How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Alright guys/gals. I am stuck between a rock and a hard case here. As some of you know, in the past I have made a few travel humidors. I think they kick ass and in terms of protection are well above what is out there on the market currently. I have been contemplating trying to start this back up again but wanted to get a good portion of the communities feedback if possible. Basically I would be making 18ct humis to start with the option of going to 24ct (same case just different inserts) down the road all while trying to develop a custom accessory tray to hold your cutter, lighter or whatever else you may travel with. I chose to start with the 18ct 1st because it allows more versatility within the case holding up to an 8.5" stick where as the 24ct layout will only accommodate up to 6.5" sticks or toro/beli

How much would you spend on a 18-24 travel humi?

I know you can get Cigar Caddies and the things from CI for cheap but like Xikar offers an 18-24ct humi that runs $60-70. Which is about what the sell price of my cases would run if I follow through with this.

What make my cases different?
life time warranty on the case (yes, Xikar offers it too)
foam protection on all sides of the trays
easy latch system and not the knuckle breakers

There are a few of you guys out there who have these cases already and seem to like them. And I know OLS and poriggity have both reviewed them (OLS in the way starter phase and poriggity in the done phase) and it here is OLS1 & OLS2 and poriggity has let his domain name expire so nevermind on that one.

Any way here are a few photos of the what the case and trays look like.
Trays
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8002666f.jpg
Case
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7c131528.jpg
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8675b71e.jpg

I am wanting feedback whether good or bad. I am open, I am currently at a point where I can (hopefully) back out and not have to worry or I can press forward and see what happens I just don't want to outright fall on my face here

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I'm a fan of these cases. Brendon bombed me (and his Zombie cronies) with a 84 count last year. They are sturdy, love the opening latches and the trays are crazy better.

I could use an 18-24 count. I'll say I'd be willing to pay $ 45.00 - $ 50.00. :2

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I might be willing to spend 60 on something like that. Maybe I am a low ball though, But i have plenty of cases.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I had the chance to try a case out for a few days, the latches are the best I have seen. They have a nice smooth little trigger release on the under side of the flap.
The trays kick ass, being they are closed and don't let the cigar head or foot bang around against the case during travel. I would not buy a case, only because I have a Xikar and a Pelican already that I rarely use. I think $60-$70 would be a fair price since you are getting such a high quality product with custom details. I like the idea of a tray to fit accesories into, I currently have the foam lid insert of mine cut out to house my goods. I would not be an ideal customer, however I think it is a great product.

My advice would be ditch the cases as a primary, assuming that is your largest amount of cost.
Start making and selling foam packages for cases people already have, with the option to buy a case as well.
I know this may cause some issues, with different shapes but if you can figure it out I think that would give you the most profit potential.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Brendon...I wanted the "hook a brother up price". :r :r I have a Xikar 20/30 count and a Xikar 50/80 count as well.

I'd be willing to easily pay $ 60.00- $ 65.00 for this case and be very happy about it. So...when will mine be ready????

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I've had the opportunity to check these out as well at a herf a while back, and was very happy with the latch set-up. For nice humi with these fancy trays, I think 60 would not be unreasonable. The caddy's are nice and cheap for a rugged airtight box, but it's useless if you intend on using the flimsy trays they come with.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

For those of you who want a laugh here is my new one. Now avalible in Pink! :r Oh and I also know a sign painter who can paint your travel cases too
http://i1048.photobucket.com/albums/...psafe9b25a.jpg

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I have a much larger version of this case and love it. The construction is leaps and bounds better than the other big name cases I have. If I were in the market for one this size I would easily buy one for $60.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Black for me please. :D Unless you can get NY Mets blue???

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Now custom painted cases is a much more niched area, focus on that and you will do well!
Even if it is just names and banners!

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Oddly specific request, but if I know Brendon, once he puts his mind to anything he can make it work :tu

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I am not interested.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

You made that?!?!?! Nice man thats a $60.00 for sure

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

:lr :lr :lr

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

i like the idea and i would spend the $40 - $60

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

If someone wants to take up a collection to get Mac a custom painted NY Yankees traveldor, I'm in for $10.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

And with my $10, we are up to $20.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I'd pay ya $20 and a box of white owls. I don't want no pink case. ;)

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I would say 15 to 25. However I don't travel all that much with cigars so I would imagine if I did, I would probably be willing to spend more.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Would it be possible or even helpful to make a compartment on the outside to stash lighters/cutters? That way you wouldn't have to compromise the # of smokes on the inside. Meh, I'm a donut maker, not a case maker so I should probably stick to what I know. Just throwing out ideas.

I'd pay $60 for a customized if I had the need/loot.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I've bought about a dozen different travel humi's the last several years for prizes at a golf tournament. I've noticed that the quality seems to be getting cheaper every year. I can tell from the photos that your case is of a much higher quality than the mass market ones sold online. Much higher. I'd be happy to pay 60 to 80 bucks for a black one. A custom painted one I'd go to a hundred or more.

The trays look great, best I've seen. Maybe you could offer some optional trays for I-Pads, shot glasses, booze nips, etc. I think you'd need something unique to stand out from all the Chinese-made stuff that can be had cheap on the auction sites.:2

Good Luck!

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I'd be in for $20 to slap Mac with a Mets one!

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

No Yankees gear is allowed in this house. :D

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

bump on this :tu

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Count me in for $10; we are up to $40 -- just need a few more :D

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Pretty sure your math is off. :D

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

I'm not really into the bulky cases, which is one of the main reasons I switched to a Halliburton some time ago, but just to bring up a point I haven't seen mentioned yet...

