What's your favorite baccy storage container and why?

[Milkmanv1]

Hey guys, just thought I'd start up a little discussion thread about types of jars. This is just as much a discussion thread as a place to show off!

Whats your favorite container? Are you a barebones mason jar kind of guy? Do you use bail-top jars? Or do you have a fancy pipe tobacco "humidor" jar that you use?

Feel free to post pictures of any jars that are unconventional/special! Show off your jars!

I have a collection of older glass jars that are sort of neat. But I've found most don't seal well enough to keep any tobacco I'm currently enjoying fresh, and the inevitable dry out will occur.

I'm starting to expand my collection of tobaccos (Starting a cellar, and having 3 or 4 blends open to choose from to smoke) and I'm thinking about picking up some bail type jars whenever I see them for cheap at a secondhand shop, for my open blends, and stocking up on mason jars for aging or long term storage. That seems to be the norm around here.

Finally, and part of the reason why I started this thread, whats your opinion on "humidor jars?" PipesandCigars.com has some very fancy jars that look great, but does anyone know how well your precious 'baccy will keep in 'em? I go to a lot of fleamarkets/antique shops, and I always see the old pipe racks with humidor jars/wooden containers included for your tobacco. Anyone have any feedback on those?

Curious to see your answers folks!

 

[KevinM]

Long-term -- half pint mason jars

Short-term -- 1. Half-pint mason jars, 2. McC or other round tobacco tins with the sealable (loosely speaking) plastic tops.

I like the looks of the old bail-top jars, but they get compression chips along the rims. The chipss give cuts that don't readily stop bleeding, and bloody tobacco looks disgusting.

The specially made tobacco storage containers are expensive and not suited for lovers of variety. Visually appealing, though.

My missus gave me a large, heavy cookie jar with a very effective plastic "freshness" seal built into the top. This thing would hold three pounds of tobacco, easily. Since I often order bulk tobak by the half pound, I just put the baggies in this cookie jar, either in transit, or to keep them all handy. Purists around me warn against "cross-fertilization." However, I currently have a cookie jar with Stokk Bulls Eye, Navy Flake and VA Long cut baggies and don't see a problem. I think the missus got the cookie jar in Target or Penneys.

 

[riff raff]

I have quite a collection of various jar and containers. I read Neill Archer Roan's blog regularly, but missed this entry from 2010. If I would have read it, I would have saved myself a little bit of cash:
http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/2010/11/28/keep-your-favorite-tobaccos-optimally-fresh.html

After four years of searching, I've found these 250 ml (1/2 pint) wide-mouth mason jars to be the perfect solution. They hold one 2 oz tin of tobacco, lids last forever and are easily replaced. My local Walmart has a four pack for less than $4. Downside: they don' stack.

I have not tried these OXO Platinum jars, but they look good (and Neill says they stack).

I do have a number of these jars, from Bed, Bath & Beyond that work well for a few weeks. As my open container collection grew, they didn't keep the tobacco moist long enough. I have these in 3-4 different sizes. I'll have a number of them out for our annual neighborhood garage sales this Spring...

 

[RDPipes]

My pipe Bowl!  :mrgreen: 

 

[monbla256]

These for bulk:



and these to smoke from:



KISS it !! :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Milkmanv1]

Touché Cartaphilus!  :lol: 

I just picked up two 4 packs of the half pint mason jars myself so I plan on relying on them for now. But I'm still curious about the "humidor jars" that come with those old pipe racks.

Monbla - my tobacco always gets dried out in tins (too infrequent of a pipesmoker I guess) are you tearing through them quick enough that they never have a chance to dry out?

 

[monbla256]

Touché Cartaphilus!  :lol: 

I just picked up two 4 packs of the half pint mason jars myself so I plan on relying on them for now. But I'm still curious about the "humidor jars" that come with those old pipe racks.

Monbla - my tobacco always gets dried out in tins (too infrequent of a pipesmoker I guess) are you tearing through them quick enough that they never have a chance to dry out?

