I enjoy the occasional cigar and it is one of the best ways to highlight the conclusion of a successful day of travel. Cigars are unlike cigarettes in that you dont franticly need one, they are to be enjoyed at length in a relaxing way. The following are some ways to integrate cigars into your travel because traveling with Cigars on a motorbike can be a bit changing.
Reasons why traveling with Cigars via Motorbike is tricky
- Cigars are best stored at a constant humidity (65-75%)
- Cigars are best stored at a constant temperature (68-72 degrees)
- Cigars are best stored without vibration
- Cigars are best stored out of direct sunlight
Now your going to travel long distances (vibration) sometimes off road (lots of vibration) in hot weather (The insides of my panniers get very hot – much closer to 95-100 degrees) and the humidity will be somewhere between 0-100. So the crux of this is that you will be taking your Cigars into an environment they are not designed to do well in.
Whats I have done so far:
Build a small travel humidor
This seemed like the simplest thing to do and was the first thing I did and it sort of kind of worked. I got a small 1120 pelican case, removed center foam and added a Boveda 75 humidity pack to it. The Boveda helped reduce vibration, the strong case kept the cigars from getting crushed. However the case took a ton of room, was heavy and eventually wore a hole in my waterproof panier liners.
Ship them to the end point
If your going to a known location on a known date – such as a pre booked hotel for an event then shipping stuff there is always good. you can send some clean cloths some cigars and then you only need to pack what you will smoke for the way down and have enough shipped for your return. However if your doing a long trip or random trip then this is something that is not always possible.
Chase vehicle with AC
In all my journeys there was only one time that someone wanted to go along and drive a truck with all the gear for 14 days. The truck had AC so I just tossed a full sized travel humidor up front and we took off. However what ended up happening is the guy in the truck would just take the interstate and we only met up for big events like Sturgis so most of the time I didn’t have my stuff or even know where it was. So my conclusion is that chase vehicles are like shipping.
Map out tobacconist along route
This is something that you might want to do anyway because they are typically interesting places and you can meet some cool people. The downsides are they can be hard to find, you might not want to try and find one after a long day of riding and paying per stick prices with local taxes can be very expensive.
A cheap plastic bag
This is what I am currently doing. I have found the a plastic zip lock bag serves numerous functions on bike trips. You want to take a proper cigar, one that is hand rolled and long fillers not some trash you can get at a gas station. You will want something that burns even, is pleasant and yet doesn’t break the bank. The Diesel Unlimited Maduro seems to fill all the requirements and can be bought at Cigars International at an affordable rate. Just toss them in a zip lock bag with a Boveda 75 humidity pack and place them on the top layer of stuff in your panier and your good to go.
https://www.cigarsinternational.com/p/diesel-unlimited-maduro-cigars/1484838/
TheMotoLizard