Use a Herf-a-dor until I decide on a humidor?

Jitmopper

Hey guys, absolute cigar newbie here....

I picked up a little 10ct Herf-a-dor to use until I decide on a humidor.  I've just started buying singles here and there, and I'm sticking to the brands I recognize at this point.  Really enjoyed sitting around the fire pit out back with a few friends and a lot of bourbon (who wouldn't?) and I've decided to pick up a sampler pack to expand my tastes a little bit.

My question is, before I spend the money on a nice humidor, is it safe to store the cigars in the Herf-a-dor until I settle on the direction I want to go in?  I know it's more of a travel item, but will it serve the purpose in the interim?  I don't want to ruin the cigars, but I'm not educated enough on humidors to make an informed purchase yet.

Thanks in advance for your input, and thanks for a great forum. 

Cheers.

jd50ae

Use a Tupperware type container for now. If your smoking them pretty quick a herf-a-dor will probably be OK, but remember they will be subject to more temp variation since you are carrying it around. Please get a bigger humidor then you think will be big enough.

CharlieHeis

Yes. No problem there. After you get a humidor you'll need to season it. There's a few threads here that will help you out a lot.

onestrangeone

Welcome to the forum, hope you stick around a bit there's a ton of good info here as well as some really good people. the herf-a-dor will work just fine until you run out of space, the next time your at the cigar store (B&M) pick up a small boveda pack 65 or 69 rh and your set! when you fill the herf-a-dor you can use a Tupperware container until you get a humidor and get it set up.

Crousefer

I'm pretty new here as well, so idk if this is best option, but I pretty much bit the bullet and turned a small cooler into a coolerdor. Pretty simple and great cause you WILL collect enough to fill em up faster than you think! All I did was was it out, grab some cat litter (silica gel) put it in a pantyhose and let it sit with a few bovida packs 69% and she has been sitting at between 64-68rh on average. Picked up a 50count Spanish ceder box from my local B&M for $3 and set it in there. Welcome to the forums and good luck!

Gray4lines

Yes, herfadors are great. Cigars will be fine, humidity wise. plastic baggies or tupperware is fine too as mentioned above. I wouldn't even bother with extra humidification if it is less than a month.

Gray4lines

Crousefer:

I'm pretty new here as well, so idk if this is best option, but I pretty much bit the bullet and turned a small cooler into a coolerdor. Pretty simple and great cause you WILL collect enough to fill em up faster than you think! All I did was was it out, grab some cat litter (silica gel) put it in a pantyhose and let it sit with a few bovida packs 69% and she has been sitting at between 64-68rh on average. Picked up a 50count Spanish ceder box from my local B&M for $3 and set it in there. Welcome to the forums and good luck!

Good call! Coolers are a great option for big time storage.

ejgorman

Herf-a-dors are great if you can keep your CAS (cigar acquisition syndrome) in check. I love my humidor because it looks fancy, but my cooler has been my best storage investment to date. Holds rh like a beast and lots of storage.

ShadowInTheMoon

ejgorman:

Herf-a-dors are great if you can keep your CAS (cigar acquisition syndrome) in check. I love my humidor because it looks fancy, but my cooler has been my best storage investment to date. Holds rh like a beast and lots of storage.

+1 to holds rh. may not be the most purty thing in the room but it works wonders

CAcigarguy007

Coolers work great, however, if you want something a bit smaller or see through then do a search for: IRIS Weathertight Storage Containers and check out their offerings. They work great!

Bob_Luken

How cruel it is that so many newbies end up dealing with the most frustrating aspect of storing cigars when they are first starting out? Desktop humidors can be very frustrating to maintain proper humidity because most are cheaply made. I've had about six or seven of them now and I've had mixed results. If I could I would caution all newbs that there are better options. As mentioned earlier in this thread, small containers and coolers will do the job with less frustration. Do your research though, because there are a few considerations when deciding on a specific cooler or container to make it into a good humidor. (Plenty of advice online, and you're welcome to PM me if you want my opinion.)

peter4jc

CAcigarguy007:

Coolers work great, however, if you want something a bit smaller or see through then do a search for: IRIS Weathertight Storage Containers and check out their offerings. They work great!

I concur on the IRIS Weathertight containers...  I have a 17qt. and two 46qt. and love 'em...  I bought some Spanish cedar lumber on ebay, and made some trays; in the larger units, the trays stack on one half, while the other half is left for boxes.  I also bought some little round hygrometers on ebay, about $3.50 each and very accurate, which are installed in the lids of the containers. 

But... if I believed anyone when they said 'buy bigger than you think' I might have gone w/ a wine fridge, a cooler, or just built an upright humidor.  The IRIS boxes are easy to live with and work well, but it may have been wiser to go with one large humidor, rather than three containers.  I do use a 125ct. wooden humidor; the IRIS boxes store cigars and replenish the wooden humidor, which is what I smoke out of.

