by their coolers and I've seen some very nice ones with custom built Spanish Cedar shelves and drawers and more room than I think I'd ever need. I'll be moving my smokes into the footlocker later this week if all goes to plan. This thread by Catfish has been very helpful: http://www.cigar.com/cs/forums/thread/610297.aspx

Rain

Also, 70% is pushing the limits on safe. Beetles like to show up around there.

bigharpoon

It sounds to me like you have a good base of knowledge of what to try and how to maintain a humidor. I think you just live in a very dry climate and open your humidor too much.

Here's what I would do: get a cooler up and running for the bulk storage of your cigars. Keep your main supply of cigars in this cooler, which can keep humidity much better and with more stability than a wooden humidor with a weather stripping seal on the lid and beads inside. Open this cooler only once a week to take out the week's supply of cigars and put them into a smoking humidor.

With only a week at most for some of your cigars to live in the smoking humidor they won't dry out too much, even being opened three times a day. They will go into the smoking humidor fully charged with the appropriate rh and will probably be just fine for a week even if it is a struggle to keep the smoking humidor's humidity up. If you really wanted to, you could take out your day's supply of cigars from the smoking humidor and put them in a plastic herf-a-dor which has an airtight seal and then you'll only be opening your smoking humidor once a day.

Take your wooden desktop humidors you have now and use them to store your wife's cigars. Only being opened once a day at most, maybe less if you get her a herf-a-dor too, they should work fine.

This is more or less the method I use except I skip the smoking humidor and put my cigars directly from my cooler(s) into two herf-a-dors so I open my coolers as little as possible. I don't smoke three times a day, though, so a middle stage smoking humidor may still work better for you. I'm also fighting to keep my rh DOWN, not UP like you. Good luck.

honorknight7

Thanks for all the info,
I think I will try the cooler setup, I was wondering about that as well(+ it will give me an excuse to buy more sticks-you know so I wont have all that open space in the new coolador lol). I have analog hydrometers in each humidor and when I salt test them they stay right around 74-76% {after the first adjustment set up-when I first got them they were all around 10-15% off} (I usually test them for 8 hours once a month) and yes it is dry here, I have left a good stick out -even in its cellophane- for a little over 1 hour and its toast, dries right up and cracks apart, even fresh moist 71% sticks from my local BnM shop. As far as 70% being at the limit for rh, I started running at that a while back as I noticed that my local BnM's all run at 71% in there walk-ins around here.
also on the cooler idea, I have read a few posts on if you should put spanish cedar in it or not -the info is back and forth yes and no, I think I might ? and if so when I purchase some from my local lumber yard do I need to sand it to open it up and remove the mill glaze?
Appreciate the feedback

Rain

You might be shocked to find out that you know more then your B&M.I don't care if they keep the Declaration of Independence at 85RH...won't catch my humi at that.Your avatar looks like a level 14 Paladin mated with a Brother of Steel soldier. I approve.

PAtoNH

There are some amazing cooler designs out there search here and on google images for coolidor or coolerdor to see some. There are also a lot of wine cooler conversions out there too. From what I've read and from my own short experience with storing cigars in a cooler the challenge is the opposite of what you're facing now too much relative humidity. That is just as problematic as too dry. There's a large community of cooler users here and they can help if you have questions.

honorknight7

Rgr Rgr, since I'm re doing my boxes and going to set up a cooler I will order 65 beads for everything, can only order 60/65/70's from heartfelt.

Rain

honorknight7:
Rgr Rgr, since I'm re doing my boxes and going to set up a cooler I will order 65 beads for everything, can only order 60/65/70's from heartfelt.

Depending on how big your cooler is, you might want to try kitty litter. I'm not a fan of KL in a humidor, but I think beads for a cooler are way too expensive.

Rain

Necro.So what was your solution, and how is it working?

honorknight7

Bought two wine coolers 1 for me, and 1 for the wife, added 2 lbs of 65 beads in each wineador (4 each 1/2 lb stockings per) plus 6 each 65 boveda packs in each, took the humidors apart to use as shelving in them, BAM Good to go baby, been golden ever since

I just take out the beads once a month and soak em in distilled water, let them drain a few seconds and put them back in there little trays, salt test the meters and good for another month, and that's with them being opened at least once a day, Have had Zero trouble from day one