Cigars and heat

[SewerRanger]

I'm going on vacation in about a week and will be bringing my cigars with me (how could it be vacation if I left them at home?). The vacation spot is southwest of where I work and so I want to just leave my job and head to vacation without heading home first (home is southeast of work so you can see why I wouldn't want to go there first). In order to do this though, I have to leave the cigars in my car (for reasons too complicated to explain, I can't bring them into work). It's hot here and I've got black leather interior in my car and I can easily see the humi getting to be around the 100 - 120 degree mark by time I get back in the car. Does anyone know how this will affect my cigars? Could it possibly ruin them?

 

[b.dawgson]

I'd put them into a small coolider with some icepacks... just make sure to seperate the icepacks from the sticks with ziplock bags ....

 

[uptown_isy]

You can't bring a case into work with you? Where do you work? NSA?

I wouldn't suggest leaving it in the car if the temps will get that high.

 

[bfreebern]

Hmmmm, maybe you should ship them to where you're going.

 

[SewerRanger]

You can't bring a case into work with you? Where do you work? NSA?

No, but I do work in a high security building and we can't really bring much in with us.

Hmmmm, maybe you should ship them to where you're going.

There's not really a mailing address. It's a house in the mountains about a mile down a dirt road. Hell most of the time, I miss the turn off myself.

I'd put them into a small coolider with some icepacks... just make sure to seperate the icepacks from the sticks with ziplock bags ....

No coolider, just a regular humi.

I guess I'll have to think of something else now. I really want to bring them but I don't want to drive 30 minutes in the wrong direction since the trip is a three hour drive anyway. What would happen to them if they sat in the heat like that for a couple of hours?

 

[CRQuarto]

Freeze 'em first, that way all you are worrying about is mold.

 

[bfreebern]

Not really a mailing address? It has to be served by some mail carrier or Fedex or UPS. I wouldn't risk leaving them in the car for an extended period of time. If it's a day or two, it shouldn't matter. Anytime you have something shipped, they are exposed to the heat for longer periods then that.

 

[DirtyDave]

I left a couple sticks in my car recently in their nice little travel humi. The temperature got pretty high and the wrappers split on a couple. No mold or bugs, just split wrappers. I think the cooler/icepack is your best bet, finding a cheap one shouldn't be too hard.

 

[sinnyc]

I guess I'll have to think of something else now. I really want to bring them but I don't want to drive 30 minutes in the wrong direction since the trip is a three hour drive anyway. What would happen to them if they sat in the heat like that for a couple of hours?

Wrapper splitting and beetles are what could happen due to temps that high. Don't leave them in the car. B.Dawson suggested a cooler with an icepack and I think that's the best solution. If for some reason you can't do that I'd take the hour detour and pick them up at home after work.

- Tim

 

[Devil Doc]

How would you keep your beer cold? :whistling: :laugh:

Doc.

 

[haguc]

If you put the sticks in a couple ziplock bags and use a very small cooler with an ice pack you should be fine. The ziplock bags should hold the humidity and keep the cigars from getting direct moisture and getting wet. If you don't have a mini cooler you can just pick up on of those little foam cheapies from Walmart.

 

[CigarStone]

If you put the sticks in a couple ziplock bags and use a very small cooler with an ice pack you should be fine. The ziplock bags should hold the humidity and keep the cigars from getting direct moisture and getting wet. If you don't have a mini cooler you can just pick up on of those little foam cheapies from Walmart.

Yep.....or a Lock-N-Lock (or tupperware) box in a cooler with ice would be fine.

 

[SewerRanger]

Not really a mailing address? It has to be served by some mail carrier or Fedex or UPS

I don't think so. The closest town is a 30 minute drive and like I said before, the house itself sits about a mile off the main road down a dirt path. It's land my stepfather bought and put a summer house on. There isn't even a street sign for the dirt road.

I wouldn't risk leaving them in the car for an extended period of time

I'm talking about 4 hours until I get back in the car, and then 3 hours for the drive. So say 1 hour for the car to heat up in the morning and then another hour for it to cool down when I'm driving, so maybe 3 - 4 hours of high heat at most.

Wrapper splitting and beetles are what could happen due to temps that high

I can understand the wrapper splitting, but wouldn't I already have bug issues if they were there?

How would you keep your beer cold?

Oh, the house has electricity and I've got a cooler, just not a coolidor.

 

[sigar_zealot]

I use the cooler method on road trips myself and it works like a charm. I use one big enough to house a couple of bottles of single malt and some chocolate for my wife. If for some reason you can't work out a cooler leave the sticks in your trunk and try to park in the shade.

 

[Boomer52]

Not really a mailing address? It has to be served by some mail carrier or Fedex or UPS

I don't think so. The closest town is a 30 minute drive and like I said before, the house itself sits about a mile off the main road down a dirt path. It's land my stepfather bought and put a summer house on. There isn't even a street sign for the dirt road.

I wouldn't risk leaving them in the car for an extended period of time

I'm talking about 4 hours until I get back in the car, and then 3 hours for the drive. So say 1 hour for the car to heat up in the morning and then another hour for it to cool down when I'm driving, so maybe 3 - 4 hours of high heat at most.

Wrapper splitting and beetles are what could happen due to temps that high

I can understand the wrapper splitting, but wouldn't I already have bug issues if they were there?

How would you keep your beer cold?

Oh, the house has electricity and I've got a cooler, just not a coolidor.

Bingo.

Are you taking food in the cooler? :whistling:

 

[souldog]

My opinion is don't overthink it, and I think you're doing a pretty good job at not doing that. You leave them in their own ziploc bag in the car, they get heated for a couple hours. Who cares? As long as you burn each and every one of them while on this trip, you don't have to fret these cigars infecting anything else.

I wouldn't even sweat it. Folks have done much worse to their sticks and they've lived. Enjoy your vacation! :thumbs:

 

[Yeahthatsme]

My opinion is don't overthink it, and I think you're doing a pretty good job at not doing that. You leave them in their own ziploc bag in the car, they get heated for a couple hours. Who cares? As long as you burn each and every one of them while on this trip, you don't have to fret these cigars infecting anything else.

I wouldn't even sweat it. Folks have done much worse to their sticks and they've lived. Enjoy your vacation! :thumbs:

While it makes me feel all wrong inside, I've gotta agree with Jon on this. The sticks will be fine for 3-4 hours, just make sure they aren't sitting in direct sunlight and you'll be good to go. Have a good vacation!

 

[SewerRanger]

Almost forgot about this. I decided to just leave them in my car. One of them cracked a little but that was it. The temp hit 98F in the humidor (low 60's for humidity) and was back to a steady 75F by time I got to the vacation house. I got the humidity back up to the 70's by that night and two days later smoked one. It was fine. Thanks for everyones input.

 

[lurch]

Wish I would've seen this earlier...

I've had my sticks exposed to some pretty harsh environments. In Iraq, my Lock N Lock tupperdore got exposed to 170* heat while waiting to board a CH-53 in Camp Al Taqquadum. We were waiting there for about 30 mins. and I thought I was going to lose every single stick I had. As soon as I got back to Al Asad I got them to an air conditioned environment. They fared pretty well and smoked like a cigar should.