band or no band
 

I read or heard somewhere that it is bad manners to leave on your band while smoking. Is this true and why? Or is this some snooty elitist thing ?

Re: band or no band
 

no bad manners, just take it off before you burn it instead of the cigar :tu

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I'd guess it's a matter of personal preference. I leave the band on. I don't want to run the risk of ruining the wrapper trying to get the band off.

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I like to leave it on for reference of how far I smoked, and just cause it looks cooler with it on lol

Take it off before ya burn it though!

aj

Re: band or no band
 

I ususally leave it on until the glue is to the point where I can peel the band off. I'm not one to slide it off in danger of ruining the wrapper.

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I leave it on because My hands tend to sweat, and I don't like sweaty cigars :D

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I always take the band off before hand, only because I put it in a bag with the rest of them to make something cool at some point.

Was smoking with a pal the other day who asked me if I knew why the band was originally placed on a cigar? I didn't, and he informed me that it was to keep tobacco from staining my white gloves, or in my case ungloved hands.

No idea if this is true, but by his account it may have been developed as a way for snooty folks to keep their white gloves clean. I plan to keep the band on the next time I happen to be smoking in white gloves.:D

Re: band or no band
 

i keep the band on until the cigar naturally heats up the glue and i can peel it off easily.

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I think the Brits usually left the band off. I leave it on until the burn gets close to it, then I remove the band.

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I've heard the same about the 'Brits. They think its rude to show what you are smoking (or trying to "one up" the guy next to you with a "higher end" smoke)
I leave mine on until the ash is real close to the band. Then off it comes and goes into the collection.

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yeah that is what I heard. My girlfriend makes collages of all our bands. They come out really nice.

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:tpd:

Re: band or no band
 

If it's loose to begin with, I slide them off before lighting up. Otherwise I leave them alone until the heat loosens the glue enough to remove them without damaging the wrapper.

All things considered, most bands look nice but are something of a hassle. I'd just as soon not have them to begin with.

I think I only have a couple cabs left without bands. :sad

Re: band or no band
 

I leave mine on until the ash gets to it. Don't wanna ruin a beautiful band!

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:tpd:

same here - peel 'em off when it gets easy.

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I take mine off unless it appears that the wrapper would be damaged in doing so.

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I leave mine on until the first ash falls then I slide it off unless it's a fuents, then I get the glue gun and the ice scraper to get it off.

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:tpd: This is my routine. I have torn too many wrappers pulling the band off before I needed to so now I tend to keep it on until I am just about smoking the thing.

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ha ha ha - very true! :r

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I remove the band before lighting most of the time, but I often wet the wrapper on CC's so it's a must.

Re: band or no band
 

A couple of links on some history...take them for what you will.

http://pages.ripco.net/~whizstrt/bandinfo.htm

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...22,755,00.html

Re: band or no band
 

For me it is strictly bands off. I really don’t have a reason, just my preference.

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Leave it on till the glue heats up !

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Band on until it is about to burn, to many ruined cigars

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Awesome links! Learned a lot I didnt know!

Re: band or no band
 

as others have said - i tend to leave it on until the heat softens the glue....unless it is loosey goosey from the start..then i just slide her off.

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I leave the bands on and I like to rotate my cigar A LOT, that way everyone at the herf knows exactly how much of a swell guy I am by seeing what kind of cigar I'm smoking and how fancy the band is. In fact, sometimes I'll even move the band from a cigar I just smoked to a cigar that I'm currently smoking, that way anyone who missed the first band gets a second chance to see it.

Re: band or no band
 

I leave mine on. I'll take it off when the burn is a .5" or so from the band, helping it come off easier. I don't really like my fingers smelling too much like a cigar, so the band gives me something to hold without that problem.

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I always remove my bands before lighting. I have never ruined a wrapper by doing it. I guess some folks are more ham handed than others! LOL

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That would be my only reason too. The fact that I've ruined some wrappers by removing them too soon. I just didn't want to "offend" anyone in a crowd..haha like I'd care.

