A golf trip may not be for everyone, but there's definitely a certain type of guy who can appreciate the appeal of playing a full 18 holes. For someone old school and sophisticated like that, it's only natural he'd also share those sensibilities when it comes to smoking. That's right — cigars.
Even if you're not a regular smoker, most can still appreciate the complex flavors and rugged appeal of a cigar from time to time. It's kind of like golf in that way. Thinking of it like this, it's no wonder they so often go together.
Heading out with a fistful of cigars and a bag of clubs isn't exactly the best strategy, though, especially if you're planning on actually enjoying either of these things. That's why we've put together a quick list of your golf trip necessities that will ensure you can savor your smoking and your playing while out on the green. Since you're probably busy preparing, let's not waste any time and get started.
Humidors
If you don't speak cigar, a humidor is basically a little carrying case specially designed to protect cigars from the hazards of travel without ruining them. For anyone who isn't a veteran cigar smoker, you might not realize that storing cigars in environments that are too dry will...well, dry them out and make them taste bad. Beyond simply storing them for transport or safety, that's the real use for the humidor and what gives it its name; these boxes have little humidifiers inside them to keep the sealed container an ideal environment for a cigar.
Humidors come in all shapes and sizes, but one of our preferred brands is Lotus. Their travel humidors are some of the best on the market and are advertised as being airtight, watertight, and crushproof thanks to their stainless steel locks and hinges, durable plastic outer shell, and urethane foam interior. Unless you happen to be golfing at a monster truck rally in the middle of Sea World, there's not much anything can do to ruin your smokes when you put them in here.
"But what about size?" you may be asking. If you can only fit one or two cigars in a Lotus at a time, chances are you won't be getting much smoking done over the course of the trip. Thankfully, the people who make these are more realistic about what people want, so the smallest sized humidor can fit five cigars at a time. Moving up a size, you can also get a 10-count or 15-count box if you plan to share with friends. And for the really wacky out there, they even have 30 to 50-count and 50 to 80-count boxes. While we might recommend against smoking all of them in a single trip unless you're saving them to celebrate with an entire army, that's ultimately your choice (though we might also remind you that you could just set the big box at home for future use).
Cutters
Picture this: You've just finished nine holes and you're having a great time. Your friend asks for one of your fine authentic Cubans you happened to find through legitimate means, and you hand him one because you're a good person who cares about others. Then, to your horror, he whips out a pocket knife and just goes to town on the end of that cigar.
If your blood ran cold just reading that, you already know why you need to get a real cigar cutter for this trip. Luckily, we've got plenty of those to go around. In terms of brand, Colibri will set you right, though we've got plenty in stock to browse through. With them, though, you can try out their great spring-loaded V-Cut. The blades are at an acute angle to take a nice bite out of the end of your cigar for a hearty draw.
A cigar is only as good as the flame that lights it. That's not true at all, but it's a good way to introduce this section, so back off.
Anyway, after you get out on the green, you're going to need something to light your cigars. While a wooden match is always a nice option and potentially available, matches run out pretty quick depending on how much you're smoking. That's why it's just common sense to keep a lighter on you.
There's about as many lighters you can choose from as there are golf balls sitting in any given lake around the eighth hole, so you won't find yourself hurting for options in this department. A custom Zippo's always a stylish choice and a checkout lane butane lighter from the gas station is a mostly effective if kind of sad way to go, but if you're going out of your way to pack up your cigars for this trip, why settle for anything less than the best?
The Vector Ironfist triple flame torch would be just that here. This is a heavy-duty lighter that packs a serious punch, sporting a trio of flames that combine into a single light. It's wind-resistant and carries a ton of fuel, so you shouldn't have to worry about running out over the course of your trip. As an added bonus that really makes this one shine, it has a cigar punch in the end.
At Lighter USA, we've got everything you could possibly need when it comes to smoking. We talked a lot about cigars today, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Once you get back from your golf trip, take another look around and see what you find when it comes to vapes, lighters, e-cigs, and other accessories any smoker can appreciate.
