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Transporting/Shipping Humidor & Cigars

wedstuntpuller

wedstuntpuller

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Well as some of you may (or may not) know, I am moving to Hawaii in March from Virginia. I have a humidor with (give or take) 75 cigars in it, a few dozen of the cuban variety, and a lot of nice dominicans... I am wondering just how I am going to get my cigars over there in good condition? I am taking a government flight so its not an option to put them in my luggage or anything... they would have to be shipped. I have never tried to ship them before. I have a medium size travel case that could hold possibly 25-30 cigars and keep them tight, but dont know if they would still be good by the time they got there? I would appreciate any insight or help that some of you with more experience can provide, thanks!
 
Craig and Gummi will be able to help you more on this one. No matter what im sure plenty of bubble wrap and a humidipack is in order.
 
TGM hit the nail on the head. I actually just wrapped my entire Humi in bubble wrap about. About 4 layers. Then put 2 layers in the humi itself. Dropped a humi pack in there and when they arrived, they were absolutely fine.
 
oh so they do have something that you can pack them with that will keep them? I have shipped cigars before (it was only a handful though, i think 8 of them) from Dubai to the U.S. and just kept them in their metal tubes... but they were brand new and sealed.
 
JB said:
TGM hit the nail on the head. I actually just wrapped my entire Humi in bubble wrap about. About 4 layers. Then put 2 layers in the humi itself. Dropped a humi pack in there and when they arrived, they were absolutely fine.
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So they weren't damaged at all from rolling around inside the humidor or anything? or did you pack something in there to keep them held tight in place? I have a lot of empty space in my humidor, and since filling it up with quality cigars isn't a fiscal option right now, I am trying to figure out how to do it properly.
 
I wonder if you could put bubble wrap inside as well.
 
I put bubble wrap inside to keep them from rolling around. Boveda packs kept the humidity in tact.
 
OK sounds good! I guess i will just pack the bubble wrap in there tight, and plop in a few boveda packs... thanks for the advice guys I have a lot of money in that box!
 
Buy lots of bubble wrap...

Put it inside with the humi packs for sure, but you'll also need quite a bit to cushion the humidor when you put it inside a box for shipping to keep it from being damaged. If you can wait until after the holidays, that'd be best, it may be less likely to be handled so roughly. You don't want to feel or hear anything moving around in there before you pack it up, any kind of jostling can lead to cracked or damaged smokes that won't be nearly as enjoyable.

You should be able to purchase the humi packs at a local cigar shop, they're relatively inexpensive. Be sure to get enough to last a couple of weeks at least.

Shipping to Hawaii is a huge pain. Be prepared for this. It's expensive, and slow in my experience.

There are a few good cigar shops in the island chain, one in particular that gets some pretty great stuff from what I've read (Craig might can give you details on this one, he's purchased from them I think)
 
I might even remove the cigars from the humidor and ship them seperately with that many smokes. Definitely bag up your cigars in ziplock bags with the Boveda packs like these Boveda 69% Humidity Pack | Famous Smoke Shop

You may even want to take a straw to the bag and suck some air out to help them from knocking about. Then wrap each bag really good with some bubble wrap and secure each bundle as well as possible. Doesn't take much to bang up a wrapper especially on a long trip like that.

The place I have ordered from was R. Field Wine Co. store in Kailua
 
Cool thanks a ton! Craig that store is going to be right down the street (relatively) from where i will be stationed in Kaneohe. Will definitely be shipping after the holidays as I am travelling there in mid-late March. I'll probably send my humidor by itself in a box a few days ahead of the cigars, that way I can get it back to where it needs to be before the cigars arrive. Luckily I saved a handful of the metal tubes from buying individuals overseas to where I can protect the best ones the most.
 
before you put the bubble wrap around your humidor wrap it is something that would help preserve the temperature inside the humidor as well. If you can find it, a piece of neopreme works well as a temperature controller. Then the rest of the advise also given should work great.
 
I don't know anything about cigars, but whenever I am shipping something fragile - I bring it to the packages store and have them pack and ship it for me. Have you considered doing that?
 
Diane said:
I don't know anything about cigars, but whenever I am shipping something fragile - I bring it to the packages store and have them pack and ship it for me. Have you considered doing that?
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That would be a big NO-NO!! For MANY reasons including certain items he is sending.
 
Diane said:
Ok - it was just a thought.
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I'll explain why it may not be a good idea to let the package store wrap it up for ya:


The posession of some of the sticks is a bit of a gray area...

The more important thing is that the sticks are extremely fragile, and even a well intentioned person can damage them if they don't know what they're doing. Crack or fold a cigar, and it's pretty much garbage, it won't allow you to draw any smoke through it (all of the leaves burning at the same rate is where the flavor comes from, get that out of wonk with an air leak or something and the experience isn't the same)
 
Craig Mac said:
That would be a big NO-NO!! For MANY reasons including certain items he is sending.
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Ha, Craig's right... certain items are not allowed to be shipped to anywhere in the U.S. and I have quite a few! Don't worry nothing dangerous ;-)
 
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