While shopping for Thanksgiving, my local store had a table with clearance items. On it was some “Lock n Lock” storage containers. I know from experience that these make excellent travel humidors, and even desktop humidors, so i grabbed a couple. Here are the instructions for turning this $4 container into an excellent travel humidor.

Heres a photo of the lid so that you can recognize the container if you go out looking for one. This one is 16.3 cups. It measures approx. 8.5″ x 6.5″ x 6″, and it has the locking lid. The Lock n Locks are nice because they have a gasket seal, and a 4 clamps that lock the lid in place. They hold humidity perfectly.

To continue the project, you will need 3 of these foam cigar trays (available for www.cigarsolutions.com). Each tray is big enough to make 2 trays for our travel humidor.
Cut each 9″ x 12″ tray into 2 – 8″ x 5″ trays. Each cut tray will hold 4 cigars up to 8″ long.

Next up is a photo of my 6 cut trays loaded with 24 cigars and stacked up for fun.

Lets talk humidification. We will be using a 65% Boveda. For this type of airtight, travel humidor, a Boveda is absolutely the best, most accurate, and easy to use product. It should last a year or 2 in this humidor. You can also buy a 69% or 72% Boveda if you prefer a different humidity level. Another benefit of the Boveda is that you can place it anywhere that you want in this travel humidor. You will see later in the instructions where I placed the Boveda.

Lets talk about putting some spanish cedar in your new travel humidor. Try to find some thin sheets of spanish cedar to put in the bottom of your new travel humidor. Its not essential, but will help give your cigar a nice aroma if using this humidor for long term storage. These thin sheets can sometimes be found in cigar boxes seperating the rows of cigars. If you can find one, break a cigar box up, and just put a small, thicker piece in your travel humidor.

Now we are going to put it all together. Next photo is the empty lock n lock container with 2 spanish cedar sheets on the bottom.

Now, load up your trays and cigars.

Now put your Boveda in the humidor. I put mine in on the side. Remember that the foam trays are soft, and its easy to put the boveda in after the trays are in the travel Humidor.

You might have also noticed in the above picture that I put a digital hygrometer in the travel humidor. As I said, the foam is soft, so its easy to just slide a hygrometer in the humidor. A hygrometer would really not be needed for a travel humidor. The Boveda on its won will keep the humidity exactly where you want it. If using your new humidor for long term storage, it might be a good idea to get one.
Thats it, we are done. Here are some more photos, and a list of what you will need to make this travel humidor.

Parts:
1 – Lock N Lock $4.00
1 – Boveda $3.99
3 – Foam Cigar Trays $3.99 each
1 – Hygrometer (optional) $24.99

Final Cost – $20 ($45 with hygrometer)

This coolidor will be outfitted with spanish cedar cigar trays, a hygrometer, and Boveda cigar humidifiers. This Coolidor is for somebody who wants to store a lot of singles, and wants easy, trouble free cigar humidification.

First up is the Coolidor. I am using a Coleman 28 quart with a removable lid. I tested a few, and they all had a nice tight fit. You could hear the air being forced out when you placed the lid on top of the coolidor. Here is a picture of the label and cooler so you can find the exact model.

The inside easily fit 4 spanish cedar cigar trays with room to spare. You could actually fit 5 trays deep, but the 5th tray will interfere with the lid mounted humidifier. Remember that a coolidor winds up being a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to make every bit of cigar storage room count. On this Coolidor project, I used the 4 spanish ceday trays, and there was room left on the side for a box of cigars. Final capacity wound up being about 200 cigars. Here are some pics of the trays and box of cigars all loaded in the coolidor.

Next, I had to decide on humidification and hygrometer location. For this Igloodor, I decided on the Boveda cigar humidifier, and a recalibratable hygrometer.

While there are many choices in cigar humidification, the Boveda is the simplest to use, and most accurate of any cigar humidifier. With no chemicals or water to add, its easy for even a beginner to use. You can buy 65%, 69%, or 72% Bovedas, so there is a humidity level that will satisfy any cigar smoker.

I will be mounting one of the Boveda holders on the lid of the Coolidor. This is a convenient way to hold your Boveda packs. You can also just put the Bovedas in the bottom section of the coolidor. For about 200 cigars, using 5 Bovedas is recommended. I will have 4 in the Boveda holder, and will put a few more in the bottom of the coolidor. While Humidipack states that the Bovedas will typically last about 6 months, my experince tells me that thay should last about a year in a very airtight coolidor. Again, there are other methods to humidify your coolidor, but that will be another days topic.

Last thing to take care of was a digital hygrometer. I mounted one up on the lid. I like the fact that the humidification and hygrometer s installed on the removable lid of the coolidor. Both items wont interfere with cigar storage.

Here are the final pictures of the hygrometer and humidification installed on the lid of the coolidor.

Lets go over costs.

