BAND ON OR OFF

[P.C.]

First of all I'm a newbie and just want to say that I love your discussion board, I just wish it hadn't of taken until now to listen to my friends and join up.

However

My question is, does anybody actually take the band off the cigar so people don't think you are showing off?

I don't because I doubt I could do it without tearing the wrapper and the few people I know who smoke cigars don't either BUT I know one bloke (a pom) who honestly believes it is the height of ignorance to leave the band on.

When I smoke with him and leave the band on he gives me a lecture about how the band is only there to hold the cigar together and also to protect the white smoking gloves of men in the 1800s. Now I don't know if that's true, and he might sound like a real tosser but he truly believes in what he says.

So am I the only one doing the wrong thing by leaving the band on or does someone else do it to?

[MarkM]

If it has a band I will leave it on until the glue from the band loosens so I can safely remove the band without damaging the wrapper.

[Colt45]

I think the proper thing to do in a situation such as this, using pom - speak, as it

were, would be to tell him to get stuffed.

[El Presidente]

» First of all I'm a newbie and just want to say that I love your discussion

» board, I just wish it hadn't of taken until now to listen to my friends

» and join up.

»

» However

»

» My question is, does anybody actually take the band off the cigar so

» people don't think you are showing off?

»

» I don't because I doubt I could do it without tearing the wrapper and the

» few people I know who smoke cigars don't either BUT I know one bloke (a

» pom) who honestly believes it is the height of ignorance to leave the band

» on.

»

» When I smoke with him and leave the band on he gives me a lecture about

» how the band is only there to hold the cigar together and also to protect

» the white smoking gloves of men in the 1800s. Now I don't know if that's

» true, and he might sound like a real tosser but he truly believes in what

» he says.

»

» So am I the only one doing the wrong thing by leaving the band on or does

» someone else do it to?

Welcome to FOH :-)

I remove the band at the halfway mark....no idea why...just part of the ritual.

Ken leaves his band on the cigar until the last minute....then carefully peels it off...lifts the band above his head with two hands and runs around in circles as if he was a boxer who had just won the Heavyweight title of the world :-D

[Troy]

I also know a few people who insist on taking the band off, but I don't. I think I'd just been smoking too long before I realized that you should take it off and it's hard to start new habits.

[Trevor2118]

» When I smoke with him and leave the band on he gives me a lecture about how the band is only there to hold the cigar together....

.....how the band is only there to hold the cigar together....

I think is is having you on

or

he is one of those "wankers & tossers" who would not survive in a forum such as this!

[ccsmoker]

I leave my bands on till I have to take them off so they don't burn.Its all about personal prefrence do what you like,if you friends don't like it too bad..:-P :-P :-P :-P :-P

[shrink]

BAND ON OR OFF ?

You must be talking about wedding bands.

It all depends on whether my wife is with me, or not.

[El Presidente]

» BAND ON OR OFF ?

»

» You must be talking about wedding bands.

»

» It all depends on whether my wife is with me, or not.

..I lost my wedding band while in the surf 5 years ago. I still haven't found one I like to replace it

[Ken Gargett]

» First of all I'm a newbie and just want to say that I love your discussion

» board, I just wish it hadn't of taken until now to listen to my friends

» and join up.

»

» However

»

» My question is, does anybody actually take the band off the cigar so

» people don't think you are showing off?

»

» I don't because I doubt I could do it without tearing the wrapper and the

» few people I know who smoke cigars don't either BUT I know one bloke (a

» pom) who honestly believes it is the height of ignorance to leave the band

» on.

»

» When I smoke with him and leave the band on he gives me a lecture about

» how the band is only there to hold the cigar together and also to protect

» the white smoking gloves of men in the 1800s. Now I don't know if that's

» true, and he might sound like a real tosser but he truly believes in what

» he says.

»

» So am I the only one doing the wrong thing by leaving the band on or does

» someone else do it to?

who said poms were tossers!

as for rob, i am starting to think he is a pom in disguise (where he got that last rubbish - if you keep this nonsense up, i may have to reconsider coming up on monday and tuesday to loot your humidor but i am bigger than that so clear a space on the verandah).

i tend to leave them on until the heat induces them to slide off. i don't mind either way.

[MarkM]

» » BAND ON OR OFF ?

» »

» » You must be talking about wedding bands.

» »

» » It all depends on whether my wife is with me, or not.

»

»

»

» ..I lost my wedding band while in the surf 5 years ago. I still haven't

» found one I like to replace it

ROTFLMFAO!

[PorscheC4S]

My maturnal grandfather was born and raised in England, then came to America following World War I. Although he died when I was ten, his smoking a pipe and cigars is what I remember about him. I remember him always removing the band before he lit a cigar. That stuck with me as I nearly idolized him.

