Moving my cigars - have I got the right idea?

[ChanceSchmerr]

Hey everyone, looking for some advise/experience here.

Military is moving me (against my desire, but what can you do) from the Pacific northwest to Ottawa this summer. The moving company has confirmed that they wont move my whisky collection but they WILL move my humidor - hooray!

It's a fridge-sized converted wine fridge. I have about 2,000 cigars in it, some full boxes, some partially full that I'll consolidate into full boxes. My idea is to vacuum seal my boxes individually in the humidor so that they dont RH fluctuate while in the truck, and to pack the humi solid and seal it up so they boxes dont move around. But I've never done this before, and dont yet have a vac-sealer so hopefully I'm on the right track. 

Questions-

Has anyone done this before?

Should I be worried about temperatures inside the truck?

Should I vac seal the boxes individually or multi boxes in each bag? 

Do I seal with bovedas inside the bags, or just bovedas inside the humidor itself? I typically use 69% bovedas and it keeps my humi overall at about 66-67.

Any recommendations on vacuum sealers? Never had one before.

Am I crazy to do it this way?

Any experience or advice anyone has would be really appreciated. I've never had to move my  cigars like this before, it's all new to me.

Thanks all!

[Fezztone]

Sounds like you have a solid plan. I'd skip vacuum sealing and use jumbo hefty ziplock bags with 1med/large boveda pack per bag then load up the humidor and then pad them inside with bubble wrap. The jumbo ziplocks can hold more than you think!  The vacuum sealers can smash dress boxes and would have a hard time with something like the PLPC cab.  Good luck on your move and thanks for your service!

[Rhinoww]

1 hour ago, Fezztone said:

Sounds like you have a solid plan. I'd skip vacuum sealing and use jumbo hefty ziplock bags with 1med/large boveda pack per bag then load up the humidor and then pad them inside with bubble wrap. The jumbo ziplocks can hold more than you think!  The vacuum sealers can smash dress boxes and would have a hard time with something like the PLPC cab.  Good luck on your move and thanks for your service!

This. 
 

my only concern would be if the cigars are exposed to a lot of heat without some moisture in there. I might even go w a 69 boveda and dry them out back to 65 or so when you get there. It is summer. 
 

The other question I would have is if you will be subject to Canadian Govt inspection. There could be a tax issue there if you are not careful. 

[Bijan]

2 hours ago, Rhinoww said:

The other question I would have is if you will be subject to Canadian Govt inspection. There could be a tax issue there if you are not careful. 

@ChanceSchmerr is moving from Canada (British Columbia) to Canada (Ontario). So he should be good if the movers are driving across Canada.

[sageman]

Vac sealer is a fun toy. Used one a lot in my restaurant. If you spring for one, go for a sous vide machine as well so you can put it to further use. 

[Fugu]

As previous posters suggested, you can readily do without vac sealing. Simply use plastic bags of any kind or wrap them in saran. It’s only for a brief period of time. Permeability will be negligible.

So, what will you want your valuable collection being protected from while moving: It is 1. shock, 2. water condensation / traces of fluid water so as to avoid later mould.

To that avail, airtight sealing (bag, wrap) will protect the cigars from a change in absolute moisture. Steep temperature drops might still create some condensing conditions internally. Usually, not a bigger issue if it is only brief. They will be back to normal soon when storage conditions are resumed (imagine a normal mail order situation with the usual 2-3-month period of grace before smoking again from that stock).

Including ‘Boveda’ in individual boxes can help to balance relative humidity upon temperature fluctuations. But their response time might not be fast enough to react to quick temp-alterations, and it is also a matter of mass. If you ask me, not necessary since cigars/tobacco itself is acting balancing within limits. Also keep in mind: when sealing boxes with the ‘Boveda’-pouch tightly touching the plastic wrap, there’s only half the reactive surface available (I’ll never understand cigar merchants....🙄). In my opinion that’s more for show than anything.

What I’d consider instead would be packing everything in insulated boxes (styrofoam), as being used for frozen food. These will help considerably keeping temperature peaks in check and dampen the temperature fluctuation your cigars might be subjected to during transport.

Edit: meaning shipping separately of course: empty wine fridge plus separate transport boxes with cigars. 

There’s a range of options available in the market. I’d go for larger corrugated (double or triple) cardboard boxes with internal 1-1.5’’-styrofoam box. You’d be surprised how well they are keeping the temperature. Always fill boxes tightly packed to the max.

It is not the environmentally most friendly solution, but the boxes can be reused, and often there’s even a recycling option and a market for used boxes.

Finally, labelling each box with some sort of “handle with care / glassware / do not drop” (well you get it...) badge may further help.

Good luck and all the best for your move!

[Webbo]

I moved a few years ago from central Europe to London and asked the same question. Separated the cigars from the humidor, ziplock bag and bubble wrapped each box and then in large seal able plastic boxes. Worked perfectly and no need for vacuum sealing.

https://www.fohcigars.com/forum/topic/129844-packing-cigars-when-moving-house/#comment-750008

 

[Puros Y Vino]

I would not ship the humidor intact with cigars. Put the cigars in airtight bins, move the humidor like it was a piece of furniture.  Re-season it when you get there though. Cigars are pretty tough, but driving roughly 3/4 the span of Canada is a long haul, especially during daylight hours.  You could see if there are refrigerated options?  But I'd bet there probably aren't but if there was it'd be expensive. Bottom line. This is a risky venture.  All you can do is mitigate it best you can. If you have a say in packing the trailer, I'd look to put them on the floor of the trailer and stack stuff on top.  Heat rises and it'd be only a few degrees difference, but it's better than nothing. 

