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You must protect the cigar in some fashion, as it will either dry out or get bruised. Here are the options you can chose which best suits your needs.
Tubes: A tube will hold one cigar. If it has a good seal, it will protect it for many days or even weeks. They can be constructed of any type of material, ranging from plastic to platinum, and will be priced accordingly. Some even have tiny humidification devices built in, but this is not necessary for short term use. The only downside to these carrying tubes is that if your friend has one it means that he did not bring a cigar for you.
Finger Cases: These are cases made from either leather, metal, wood, or plastic. They will have 2-4 "fingers" for the cigars. The leather models are soft cases, and are most often made from 2 telescoping pieces, that slide within each other. They are made for specific length cigars, but will often handle a variance of 1-1.5 inches more than they were designed for. Sometimes they have individual slots for each cigar, but these are not absolutely necessary. These cases will provide several hours of protection and are perfect for a night out. They are not heavy and will not show a bulge by weighing down your shirt or jacket pocket. The metal, wood, or plastic varieties are hard cases, providing more protection from both the elements and from being crushed. However, they are bulky, will pull down on your clothing, if they even fit into the pockets. They are more suited for carrying in a briefcase or golf bag. Elaborate ones can have miniature humidification devices, but these are only necessary if you want to insure the cigar's freshness for an extended period of time.
Travel Humidors: Travel humidors are miniature humidors, complete with a humidification element. As the name implies, they are used when you need to take your smokes out of town. They will hold between 4 and 20 cigars, depending on size. They are made from wood, metal, plastic, or any combination of these materials. As this is a short term storage unit, a Spanish cedar lining is a nice cosmetic touch, but not an automatic prerequisite. There are many poorly designed models on the market, and you should look for the following features and pitfalls when considering the purchase. First and foremost, the seal must be a good one. The seal on travel size humidors should either have the same type of interlocking "lips" that a full size one has, or a gasket of some kind. You need to be confident that moist air is not escaping. Another important feature is the interior protection it offers for the cigars from being knocked around. Will they continue to slam into each other or the walls of the unit? Well designed ones will be built very thinly, so that you can only stack the cigars in one or two layers, thus minimizing the potential for damage. Good alternatives to keeping the cigars in place have grooves cut into them (usually molded plastic), foam egg cushions, or straps that act as seatbelts. These features are useful, but not completely necessary, as you can always put some balled up bubble wrap into a half filled humidor to prevent them from jostling. This is not exactly elegant, but extremely functional. The last key factor when examining a travel humidor is its strength. You want the unit to stand up to external stress, without breaking. A good, functional travel humidor will have all of these features.
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