Redoing my Coolidor *v4.0 is Up and Running!*

taythegibs

Welcome to my struggles to try and get my coolidor to work decently with more that 5-6 cigars inside...This is a saga of a broke college "kid" who just wants to relax but the evil not-working-humidifer/oddly-shaped-cooler are keeping it at bay. I am using a 16qt Coleman roller cooler for my coolidor (free). At the top it is approximately 11 inches by eight and it is a foot deep. my problem is with the bottom, it narrows down to about ten in wide and the back is odd due to the wheels on either side and a sloping part (see picture). i currently have 24 cigars it it separated into open plastic bags by purchase date (havent gotten around to labeling individually)my plan is to build up the bottom using plastic(or pieces of cedar boxes if i can get one or two) so there is a space for the humidifier (pricing beads right now) and then having it covered in strips of Spanish cedar for a "floor" The goal is to be able to fit 40 cigars without crowding it!

Sourcing-
Beads
Cedar/boxes (too bad i cant use american cedar as i have a ton of it...)

Other thoughts-
get a not so oddly shaped cooler...this one was free...but would a foam one work?
build a shelf into the middle
throw out the crappy sticks that i dont like and leave as is


Pictures-


Cooler with bagged cigars on top


picture of the interior, black lines are of the oddly shaped bottom


thoughts, ideas, call me a moronic kid, etc...

docbp87

As for cedar, go to any B&M... Almost ALL of them sell empty boxes (which they have plenty of). All of them around here sell them for like a buck a piece. There are a few sources for beads, Conservagel and Heartfelt are the two that I use. Another option is to use Boveda packs. Seriously though, that's a small cooler. A 1/4 lb of beads would probably proplerly humidify that thing flawlessly with almost no maintenance.

I wouldn't use a foam cooler. I'm not exactly sure why, but my gut just says Don't do it. Also, no matter what, you're gonna need a bigger humidor sooner than you think. It is just the harsh reality of this hobby. None of us can help it. You will need more space, and sooner than you think :P

bigharpoon

You can get coolers on Amazon for less than $30 delivered that are normal shaped and will hold a lot more cigars. Get one of those and some boxes to put your cigars in, the wood will help maintain a stable environment.

allsmokedup

Forget amazon, look at this at walmart : http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-Island-Breeze-48-Quart-Cooler/16437961?findingMethod=rr

I'm looking at that today to reduce my collection of 3 humidors and 3 tupperdors down to maybe 4 containers overall...

jasonusa1

Or this one.. got it at ***'s bc it has the plug to let air circulate without opening the top.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11449461

Direwolf

jasonusa1:

Or this one.. got it at ***'s bc it has the plug to let air circulate without opening the top.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11449461

I think it's funny that it censored you.. Go local you will find decently priced coolers. I'll prolly be picking one up here within the next 6-8 months.

roland_7707

I would not throw out the sticks you don't like, some people might be willing to trade for them for ones you do like.
just an idea.

jasonusa1

Direwolf:

jasonusa1:

Or this one.. got it at ***'s bc it has the plug to let air circulate without opening the top.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11449461

I think it's funny that it censored you.. Go local you will find decently priced coolers. I'll prolly be picking one up here within the next 6-8 months.

Haha agreed. I was thinking how silly that is. Maybe I wanted to say something about my good friend ***. *** is a great person, and the more you learn about *** the more *** grows on you. Yep.

allsmokedup

You can call him Richard around these parts, hoss.

jasonusa1

allsmokedup:

You can call him Richard around these parts, hoss.

Indeed.

Direwolf

Yet here you can still help your friend Jack off the horse.

Krieger

haha.

IrishAJ

Brett and I have been discussing this as well. As an ex-broke collage student I understand your struggle. Brett is working on the idea that he'll get himself some kiln Spanish Cedar which he was able to find a good source of it by calling a local hardware shop and asking if they knew any good places for that then cutting and lining rivets into the side to slide shelves into it and then using boxes he's collected from local B&M's to store cigars in and then getting the humdifier stuff for it for each box and using the cooler to lock in everything else since Colorado is weird and warps wood that is moist and most of the boxes are warped so they don't close and seal. That might work for you. As for the beads you can usually find those at any B&M around you or here at c.com just don't forget the glycol and the Boveda packs to keep everything nice and stable and pretty brainless and keeps your cigars happy.

IrishAJ

docbp87:

As for cedar, go to any B&M... Almost ALL of them sell empty boxes (which they have plenty of). All of them around here sell them for like a buck a piece. There are a few sources for beads, Conservagel and Heartfelt are the two that I use. Another option is to use Boveda packs. Seriously though, that's a small cooler. A 1/4 lb of beads would probably proplerly humidify that thing flawlessly with almost no maintenance.

