So you signed up to Club Stogie and you've started reading the Stickies. (you are reading them right?) You've found some great threads, you wonder what the hell Beads are, what a coolerdor and a vinodor are. What is this Slope everyone keeps talking about and pushing me towards?
The slope is a vast array of bountiful goodies that are displayed before you. Perhaps it's the Show us your Humidor thread, or the Newbie Trade, or the cigar reviews. It may even be the draw of your local B&M (Brick and Mortar for those who haven't read the stickies yet) that become the push down the slope. You can go from spending $10 a week to spending thousands of dollars on the slope. Humidors, cutters, lighters, coolers, beads, hygrometers, a cabinet humidor, spanish cedar trays, shelving, ashtrays, etc...
My advice to you, young gorilla, is this. Don't get caught up in the excitement of a new wonderful thing. If you are new to cigar smoking, your tastes will change. Don't take my advice on it, any gorilla or FOG will say the same. Don't feel the need to compete with Da Klugs and the other massive collections here. You can't and you don't need to. Focus on learning and experiencing the jungle. You will read about literally thousands of different cigars here and other places. (Stay away from the devil site - no, don't even ask what it is.) You don't need to try every cigar you read about much less buy it.
Samplers are your friend as you begin this journey into the wonderful world of cigars. Buy what you can comfortably fit in your humidor. On that note, you may have noticed that your humidor only holds about 1/3 - 1/2 what they said it would. If you don't have a humi yet, I suggest you buy a 150-200 count. Did I just nudge you closer to the slope? I did and it was just friendly advice, but that's how it happens. Unless you smoke cigars everyday, you probably don't really need a monster humi or a cooler. But what about aging cigars you ask? If you buy 10 boxes of (insert cigar brand here), in two years you just realize that you don't really care for (insert cigar brand here) anymore. Then you are going to have 10 boxes of aged cigars that you don't know what to do with. Aged cigars will wait. Trust me.
I went from having 28 sticks in a Tupperdor to a 150 CT humi + 4 Tupperdors to a Humi + Cooler to a full Vinodor + cooler + humi. I'm afraid to add up the expenditures. I have a Palio cutter, 3 torch lighters, boxes of cigars i've never tried, 2.5 pounds of beads, cedar trays, 4 hygrometers (not counting the analog PoS that came with my 150 CT humi. How long did this slide take? A year or more? Nope. Not even 2 months. To be fair, 6 of the boxes I have in my Vinodor aren't mine. They will shortly begin their journey to the Troops.
Which brings me to generosity. If you don't have a generous personality, this is one thing the Jungle will probably bring you or you will leave here. In two months, I've seen more generosity than I ever imagined. This between people that have never met before. It gives me a renewed sense of the human spirit and willingness to help others. Whether it's information on a question that has been asked umpteen times to sending a young gorilla a humidor and sticks to a bomb of several young gorillas sending a Vinotemp to another gorilla. Simply amazing.
Back to avoiding the slope. Get some samplers, do a few trades and ignore the urge to amass a monster collection. Smoke what you got and replenish as you smoke. Unless your goal is simply to collect a lot of cigars, there is nothing out there that probably won't be there in 6-12 months or even two years down the road. And if it's not, chances are you'll know a Gorilla that can hook you up then if you really must have a particular stick. Cigar P0rn is just that - p0rn. When you 'read' pl@yboy or P#nthouse, you don't rush off and stalk the hot chick you saw there. Let the fantasy happen in your brain, not your wallet. Think about the numbers. 200 cigars - if you smoke one a day will take you over 6 months to smoke. Odds are you enjoy a cigar a few times a week, which puts that 200 cigars lasting around 2 years. If you are smoking multiple cigars a day, this whole post probably wasn't written for you.
Early on I posted a thread about "How many cigars do you need". The resulting posts were quite educational. It's different for everyone. My hope is that you don't fly down the slope just to fly down it, but to enjoy the ride. Getting to the bottom (if there is one) the fastest is not the goal. It's about the journey. Take it as it comes. Enjoy each and every puff and remember to give something back along the way. Thanks for reading.
