I'm looking ofr a little help from the very knowledgeable people on this board. First, what is the best medium for a tupperdor? I know only a little about Climmax beads or wet oasis... please elaborate. What about the best shelving/separating method in a standard deep & shelveless plastic bin from Wal-Mart? What about cedar blocks? Any other issues on humidification, airtightness or any other storage issues I should be aware of with a new tupperdor? Help from a few new friends, please?

Have you done any searches yet?

Yes, I have. I have found a good amount of information (I know more specifically which questions are less dumb to ask), but I just eanted a little more specific info on what I was thinking about doing to provide me with more 'gar storage and aging room while also saving money to fill it. Thanks for any help you can give.

How many cigars do you want to keep? I set up a small coolerdor using a 12 pack cooler and soon found this to be inadequate. To each his own, of course, but you may want to think a little bigger. Don't be afraid to go 30 quart cooler . You can use a small tupperware container, punch holes in the lid, use wet oasis inside, and establish proper humidity quickly because the inside of the cooler is plastic and won't absorb moisture. Spannish cedar is available for shelves if you desire, but I wouldn't use just ordinary cedar. Too strong. Your cigars will smell and taste like a hope chest. I use outdoor deck cedar. I went to the home center and picked up what's called five-quarter cedar boards and cut them into 1/2 inch thickness on the old table saw, glued them together to get the width I needed, and they make great separators. Good luck.

Cheech, I use the big 90qt storage containers from Wal-Mart ($8.97) and a plastic shoebox from the same place ($1.88) and wet oasis foam from their crafts dept. ($2.97) I don't worry too much about cedar lining, because I keep boxes in there, so I use plastic trays (.97/3) to keep my singles in. I can set one up for about $15.75! (less the distilled water ang PG) Saves money for more filling! 🙂

Foster's sounds good. It's pretty personal, really. Just figure that since you found this site, you'd better go bigger than you think you'll need.

I posted mine here (for the most part) and there's a good amount of exrta info too...

http://www.cigarbid.com/auction/forum/forum.cfm?action=list&forumID=1&messageDisplay=0000000026161 

herfsnipe, sketcha & CWFoster...

Good guys (& gals, who knows) are the reason why I asked here before I did anything. I appreciate the time and thought. Have any of you tried Climmax beads before or any other type of substance (crystals, etc.) that you just hydrate? What our your guys thought on purchasing cedar blocks on CI/CB vs. finding them around town (where)?

sketcha,

I read your post. Great stuff... don't know how I missed it. How much Climmax beads did you use for a 90 qt. bin? How many cigars does one hold for you (just in case I might want to get more than one going from the start)?

Everyone else, keep the ideas coming. I promise I will pay this forward the next tiem someone new asks the same or similar queations. Now that I know how cool everyone is here, I won't just buy and lurk. You guys rock!

cheech... in lees than two months i have moved to a 120qt cooler from wallmart.. 38.99 i have invested in the following.. wet oasis with cheap ziplock tupperware you can fingd this at the supermarket... and i use cedar boxes for the cedar.. so if you put more boxes in the more help with humidity .. get a digital hygrometer... any of them are good .. i use wedstern digital caliber two.. you can find these on ebay cheap.. i am contemplating using climax.. hopefully this helps

Mayhem,

It helps a lot. About how many 'gars in that 120 qt.?

Pretty much any Tupperware or cooler storage should work fine (give them a rinse with baking soda and water to get rid of the plastic smell first). The lid should be a snug fit but doesn't need to be a hermetic drum tight seal. My tupers are the "snap handle" type and they hold the humidity just fine yet offer a little bit of "breathing" with the outside environment. The cooler is, well, a cooler.

My credos are made from travel soap dishes (or the like) with holes drilled in the top. The foam is WET oasis foam from a craft store. It's wetted (not saturated) with 50/50 PG/Distilled H20.

I don't worry about cedar lining because my sticks are stored in boxes. Since I'm a newbie, I mostly buy 5-packs and samplers to find my likings and get empty boxes from my local cigar shop to store them in. If you don't have one nearby, look into the box of sticks (hunks of Spanish cedar) sold here on CBid (merchandise section). Chuck a couple of them in and they'll help equilibrate the humidity and provide that nice cedar sent.

Shelves pick something that won't add an off taste. Spanish cedar would be the first choice but sheets of that are not readily available at my local lumberyard. I went with perforated plastic (cut up and used the sides of a plastic milk crate thingies from Wally world) or plastic lined metal (like the closet shelving sold just about anywhere).

Use common sense and the info on the various sites the folks listed here and everything will be fine. It’s not rocket science, as long as you’re in the ballpark of the desired environment everything will be fine.

Diatribe over...

Thanks Bucky!

"Diatribe"... good word. Does your locall shop sell the empty boxes to you?

No, they tend to have a handfull (4-5) they let me take for free when I stop in say once a month or so. Some of the more decorative ones they keep but the others they end up chucking if they don't find a home.

As for how many per cooler, I have a 70qt that holds 10 boxes or so. Find myself doing the box Tetris thing when I'm bored every now and again to maximize space.

you can purchase spanish cedar strips to line that cooler ... not all that expensive, either.

Drop me a note if you want specific info.

fromsteves at hotmail dot com

yep ... 'from' IS part of the addy

I use my cooler and tupper for boxes only, plenty of cedar. No lining necessary.

As for Climmax, you can always go over which will increase your time between recharges. I use about 1/2 #, but I'm not sure how big my tupper is. I'd say it's about 16' X 16" X 24". It holds 15-20 boxes.

Remember, the bigger the credo, the less room for cigars.