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Xi8, its the only cutter you'll ever need. Ever.

Agreed. My Xi8 way outlasted my Palio, and is still going strong after 500+ cuts. When my Xi8 finally gets dull, I'll send it back for a new one, and use my still in the box, spare Xi8.

BTW, folks, it may sound gross, but I always slobber up the cap real good before cutting it. Ever since I started doing this, I've never had a cap split when cutting.

I prefer the punch, but torpedos and bellicosos require the cutter. Other than those, cigars with a high tar content need the cutter, such as the asylum 60 or they will taste crappy as the tar quickly builds up in the small punch hole. I've also heard Anejos need to be cut. The v-cutters don't seem to do anything but rip an uneven strip across the cap. Some of the newer closed cutters limit how much of the head will be clipped.

The difference between a punch, a v-cut, and a straight cut supposedly comes down to how concentrated the smoke is when it is taken into the mouth on a draw. The punch concentrates it more than a V-cut, and a V-cut is more concentrated than a straight cut on average,. A lot of this had to do with the surface area of the cap removed on the cut - a punch supposedly take out less of the cap than a V-cut, and a V-cut usually takes out less surface area than a straight cut. A lot of it depends on how good the cut / punch is made, and the style of cigar. I've seen guys do a punch or a V-cut on torps, but it seems almost nonsensical. A punch and V-cuts are made mainly for cigars with rounded ends. With a narrow opening at the cap of the cigar, you'll also have a tighter draw, though most people would hardly know the difference.

Likewise, some 90% of cigar smokers would hardly notice the difference if they tried all three cuts on the same cigar. So then it really comes down to a matter of preference.

I go for the punch on Corona sizes (and smaller) and a cutter for smokes over 50 ring. Have had issues with splitting caps, will have to try the slobber method! I have the Xi2 and love it, will have to look into getting an X8 and giving it a go.

Wolf V-Cutter
ftw

Need to try that v cutter someday.

The opposite usually happens to me...

I had a key ring with a bullet punch on it.

Then I went through airport security.

This was pre-911, so I wasn't so forgiving.
The said I couldn't take it.
I said it just LOOKED like a bullet.
No gun powder. No weapon to shoot it with.
But no dice.

I asked if it were OK to draw a picture of a bullet.
I then apologized for asking the question.
And they let me fly.

Last flight I had to mail my Wenger SAK back to myself for $15.

Benchmade?

no, I bought it...

All I use is a guillotine. Last year my B&M proprietor received a rather generous shipment of 10,000 promotional samples. She gave me a few. Since the blades are made from a thin sheet of metal the actually cut better than the $30 specialty cutters and were free. I should be good for a while.

Only because you brought it up...I went to Smithsonian a couple of years ago and had a fair size expensive knife on me...the metal detector caught it and I had to get rid of it.

I went out side and buried it in a planter. Recovered it later that day.

Dirty is better than gone!