I will be away from home for 4-5 months this winter. My plan is to put my humi in a cooler, along with a box or two, with a 1/2 lb of beads.

Is it OK to leave everything for that long or should I get my wife to open the cooler up once in a while?
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I think opening the cooler up once every couple weeks wouldnt be a bad idea... get a little air exchange going
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I would have her check it and add some water here and there... :-)
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Opening the cooler every couple weeks is good, but it will allow humidity to escape, so you better teach the wife to hydrate the beads.

Or, you could send them all to me and I'll take good care of em for ya:-)
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Thanks, but no offense, I trust my wife more. Because she doesn't smoke:-).
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My wife doesn't smoke either ..so she could "watch them" for ya ...hehe


Seriously though as long as you show her how to watch the hygrometer and such once a week check up on them should be good.
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:-) I would have my wife check the RH every week, and humidify the beads when needed. If your wife is like mine, she knows how much you care about your smokes and she will care for them as if they were her first born child.:-)
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You should be fine if you show your wife how to take care of the beads. I had to have my dad take care of my humi when I was in Gettysburg as it was too hot down there to have them in my apartment. I was really scared at first to let anyone touch my babies but when I got home he didn't f em up and they were in perfect condition.
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I have a pound of beads in my cooler and I very seldom have to add water. Maybe once every 2 months and I'm in the cooler a lot. Just a quick spray with a little distilled water goes a long way.
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Thanks to everyone for the info, and the offers to take care of my sticks:-).

I bought my cooler today (48qt Coleman), washed it and now just letting it dry out.
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walkabout or are the newfie cops after 'ya? :-)

good luck & you could always bring the stash with 'ya to make sure the babies are perfectly safe!
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Thanks, I'm going to Alberta to work on my Welding Apprenticeship.

I don't have a huge collection by any means, but more than I want to bring with me. Some will definitely be coming with me, but I'll have to find a warm place to smoke them. The winters are pretty cold up there.
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Great thread guys! I'm getting ready to be in a similar situation, so it's great to read about 'long term storage' where you can't be there all the time.
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In the past I have placed a small glass with distilled water in it in the cooler, as the RH changes the beads should absorb or release water from the air... someone correct me if this is not a good idea please! LOL
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Pure water in a glass? No beads in the glass? Sounds like a very bad idea since beads can't hold much moisture and they are quickly over saturated leading to 100 % RH inside your cooler!
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My RH sits at exactly 65% with 1 lb. of 65% Beads... Guess I better look a little closer, but seems to work well for me.
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Smoke as much as you can and give away the rest. :-)
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I'm only going away for a few months, not dying.:-)
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You'll be fine, plenty of people toss the cooler in a closet and forget about it for months at a time when aging boxes. An air tight cooler won't allow the RH to fluctuate enough to be an issue.
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Ah, you have a lot of beads and therefore a huge specific area to regulate the RH! But, why using a glass of water instead of giving the beads some extra water?
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