Stop by tomorrow and I can give you some used ones.:-)
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:-):-):-)

Thanks
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Ok so I thought I would update you guys. The Aqua Gems are gone and have been for about a month or so now. I have two long and one short tubes of heartfelt beads.

I am pretty positive that the Aqua Gems are the same stuff as the humicare gel that they sell at CI and other places, but it is clear after using the HR beads that they are much better, and dropped my humidity down to 65%

Unfortunately my 100ct humidor is now full and for some reason I keep buying more cigars. Time to think about a coolidor.
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Thanks for the update...glad you found the beads to your liking. :-)
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He has seen the light. :-)
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I have been using absorbent polymers in my Cigar Oasis II for a couple years now. I was sick of the foam and was recommended to switch to the sap crystals. Combined with several sleeves of Shilala's beads I haven't had a single problem keeping rh at 60%. Your results may vary :-)
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Yeah I now think that the gel is good if you want 70% and don't mind keeping a very close eye on your collection but I think the beads will be better for a ignore yet expect perfect burn every time.

Unfortunately I did just see a 5 Vegas gold just split. I am not sure what did it though. I had 10 Carlos Torano Noventas torpedoes split and pop but I feel that was because of their tight wrap but I an not sure. I sent the best ones out for trade so I only have a few left that are split on the head or body. The 5 Vegas is split on the foot and has always been in the celo. I also had a RP OWS that had poor burn and pathetic smoke. Any ideas? Keep in mind I have about 90 other cigars in there all in celo that are perfectly happy looking. And the hydro reads 69f 66%.
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It can take up to a month for to lower the Rh inside a cigar. The Rh is fine, just give those smoke a bit longer or you can drybox them if you want to smoke right away. Just put them in an empty box for a day or two and that should help the burn. Also, some wrappers are just thinner than others and will tend to crack no matter what you do. If the split is very bad you can get some liquid pectin at the grocery store near where you find canning supplies. :-)
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There are a few different types of super-absorbent gel, differing mainly by chemical formula (& properties) and I'm skeptical that the Aqua Gems and Humi-Care, et. al. are the same, although it's almost certain that they are similar.

Just for shits and giggles, this thread had inspired me to go find the 99-cent package of dehydrated water marbles that I've had lying in a drawer for years and, hydrate some of them. They were running 85%RH-ish in one of the el cheapo 20-count logo humidors from CI, whereas a jar of humicare would hover in that same humidor at around 65-67%RH. I will say though, that the floral gel marbles I tested are not the same brand as Aqua gems, so, mileage may vary.



I've been using a humicare jar for about 5-6 years in one of my coolers. Every time I've tossed a hygrometer in there, it is always 65%-66%RH.

Are these cigars splitting when you smoke them or splitting in the humidor?

If they are splitting in the humidor, it's the leaves swelling from the humidity. When you see a cigar with only the foot swollen and possibly some fine wrapper is cracks around the foot, that's usually an indicator of over-humidification. Sometimes the entire cigar will swell up, and, it's not always due to a problem in storage, sometimes they just do absorb moisture and swell. Years ago, a friend of mine had an entire box of Perdomo cigars that all of the cigars swelled up enough that a number of them actually tore/broke their bands. There was nothing wrong with the storage or them either and they smoked fine, just the whole cigar swelled.

If they are splitting while smoking, this could be any number of factors, cigar moisture, ambient humidity, temperature, how fast you are smoking, etc.
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Odd that yours hovers so low. Both of my fathers humidors are solid at 71% with the humicare jars. He has had one for a couple months, and the other for a couple weeks, both I seasoned for at least a week with boveda seasoning packs. Maybe I over-seasoned? lol :-)
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I am not having splitting during smoking just the one 5 Vegas and the Noventas(which have really thin wrappers) in the humidor. I just played tetris and all of my other smokes are happy so I think it was just a fluke with those specific cigars.
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Inconceivable!!!
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Thank you for your contribution to this thread. Your insight has been most useful. :-)

Great review.
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It was a line from the same movie (Princess Bride), Bob. :-)
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Could be any number of reasons: ambient humidity, temperature, volume of space being humidified vs. amount of gel being used, moisture levels of the cigars (if his cigars are fresh from a vendor they could be the cause), formula change in the gel in the last 5 years, wood of the humidor retaining moisture, age of gel affecting performance, etc...
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