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Being in Canada, I smoke mostly Cubans and the bands are glued to the damn cigars. The NCs I find come off a lot easier

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...x3:tu

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Its not ham hands. Its the fact that on lighter wrappers they can make a spot where when you get to it, the cigar wrapper comes apart. Heavy wrappers don't usually have that problem.

Re: band or no band
 

I always take mine of usually, unless I can feel it's on there real good and may cause some trouble.....I have heard it is bad etiquette to keep it on around others, who gives a flying crap really.....Unless your buying cigars to be a snob and show off, I doubt anyone really cares....

Re: band or no band
 

That's what she said:)

Re: band or no band
 

:tpd: Same here...if it's going to damage my cigar, it stays on until I can remove it. If someone is leaving a band on to "show off", I think they have a much larger issue lurking...or smaller. :r

Re: band or no band
 

I have heard some say it is snobbish to leave the band on, and it should be removed. I have heard that supposedly apocryphal story about the "white gloves" need for bands in the first place. I agree that sometimes the wrapper can be damaged when one removes the band, and I also agree that the glue can often soften once the cigar has been smoked for a bit.

As for me, I'm not anal about it either way. On, off, WTF. As long as the cigar smokes fine, what do I care?

Re: band or no band
 

Band on for me!

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I worry about how the cigar will smoke if I take the band off, possibly damage the wrapper or get sweat and oil on the wrapper from my hands. I'm not sure it would make a difference either way, but I leave them on, but not to show off (I dont have many fancy cigars anyhow).

Re: band or no band
 

There are a lot of legends about bands. Gustave Bock has been credited with the popularization of paper bands to identify the cigar makers in the mid 1800s. From all I've read, bands were added simply for branding.

The legend about cigar staining the white gloves of "Fancy Dans" or "Jim Dandies" comes from the late 1700s when cigars were finished with a chicory-shaded gum and rolled in a fine tobacco powder (pulverized dried leaf). This finishing process was necessary because the wrapper leaf [back then] was crude and uneven in color and finish. The powder finish provided a desirable even color but quite possibly stained the fingers or, in the case of "Jim Dandies" . . . their white gloves.

Brit's and some European cultures encourage the removal of bands as proper etiquette. However, I've been told that they remove the band and place the band on the table in front of them, thus showing what brand they are smoking! Doesn't that kind of contradict the idea of removing it for snob factor? :confused:

I take bands off when possible with no damage to the wrapper. . . usually when the burn gets close to the band which heats the glue and makes it easier to remove.

I also save bands. . . but, haven't much interest in collages. However, I would like to make a poster size Photo Mosaic using the various bands as the color pixels. Just waiting to find the right photo. :)

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I leave it on until it interferes with smoking.

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I think it's just a matter of what each persons particular "thing" is. For myself, I don't keep the band on for any significant reason nor do I keep it on to impress anybody with what I am smoking. The only person I want to impress is myself and a cigar band does not present anything inherent in my view. I usually leave it on until it starts to get in the way of my smoking and then I take it off. Sometimes its useful in case some part of the wrapper starts to unravel and I use it as a band aid to cover the part that is coming apart.

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I leave it on so I know what end to put put in my mouth if I set it down, LOL. Actually, some I take off, some I dont. Have not decided my preference yet.

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I just smoke mine

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Thanks for the history Stinky, I knew the history part about Gustave Bock and the paper bands for branding, although I would not have been able to remember (and probably still won't) his name in conversation, but the part about the chicory powder dye was new to me.

I'll refrain from commenting on the Brits because I'd rather not get slapped with a fish.

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Ditto. I had to look it up to see what the plant looked like.

Chicory on Wiki


It's been a long time since I've whipped out a TAT.

Re: band or no band
 

I like mine naked, but every now and then I find myself getting excited about leaving them dressed.



























I'm talking cigar bands ya dirty minded bunch!:r