For any of you on the fence about what to do for your humidification needs,
or if you're having trouble maintaining constant humidity with your boveda
packs or propylene glycol, I just wanted to give a shout out for the shilala beads.
I have always had trouble maintaining constant humidity during the summer,
and these babies have been keeping my stash at 65% on the dot
with no variation since the moment I put them in. I am extremely
impressed with the quality of the product and only regret that it took
this long for me to invest in some. Noobs, you have got to put some of
these beads in your humidor! I am one happy customer.:-)
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:-) x2
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:-)
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:-) x3
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:-)

There is nothing better. I have never, and I truly mean NEVER opened my humi and read anything other than 65% rh on my hygrometers.

I love these beads. :-)
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Same here as the rest.:-)
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Just so everyone knows, I invented the beads cause I'm the cheapest bastage on earth. When I did it, it was only cause I needed tons of beads and didn't want to pay the till.
I've worked with environmental control all my life, and I invent stuff. I also used to design/build/retrofit environmental control systems for factories and stuff, and I've always invented things all my life.
When I got interested in beads, I did tons of tests. My whole house was a bead lab. When I discovered the HCM beads, I was shocked by the data. It said that they should work tons better than everything I had already tested. I was totally skeptical.
Then I got the stuff and started tests. My test data was so incredibly good, I honestly didn't believe it. I got more skeptical.
So I enlisted dozens of brothers to test the stuff. I changed things and improved things and got lots of ideas from the brothers. I collected tons of "real world" data.
It took a number of months before the beads made a believer out of me.

I decided that they were too awesome to not offer to the public, and I had spent a fortune on crap to test and develop the beads. So I started selling them to get my money back.
It became way too much for me to handle, and I hated making beads. I create stuff. It's what I enjoy. Making beads all day every day was like hell to me.
So I decided to get rid of the whole deal and move on, which is what makes me happy. :-)
Michael bought the business, came and trained with me, and he's doing a tremendous job. He's a good guy, he's generous, he's polite, fun, affable, and a true BOTL in every sense, and he just keeps getting better. It's really for the best that he's running with the beads, because since he bought the idea my health has plummeted. Now it's starting to get better, Thank God.

I honestly could not be more pleased with the whole experience. The beads are light years better than anything available. They last forever. They work way better.
It's honestly a huge step ahead for keeping our cigars on many different levels.
I know everyone doesn't want to drink the Koolaid. I get that. I invented them and I didn't want to drink the Koolaid myself. I was skeptical for months DESPITE having all the data, and DESPITE having done all the tests myself.
I do know that in time, everyone will move to them once they've tried them. Or maybe not. We like what we like, and that's awesome. It's a "Smoke what you like" thing. I can say that there's nothing out there that works or lasts or even comes close to the value or effectiveness of the beads. That's not pride talking, it's happy talking. I did something good with the help of all my brothers, and I couldn't have done it without you all.
We're all going to benefit if we choose, and that's simply awesome. :-)
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Release the recipe :-)
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Buy the beads :-)
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I would if I could afford the markup on clay.

56% markup (on pounds) over RH/Heartfelt beads. Hard to justify.
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As soon as I am finished paying off my vinotemp, I am picking up another 2 lbs! :-)
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It's hard to justify if you're uninformed. Take a minute to look over Michael's website. Read. Get educated.
Honestly, your statement is absolutely 100% incorrect on at least 20 different levels.
Just my post alone invalidates your assertion. Completely. Just on lastibility alone Michaels beads win out by a huge margin, unless you plan to die tomorrow. :-)
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Again, not like you have a vested interest in this. (even if it's just ego at this point)

Plenty use RH/Heartfelt beads with no problems. Plenty use Shilala with no problems. For the 56% difference in price (at the pound level) I just can't justify "magic clay" at the moment.

Don't get all butt hurt over opinion.

*Edit: Some day (when my car isn't rear ended and my A/C didn't go out just days later on the house) when I have some spare cash to buy some "magic clay" beads I'll form my own opinion of them. Until then I'll have to suffer. :-)
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Lol. You're probably right on the money. I'm quite an egomaniac. :-)

Like I said, everyone doesn't have to drink the Koolaid. It's okay. If you don't want any part of the beads, that's cool.
I simply hope everyone tries them, because I know what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. I know the value.
It just doesn't help anyone for you to claim things that are 100% wrong.
As I mentioned before, all the information lies there for you to justify magic clay. All the test data has been posted in the wide open spaces from day one. If you choose not to look, that's fine.
You yourself wanted to try them at my expense. I'd have done it in a minute if you were willing to read a little. You're clearly not willing to get educated about them. That's cool, too.
It's your life, my brother. You can do and say whatever you like. :-)
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I actually spent about a week trying to search every board I'm a member of about your beads. I read opinions as well as your posts. I'm still just not ready to 'drink the koolaid' as you say, it's not for lack of trying to understand how your beads differ other than composition.

FWIW: I'm using KL.
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If you want to start a thread and ask direct questions, I'll give you straight answers to anything you want to ask, my brother. I'm sure Michael will chime in, too.
The "how they work" is because of how they are made and their physical properties. It's really interesting if you dig science. It's more like a colonoscopy if you're not. :-)
I can explain the difference between Kitty Litter and all the different grades of silica gel, too. It ain't rocket surgery, but it's still pretty boring.
All the posts on creating the beads were at Club Stogie. That's where we developed them. It ain't Club Stogie anymore, and I haven't been back forever, so I don't know what's left of the info. They saved everything, to my knowledge. My screen name was the same there, so you could search that way.
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I've already got 2.5 lbs of Heartfelt beads but wouldn't mind trying some Shilala beads. Will the two work together?
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Yup.
Dave's beads will work really hard to control the RH to their setpoint though.That creates oddities that are really complicated, but the short answer is "Yup".
It does defeat the flexibility of the shilala beads, because they can be changed to whatever setpoint you desire. If you use them with Dave's beads, they'll constantly try to assume those bead's setpoint.
I always suggested that guys wait till they are ready for new beads and use all one kind. It's just easier than explaining what could happen, and it's good advice. :-)
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I ordered beads from Michael last week and they came Monday packed perfectly. Highly respectable business and quick service. Both him and Shilala have answered all my questions and im very thankful to have been educated.
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I am using the 65% beads from Dave so I am thinking they might work in harmony. Or am I just dreaming??? :-)
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