The ziplock question

Howdy gents,

Having trouble finding an answer in the archives and would appreciate a nudge in the right direction. When I stopped in my local shop the other day they placed my cigars in a ziplock bag; since I have no humidor how long can they stay in this bag thing without dying? I'll be done with the last one tomorrow so it's not like it's a must know answer I was just curious if was like hours, or one to two days so I can plan future purchases.

Short term, I don't think you have anything to worry about (as long as short term isn't a few weeks) especially since you'll finish the last one off tomorrow.

The easiest thing to do for the time being until you get a humi would be to get a gel tube or jar (propylene glycol based) from your B&M if they carry them and put it and your cigars in a small piece of tupperware. It holds a good seal and the PG will hold the humidity. This is a really good temporary storage solution until you get the setup you want.

Jonesy said:

Short term, I don't think you have anything to worry about (as long as short term isn't a few weeks) especially since you'll finish the last one off tomorrow.

The easiest thing to do for the time being until you get a humi would be to get a gel tube or jar (propylene glycol based) from your B&M if they carry them and put it and your cigars in a small piece of tupperware. It holds a good seal and the PG will hold the humidity. This is a really good temporary storage solution until you get the setup you want.

Click to expand...

Jonesy speaks the truth. A good tupperdor is sufficient for long-ish storage and you really cannot beat the price. MadMonk introduced me to LockLock brand containers which have a guaranteed air and water tight seal. Other brands are now making the same thing but if you can find anything that says that it is air and water tight then go for it...with a gel tube or jar you can hold in one of those suckers for quite a while. They also make great travel boxes. I have four of them sitting in my basement right now!

Generally speaking, cigars will hold humidity for about 3 days in a ziploc, and at least a week in a tupperware container, without ANY extra humidification. Add a water pillow, Boveda pack, or gel canister and you can extend that indefinitely.

~Boar

Walmart has some of the LockLock knockoffs that are cheap and I have been using those for isolating certain smokes and travel. No problems to date!

A day or two tops - depending on the initial condition and the weather.

Simple thing to do, get a Humi-Pouch!

Boveda/Fuente also make one.

When I was just starting out and never had more than a couple cigars in a Ziploc, the folks at my B&M made sure to offer me one of the little wet-nap sized Boveda packs that Fuente inserts into all their boxes each time I'd stop by to make a purchase. Worked like a charm for a few weeks, though I suspect the packs might have had more longevity due to the humidity of Miami than they would have if I lived in an arid climate, so your mileage may vary...

Ask for one or two of the little Fuente ones the next time you're at the shop, or just buy a larger one for $5 that will last for months.

Jonesy said:

Short term, I don't think you have anything to worry about

The easiest thing to do for the time being until you get a humi would be to get a gel tube or jar (propylene glycol based) from your B&M if they carry them and put it and your cigars in a small piece of tupperware. It holds a good seal and the PG will hold the humidity. This is a really good temporary storage solution until you get the setup you want.

Click to expand...

punk_lawyer said:

Jonesy speaks the truth. A good tupperdor is sufficient for long-ish storage and you really cannot beat the price. MadMonk introduced me to LockLock brand containers which have a guaranteed air and water tight seal. Other brands are now making the same thing but if you can find anything that says that it is air and water tight then go for it...with a gel tube or jar you can hold in one of those suckers for quite a while. They also make great travel boxes. I have four of them sitting in my basement right now!

Click to expand...

I am going to go this route I believe. I picked up a Xikar digital hydrometer and Drymistat humidifier tube and have the hydrometer in the salt test calibration now.

Not A Nice Person said:

Generally speaking, cigars will hold humidity for about 3 days in a ziploc, and at least a week in a tupperware container, without ANY extra humidification. Add a water pillow, Boveda pack, or gel canister and you can extend that indefinitely.

~Boar

Click to expand...

Good to know information, BTW the smokes are the ones you recomended to me, the RyJ Bullies. I like them...

grateful1 said:

Simple thing to do, get a Humi-Pouch!

Boveda/Fuente also make one.

Click to expand...

Wow!, looked these up if cigar storage is this expensive I better quit while I'm green. $238 for one that holds 5 cigars; my wife would forceable remove my gonads from their protective pouch if she found out I paid that much for a ziplock baggie. No offense intended but that is out of my price range at the moment.

