cracking and then wraper to unravel

[Trex]

pretty much the title says it all. Due to recent cold weather my cigars been acting weird.
Currently my humidor sits 68/68. the cracking happens where i cut the cigar and starts to unravel it self during the smoke. This starts to happen around 2/3 of the cigar.

is this what happens when it's cold and dry (low humidity) outside or do i need to bump up my RH in my humidor?

any input would be appreciated.

Thanks

btw, smoking outside.

[Tarks]

If your humi is 68 RH then they should be fine. Not sure why you are experiencing cracking. Dull cutter?

[Trex]

the cutter i'm using is an xikar 1.

like i said theirs no cracking or unraveling happens during the 1/3 but after that it starts. this has been happen more and more often.

[commonsenseman]

Is your hyrgometer reading properly? Almost sounds like they're over-humidified to me.

[Trex]

have an digital one from walmart. i salt test it and is was dead on.

[DaReallyPoGigolo]

Maybe try cutting a little bit less of the cap off? That works for me the majority of the time when I have the problem that you're experiencing. As to why it's happening now that it's getting colder, I have no idea.

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by Trex

have an digital one from walmart. i salt test it and is was dead on.

How long did you salt test for? Also, what is the humidity outside where you are smoking? If the humidity is high in your smoking environment it can cause your smokes to swell and crack.

[Jimbo57]

Originally Posted by madurolover

How long did you salt test for? Also, what is the humidity outside where you are smoking? If the humidity is high in your smoking environment it can cause your smokes to swell and crack.

This is what I experience down here in South Georgia.

[ejgarnut]

Maybe you could try punching one instead of cutting & see if it still does the same?

[ericb13]

Originally Posted by ejgarnut

Maybe you could try punching one instead of cutting & see if it still does the same?

I second trying the punch. We've had LOTS of rain and humidity here in TX lately and I find that my cigars are swelling at about the 1/3 mark. I use a punch though, and I haven't had one unravel yet. My humidor is a little higher than yours also, so if over-humidification is the problem, then I bet the punch will work for you.

[jakespeed]

I had this happen for the first time this weekend as well. I have a travel humidor, with a humi-pack in it, and I had an RP Edge that had been in there a few weeks. This weekend I took it out for a walk through the park, and after getting halfway through it I noticed that the wrapper was cracked, right underneath where I had been holding it. I figured that it could be that I was holding it too tightly, but I would be more apt to blame it on the weather. It was around 25 degrees, and we had gotten some light snow the day before, which I would consider an extreme enough condition to cause some trauma to the cigar.

It didn't affect the smoke-ability at all, I just found it odd, because this is the first time it's happened.

[Stinkdyr]

You will see more of that this time of year. Usually the wrapper splitting condition while smoking is the result of the filler’s moisture content being too high, vs the wrapper humidity being too low.

Filler tobacco was "wetter" than you thought and needs a longer nap.
- Wrapper/binder dry, and as filler tobacco expands when hot(smoking), the wrapper and binder lacks enough moisture content, thus the elasticity, required to expand(stretch) as the cigar’s filler heats up and expands naturally while smoking.


Question: Is the draw difficult or easy? My bet is the draw got more difficult as the wrapper started to explode. (well, not counting the air being sucked in sideways thru the cracked wrapper, of course!)

Allow your cigar to sleep in your soon-to-be-smoked humi for a longer period of time so that filler and binder/wrapper equalize. Binder/wrapper is the first to lose moisture content.

[Phantom57]

Definitely a humidity problem. According to the wrapper type, some require higher or lower humidity. Also you didn't say where you smoke. If you have to go outside in a cold and dry environment the wrapper will likely split.

[Trex]

I thanks you all for you info. I love you guys for the helpful info you guys have given me. god, I love this site so freakin much

I have come to conclusion that Phantom57 and Stinkdyr are correct. Since my humidor is my overfly or go to smoke (don't have to keep opening and closing my vino set up). i picked couple of cigars out of my vino (primary storage) and they have no cracking or unwrapping issue as of now. The weather is very similar then couple days ago when i last smoked one.

The vino is using 65% cigarmony beads and my desktop top humidor is using the xikar crystal gel. Guessing that mite be my problem. Probable will switch everything over to beads now.

and again thanks