For guys who’ve been keeping cigars properly aged and ready to smoke for years, the little humidification packs sitting inside the humidor have become almost as important as the cedar lining. They’re the quiet workhorses that keep the whole system stable when the weather outside swings wildly or when you’re traveling and don’t want to come home to a box of wrapper-curling disasters.
Cigar Oasis, the outfit most people know for their electronic humidifiers that can handle everything from a small desktop box to a full cabinet, just made a practical move that’s worth paying attention to. They’ve expanded their line of Oasis Pak portable humidification packs—the ones made for them as a private label by Integra Products.
These aren’t fancy new inventions. They’re the familiar two-way packets that most experienced smokers already keep on hand. What’s changed is the range of choices, and for a lot of men who’ve been dialing in their storage for a long time, more choices mean better control.
The larger size, the 67-gram pack, is the one you’ll usually see sitting in the corners of a desktop humidor or tucked inside a travel case that gets some regular use. Until recently, Cigar Oasis only offered this size in 69% and 75% relative humidity. Now they’ve added 65% and 72% to the lineup. That gives four distinct options instead of two. No matter which percentage you pick, the price stays the same—$5.50 per pack.
On the smaller side, the 8-gram packs are built specifically for travel humidors, the slim leather or aluminum cases many guys carry when they’re heading out for a weekend or just want a couple of sticks in the glovebox. These used to come in 62% and 75%. The company has now added a 69% version to that mix as well.
The way these packs work hasn’t changed, and that’s actually a good thing. You pull the packet out of its plastic wrapper, drop it in the humidor, and it starts doing its job immediately—no buttons, no refills, no fuss. Because they’re two-way humidifiers, they don’t just push moisture into the air when things get dry. If the environment somehow gets too wet (maybe you left the lid open a little too long or the room got unusually humid), the pack will pull excess moisture right back out. That kind of automatic adjustment is what keeps cigars from drying into kindling or turning into a moldy science experiment.
Integra, the folks who actually manufacture the Oasis Paks, have always emphasized that their packs are salt-free. Instead of using the more traditional salt-based gels that some other brands rely on, they use a foil-based technology to hold and release humidity at a very precise level. A lot of longtime cigar guys prefer that approach because it tends to produce a cleaner, more stable environment over months and years without the risk of any salty residue getting on the wrappers.
The new humidity levels give smokers more precision than they had before. Someone who likes his Cubans a touch drier—say, around 65%—can now grab the exact pack instead of settling for 69% and hoping the humidor settles where he wants it. On the other end, the new 72% option sits neatly between the classic 69% and the wetter 75% that some people prefer for certain Dominican or Nicaraguan cigars that drink up humidity like a dry sponge.
The smaller 8-gram packs getting a 69% option is especially useful for travel. That middle ground is the sweet spot for a lot of guys when they’re on the road—stable enough that the cigars don’t dry out in a hotel room or a car trunk, but not so high that they start to feel spongy after a few days away from the big humidor at home.
Cigar Oasis says the updated lineup is already in stock and ready to ship, so there’s no waiting around if you want to pick up a few of the new percentages to test in different boxes.
For the man who treats his cigars like he treats a good tool chest—everything in its place, everything working the way it’s supposed to—these extra options are a small but welcome improvement. More control without more hassle, same straightforward price, and the same reliable performance that’s kept these packs on shelves for years. Sometimes the best upgrade isn’t something flashy; it’s just giving people exactly what they’ve been quietly asking for.