I wouldn't use a foam cooler. I'm not exactly sure why, but my gut just says Don't do it. Also, no matter what, you're gonna need a bigger humidor sooner than you think. It is just the harsh reality of this hobby. None of us can help it. You will need more space, and sooner than you think :P

Ebay is a great place to find larger humi's on the cheap and some even ship big one's that are 10lbs and more for free.

taythegibs

roland_7707:

I would not throw out the sticks you don't like, some people might be willing to trade for them for ones you do like.
just an idea.

The ones i was thinking about throwing out were Victor sinclair series 55 red (and maybe most of the rest of the v.s. i have) but i talked to a couple of guys at work today that i might give em to.


I now only need to get some wood if i cant find it local (but that can wait a bit cause i have to drop down to working 2 days a week) everything else is on its way

docbp87

If you are going to use boxes in your cooler, don't waste time, money, or space on pieces of wood.

taythegibs

but thats my main issue now. boxes, or just wood

bigharpoon

taythegibs:

but thats my main issue now. boxes, or just wood

Buying spanish cedar is far more expensive than old cigar boxes which can usually be had for between 0 and $1/each. I'm re-doing my coolidor from boxes to custom cedar trays because I want to increase capacity without having the wife looking at TWO coolers. It's gonna cost quite a bit of dough to get it the way I want though. Boxes are WAY cheaper.

taythegibs

i got enough scraps together to build a temporary shelf for some sticks. i like the height it is at and right now the coolidor has 28-29 sticks (all have the date i got em on them finally!) in it with room for 25ish more with it setup like i have it.

Note: the cooler had been open for a bit so i could get it set up



now i need better cigars so i can start trading, and to find someone who needs some of those V.S. turds...

taythegibs

for the last few days the coolidor has been sitting squarely at 67% and 70* ... i just hope it stays that way! i got a box and some more cigars thanks to a fellow member or here, and i realized...i dont think this will be big enough how i want it to be set up...I currently have about 40 cigars in here and i doubt ill be able to fit ten more.





The hygrometer does read 1% lower than actual

DSWarmack

Brother I will buy you a cooler and trade it for the worst 15 cigars you think you have. All you have to do is meet me to pick it up.

Direwolf

DSWarmack:

Brother I will buy you a cooler and trade it for the worst 15 cigars you think you have. All you have to do is meet me to pick it up.

Now that's a BOTL for ya.

DSWarmack

Direwolf:

DSWarmack:

Brother I will buy you a cooler and trade it for the worst 15 cigars you think you have. All you have to do is meet me to pick it up.

Now that's a BOTL for ya.

I said id trade him for em... im not gonna smoke em, ill send them out with a DCCC package!

Direwolf

DSWarmack:

Direwolf:

DSWarmack:

Brother I will buy you a cooler and trade it for the worst 15 cigars you think you have. All you have to do is meet me to pick it up.

Now that's a BOTL for ya.

I said id trade him for em... im not gonna smoke em, ill send them out with a DCCC package!

And my statement can still stand

taythegibs

If I ever get to meet up with you ill bring along all of those victor sinclairs i still have so you can send them. thats a great offer and ill have to turn it down but you are doing great things!! I got paid today (have extra money for the first time in what seems like forever) so im planning on heading out to walmart on monday to find a 36-50qt cooler.

DSWarmack

I have a 54Qt that works very nicely! It served me well in the desert, and now works for the donations!

taythegibs

what brand/model is it? i stopped by walmart on my way home (if i was in the market for a 120qt they had a pretty nice looking one on sale for $70....) and the only one i liked in the 50ish qt range was the 52 qt IGLOO Sportsman.

DSWarmack

Mines a coleman.

taythegibs

Mailed of a Box of cigars as a Donation to the DCCC this morning, the cooler seems huge now! I had to close the jar of gel and am now using a Water Pillow so it doesnt get over humidified in there.

taythegibs

so...i guess its about time i updated this, the 16 qt is gone, i now have a 48 qt igloo from walmart ($18!!)



and i just finished the shelves for it (i didnt pay for the materials, the shelves are made from a fluted plastic Sign from work that the manager gave me that i cleaned up all nice and pretty like) and they are the UGLIEST shelves ive ever seen in a cooler, but they work!

at the bottom are two "boxes" so that the shelves are suspended and the two wooden boxes i have left that didnt get ripped up fit under there.



on the top shelf i made a small channel so that i could put beads up top as you can see in the pictures, they stack on top of each other and dont fit perfectly, and the long sides are about 1/4 of an inch taller so air can move around





now just by consequence the first hunk that i cut off of the sign was the right size to fit (width wise it was nearly perfect from the sign w/out being cut) here are the basic measurements.





I took the box that you can see in the picture above and tore it down, and each of the 6 sections has a piece of it in them so the wood was spread out some. points to anyone who can guess what the sign was, and i hope you enjoyed my little update!

rburke1129

looks like McDonald's popcorn chicken...