Ya need to smoke MORE ! I have around 6 to 8 bowls a day on average and I only smoke 3to 4 different blends at a time. Usually no more than two or three different tins open at a time. :twisted: :twisted:

 

[RDPipes]

Okay, But seriously I use the 1/2 pint jars also for storage of bulk and tobaccos that come in the square tins which don't reseal well. I smoke my Escudo directly from the tin (screw lid) and I only smoke one bowl a day and it last me a month.
Although I do smoke 2 other bowls a day from two other tobaccos one other from a screw lid tin and another from a 1/2 pint jar so, all together I smoke only 3 bowls a day. I have never had any dry out from any of the ones I smoke from.
And BTW I'm planning to devise a simple fix for the stackablity of the 1/2 pint masons.  

 

[George Kaplan]

Mason jars.
Why?
They're full of my tobacco.

 

[RDPipes]

Mason jars.
Why?
They're full of my tobacco.

I can't help myself George............so then what are you full of?   

 

[George Kaplan]

Mason jars.
Why?
They're full of my tobacco.

I can't help myself George............so then what are you full of?   

I think anyone who's read my posts could answer that.

 

[Aristokles]

Mason jars with fresh seals. Quarts, pints and 1/2 pint sizes.

My wife has a huge number of hinged lidded jars with rubber seals but she demands them for her medicinal herbs and spices. I do not argue.

 

[joshoowah]

Mason jars all the way. They are cost effective, last forever, and have replaceable seals. No other jar offers such versatility. I must admit I like the clamp top jars but they do not seal well enough to fully age a tobacco in my personal opinion.

 

[rothnh]

I've used the Ball/Mason standard screw-top half-pint jars for many years with excellent results.  I store the filled jars in the cardboard case they came in (12 jars), duly annotated on the side of each case with a Sharpie to I.D.and date each jar therein.  They're all stacked in my cellar (a walk-in closet).

I find the half pint size ideal -- I can pull a jar from my cellar to add to my rotation (the jar holds up to 2-3 ounces of tobacco -- or less depending on the cut) while allowing the other sealed jars of the same blend to continue to age in my cellar, undisturbed.

The wide mouth version of this jar are just as reliable, and are easier to get into to fill a bowl -- but they cost more and are not as easy to stack and store, IMO.  Jars with flip-tops ("bail top" jars), providing they are glass and sport a silicone (not rubber) seal also work well, but again, these are considerably more expensive.

 

[pepesdad1]

I've used the bail-top ceramic jars for years. They seems to do the trick. I've got about 25-30 of them all full and holding their own against the elements. I like them because they look good and do the job.

 

[gravel]

Mason jars. The why has been written many times.

 

[mejoshee]

Mason jars. Lowest maintenance and really no-brainers to use. Plus, they're pretty cheap and also stack as necessary. Comes in various sizes, but you'll always be sure of having matching ones if you buy the box. 1 jelly half-pint jar holds ~1.5-2oz tobacco, depending on the cut. Full pint and quart jars are also easy to acquire. Nothing fancy, but the elegance lies in the simplicity.

Those bail-tops are not gonna hold the seal forever. Plastic containers can also similarly leak. My wife would also probably kill me if I used an Oxo container for tobacco since it tends to permeate plastic, regardless of the type of blend.

Anyway, OP Milkman, you can find all this has been discussed at length and breadth since before the internet. Good luck with your cellaring endeavours!

 

[flyguy]

Mason jars for cellared tobacco.  16oz Walmart glass stopper jars for tobacco in use.

 

[Hermit]

Ordinary Mason jars for me too.
Half pints preferably.

 

[DCynic]

I'm a big fan of the containers at this site: http://www.tightvac.com/Default.asp

Those containers work really well, and I haven't seen them mentioned in this thread.  I tend to go for the opaque black tightvac containers.  I use them to store my fancier green teas, and some of my tobacco collection.  They do a good job of preserving and maintaining the moisture levels of whatever you put in them.  I use folder label stickers to tell the different cylinders apart.

I also regularly use mason jars; they are a less expensive option than the tightvac containers.