What cutter and/or method?

[RevSmoke]

OK, I have been reading about Palio & Xikar cutters, and to me they haven't been around long enough to have the reputation they have (too bad we don't have a smilely face of an old hag stirring a brewing cauldron) - now my age shows. (I have had a Zino cutter since 1992. I see they are still around, and that they still offer a lifetime warranty. )

As I read the wars about which of the two mentioned above is better, it brought on an interesting question. How do you open the cap of your cigars for smoking? It seems that predominantly, we hear the two cutters above mentioned. But, I also hear a few people talking V-cut, a couple do a punch, some use a gullotine, other use a poker (several smaller holes punched into the cap), I even watched a guy use his pocket knife to make a V-cut (done that myself a few times)...

I am more curious about which style people are using and maybe a little bit about why they prefer that method to prepare their cigar. Yeah, we could talk about the inherent strengthes of our prefer trademarked cutter (Palio -vs- Xikar wars), but really, those are all about what you bought and why you like it. That isn't the question I am posing.

What I want to know is, how do you prepare your cigar for smoking? Are there inherent benefits to certain ways to open the cap? Do you use that method every time or only sometimes? Do you use different methods on different cigars? If so, why? What moved you to use the particular method that you use the most often?

Guillotine?
V-cut?
Bullet punch?
Bite off end?
Pierce the end? (watched a guy take a drill bit from his pocket and pierce three holes in the cap and smoke it that way)

I have a $4 V-cutter, but it cuts like it cost - cheaply. I occasionally do a v-cut with my pocket knife, if I have forgotten a cutter, for my pocket knife is always with me. I know there are V-cutters out there, but the only decent ones I have ever seen - which do not tear the snot out of the cap - are tabletop models. Is there a decent one out there for a reasonable price?

I have a cheapie bullet cutter too. That does a decent job, I like it for corona sized cigars. I am thinking of using it more, as it allows more of the cap to stay intact.

I have upon occasion, bitten off the end of a cigar - just to be "macho cool." I know of a woman though, who allows the cigar to rest in her mouth for a bit (she isn't chewing on it), and she can tell when the cap is ready, and she pulls off the first layer with her teeth and cuts it off. Interesting method.

Then there is the 3 hole (or however many you do) piercing. The guy I know who does this, claims the tars and stuff stay in the cigar, not in his mouth. Seems to me the holes would plu up with stuff.

Anyway, what methods do you use.

Oh yeah, so, anybody else out there own a Zino?