How to Store Cigars Without a Humidor

You do not need a humidor to keep cigars. You need a sealed container and a source of stable humidity, which together cost about $25. Across 5,540 active cigars in our catalog, the average one measures 5.77 inches long with a 51.6 ring gauge, a shape that fits an $8 plastic food container more easily than most people expect. The pack does the work, the box is just a box.

Here is the method that actually holds, and the ones that do not.

How do you store cigars without a humidor?

Put the cigars in an airtight container with one 69 percent humidification pack per 25 cigars, and keep the container between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. A plastic food container with a gasket lid works. Cigars stored this way stay in condition for six months or longer, which matches what a $200 desktop humidor delivers.

This is commonly called a tupperdor, and the name undersells it. The job of a humidor is to slow air exchange and hold moisture. A sealed plastic container does the first part better than most entry-level wooden humidors, because a cheap humidor leaks at the seams and a gasket container does not. What the plastic lacks is Spanish cedar, which contributes aroma and some beetle resistance but nothing essential to preservation.

What do you need to store cigars without a humidor?

Three items, roughly $25 total: an airtight container, one humidification pack per 25 cigars, and a hygrometer to confirm the number. A Lotus digital hygrometer is $18 and removes all guesswork. Skip the hygrometer and you are storing cigars on faith rather than on a reading.

The container matters less than people expect. A gasket-sealed food container, a zip-top bag with the air pressed out, or a cooler with a rubber seal all hold humidity well. Choose by how many cigars you own, not by material.

How many humidity packs do you need?

One 60 gram pack per 25 cigars is the working ratio, and one 8 gram pack per 5 cigars for small containers. A 60 gram pack in a 25-count container lasts two to four months before it stiffens and needs replacing. Packs that feel hard and crumbly are finished; packs that stay pliable are still working.

The pack quantity, not the container size, is what sets your humidity. A single 8 gram pack in a large cooler will exhaust itself trying to raise the whole volume and fail. Err toward more packs than you think you need, since a two-way pack cannot push humidity above its rated number no matter how many you add.

Container	Cigars held	Packs needed	Typical pack life
Zip-top bag	5 to 10	One 8 gram	1 to 2 months
Small gasket container	10 to 25	One 60 gram	2 to 4 months
Large gasket container	25 to 50	Two 60 gram	2 to 4 months
20 quart cooler	100 to 200	Four to six 60 gram	3 to 6 months

How many cigars fit in a container?

A container with roughly 8 by 6 by 4 inches of interior space holds about 35 to 40 average cigars. The math comes from real dimensions: across 4,216 active cigars in our catalog with recorded measurements, the average is 5.77 inches long and 51.6 ring gauge, which is a diameter of about 0.81 inches. That gives nine cigars across an 8 inch width and four stacked layers in 4 inches of height.

Size the container to what you actually buy. The most common cigar box size in our catalog is 20 cigars, accounting for 2,078 of 5,540 active SKUs, or 37.5 percent of everything we stock. Only 929 of those 5,540 SKUs, 16.8 percent, come in packs of 10 or fewer, so most cigars arrive as a box rather than as singles and a 2 quart container covers the typical purchase.

What humidity should cigars be stored at?

Between 65 and 72 percent relative humidity, at 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Cigars held below 60 percent dry out and burn hot within a few weeks. Cigars held above 75 percent grow mold and become difficult to draw. The 69 percent and 72 percent packs sold for cigar storage exist precisely because that band is narrow.

Temperature carries a risk most people miss. Tobacco beetle eggs are dormant in nearly every handmade cigar, and the University of Florida entomology department records the cigarette beetle completing its life cycle in 26 days at 98.6°F, stretching to 120 days at 68°F, and failing to complete at all at 62.6°F. A container stored in a closet stays fine; the same container in a garage in July does not. Keep storage cool and the eggs never reach adulthood. Our beetle prevention guide covers the freeze protocol if you find small round exit holes.

Does the refrigerator work for storing cigars?

No. A refrigerator runs near 40 percent relative humidity by design, because removing moisture is what keeps food from spoiling. Cigars in a refrigerator dry out faster than cigars left on a counter, and they pick up food odors through the wrapper. A freezer is worse still.

Three other methods fail for reasons worth knowing:

A cigar box on a shelf is not sealed. Factory boxes are built for shipping, not storage, and a box left open holds nothing.

A damp sponge or a glass of water overshoots. Free water pushes a small container past 80 percent humidity, and mold follows within a week or two. Two-way packs exist because they cannot overshoot.

Distilled water in floral foam, the green block sold with cheap humidors, needs weekly attention and swings between 60 and 85 percent between refills. It works if you are diligent. Most people are not.

How long do cigars last in a sealed container?

Six months to several years, provided humidity stays in band and the packs get replaced when they harden. A tupperdor is not a compromise for short-term storage; collectors use them for long-term aging because the seal is better than most wooden boxes. Across 10,273 repeat purchases of the same cigar by the same venue in our invoice history, the median gap is 90 days and the average is 165 days, so a typical box is emptied well before storage becomes the limiting factor.

Cigars that arrive in tubes buy you extra time. An aluminum or glass tube is close to airtight on its own, and 39 of the cigars we currently stock ship tubed. Tubed cigars survive a weekend in a jacket pocket in a way an unwrapped cigar does not, though a tube is not a substitute for humidification over months.

When is a real humidor worth it?

Once you are holding more than about 50 cigars, or once you want to display them. A desktop humidor is furniture with a job. Below 50 cigars the sealed container performs the same function for a fraction of the price, and it travels better.

If you do move to a humidor, season it before use and give it two weeks with packs inside and no cigars. Unseasoned Spanish cedar pulls moisture out of the first cigars you put in it, which is why so many first humidors seem to dry cigars out. Our humidor setup guide covers seasoning and sizing in detail, and how to humidify a retail humidor covers the passive versus electronic decision if you are stocking a business rather than a shelf.

For what to actually put in storage, a mild, well-constructed cigar tolerates minor humidity swings better than a heavily fermented one. The Macanudo Cafe Court Tubes at $115 for 30 and the Macanudo 1968 Robusto at $186 for 20 are both forgiving choices, and the tubed version is the more resilient of the two. Browse the rest of the current selection if you are building a first box, or read do cigars expire for what happens when storage goes wrong.

Sources and method. Catalog dimensions, box counts and tubed counts from the live MDC product catalog, 5,540 active cigar SKUs, of which 4,216 carry recorded length and ring gauge. Reorder intervals from MDC internal invoice data, 24,477 line items matched to catalog products across 4,369 paid invoices and 900 venues, 19 April 2016 to 13 August 2026, yielding 10,273 repeat-purchase intervals for the same product at the same venue. Beetle development figures from University of Florida IFAS Extension publication EENY-227. Industry and regulatory background from the Cigar Association of America and the FDA cigars page. Humidity and temperature ranges follow standard industry practice. Product prices quoted are MDC list prices as of 15 August 2026 and change with the catalog.

Peter Roth has run MDC Wholesale Cigars since 2012. Last reviewed 15 August 2026.