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Looking for opinions on what is the main cause of the outer wrapper to split as you smoke. My cigars are kept in a tub a dor with hunidity ranging from 69 to 72, I rarely smoke ROTT so they have pklenty of time to rest at the right humidity. But I do get one sometimes two out of 10 sticks to split. Appreciate your answers. Thanks Rob

72 is too high, and cold temperatures can do that to any cigar.

They may be too wet, as mentioned above. The extra moisture can cause the cigar to swell as it heats up and burns. Try lowering the rh in your tubador to the low-to-mid 60's.

Do you pinch your cigars before you light them? Or pinch them if the draw is tight? That could also be a culprit.

Are you using a digital or analog hygrometer ? What temperature are you storing at ? Perhaps your readings are off and your cigars are actually a bit dry. Even under ideal conditions, handmade cigars are not all exactly alike and every once in a while a wrapper will crack. It's not a disaster, if the binder is intact you should still have a good smoke.

72 is a bit high, but splitting sounds like a dryness problem, a thin wrapper or possibly both. Do you buy online or from a local store? It sounds like there may be a problem with the wrapper on your cigar, which brings up another question. Do you have this problem with several brands or just one? If it is the latter, you might want to consider trying another brand. If it is the cigar that is at fault, ask whoever you bought them from for an exchange or refund. If the problem persists, then it is your humi. Try lowering the humidity in your humidor and see if this resolves the problem. If not, you might want to consider investing in a more "upscale" humidor with kiln-dried Spanish Cedar. Hope this helped.

No surprise there. See #2.

High humidity is one potential culprit, but I have seen this happen when you try to smoke a cigar like a cigarette and herf it too fast or too hard.

How long is it taking you to enjoy a smoke? For most cigars it should be between one and two hours. If you are evaporating them in 20 to 30 minutes, you may have your answer. Combine the high humidity and quick smoking and you will be much more likely to split the skin.

^ see post #3

Get some 65% Bovedas and let em reacclimate to a drier environment.

Thanks again to all of you. I drilled more holes in my tub a dor and I will allow the RH to drop. If it gets too low all I have to do is to tape upsome of the holes. I will let you know the results. Rob

oh my,

wheel

What da? No.

Get some Bovedas. Keep it closed, wait a bit.

You can experiment with dry boxing if you have a humidor to spare and dedicate, doesn't have to be an expensive one - cedar sheets inside a tubidor will do the trick too.
Take a cigar or two you've had problems with splitting and place them in a humidor for 12-24 hrs at room temp before you smoke. The cedar will pull out excess moisture and can really improve your smoking experience

Never claimed to be an " authority " nor perfect, but I do recognize " full of Chit " when I see it.

I may be a newbie, only been at this for a few years, but I see that many of you are spending money on boveda packs ,beads, and other humidification devices; its a waste of money and very costly and makes absolutely no sense to me. Id rather spend that money on better quality sticks. I use the green flower foam. You can but htis at any Michaels stores or on ebay. You just cut it to fit your container and soak in distilled water as needed. I can control the RH by how much I cut off the block and how often I re-charge it. Its dirt cheap and a box of 20 blocks will last for years. I use it in my tubidor and I use it in my humidor. For a humidor, buy a crystal light drink with the oval throat and cut the foam to fit in it and the unit fits in your humidor perfectly. For my tubidor I hang a plastic tray from a dowel stick located at the very top of the tubidor and place a block of foam in it and it works perfectly. Surely I have apparently had the RH to high resulting in the splitting problem but that is easily fixed by taping off more holes until the desired RH level is reached.
Just my two cents worth. Rob

whatever works for you searcher
but I'm confused
you have holes cut in your tubidor........................so you are using the rh outside your tubidor to help regulate the rh inside it.

Am I correct on this?

If the answer is yes, well then.......................................you are an innovator of the highest order.

To king of the cove and Tonygraz..........Imagine a plastic tub with the lid on and a tray full of saturated green flower foam, the humidity is going rise dramatically. How high it rises will of course depend on how large the tub is,how large the foam block is and how many sticks you have stored. My tubidor is a 20 gallon roughneck tote. It holds approx. 400 sticks. and still allows room for the hanging basket of saturated grreen flower foam. The holes are drilled to allow you to regulate the RH. I have several 3/8" diameter holes drilled on the sides and on the top of the lid. If my RH is too high as everyone here has indicated, I simply remove tape off some of the holes until I reach the 65 desired RH. level. If all of my holes are untaped, then I could always drill more holes. Seasonal changes in the house temperature will affect the RH in the tub so here again you have the ability to lower or raise RH in the tub by either removing taped off holes or by adding more. Its quite simple and costs next to nothing to store/age your sticks without the heavy monthly costs of these humidification toys. Rob

Searcher,
I'm not trying to bust your ballz here, and for once, I'm being serious.
Forget about all the issues with foam...........(but there's a reason probably less than 1% of experienced cigar smokers use it)

Your system will only work "well" if the temp and RH in your house remain pretty much the same, 24/7.

It's unlikely that this is the case if you're in Dallas.

Sure, it will work "reasonably" well, and you'll be fiddling with it several times per week, if not per day, at certain times of the the year. But maybe you have the time for that, and like tinkering.

A cooler and silica is a much easier way to go.

Rob.....I'm sorry, but WTF?

To me, a 'waste of money' would be buying cigars and then storing them in such a pizz-poor way as to make them crack.

In fact, it would really make 'no sense to me' to then come on a forum full of smart azzes, tell them I got a problem, ask for help and then tell all of them that they're wasteful, silly bastids.

I was going to say, "no offense meant", but I'm afraid that wouldn't be entirely true

And im a cheapass. But because I'm a cheapass, I'm not willing to accept risk to my cigars. The cost to protect is much much less than the cost of a loss.

No, beads do not contain living mold colonies.

Mold requires much higher moisture levels (surfaces near saturation I.e. 100%)

Spores, yes. Mold and yeast spores are everywhere always. But they're harmless as an encapsulated spore, until you provide the optimal environment such as a saturated foam block in a dark space with minimal air exchange

Its not about offending anyone, its about propagating misinformation to interested parties. Someone is going to be searching for a cheapass solution to store their cigars and you're pushing a method that will invariably lead to failure.

dstieger.........as you know there are many different ways to achieve the desired RH level, there are all kinds of devices that are quite costly, my point is the green foam flower blocks are dirt cheap and will safely achieve the same desired RH levels. Mold will develop on any moist surface in a dark area including beads and the other costly devices. I think they are all harmless as long as it is not touching the sticks. My block is suspended above all my sticks at the top of the tubidor and is completely safe. hope this clarifies. Rob

dnmdevries........yes you do have to alster the vent holes as the external enviornment changes, thats the wonderful flexibility of having the holes in the first place. External temps will affect the RH so I adjuct as needed.

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