I'm kinda put off by bargain humidors, no offense, but they are leeching off Tampa Humidor. Tampa's address is www.tampahumidor.com, but if you accidentally type in www.tampahumidors.com you get sent directly to bargain humidors page. I'm not saying that they don't sell quality products, I just know Tampa does, I have never bought from Bargain, and that seems like shady business to me. Unless, of course, they are both owned by the same company...

Stoge
Placed the order from tampahumidors.com, and let us know if they legit. They have a lot of good stuff for a good price. I say lets sacrifice Stoge’s money to find out

Ive never delt with either of the companies i just remember seeing that they had cedar and the ther things you wanted so i thought id throw it up there for ya.

I did purchased one of my humidors from tampahumidor.com Humidor actually was ok, but it took for me 3 weeks to get it

I ordered an ashtray from bargain humidors. The only complaint I have is that they didn't provide a tracking number. Then again the ashtray was only worth about 20 bucks. Other than that, I didn't have any problems. The shipment took about 9 days total to arrive from the day I ordered it.

Stogie I have a couple more coolerdor tips:

Get a large cooler. My main one is about 32"x14"x12" internal dimensions. I'm not sure how many quarts that is, but it holds about 20+ boxes. Most of what I smoke are robusto-toro range. I have about 500 cigars in there, give or take.

I took the handle off one end, attached a large square of 3/4" ply with stainless bolts and stood it on end. The ply acts as a base and prevents it from being tipped over, accidently or by someone unaware of it's contents. It also acts as a little riser to allow the door to swing clear of the floor.

I beefed up the stock hinges with brass ones and bolted them through the cooler side and lid with stainless bolts. I also added a small hasp to more positively secure the lid. I don't lock it, I just flip it shut.

Mine has slots for dividers in it. I took some 14" mahogany ply and made dividers. Since it is on end the dividers are now shelves. Cigars are light so a 12"x14" piece of 1/4" ply is more than strong enough to support the weight of several hundred cigars. If I find a configuration that allows me to squeeze in more cigars, I can slide a shelf out to move things around.

I leave all cigars in boxes. I jot the name of the store/internet I purchased it, price per stick and date on the bottom of the box. For singles or partial boxes I condense them into large cabinets or unfinished cigar boxes. I find natural unvarnished wood boxes hold up the best. I will put all of my robustos in one, all my churchills in another, etc.

I have also developed a great case of cigar amnesia. I love finding smokes I didn't even know I had. Nothing like opening a box and finding La Unica Cameroons and Excaliburs that have been sitting for a year!

I use climmax beads and no hygrometer. I open it about once every two weeks, to refresh the air inside and/or replenish/diminish my stocks. Even if you don't take anything out, open it every few weeks. I don't have a problem, but I have heard stories of mold.

Since I already had all the stuff around the house, the only thing my coolerdor cost me was the 65% climmax beads. I put them into two disposable flat square gladware containers. I generally put one high and one low, but location is no biggy. I find that with all of the cigars and the closed boxes opening the humidor doesn't make a huge difference in humidity levels and it recovers quickly. I boorowed my buddies electronic James Bond style wireless hygrometer to measure recovery time. Generally it takes about 2-3 hours to restore humidity after opening it. In that time the drop in humidity isn't enough to effect cigars. remember, that drop is a drop in moisture in the air. The cigars are still safely at 65% as the closed boxes lose/gain humidity much slower.

Since the cooler was used for beer, camping, etc. I did wipe it down thoroughly with a bleach solution and then let it air for a day or two. I wanted to make sure that it didn't harbor any fungus or mold.

Any Q's just let me know. When you get it done, let me know. Snap a pic and post it. Maybe we can have a Stogie-thon. We'll ask all those out there to "give 'til it hurts" and help a poor Texas redneck fulfill his lifelong dream of a cooler full of cigars. Because a redneck is a terrible thing to waste.

Ahh shucks, you guys are the best! Thanks BinDer and everyone else for the information you all shared.

They are not. If you run a "whois" on each you will find tampa humidor is a FL business owned by Tampa Humidor. The whois on tampahumidors comes up as a different company in Vegas. The humi I bought from Tampa (in Tampa) was great, and their service was impeccable.

quote:

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Originally posted by baquadro:
I'm kinda put off by bargain humidors, no offense, but they are leeching off Tampa Humidor. Tampa's address is http://www.tampahumidor.com, but if you accidentally type in http://www.tampahumidors.com you get sent directly to bargain humidors page. I'm not saying that they don't sell quality products, I just know Tampa does, I have never bought from Bargain, and that seems like shady business to me. Unless, of course, they are both owned by the same company...

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You can get cedar blocks to throw into the coller here: http://www.bargainhumidors.com/bh/itemdetail.asp?SKU=ACC-CEDARBLOCK
I use them to help stabalize the humidity.
Mine holds at 70% constant.

I use a pelican 1650: http://www.pelicanproducts.us/detailaspx118.html

The interior deminsions are 29" x 17-7/8" x 10-1/2"

I threw in 20 blocks and and have bought a few boxes of LVH that come with a lot of tobacco packing. I throw in all that packing also.

Mine's full with about 350-400 Gars.

You need to open the case at least once a month for air flow. Bad out good in.

Really keeps the Gars nice.

I called and talked to the guys at JR. They were very helpfull about all the information.

One guy there has 125 unopened boxes of Gars that he is aging.

Hope this helps, Gary

"Guess who's back, back again? Guess who's back, tell a friend. Gues who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back?"

Spy guy, you've been MIA.

I didnt line mine with ceder, i just bought a few ceder boxes
from my local shop and place my singles and bundles in those.
i keep my boxes gars in there boxes til i move them to my
humidor.

i have a 56 qt coolerdor with a pound of 65% beads and they work great.

'Fish has got the right idea.

KISS:
Beads-Add a pound of 65% Climmax Beads
Boxes-Use old cigar boxes, preferably unfinished cedar
Beef-Add some heavier hardware and a base to keep things safe.

Stogie, post some pics when you get it done. I wanna see your Texas Coolerdor. Don't forget to remove the beer and ice before you fill it with sticks.

stogie...shoot me an email dbaranska @ mandtbank .com. I will send you a picture of my humy i made (modified).....

OK!

Great thread guys!! I keep seeing posts on the large humidors and just can't afford to go that route. This is just what my doublewide needs Holy smokes - think of the El Rey Del Mundos I can stock away!!

I could afford the cooler...where I would get the money to stock it is beyond me though.

quote:

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Originally posted by motorcyclenut:
Great thread guys!! I keep seeing posts on the large humidors and just can't afford to go that route. This is just what my doublewide needs Holy smokes - think of the El Rey Del Mundos I can stock away!!

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My thoughts exactly Cycle! I'm gonna build a walk in whenever I build my house. Until then a coolerdor will have to do.

A walk in humi would be the ultimate! I deffinately see one in my future. How's the Coolerdor comin' Stoge?

I'm yet to put it together, I'm gonna wait till I get paid this week to order all my stuff. I figured I might as well order some stoges to put in there as well. I'm with BinDer and Motorcylce nut though on about the Kiss concept.
I think Im just gonna put a digital Hygrometer, climax beads and put the box's in(Sans cello on the cigars) and thats it. I'll probaly more than likely line it with cedar, and put spacers between the boxes. Other than that it probaly wont get fancy or complicated.

Once agian a big thanks to everyone who replied and contributed to my question.
THANKS