Where is your case made and by whom?

I can buy a Pelican 1200 case, made in the US, for $40 on Amazon. Foam inserts are about $3-4 each IIRC. While I will probably come out close to your price, I'd be getting a case that is made here and comes with a 35 year track record of performance and I can piece together something like two robusto trays and one churchill tray rather than being forced into three of the same.

So, for me to be interested (hypothetically), you'd have to offer something that I can't get by piecing it together myself.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

IMHO this is the reality for a lot of BOTL.

For all intents and purposes you are offering a convenience service so your premium has to be priced accordingly. No offense.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Adam,

The case is made by SKB cases (more so known for their music cases, but this model is part of their industrial line) who is a competitor with Pelican. I have access to both lines and having dealt with both this case is much better IMHO. In terms of being bulky it is a little large in comparison to the 15ct cigar caddies etc but they are fairly close to Halliburton size if memory suits me right (I may be wrong) the inside dims of this case are 9x7x4 & outside dims are slightly smaller than 11x10x5. These cases are made in the USA in Cali within 30+- miles of Pelican and are made of the same if not higher quality than Pelican. I may be slightly bias because Pelican as a company from where I sit is a sh!tty company who is only interested in the $$ and not taking care of their dealers/customers..
I am curious where you could get the foam trays from too. I know I bought some from you awhile ago that were purchased from cigar solutions but they do not carry them any more.
I have access to get both tray types made however due to $$ I am only thinking of starting with the longer trays to again accommodate more cigar variety. I figured offer more (cigar) size options over quantity at 1st and if that does well invest in getting the other trays more to offer the quantity side. :2

Nub,
No this is exactly WHY I am doing this, to try out if it will end up being a waste of time to proceed with this or if it would be a good idea. That being said yes anyone could source a few places and get all the parts pay shipping from several places and make the case themselves for relatively the same price.

Adam & Nub thanks for this, I was waiting for more of a questionnaire type of thing cause I knew I probably didn't explain it all as well as I should have.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Thanks for providing more details Brenden. Makes more more interested, but having said that I already have several travel humidors of various sizes (large and small) so the big compelling reason for me to buy has not yet been mentioned.

I do believe that one of my cases is an OEM case made by SKB. My first and still my go-to travel humi.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Thanks for the info Brendon.

I think I might have used the SKB cases before, or at least seen them up close. From what I remember, they're solid cases, no complaints there. Even though I own a number of them, I have no particular dedication or love of Pelican, it just happened to be the first brand I could think of which would work for the example I was trying to make.

It also looks like the SKB is a bit more expensive than the Pelican. I don't know if it's feasible for you to do it or not, but I think you might have an easier time selling the case if you can get closer to the Amazon price of $49.99 for one with cube foam, as an empty case (no foam) is $39.99 on Amazon. I think a lot of people are willing to pay a bit more for the convenience of having a complete product delivered to them vs putting it together themselves, so I don't know if you necessarily need to match the price, maybe just get close enough so that people don't shop your case vs Amazon and go "Dude! He's charging me $30 for custom foam?" Because, let's face it, you can just put the cigars in single or 5-finger baggies in a case with no foam.

Letting people know that these are US made cases along with all the MIL-spec standards and waterproof tests that they meet will probably also help sell the cases or at least justify the prices vs the foreign made crap.

Also, what if you were to offer them in such a way that people could pick any combination of three inserts that they wanted? Churchill, robusto or ridge foam for starters, maybe even a lancero or corona tray. Allowing this kind of personalization will help set your case apart and likely worth the slightly higher price you might charge. Plus, it puts you in the foam business as some people will order extra trays so they can kit out their traveldor appropriately to suit what they are bringing at any given time rather than being locked in to certain size trays.

I was unaware that Ron stopped selling the custom trays and I didn't look around to see if anyone else has them. So if no one else does or they are hard to locate, I guess that pretty much nixes that comment for the most part. Although, it does open up a possible market for you.

On the dimensions, the most common Halliburton used for cigars is the Cigar Ambassador case / 100C. The Cigar Ambassador is just a 100C with a liner, closed cell trays and specially cut top foam to accommodate the included humidifier and hygrometer. The Cigar Ambassador is also no longer in production (although the 100C still is). These cases are 12 x 9 x 5, almost all of which is useable space, unlike the heavy duty polycarbonate cases where you lose an inch or two on each dimension. All this being said, I don't really think the halli and your case are in competition. First off, they're not even in the same price range, a new halli 100C is about $350. Even used they tend to fetch around $150 on eBay. Looks, style, storage, all different. I switched because I got tired of the unnecessary bulk of the Pelican case I was using. It's unlikely that I would switch back to something like you are offering unless I had a very specific need for it, like boating or something like that.

I think that, ultimately, you need to offer something that sets your case apart from the rest. A virtually indestructible box is great, but realistically, how often does anyone beat up their traveldor to the point where that's an issue? Customizable options or service are where I think you might score better.

:2

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Bump for Brendon.

Re: How much would you spend on a Travel Humi
 

Thanks Mac. I have been thinking about this and I think I may just put this on the back burner as I have a few other things I am working on currently that I would rather focus on more. That being said if anyone is interested in cases wither for cigars (for use with 5 finger bags) or guns or whatever hit me up as I have access to a multitude of options. Hopefully soon I can continue this project with a more diverse ability to produce whatever style trays anyone is looking for have it be churchill or robusto or lancero or pipes or whatever.. Thank you all for the feedback!