The slope is a vast array of bountiful goodies that are displayed before you. Perhaps it's the Show us your Humidor thread, or the Newbie Trade, or the cigar reviews. It may even be the draw of your local B&M (Brick and Mortar for those who haven't read the stickies yet) that become the push down the slope. You can go from spending $10 a week to spending thousands of dollars on the slope. Humidors, cutters, lighters, coolers, beads, hygrometers, a cabinet humidor, spanish cedar trays, shelving, ashtrays, etc...
My advice to you, young gorilla, is this. Don't get caught up in the excitement of a new wonderful thing. If you are new to cigar smoking, your tastes will change. Don't take my advice on it, any gorilla or FOG will say the same. Don't feel the need to compete with Da Klugs and the other massive collections here. You can't and you don't need to. Focus on learning and experiencing the jungle. You will read about literally thousands of different cigars here and other places. (Stay away from the devil site - no, don't even ask what it is.) You don't need to try every cigar you read about much less buy it.
Samplers are your friend as you begin this journey into the wonderful world of cigars. Buy what you can comfortably fit in your humidor. On that note, you may have noticed that your humidor only holds about 1/3 - 1/2 what they said it would. If you don't have a humi yet, I suggest you buy a 150-200 count. Did I just nudge you closer to the slope? I did and it was just friendly advice, but that's how it happens. Unless you smoke cigars everyday, you probably don't really need a monster humi or a cooler. But what about aging cigars you ask? If you buy 10 boxes of (insert cigar brand here), in two years you just realize that you don't really care for (insert cigar brand here) anymore. Then you are going to have 10 boxes of aged cigars that you don't know what to do with. Aged cigars will wait. Trust me.
I went from having 28 sticks in a Tupperdor to a 150 CT humi + 4 Tupperdors to a Humi + Cooler to a full Vinodor + cooler + humi. I'm afraid to add up the expenditures. I have a Palio cutter, 3 torch lighters, boxes of cigars i've never tried, 2.5 pounds of beads, cedar trays, 4 hygrometers (not counting the analog PoS that came with my 150 CT humi. How long did this slide take? A year or more? Nope. Not even 2 months. To be fair, 6 of the boxes I have in my Vinodor aren't mine. They will shortly begin their journey to the Troops.
Which brings me to generosity. If you don't have a generous personality, this is one thing the Jungle will probably bring you or you will leave here. In two months, I've seen more generosity than I ever imagined. This between people that have never met before. It gives me a renewed sense of the human spirit and willingness to help others. Whether it's information on a question that has been asked umpteen times to sending a young gorilla a humidor and sticks to a bomb of several young gorillas sending a Vinotemp to another gorilla. Simply amazing.
Back to avoiding the slope. Get some samplers, do a few trades and ignore the urge to amass a monster collection. Smoke what you got and replenish as you smoke. Unless your goal is simply to collect a lot of cigars, there is nothing out there that probably won't be there in 6-12 months or even two years down the road. And if it's not, chances are you'll know a Gorilla that can hook you up then if you really must have a particular stick. Cigar P0rn is just that - p0rn. When you 'read' pl@yboy or P#nthouse, you don't rush off and stalk the hot chick you saw there. Let the fantasy happen in your brain, not your wallet. Think about the numbers. 200 cigars - if you smoke one a day will take you over 6 months to smoke. Odds are you enjoy a cigar a few times a week, which puts that 200 cigars lasting around 2 years. If you are smoking multiple cigars a day, this whole post probably wasn't written for you.
Early on I posted a thread about "How many cigars do you need". The resulting posts were quite educational. It's different for everyone. My hope is that you don't fly down the slope just to fly down it, but to enjoy the ride. Getting to the bottom (if there is one) the fastest is not the goal. It's about the journey. Take it as it comes. Enjoy each and every puff and remember to give something back along the way. Thanks for reading.
