Stopping wrapper splits in cold weather?

[El Presidente]

I received this email over the weekend and given where I live, it is not a problem ....thankfully 

Can you good folk who live in the icy wastelands of the world please help this good gent out 

 

"Rob I work on a remote research station and to say that we have months of cold and windy weather is an understatement.  When there is a bearable day, I and another scientist  try to enjoy a cigar outside but within minutes of lighting up the cigar wrapper begins to crack and simply gets worse. Is there anything that you can recommend we do?"

 

I was going to recommend dipping the cigar in a glass of water and keeping the glass handy when outside .....but cold weather climates are not my forte. 

[bbguardsp]

Other than try 72% bovedas to store them and smoke on the side of a building that minimizes the wind wisking away the cigar's moisture I can't really think of much else.

[mrmessy]

Letting water run over or dipping the sticks in water. Let dry and smoke. Gives just enough moisture to allow the wrapper to be more elastic.

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[danny]

hmmm...  My logical guess may not be ideal but I would probably try dry-boxing extensively beforehand with the goal being to bring the humidity way down throughout the inner workings of the entire cigar.  This way, the moisture inside the filler & binder being reduced would then expand much less while dealing with an extreme difference in temperature and a much more fragile wrapper due to that very fact.  
 

Then, in addition to the extra dry-boxing I’d dip/wet the cigar in water as-needed to keep the wrapper as pliable as possible while smoking; this could also possible be achieved by bringing the outside of the cigar’s humidity up by putting the extended dry-boxed cigars into a highly humidified environment immediately for a short period just prior to smoking  

 

It also might help to inspect the cigar/s for ANY cracks in the wrapper and avoid smoking those as it will surely split there first.  I’d also stick with cigars with less delicate/thin wrappers if possible, be it varietal or vintage.  
 

Either way, hopefully something will help!

 

[Cold Smoke]

Acclimatize your smokes.

Put them in a dry box. In my case I use a small Pelican case. Allows them to cool without getting desiccated.

Avoid cigars that are fragile to begin with.

Face the fact that it's gonna be a crapshoot.

FWIW, I have had great mileage with Hemingway Short Stories when It's minus both bollocks outside and I can't smoke indoors. Pretty much plug and play.

 

 

[Fuzz]

I assume telling him to change his field of research to somewhere more tropical would not be of any benefit?

 

[HarveyBoulevard]

Dipping them in water before you smoke works very well. I do it in Southern California in the winters at night when it gets down into the 30s.

[BoliDan]

Cant say I have that problem. I regulary smoke in 20F(-7C) and dry, and dont encounter this. It may be due to keeping my cigars dry aleady(58-60% and 70F) they could be conditioned for it and aren't as shocked? I also try to minimize hand movement on the cigar.

Id question what the conditions are, in their lab, where they keep them. Im guessing they keep hot and dont realize that it is making their cigars wetter even though they are maintaining a consistentt rH and the cigars become popsicles when they go outside.

[PigFish]

I always wonder about conflating issues in questions like this. For example. If you banged up your cigars on the way and have small fractures in the wrapper from mistreatment, you will not stop this.

I actually have to wonder if these cigars are stored too dry in the first place and damaged without visible signs of damage. Like many, I am just guessing.

Structural fractures and fines are a result of mishandled tobacco. Rehydrating it won't fix it. It will likely make it worse. Water expands when heated.

The wrapper does not hold the cigar together. The binder does. If the binder is broken, there will be little hope on saving the cigar.

-Piggy

[SigmundChurchill]

5 hours ago, PigFish said:

I always wonder about conflating issues in questions like this. For example. If you banged up your cigars on the way and have small fractures in the wrapper from mistreatment, you will not stop this.

I actually have to wonder if these cigars are stored too dry in the first place and damaged without visible signs of damage. Like many, I am just guessing.

Structural fractures and fines are a result of mishandled tobacco. Rehydrating it won't fix it. It will likely make it worse. Water expands when heated.

The wrapper does not hold the cigar together. The binder does. If the binder is broken, there will be little hope on saving the cigar.

-Piggy

I agree with this.  It is the filler expanding too much for the wrapper, moisturizing the wrapper (if that really is a thing) would only give minimal protection, if any.

For what it’s worth, when the wrapper starts cracking, I use cigar glue, and if I use it generously, that seems to hold.  I am not gluing the two sides of the crack back together, because that likely will crack again.  I glue the two sides of the crack to the binder, so that the wrapper edges have space between them, allowing for more expansion of the filler.  By the time I get to the bottoms of the crack with the glue, the edges of the crack do approximate to one another, obviously, so I put a dab of glue on the outside of the bottom of the crack, in the hopes that it adds some tensile strength.  But by that point in the cigar, the problem is usually over.  That works for me more often than not.

[agentdaffy007]

I am gonna go with this theory... Try smoking while holding your cigar upright. That way, the humidity of the cigar is trying to escape from the foot rather than the side of your cigar.

 

It's just a theory but it might be worth trying. lol

[Fuzz]

33 minutes ago, agentdaffy007 said:

I am gonna go with this theory... Try smoking while holding your cigar upright. That way, the humidity of the cigar is trying to escape from the foot rather than the side of your cigar.

 

It's just a theory but it might be worth trying. lol

No, no, no. The proper way to stop the wrapper splitting you must:

1. Sit facing magnetic north in the "Seated Spinal Twist" position
2. Hold your cigar in your dominant hand (if you are ambidextrous, hold the cigar with both hands)
3. Surround yourself with crystals that have been attuned to your 7 chakras
4. Drawn on your cigar as if you were playing a flute (a deep punch or v cut on the side of the cigar instead of the cap will help)
5. Exhale through your non-dominant nostril, eg left nostril if right handed and vice versa (ambidextrous people choose based on the dominant hand holding the cigar is the one closest to your mouth at the time)

If this does not work after several attempts, give up and try dry boxing for several days. Before smoking, run the cigar under a tap for a few seconds (foot facing down), then pat dry and light up.

If this too fails... get your cigars double wrapped. Surely 2 layers of wrapper won't split.