Opening hcm beads?
 

did a quick search, and didn't see anything, so please forgive me if this has been covered already.

I'm wondering about opening up the bags of shilala beads to distribute into another humi. I mean, for the price, I would rather buy an 8 oz bag, and cut it open and split it between to humis instead of buying 2 4 oz bags.

Do you think there would be a potential issue with this?

Of course, I would rebag them.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

You DONT want to open a bag of Shilala's beads. It'd be worse than herding cats. The beads are .5-1mm in diameter. Best off buying two smaller bags.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

lol really? Guess that would be difficult. I have a 4 oz bag on the way, and was thinking about it before ordering... thinking I could buy an 8 oz bag and split some out for my small 20 ct humi.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

The beads are very very very small, and the bag is packed pretty tight, I have a feeling just making a tear in the bag would unleash bead hell all over your table. Besides, the bag serves a purpose... surface area. The bag allows air to freely pass thru it on all sides. Placing the beads in a cup or bowl in your humidor would mean the air can only enter thru the top. Not very efficient in my eyes.

And if you spilled them in your humidor? I bet you might end up with beads in your cigars that aren't cellophaned, i can't imagine smoking HCM beads would be very tasty.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Very true! I know some guys have put silica beads in pantyhose before to restrain them. I was thinking these would be a larger diameter bead than what they are.

I'm not all to thrifty when it comes to insurance anyways.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

I went through a similar thought last year and bought 8oz. for my 100-ct desktop when I only needed 4oz. The 8oz. package was the better value and there is no harm in having more beads than the minimum. As shilala mentioned at the time, the 8oz. can be beneficial if you plan on a larger humidor in the future.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

But what are you going to keep in the 100ct humi when that happens?

I figure I'll just buy more beads as I grow into larger humidors.

I completely agree the 8 oz bag is a better deal considering the price. But oh well. I'm still going to be very happy with my purchase I think.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

The plan was to retire the 100-ct and get another coolidor or a fridge setup.

Now I'm thinking about a desktop in the 50-ct to 75-ct range in addition to another coolidor or fridge setup. Use the desktop as an assorted 'to go' box so I'm not in the fridge constantly. But to your point, I will need more beads.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Dr. Egon Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you.
Dr. Peter Venkman: What?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Don't cross the streams.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Why?
Dr. Egon Spengler: It would be bad.
Dr. Peter Venkman: I'm a little fuzzy on the whole "good/bad" thing, here. What do you mean, "bad"?
Dr. Egon Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Dr. Ray Stantz: [low whistle] Total protonic reversal!
Dr. Peter Venkman: That's bad. OK, all right, important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Nice! :r

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Bwahahaha! :r

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Other than my enjoying the the little Ghostbusters banter....I have to agree with the others here. I wouldn't dare open one of those things. I get annoyed enough at the little guys that slip through the holes, much less an entire bag of those things going everywhere. It could probably be done, but why bother? :2

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

:tpd:

Dont mess with the bags, its bad enough when you get a tear (which Ive experienced- duct tape works wonders btw).

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

The advice given here has convinced me to not mess with them. Since I don't have them in hand yet, I was unaware of how small the beads are. I was thinking they were like peppercorn sized.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Please send the torn bag back to me and I will replace it.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Hey Michael, my beads just showed up! Looking forward to tossing that forsaken credo humidifier!

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

Thanks for the offer Mike, but its not necessary. Its just a small tear and the tape worked just fine.

I do appreciate the customer service though :tu

FWIW I didnt even buy these from Mike, but from Scott. The excellent customer service hasnt changed though

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

The beads are small. Very small. Closer to grains of salt than peppercorns. They average about .03 inches in size (1 mm is .39 inches.)

Attached is a picture of an HCM bead under an electron microscope:
http://www.hcmcigarbeads.com/beads/hcm-single-bead.jpg

You can see how porous (spongy-looking) the surface of the beads are -- which is why they are so effective as a humidification device.

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

He-he-he, you said "beads" and "tossing". :r :r

Re: Opening hcm beads?
 

That pic is freakin awesome. Thank you. It's good to see you steppin' up in the thread the same as Scott would. I am very happy with my beads and am pleased to see the quality of service and product to be the same.