When I starting smoking cigars about ten years ago, I found myself removing the bands also, then remembered his doing this. I have since seen various English period pieces and the "gentlemen" always seem to remove their bands before lighting. I suppose it was at one time thought to be in bad taste, for what ever reason, to keep the band on ones cigar.

There is even one Sherlock Holmes t.v. episode/movie, with Jeremy Brett as Holmes, in which Holmes admonishes a German or Austrian Baron that is about to light his cigar with the band on, "If you aspire to be accepted into English society, you'll do well to remove the band from your Havana before lighting it."

Since I'm not in England, I don't suppose that holds much weight. My view is that the band is used to tell one cigar from another. Once I have selected a cigar, I know what I'm smoking and no longer need the band. I've gotten very good at removing the bands cold. I think keeping the band on is perfectly fine, if you do it because you enjoy looking at it occasionally while smoking a cigar or are worried about damaging the wrapper. I have, however, seen too many loud mouth "I smoke cigars because I can afford to" types in cigar bars that seem to enjoy others seeing a Graycliffe, VSG or Padron Aniv. band more than the smoke itself. That type of attempt to impress other people rubs me the wrong way.

[habanohal]

Wont take it off till I half to. I have ruined too many good wrappers on cigars while smokeing them. Just trying to get the band off early. Sort of like ripping the paper label off beer bottles.

[ATGroom]

I tug at it until it wants to come of easy - sometimes cold, normally after four or five puffs but occasionally not untill fire is almost upon it.

I put it in my pocket until I'm next in my study, then I unwrap it so that it's flat and hide it inside a book. If it's the first time I've smoked a particular cigar, I usually put it on the appropriate page in my Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars, otherwise I’ll put it in a random page of a random novel to be discovered by some future reader.

[genevapics]

» If it's the first time I've smoked a

» particular cigar, I usually put it on the appropriate page in my

» Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars...

That's a nice idea. How do you affix the bands to the page?

[ATGroom]

» That's a nice idea. How do you affix the bands to the page?

I'm not particularly serious about it. I just poke them into the crevice where the page meets the binding. They're small enough that they don't fall out.

[anacostiakat]

Your smoking buddy is a jackass. :-)

I usually take the bands off simply because sometimes it is harder to remove the band when you have smoked down close to it.

[Tampa1257]

I leave them on until the cigar warms up and loosen the glue so the band will slide off easily, which is generally somewhere around the half way point. I also smoke a cigar way past the point where the band normally is, so it needs to come off. Trying to remove the band before the glue is warmed up can also lead the damaging the wrapper and why would someone want to do that?

[Tiny Tim]

I leave them on until they heat up and can be removed easily.

[winelover]

I am a pom and I don't think people are too bothered about whether the band is on or off. This is because these days it is rare to see anybody in public smoking a havana - be it outside or inside. Therefore if I saw somebody else smoking a havana, I would be pleased to see that I was not alone, rather than peer down my nose at him if he had not removed his band!

Quite honestly I think the band on or off debate is extinct in all places except perhaps the most exclusive gentlemanly circles, where it is possible that there may be some snobby attitutudes.

In my own case, I wouldn't remove the band first as there is a danger of tearing the wrapper, unless the band is loose and would slip easily off. So generally, the band is just removed once the ash is in danger of approaching too close to the band, and the glue has loosened a little.

[Freefallguy]

I had read of this debate somewhere before, but it seemed to go along with the general thoughts of this thread… Brits, being more distinguished, tend to remove them to appear more conservative, whereas the Yanks tend to be a bit more brash and in your face and leave theirs in place.

I leave mine on until I take them off.

[Trevor2118]

» If it's the first time I've smoked a particular cigar, I usually put it on the appropriate page in my

» Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars

This is a great idea!!!!! Thanks.

[FreeStream]

» I had read of this debate somewhere before, but it seemed to go along with

» the general thoughts of this thread… Brits, being more distinguished, tend

» to remove them to appear more conservative, whereas the Yanks tend to be a

» bit more brash and in your face and leave theirs in place.

»

» I leave mine on until I take them off.

Yeah, I've read that too. I've also heard that smokers in the carribbean also remove the band beacause leaving it on is "showing off".

As for me, in public, I tend to take it off. At home, I leave it on if I like the wrapper. If not, I wait til it loosens up and remove it.

[wp2]

» I leave my bands on till I have to take them off so they don't burn.Its all

» about personal prefrence do what you like,if you friends don't like it too

» bad

What ccsmoker said.

[broozer]

i take my bands off before lighting. i usually attempt to keep the band intact since i save them all, but it doesn't always work. as for the band tearing the wrapper, that hardly ever happens. i'd say it has happens about 2% of the time, so i don't think you should all be too worried about that.

i don't know whey i remove them, i guess i just don't like the way it feels when i hold the cigar between my fingers with the band still on it.

bruce