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BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
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Band ON or OFF??? That is the question
- Thread starter dpricenator
- Start date
I guess it all depends on the stick.
If it happens to be a torpedo, many of which have the bands too close to the tip, I remove it as the paper usually irritates my lip.
If it is a normal smoke, I'll leave it on until it becomes either in danger of burning, or affecting the cigar in some way.
If I'm at a local B&M or lounge, and I see my BOTL are smoking stuff that might be not quite as tasty as what I'm smoking, I'll take it off as not to offend.
If I have something new that I want people to ask about, I'll leave it on.
If I smoke a stick that has multiple bands (Padron 45th, ect), I'll take the lowest one off, and leave the standard band on.
If it happens to be a torpedo, many of which have the bands too close to the tip, I remove it as the paper usually irritates my lip.
If it is a normal smoke, I'll leave it on until it becomes either in danger of burning, or affecting the cigar in some way.
If I'm at a local B&M or lounge, and I see my BOTL are smoking stuff that might be not quite as tasty as what I'm smoking, I'll take it off as not to offend.
If I have something new that I want people to ask about, I'll leave it on.
If I smoke a stick that has multiple bands (Padron 45th, ect), I'll take the lowest one off, and leave the standard band on.
Yes, your post was dumb.
*edit* to add, it would have been funny, until the last word.
Frowns upon your shenanigans.
Amazing how many different opinions on this topic, I can not believe anyone leaves the band on as a status symbol I know no one like this and actually have never even heard of such a thing until this thread kinda silly really LOL
I said way earlier and will repeat again the band as I know and think of it is to keep the cigar from unraveling for this reason I leave it on until I am sure that will not happen and if at home take it off and throw it in the box I save for my nephew who wants to use as a poker table top. If out and smoking with friends I remove and in the ashtray it goes at the same point above.
If someone thinks my cigar band is doing anything different well that is their problem and I could not car less
:dunno:
I said way earlier and will repeat again the band as I know and think of it is to keep the cigar from unraveling for this reason I leave it on until I am sure that will not happen and if at home take it off and throw it in the box I save for my nephew who wants to use as a poker table top. If out and smoking with friends I remove and in the ashtray it goes at the same point above.
If someone thinks my cigar band is doing anything different well that is their problem and I could not car less
:dunno:
Definitely take off the band!
Leaving the band on just does not seem right. Smoking a cigar is about enjoyment and it is an art in a way for the taste buds. To leave the band supports competition. Its like a price tag. Which is kind of the way things are in American culture, make a ton of money and be richer and better than everyone else which is not what I want cigars to be about.
This thread discribes what cigar smoking is about very well,
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=13729
here is the last bit of the post:
Leaving the band on just does not seem right. Smoking a cigar is about enjoyment and it is an art in a way for the taste buds. To leave the band supports competition. Its like a price tag. Which is kind of the way things are in American culture, make a ton of money and be richer and better than everyone else which is not what I want cigars to be about.
This thread discribes what cigar smoking is about very well,
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=13729
here is the last bit of the post:
orangedog
Navin R Johnson
I take the band off immediately... not to prevent others from seeing it... in fact quite the opposite.
I always bring a roll of packaging quality masking tape with me. I'll cut off about 4" and use it to "paste" the band to my forehead - that way it makes it that much easier for people to see what I'm smoking, because it is always something super special and having it front and center makes it easier to read compared to looking between my fingers.
Its a great conversation starter too - I'd encourage you guys to try it.
I always bring a roll of packaging quality masking tape with me. I'll cut off about 4" and use it to "paste" the band to my forehead - that way it makes it that much easier for people to see what I'm smoking, because it is always something super special and having it front and center makes it easier to read compared to looking between my fingers.
Its a great conversation starter too - I'd encourage you guys to try it.
+ another 1
Bands are things of beauty and definitely part of the whole experience for me. I also collect them but especially hate having to open the band. Love to keep them intact.
One.day when I hit the lottery and open my own shop I'm gonna make the company logo amd name out of my collected bands....
I leave the band on because I take pictures of my smoke throughout the experience. This way, I know what the cigar is.
I generally smoke alone or with only a couple of good friends. There is no status with my bands - they don't care what I'm smoking.
I generally smoke alone or with only a couple of good friends. There is no status with my bands - they don't care what I'm smoking.
I've had to more or less give up hope of taking off the band intact. I just can't stand to leave it on long enough to come loose. I know it sounds silly, but that bit of paper, and what it represents really does affect my enjoyment.
For me a cigar has two identities. One created by the marketing department, and another created by growers, blenders and rollers who actually designed and created the cigar.
I am comfortable relating to the cigar as its superficial brand-dress identity when I'm buying, selling, trading, and storing it. Once it's lit, however, the real experience starts. In the smoking experience you are relating to the underlying identity, the "true cigar". At that point the band becomes an unwelcome remnant of the superficial.
Anyone else feel that way?
-Charles
Still a n00b here, but so far I've let it on, and have taken it off once the cigar has losened the glue a bit.
However, I live in Germany when I'm not in Afghanistan. So if I smoke one in public, I suppose I'll have to take the band off from the start, or risk getting yelled at in German.
I have to wonder, though. If I'm smoking an inexpensive brand and leave the band on, I would hope that somebody who cares enough about band on/band off would recognize the band, and that I'm not showing off, and would therefore leave it alone. Now, if it were a 10+ dollar/euro cigar, it would be a different story.
However, I live in Germany when I'm not in Afghanistan. So if I smoke one in public, I suppose I'll have to take the band off from the start, or risk getting yelled at in German.
I have to wonder, though. If I'm smoking an inexpensive brand and leave the band on, I would hope that somebody who cares enough about band on/band off would recognize the band, and that I'm not showing off, and would therefore leave it alone. Now, if it were a 10+ dollar/euro cigar, it would be a different story.
I'm disappointed if the band tears when I'm trying to take it off, ESPECIALLY, if it's a cigar that I know I may not get to try again because I can't afford the $20+ sticks. However, I don't think that it has ever affected my enjoyment of the cigar.
Docbp87
Smoke Into Oblivion
If I'm smoking at a B&M, I usually take the band off (if I can get it off easily), but when I'm at home, I leave it on. For me, enjoying the artwork on bands only serves to enhance the experience for me, so when I'm at home, I always leave them on.
cartisdm
Young & Eager
+1. This sums up my smoke routine almost perfectly. I love collecting the wrappers just to look back and remember good cigars. Along those lines, I also don't like my fiancée see that box because she'd realize how many cigars I'm smoking :halfgrinw