I've been punching my cigars lately and have been enjoying the cut. I have a very cheap cutter that has rusted and become dull.

Looking for opinions of the Xikar punches. I like the 007 and 009 as they seem to be one piece units and losing the cap or cover would be impossible. I heard that one of these models also sharpens the cutter every time its extracted to retracted.

THanks for the info
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I have not used those punches. But the Xikar wolf (Dont know if it is still sold) is great. two size punch.
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Thanks for the reply. I've seen the Wolf but I'm worried I'd lose part of it. I'm looking for something I can put on a keychain and never lose. I lost not 1 but 2 USB thumb drives. One got sent to the cleaners in a shirt and I have no idea where the other one went.

I can be terribly absent minded
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I have the 008 and I love it. I use it about 1/4 of the time (I also have a palio and v-cutter). The hole is a fairly large and I do believe they sharpen themselves when they close. The key ring keeps you from loosing it and although its a two piece you use the second part of the cutter to eject the plug as you close it. I picked this over the 009 because the gauge of the hole was large, other than that I like the one piece design of the 009.
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The 008 series punch has a ceramic plate inside that will hone the blade every time it's screwed back together. While a novel idea, it doesn't last very long before the ceramic is worn down and it no longer sharpens the blade. I would estimate around 500-600 "open-close" routines and it stops sharpening.


The plus side is that 500-600 opens is a lot of cigars, and Xikar will fix it and sharpen it for free with about a 10 day turnaround.

Well worth the $40 MSRP.
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So the 008 is the only self sharpening one? Hmmm...Might have to keep my eyes open for a sale or auction.

Thanks
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I use an 008 on probably 90% of the cigars I smoke. Obviously I kind of like it. :-)

If the self sharpening feature works, it doesn't work well enough to suit me. I use a cone shaped Dremel grinding bit to keep it sharp. I sharpen it every six months or so. I just rotate the bit by hand in the punch - doesn't take long before it's better than new.
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Plate's probably worn out. I like the Dremel idea though, never thought of that.
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xicars seem to dull pretty fast in my experience. I know they are supposed to self sharped but as others have mentioned this isn't really how it works. I've had better cuts lately from a 5 dollar cutter.
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I have the 008. I use my Xikar Xi3 and Palio the most, but I do use the 008 punch a couple times a week. With my limited use of the punch, I have NO complaints at all, it works great!!
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I have the 007 and it works great. The first one i bought I put on my keychain, but it would open on it's own and the blade got ruined. with the lifetime warranty, I sent it back for "sharpening" but they sent me a new one that stays closed better than the first one did. I haven't used the others, but +1 for the 007.

I also have a Xikar Xi2, a Palio, and a Xikar Mean Sardine. I use them all about the same amount.
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008 gets my vote.
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