Measuring RH, Beads, etc. - in progress #2

[foolwithnohair]

Just a quick update on my continuing quest - here are some interesting (well, to me) hypotheses that I'm working on.

(Hypothesis: fancy word that means a wild guess that does not yet have anything to back it up, but that the author (me) has reason to believe to be true.)

Feel free to disagree - I am not saying the below is fact.

- from a technical standpoint, beads have made wood obsolete.
- there are different kinds of beads, they all work, but some work much better than others.
- glass-lined humidors or coolerdors have some technical advantages over wood humidors.
- the only logical reasons to use spanish cedar right now in North America are appearance and the flavour it adds to cigars
- in humidors beyond about a cubic foot in size, loose cigars will benefit from active humidification (a fan)
- keeping cigars in their boxes rather than trays overcomes a lot of issues, but there are better ways.
- Boveda makes correct statements in their marketing, but those statements make you imply the wrong things.
- There is no other reason to use Boveda calibration other than convenience.
- Florist's foam in anything other than a small desktop humidor sucks
- the more cigars in a humidor, the more beads are required.
- you probably need more beads
- you need sh*tloads of kitty litter beads to match the performance of good beads, but you won't see this with a hygrometer inside your humidor
- either there is tons of misinformation on the 'net about the proper storage of cigars, or tons of misinformation about the preservation of artifacts. The peer-reviewed published science is in favour of the latter.
- however, just using what is best for preserving artifacts won't work as well as it could for cigars.
- if Heartfelt is using the beads that I think they are using, then those beads are optimal, but don't breath the dust, and keep the beads away from metal. If they aren't using those beads, then there are better beads.
- beads may last forever, but do decrease in performance over time.
- sheets (of the same material as beads) work better than beads unless fans are involved, or the beads are spread in thin layers.
- cigars under five years old smoke best at 72% RH. However, that RH may have very little to do with the RH that your humidor hygrometer indicates.
- the RH you want for smoking isn't the RH you want for long-term storage ... but guess what? 70% is a good compromise for people who have one humidor.
- at the price I pay for cigars - which is three times what Americans pay due to taxation - I ain't compromising.

Anyhow, the definitive work on beads for museum conservation was done right here in Ottawa at the Canadian Conservation Institute. I hope to make my way down there next week.

... off to shovel my driveway, and then off to the local B&M to see the new arrivals from Cuba.

[iloveclmore]

Thats quite a laundry list of observations!

[cybervee-cl]

Originally Posted by baldheadracing

- if Heartfelt is using the beads that I think they are using, then those beads are optimal, but don't breath the dust, and keep the beads away from metal. If they aren't using those beads, then there are better beads.

Can you explain what you mean by this? Why keep them away from metal? What beads do you think they are using?

Thanks.

[foolwithnohair]

Originally Posted by cybervee

Can you explain what you mean by this? Why keep them away from metal? What beads do you think they are using?

Thanks.

I mean, the beads could rust iron when the beads are full of water.

I don't want to post what my wild guess is, because that type could very well not be being used, and/or the bead manufacturer has customized the beads for Heartfelt. Also, the Internet being what it is, the hypothesis (wild guess) might soon be garbled into fact.

In addition, there could be (and probably are) other factors that I have not yet considered, so this type that looks promising today may well be less than ideal after I talk to the folks at the Canadian Conservation Institute.

Suffice to say that Heartfelt's pound price is very good - most places have beads (of various types) coming in at over $40/pound.