[SCgarman]

1 hour ago, Puros Y Vino said:

I would not ship the humidor intact with cigars. Put the cigars in airtight bins, move the humidor like it was a piece of furniture.  Re-season it when you get there though. Cigars are pretty tough, but driving roughly 3/4 the span of Canada is a long haul, especially during daylight hours.  You could see if there are refrigerated options?  But I'd bet there probably aren't but if there was it'd be expensive. Bottom line. This is a risky venture.  All you can do is mitigate it best you can. If you have a say in packing the trailer, I'd look to put them on the floor of the trailer and stack stuff on top.  Heat rises and it'd be only a few degrees difference, but it's better than nothing. 

Spot on. Dismantle the humidor. Put the cigars in Sterilite type large plastic containers with the large 320gram 65% Bovedas and if possible transport the cigars yourself keeping them in an air conditioned environment at all times. Let the moving company handle the dismantled humidor with the other house items and keep the cigars on your person. I would not let moving company have anything to do with the actual cigars. Too many bad things out of your control can happen. 

[BrightonCorgi]

How long will the move be between wrapping and unwrapping the cigars?

I would wrap with moving cello like they put around pallets (not sure the actual name of said product).  Will be plenty air tight long enough for your move.  I would not wrap boxes individually, but stack similar size boxes 4-6 box bundles. 

Take a picture of every bundle to CYA and label/number them so you could easily identify if something is missing.

I would not add any humidification, it won't be necessary and high temps could tempt beetles to hatch too easily.

[La_Tigre]

3 hours ago, Puros Y Vino said:

I would not ship the humidor intact with cigars. Put the cigars in airtight bins, move the humidor like it was a piece of furniture.  Re-season it when you get there though. Cigars are pretty tough, but driving roughly 3/4 the span of Canada is a long haul, especially during daylight hours.  You could see if there are refrigerated options?  But I'd bet there probably aren't but if there was it'd be expensive. Bottom line. This is a risky venture.  All you can do is mitigate it best you can. If you have a say in packing the trailer, I'd look to put them on the floor of the trailer and stack stuff on top.  Heat rises and it'd be only a few degrees difference, but it's better than nothing. 

This and drive the cigars yourself. The peace of mind would be worth the drive. 

[oneizzzz]

If you're concerned about high temperatures during the drive, packing your cigars in coolers could be a solution, eh?

Should mitigate big fluctuations and be relatively airtight.

[stogieluver]

Agree 100% with @SCgarman  and his suggestion is what I did in our move last year. I have about the same number of cigars as you, & I simply took those full and partial boxes and put them in 4-5 sterlite boxes the night before the move and transported those plastic boxes in my vehicle to the new house. You have probably $25k to $35k maybe more worth of stock there. That’s a lot to let get out of your control. 

[SCgarman]

1 hour ago, stogieluver said:

Agree 100% with @SCgarman  and his suggestion is what I did in our move last year. I have about the same number of cigars as you, & I simply took those full and partial boxes and put them in 4-5 sterlite boxes the night before the move and transported those plastic boxes in my vehicle to the new house. You have probably $25k to $35k maybe more worth of stock there. That’s a lot to let get out of your control. 

Yup. He has to move his liquor anyway. And other items that go bang. Movers won't touch these items, so may as well transport the cigars as well. Keeping them in a climate controlled environment is crucial especially in summertime temps. I have moved several times with my cigar inventory, so have had a ton of practice and I know what works. 

[Nevrknow]

2 hours ago, SCgarman said:

And other items that go bang

I remember those. Lost all mine in a terrible boating accident on a deep lake. Sad day. 🥲

[Brian24]

For what it’s worth, I have a converted wine fridge as a humidor. I didn’t let the movers touch it, it rode with me. I considered shipping it with the second vehicle, but I didn’t want them to even be on the road for 2-3 days not knowing if they’d be baking in the sun somewhere in June. If it’s an option, and you’re making the drive with a vehicle, I’d do that and not worry about it. An overnight in a hotel parking lot with an otherwise air conditioned ride probably isn’t a big deal.

[SokaKiel]

Hi Chris, sorry to hear that Ottawa is your next destination. I seem to remember that you told me it’s not really what you want when we met last time.

When we moved from Japan to Spain last year I left my Cigars in their boxes tightly packed into my usual locking 20L plastic containers with a small 62% Boveda. The plastic containers then went into the usual moving boxes with our other bits and pieces.

Everything got put into a container and then onto a ship all the way to Europe. The temperatures inside that container might have fluctuated massively, from 10C in Japan to easily 40C while sailing along the Arabian peninsula and through the Suez! Then it all dropped down again to 15C here in Spain in spring. In total it took almost 10 weeks due to all kinds of Covid delays from us packing the boxes to receiving them here in Spain.

I’ve had no issues whatsoever with the cigars since arrival. Nothing dried out, no mold, no sign of condensation or cracked wrappers. They all smoke fine!

Fingers crossed for you and the family, hope the move and settling in won’t be too stressful!

Cheers, Leif