The Green Monkey said:

When I was just starting out and never had more than a couple cigars in a Ziploc, the folks at my B&M made sure to offer me one of the little wet-nap sized Boveda packs that Fuente inserts into all their boxes each time I'd stop by to make a purchase. Worked like a charm for a few weeks, though I suspect the packs might have had more longevity due to the humidity of Miami than they would have if I lived in an arid climate, so your mileage may vary...

Ask for one or two of the little Fuente ones the next time you're at the shop, or just buy a larger one for $5 that will last for months.

Click to expand...

I will.

Thanks all for the information.

TubalCain said:

Jonesy said:

Short term, I don't think you have anything to worry about

The easiest thing to do for the time being until you get a humi would be to get a gel tube or jar (propylene glycol based) from your B&M if they carry them and put it and your cigars in a small piece of tupperware. It holds a good seal and the PG will hold the humidity. This is a really good temporary storage solution until you get the setup you want.

Click to expand...

punk_lawyer said:

Jonesy speaks the truth. A good tupperdor is sufficient for long-ish storage and you really cannot beat the price. MadMonk introduced me to LockLock brand containers which have a guaranteed air and water tight seal. Other brands are now making the same thing but if you can find anything that says that it is air and water tight then go for it...with a gel tube or jar you can hold in one of those suckers for quite a while. They also make great travel boxes. I have four of them sitting in my basement right now!

Click to expand...

I am going to go this route I believe. I picked up a Xikar digital hydrometer and Drymistat humidifier tube and have the hydrometer in the salt test calibration now.

Not A Nice Person said:

Generally speaking, cigars will hold humidity for about 3 days in a ziploc, and at least a week in a tupperware container, without ANY extra humidification. Add a water pillow, Boveda pack, or gel canister and you can extend that indefinitely.

~Boar

Click to expand...

Good to know information, BTW the smokes are the ones you recomended to me, the RyJ Bullies. I like them...

grateful1 said:

Simple thing to do, get a Humi-Pouch!

Boveda/Fuente also make one.

Click to expand...

Wow!, looked these up if cigar storage is this expensive I better quit while I'm green. $238 for one that holds 5 cigars; my wife would forceable remove my gonads from their protective pouch if she found out I paid that much for a ziplock baggie. No offense intended but that is out of my price range at the moment.

The Green Monkey said:

When I was just starting out and never had more than a couple cigars in a Ziploc, the folks at my B&M made sure to offer me one of the little wet-nap sized Boveda packs that Fuente inserts into all their boxes each time I'd stop by to make a purchase. Worked like a charm for a few weeks, though I suspect the packs might have had more longevity due to the humidity of Miami than they would have if I lived in an arid climate, so your mileage may vary...

Ask for one or two of the little Fuente ones the next time you're at the shop, or just buy a larger one for $5 that will last for months.

Click to expand...

I will.

Thanks all for the information.

Click to expand...

Keep looking...they are a few dollars!

grateful1 said:

A day or two tops - depending on the initial condition and the weather.

Simple thing to do, get a Humi-Pouch!

Boveda/Fuente also make one.

Click to expand...

Gary, it figures you would link to a site that sells medical marijuana pouches as well! :laugh:

Still a newbie myself...but I think a Cigar Caddy is hard to beat for the smoker who only keeps a few around. My friend bought me the 10 stick one for my birthday when I was first getting into cigars and only buying a few at a time. Now that I'm smoking more, it's going to continue to be useful to me in its intended purpose, as a travel humidor and also as an "overflow" humidor for when my desktop humidor gets full...and I've also since bought the 2 stick one for carrying a couple with me to the bar Construction is top notch, and they're reasonably priced.

edited to add:

To answer your question, I've kept cigars (without any humidification device) in a ziplock at room temperature for up to a week, and they still seemed fine to me. Again, keep in mind that I'm still a newbie, and a more experienced smoker might notice some subtle changes that I didn't? maybe?

info on the cigar caddy: http://www.cigarcaddy.com/

where I bought mine: http://www.cheaphumidors.com/

My 10 stick cigar caddy has a little humidifier built in (green foam type), but the 2 stick one does not.