Boveda 2-Way Humidity Pack Test Part 1

I don't know about everyone else, but keeping the humidity constant in four humidors is a nightmare for me.

Back a couple weeks, Fred @godfar, Brian @CigarTrain and I were at the @LegendsofFire lounge and the subject of humidity control came up. Fred told us how well the Boveda 2-way packs work for him and suggested we give them a try. To make a long story short, (with Fred's help), I contacted Boveda and they agreed to send a sample for testing.

With luck, I had just calibrated all my hygrometers with the Boveda One Step Calibration Kit (here is the product review) less than a month ago so I am sure they are still calibrated.

I currently use four humidors and here's where they started out:

Humidor 1: 100 count, solid wood, 68%, using 1 jar, 1 rectangle.

Humidor 2: 100 count, solid wood, 72%, No humidification in use the last week.

Humidor 3: 50 count, glass top, 69%, using, 1 jar, 2 sticks, 1 puck, 1 water pack, 1 tube.

Humidor 4: 75 count, glass all 4 sides, 62%, using 3 rectangles, 2 jars.

Replaced by Boveda 2-way packs

Here's where all four humidors are two days later:

Humidor 1: 69%, 4 Boveda packs. 1 hour to adjust from 68%.

Humidor 2: 69%, 4 Boveda packs. 2 hours to adjust from 72%.

Humidor 3: 69%, 2 Boveda packs. 0 adjustment.

Humidor 4: 65%, 6 Boveda packs. 2 days and needs at least 2 more packs for a total of 8.

Humidor 4 is my problem child and it will probably go away once it gets reviewed--all my humidors except number 4 pass the dollar bill test with ease.

I had never tried the Boveda 2-way packs due to the perceived costs of using them and here's what I calculated.

The tangle of items in the picture above that I replaced have a full retail value of about $120 and they last about a year. But besides the purchase price of humidifiers I have to add in the costs associated with failures. So far this year I've had mold problems twice in the same humidor so the second time it was replaced at $100. A humidifier fell from the lid, soaked and ruined three cigars, $30, two blown up wrappers, $20. Just counting those items I have spent $270 on humidity control this year, plus all of this doesn't count the headache created by monitoring and keeping all of these humidifiers full.

If I replace humidor number 4 with a solid wood 100 count humidor and the packs last 3 months I will use 56 packs per year at a full retail cost of  $210; that's 3, 20-packs. That's less for a full year of humidity control than I have spent the last six months.

Overall, in just two days Boveda 2-way packs have solved most of  my humidity problems, except humidor 4 and that's another story. I will add updates every three or four weeks so everyone knows how these are working out in the long run. Right now, they are great!

On to part 2

I would like to thank Boveda for providing these samples for review.