Cooler was $20 at K-Mart
Spanish Cedar Cigar Trays….$9.99 each
Boveda…..$3.99 each
Recalibratable hygrometer with calibration kit $25.95

Total cost about $125. Not bad for for absolute foolproof and easy cigar storage for about 200 cigars. Again, remember that you can put together a coolidor for much less $. This project was about using some high end humidification and store bought items to make a “high end” coolidor that would perform perfectly. Next project will be a budget model.

I set up our first coolidor project with 2 types of hygrometers. Just in case we have a newbie reading this post, a hygrometer reads the humidity in your coolidor.

some advice, use a digital hygrometer instead of an analog type. Also, recalibratable hygrometers are available at very low prices these days. What I paid $100 for about 7 years ago can be purchased for about $25. There is no need to be stuck with an inaccurate hygrometer when the best is available at such a low price.

As I said, I set up the coolidor with 2 hygrometers. First is a recalibratable hygrometer. I attached it inside the lid of the coolidor. I like the lid location because it will not get in the way of my cigars. Also, whan I open the door (lid), its easy to see.

I also am using a remote hygrometer. A small humidity sensor goes inside of of the coolidor. The main display sits outside of the coolidor. I like this setup because I do not have to open the igloodor to keep track of the humidity level inside of the coolidor.

I really like this 2 hygrometer setup because now I have 2 independent hygrometers keeping track of my cigars. I dont have to open the coolidor to check the humidity, and when I do open the coolidor, I have another hygrometer inside to verify that my humidity levels are perfect.

I didn’t go into great detail on hygrometers in this article. Look for an upcoming article witrh more in depth explanations and reviews of cigar hygrometers, and also a hygrometer reclaibration “how to”

As this blog progresses, I will go over many ways to humidify your Coolidor. The first cigar humidor humidifier that we will be using is the crystal gel cigar humidifier. I like these for use in a coolidor because they are portable. No installation, no velcro or magnets, and easy to add or subtract a little humidity.

I will be starting with 2 gel humidifier jars. The crystal gel cigar humidor humidifier is easy to use. just unscrew the cap, and it exposes a second vented cap. This vented cap allows humidity to seep into your coolidor without the gel falling out. I will put one cigar humidor humidifier on the bottom of the coolidor, and the other on the middle shelf.

The gel humidifiers are used with humidor solution. Humidor solution has a mix of PG and distilled water. Good quality humidor solution will help keep your humidity at 70%.

One warning, because Coolidors are usually pretty airtight, you have to be careful about adding too much humidification. The 2 jars should be fine, but we will have to keep track of the humidity levels in the coolidor. We will do that in the next topic.

Ok, got a little more work accomplished on the homemade humidor/Igloodor project. I completed the wire shelves, and they turned out perfect.

You will see from the pictures that I used a bolt cutter instead of a hacksaw to cut the wire shelves for the homemade humidor. I am glad that I bought the bolt cutters, it made the job easy and fast.

I am not going into great detail on measuring and cutting the trays. Just remember that the Igloodor is not perfectly square. The front of the igloodor was about 12″ wide measured inside of the grooves of the igloodor. In the rear of the coolidor, it was about 11″ inside of the grooves. So when cutting the wire trays, measure carefully, cut the shelves a little oversized, and just trim lightly until it fits.

Also, you will notice that I am standing the coolidor up like a cabinet. You will need to remove the bottom handle so that the bottom of the coolidor is flat. Its easy to do, just 2 screws.

Lastly, some people complain about a plastic aroma in the coolidor. I had no aroma in mine. If you detect an aroma, just wash it out with dish soap, and let is sit out in the sun (open of course) for a few days.

Part 3 will be Humidification choices, and your hygrometer.

Today we are going to start the process of making a homemade humidor, also known as a coolidor or igloodor .

To make this homemade humidor, we are starting off with an Igloo brand cooler, so this homemade humidor is really an Igloodor.

Here is a picture of the Igloodor. I am getting a closeup of the Igloodor label so that you can get the same model. It cost me $18.

This next picture is of the inside wall of the coolidor. You will notice the 2 grooves on the wall. These grooves will support the wire shelves that I will be installing in this homemade humidor.

Next step is the shelves. While some people use spanish cedar shelves, I like to use wire closet shelves. Why, most important is that they provide great air circulation. The gaps allow moisture to travel through your new homemade humidor. Also remember that your Igloodor will be loaded with cigar boxes, so they will provide more than enough spanish cedar in your coolidor. Another good reason for wire shelves is that they are cheap. This 12″ x 4′ piece cost me $4 at Lowe’s.

Next is measuring and cutting the wire shelf. The shelf is 12″ wide and the coolidor is 10″ deep, so we have to cut of 2″. If you look at the right side of the picture, I am cutting of the angled end of the shelf. It will not have that end on the shelf that would keep an item from sliding off the shelf.

Thats all for tonite. I need to go out and buy a hacksaw to finish the project. I will continue in the next couple of days. This will give you guys a chance to buy your igloo, wire shelf, and hacksaw.