Monday, November 29 1999
Q. I recently purchased a leather travel humidor from Famous Smoke Shop. It's a Firstland International - black, cedar lined. What should I do to prep it? Should I wet a sponge in distilled and place it inside? What about the magnetic humidifier strips? Should I soak those for a certain amount of time? How often should I re-wet them? Thanks.
- Mark
A. You really don't need to "prep" or "season" a travel humidor like you would a large desktop cigar humidor. It's also not necessary to do the "sponge thing" in such a small space. I mean, you could, but the humidifier/s should provide enough humidity to keep your cigars fresh on the road. Thoroughly soak the humidifiers in distilled water, or a mix of 80% distilled water to 20% PG, place them in the humidor, and shut it.
The best way to know when to "re-charge" them is by putting a hygrometer in the travel humidor for an hour or so, and see what it reads. Remember that the humidity will go up a little after you put your cigars in the travel humidor, too.
Finally, note that a lot of cigar smokers tend to just "fill and go." IOW, they charge the humidifier just before putting the cigars in their travel humidor. If you really want keep the travel humidor seasoned, you could pick up a Boveda 69% Humidipak and let it rest in there when you're not using it. That, plus the humidifiers will help the traveler maintain a more consistent RH, and the humidifiers may stay charged a little longer between trips, too. Just remember, the Humidipak has a limited lifespan, so when you're not using it, keep it in a plastic baggie which will may help you get a little more use out of it.
