Gear
Same rules as the cigars: my own gear, nothing sent by brands, street price stated, and the verdict is whether I'd buy it again with my own money... including the ones that died on me.
Boveda One Year Humidor Bag (Large) Review
Verdict: Buy Again. If I'm driving anywhere, this large Boveda bag has taken over from my hard-sided travel case — it holds thirty cigars easy, keeps a steady 69% off one large pack, and I never have to think about it. Not the pick for flying, since nothing in it protects the cig
Xikar VX2 V-Cut Cutter Review
Verdict: Buy Again... if the V-cut is your regular cut. It's solid, it's sharp, and I don't believe it's ever cracked a wrapper on me... but I've drifted back to straight cuts, and $50 is hard to justify for a once-in-a-while tool. I bought this because I wanted a proper V-cut, m
Vertigo Hawk Triple Jet Flame Lighter Review
Verdict: Buy Again... and if you're just getting into cigars, this is the one I'd hand you first. I'm pretty sure this is the very first torch lighter I ever bought when I got into cigars, and it lit basically my whole first three or four months, tons of cigars, without ever givi
PerfecDraw Draw Tool Review
Verdict: Buy Again... and the short version is just go buy one now. This is a little screw-together stainless poker that fixes a tight or plugged cigar by pulling tobacco out of the middle where the clog actually is. It's the one accessory I'll tell anybody to own. It pays for it
PerfecRepair Cigar Glue Review
Verdict: Buy Again... it's ten bucks, it saves cigars, and one bottle lasts basically forever. Just go get it. This is the easy one. A cracked wrapper, a hole that would wreck your draw, an over-clip that's starting to unravel, a cap that split when you cut it... a dab of this ho
Colibri SV-Cut Cutter Review (Black & Chrome)
Verdict: Wouldn't Buy Again... half of this cutter is excellent, and the half I'd actually reach for keeps pinching my cigars. The SV-Cut's whole pitch is two cutters in one body: a deep V-cut on one side, a straight cut on the other. The V side has been flawless for ten months.
Boveda Humidity Packs Review
Verdict: Buy Again... and never recharge one. This is the most set-and-forget piece of gear I own. I recharged spent packs for a long time and it seemed to work every single time — right up until it didn't, and a container quietly ran past 76%. Buy the packs. Throw them out when
Xikar Xi2 Cutter Review (Hero Series)
Verdict: Wouldn't Buy... not at Hero Series money. This was my first real cutter... the first one that wasn't a $5-10 counter grab at the cigar shop... and it taught me a lot, including what sixty dollars should and shouldn't buy. The blades are excellent and Xikar's lifetime war
Rockwell Quad Torch Lighter Review
Verdict: Wouldn't Buy... and I never have, which is kind of the point. Every one of these I own showed up free... promo throw-ins with five-packs and orders from various cigar companies and dealers. As a freebie, it's a perfectly decent little torch that works every time. As a $2
Jetline Mr. Fatboy Quad Torch Review
Verdict: Buy Again... at full retail, without blinking. And not for the usual reasons. This is not my most practical lighter, it's not my most efficient lighter, and it's terrible at touch-ups. It's a comically oversized quad torch with a flame you can adjust to several inches ta
Jetline Rubanno Single-Flame Lighter Review
Verdict: Buy Again... it's a keeper, just not the one my hand grabs first. I bought this because half the cigar reviewers I watch rave about it, and more than one says it's the lighter that lives on their desk. Big tank, a single flame you can dial from tiny to big, solid build f
Xikar XO Cutter Review (Gunmetal)
Verdict: Buy Again... it walked in four months ago and retired every other cutter I own. My wife gave me this for my birthday back in March, and I don't think I've cut a single cigar with anything else since... and I've got a half dozen other cutters sitting right there, some che
Guevara Lux Single-Flame Lighter Review (1121D)
Verdict: Buy Again... in a heartbeat, and I'm probably buying its double-jet brother next. Twenty bucks, a year-plus of near-daily duty, roughly 70% of every cigar I've lit... and it has never once failed me. Not after a refill, not in wind, not ever. I bought this expecting a $2
More on the bench... a dozen lighters, five or six cutters, travel cases, and the storage setup (Tupperdors, not showpieces... that's a story in itself). The daily carries and the drawer of regrets all get their turn.