CharlieHeis

Bob Luken:

How cruel it is that so many newbies end up dealing with the most frustrating aspect of storing cigars when they are first starting out? Desktop humidors can be very frustrating to maintain proper humidity because most are cheaply made. I've had about six or seven of them now and I've had mixed results. If I could I would caution all newbs that there are better options. As mentioned earlier in this thread, small containers and coolers will do the job with less frustration. Do your research though, because there are a few considerations when deciding on a specific cooler or container to make it into a good humidor. (Plenty of advice online, and you're welcome to PM me if you want my opinion.)

Agree.

Jitmopper

Guys, thank you all very much for the responses and advice.  The Herf-a-dor holds 10 right now, and I'm smoking them fast enough to where that size will probably be sufficient for a bit, until I decide which smokes I really like and start dumping money on boxes.   At that point, an upgrade will definitely be in order.

Thanks again!

Retircs1

Jitmopper:

Hey guys, absolute cigar newbie here....

I picked up a little 10ct Herf-a-dor to use until I decide on a humidor.  I've just started buying singles here and there, and I'm sticking to the brands I recognize at this point.  Really enjoyed sitting around the fire pit out back with a few friends and a lot of bourbon (who wouldn't?) and I've decided to pick up a sampler pack to expand my tastes a little bit.

My question is, before I spend the money on a nice humidor, is it safe to store the cigars in the Herf-a-dor until I settle on the direction I want to go in?  I know it's more of a travel item, but will it serve the purpose in the interim?  I don't want to ruin the cigars, but I'm not educated enough on humidors to make an informed purchase yet.

Thanks in advance for your input, and thanks for a great forum. 

Cheers.

well Just so you know Jitmopper these guys are Off the hook. I was going to get only a 50 ct humidor something small and I was told to get 100ct I did listen to these guys and Glad I did. Now am working a new Humidor 300ct or Cooler all because of the great knowledge provided in this Forum.

Solo94

Hi, new here also and occasional social smoker. I ordered a box of my husband's favorite cigars for Christmas. But I didnt realize the whole humidor/ herfador/ tobacco beetle/ mold and everything was a factor.. I just thought buy cigars but them in a special box and your done... My question is how can I safely store these for about a month or so , while being cost effective... Will a herfador and a pouch or 2 of boveda be efficient? We are having a party for new years so I doubt many will survive past that. But I'm kind of in a pickel because I have to pick up the cigars on black Friday to get the discounted price.. so how do I store them until December 20th?

firehouseguy

@Solo94 keep them In a Tupperware container with a Boveda pack. Store the Tupperware somewhere it won’t freeze and somewhere where it won’t heat up. Think of them like chocolates that need a Boveda.

Solo94

ok one more question. Boveda packs... what percentage rh rating do your recommend for that? 

IndustMech

I'd recommend 69 rh Boveda packs

Kevin is low.

firehouseguy

Yep what he said

Solo94

Perfect! Thanks guys

Yakster

firehouseguy said:

Yep what he said

Sorry to hear you're low, Kevin.

firehouseguy

What kind of black magic is this? 

IndustMech

Lmao

Solo94

Um, this may be a dumb question but.. do I need to take the plastic off the cigars before putting them in the tupperwear.. same with the wood box they come in? Do I need to take them out?  I read the wood Spanish cedar is for the beetles

deadman

When you say plastic do you mean the individual cello wrapper? No. Same with the box, put it in the Tupperware maybe prop the lid open a little.

Solo94

Yep that's what I meant.. the cello. Lol.. thank you

IndustMech

Not a dumb question.

webmost

Jitmopper said:

Hey guys, absolute cigar newbie here....

I picked up a little 10ct Herf-a-dor to use until I decide on a humidor.  I've just started buying singles here and there, and I'm sticking to the brands I recognize at this point.  Really enjoyed sitting around the fire pit out back with a few friends and a lot of bourbon (who wouldn't?) and I've decided to pick up a sampler pack to expand my tastes a little bit.

My question is, before I spend the money on a nice humidor, is it safe to store the cigars in the Herf-a-dor until I settle on the direction I want to go in?  I know it's more of a travel item, but will it serve the purpose in the interim?  I don't want to ruin the cigars, but I'm not educated enough on humidors to make an informed purchase yet.

Thanks in advance for your input, and thanks for a great forum. 

Cheers.

Your best strategy -- I mean your very very best strategy -- is to mail your extras to BigShizza. He is our cigar cloud, so to speak. He stores gars for you and sends them back to you when you need them.

Surprised nobody has mentioned this already.

Bob_Luken

How many of you are impressed? I can't speak for everyone but I would bet there are plenty of us that are very impressed when a woman buys her man cigars, and doubly impressed when she also goes out of her way to make absolutely sure they are stored properly until gift time. @Solo94 Merry Christmas! 

jd50ae

Bob_Luken said:

How many of you are impressed? I can't speak for everyone but I would bet there are plenty of us that are very impressed when a woman buys her man cigars, and doubly impressed when she also goes out of her way to make absolutely sure they are stored properly until gift time. @Solo94 Merry Christmas! 

I told my wife I was in need of an infusion, expecting a little help, and I got 2 packs of Backwoods.