Let’s be honest, that ‘starter humidor’ probably didn’t last longer than that New Year’s resolution to hit the gym six days a week. Sure, they hold 6-8 cigars, and there is ‘no way’ you could ever want more cigars than that sitting around….ok buddy.

Most people are one mail order away from needing more storage space. Before you ‘invest’ money in a fancy Spanish cedar and brass hygrometers that don’t work anyway, let’s look at a few options that might hold you over until you finally get that tower put in the den.

Coolador: The Working-Class Hero

Cooladors are the OG of cigar storage hacks.  That Igloo cooler with the duct tape handle? Still crushing it (in a good way) when it comes to storing cigars. They are a humidity-holding vault. Sure, you can throw in a few Spanish cedar trays if you want to up your game. Put in you cigars, add some Boveda packs, and you are good to go for a surprisingly long time.

Tupperware or Tupperdor: When Grandma Gets Involved.

Cheap, airtight, and stackable. No, don’t use Tupperware that has last night’s fluffy green stuff for the 4^th of July party – get some new ones here. Throw in some cigars, some humidity pack, and your cigars are living their best suburban life. Fun fact: You up the chances of bringing some cigars for your lunch by ‘accident.’

Wineador: Fancy On A Budget

Admit it. You have seen it. You want it. It’s simply an old wine fridge conversion. There are a couple of caveats here. The cooling system is most likely too strong to manage your humidity. It was meant for wine, not tobacco. That said, some wineadors are meant for cigars – offering a wider range of temp and humidity control. That said, you are going to outgrow this much faster than you thought…so plan ahead.

Desktop Humidor That’s Just For Show

We all have one…or more than one. That killer-looking wooden box on your desk, under an issue of Cigar Press Magazine (see what I did there?). These are your ‘display’ cigars. The ones that you hand friends that really don’t smoke….meanwhile, the good stuff is safely tucked away in the closet behind that puzzle you have yet to touch.

Emergency Travel Hack

No humidor on the go? No problem. One Ziplock bag + One Boveda and you are well onto your way to the Smokey Mountains (I apologize for that one). Yes, it is not pretty. No, you are not going to want your friends to see you with it but…you cigars will be just fine for a short time. Just be careful, unlike a travel humidor, that Ziplock can’t handle too much when it comes to bumps or your Uncle sitting on them.

Humidity: Because Math Is Hard

Here is a fun fact: your hygrometer is probably lying to you. Shows 68%? Yeah, give or take 3 or 30 percent. Most of them suck. Yes, there are a couple of good ones out there…but, weirdly, they are never close to agreeing. If you want to chase perfect humidity, grab two good ones and figure the truth is somewhere in the middle, kind of like the news.

Final Thought

The perfect humidor is not how it looks (ok, maybe a little bit) but most importantly, how it stores your cigars. The goal is always the same…keep the cigars at a comfortable temp, humid, and ready for when you want to smoke them. Storage isn’t about style points when you are backed into a corner.

It’s your job to protect those smokes. Hopefully, you do a better job than 7^th-grade Home-Ec when you had to carry around an egg for 5 days without breaking it.