I've been doing some surf-searching, and now I'm starting to wonder. Which is better, humidors or cooler/tupperdors? Most of the info. says it doesn't really matter. But some of the things that are brought up makes me wonder if maybe I should only put certain cigars in certain places.
Humidors are wood, and wood can breath, regardless of how tight the seal is. Coolerdors are pastic and/or metal, which doesn't breath. Some of the info talked about the ammonia odor off-gassing from the cigars as they age. Some info (the way it was stated) is leading me to believe that this may not be good in the long run.
Some containers that you can get don't seal 100% airtight, therefore, the off-gassing can escape, eliminating the ammonia. But what about the moisture levels come winter in the cold dry North?
I've been looking at some of these dollar-store specials, and they don't seal for squat.
Does it come down to preference, or is there a metnod to this madness? Right now, I've gotten a bunch of Rubbermaid Take-A-Long containers from Walmart because they are airtight (and cheap) to store my cigars in for the winter.
Would it matter if it doesn't seal airtight? I know that a cedar-lined humidor would be best, but my inventory has really expanded recently. Also, with plastic containers, you have the off-gassing of the petroleum chemicals from the plastic.
I've seen posts for both sides.
Has anyone ever had any problems? Opinions/input.

Doug
dz130 at aol dot com

One of the best add's I've seen recently is the Davidoff Humidor one that says something like 'your great grandchildren will thank you'. If have enough money to buy enough cigars to worry about where you're going to put them then you can afford either a humidor or a cool/igloo/frigidor. Going the coolerdor way you're safe if you have a big enough credo/sponge and in a really good way if you keep your sticks in boxes. Humidors are great, but it seems hit or miss on the cheaper ones. I've had a few that were cheap and excellent, and some that were pretty bad. You can have things like staples through the cedar that oxidize (although this usually isn't the case). I'm partial to humidors and stackable one's are a definate plus. As far as amonia is concerned...how can you not open the box and look at them every once in a while? Unless you actually plan to leave the box closed for a year it's not worth worrying about amonia, but you should really look anyways to make sure you don't get any beetles. The only thing that might be an issue between humidors and coolerdoors is sudden drops in temperature and condensation (being that wood will absorb moisture). Building your own humidor is always good.

Couple of things:
1) the packaging from Mayorga High Octane is once of the best investments you can make 😉
2) an inverted box lid with a couple of holes in it makes an excellent riser.

I would think that anything designed for food storage would be safe. Can't have the kiddies getting sick because the Bisquick sat in the tupperware container too long. The same would apply to coolers but maybe not to those large plastic dry storage boxes for sweaters or just stuff.

AVB

i haven't any bisquick biscuts in years. i remembe they were good. now i buy hawaiian swet roles.

you guys worry too much about the storage. smoke them all and buy a week's supply at a time. i have 4 sweater boxes full of cigars and home made humidifiers and they don't have hygrometers. haven't you seen my bathroom pictures?

i have two cooler chests (cooladors) in the garage. i have boxes in them and some loose cigars and of course cheap home made humidifiers and no hygrometers.

if i feel the oaisis is drying, i add distilled water that i buy. in a pinch, you could use the water you distill yourself, but not after eating asparagus.

i do have a digital hygrometer that i use to check the sweater boxes, the cooler chests, the many humidors, including the two crappy ones that require a small bowl of water in addition to the humidifier.

the PG is the magic. just let it do it's job.

you guys are probably wondering about cello on or off, but are ashamed to ask. be ashamed, be very ashamed.

i keep the cello on and use it to light my cigars. i like the feeling of the flame burning my hand when the cigars don't light fast enough.

Doug,

Buy a decent cooler. Go to your lumbr store and buy some spanish cedar planks and line the cooler with the planks. This will help regulate the humidity in the coolidor. You can also use old cigar boxes. Do not worry about staples or nails as they will not affect anything at all.

I have one coolidor with some SC planks in it and a sweater box with SC in it. Both regulate the humidity really well, but the coolidor regulate temperature better.

Now, go with your gut instincts!
Matt

I got to know why the packaging from High Octane is the best investment, since I have never invested in any (never smoked a Mayorga HO). Please explain.

Both, Humidors can be a nice addition to your home....exotic woods and such, where as coolerdor,me anyways, is where I keep my overflows and in the closet. Also, if you are going to line your coolerdor with cedar, make sure it is spanish and not the aroma type used in hope chests and such.. Drop me a e-mail..SAllenHumidors at aol cot com

Lining a cooler, with SC is gret, but I just use the spanish cedar blocks, that come in cigar boxes, along with any spanish cedar boxes, from the cigars I buy. You can make, nice trays for you cigars with these blocks, and small hardwood dowels, just use a drill bit right about the same, alittle smaller than the dowels you are using so you get a snug fit and don't need any glue. I would tell you where I am getting extra blocks of spanish cedar, but you would just bid the price up.
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

Oh yeah,
sometimes it is fun. sort of like putting together a jig saw puzzle.
Later
Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

Most of the coolers I've seen have that little nipple at the bottom to drain the water from the ice? or to let a little air in/out?

sure a humidor is nice and will work very well ... but a coolerador will also work ...

it might surprise you to know that humidors haven't always been lined with SC ... there are antique humi's routinely offered on a very prominent Internet auction site that are wood boxes lined with metal ...

also, the cigar makers and distributors are not stockpiling crates full of boxed and bundled cigars in a large cedar lined warehouse ... don't misunderstand ... if you've got a nice humidor, use it ... if you have several nice humidors, use them all ... but if you have a need for storage that exceeds the capacity of however many humidors you've got, don't get too tense over the use of a cooler ...

Right now, I'm enjoying a cigar that to my knowledge has never seen the inside of a cedar lined humidor ... it is a (VERY GOOD) cigar that came about two months ago from CBid in a cellophane wrapped bundle ... I've had it in my coolerador most of the time, but twice, I've have also put itin my cigar caddy, taken it places, somehow not smoked it and so returned it to the coolerador ... I'd match it against a like cigar that had been kept in the finest humidor and challenge you to tell me which was which ...

BTW ... amid the wonderful humor contained in Rickamaven's response is some of the best advise you could get anywhere ... scroll back up and re-read it ... absorb his wisdom and smile at the warm humor that is also contained in it ...

Thanks a bunch, everyone. I appreciate the assistance since all this is still fairly new to me.
I guess I can use the bigger plastic bins that have looser fitting lids. I'll just have to put bigger pieces of floral foam in with 50/50.

The high octane trios come in a triangular box filled with triangular wood 'tubes' They make great storage/risers and dividers. Plus you can slap some sticks in them and carry em with you. besides temperature control, volume is your best friend so always keep em full 😉

I've always used kind of a two stage process to store cigars. First, I put them in a igloodor (150 quart size) and after aging there for a while I put them in a regular humidor. This allows me to take out as many or as few cigars as I would like from the box and put into the humidor, so I can have quite a variety. I keep florist foam moistened with 50/50 PG/distilled water in the igloodor along with a hydrometer to measure the moisture. I don't bother lining the igloodor as it doesn't really seem to matter.

Works for me................Except those damn igloodors are multiplying because I can't seem to stop buying cigars!