Keeping open tins fresh

[balindamood]

I smoke about 10 +/- bowls a week. I also like some variety, so I usually have 4-5 tins open at any given time. However, at this rate, they are sitting around for a month or two (or more) before they get finished off. But his time, they are getting rather dry.
What do you folks do to keep your tobacco when your habits result in browsing out of multiple tins over a long period of time?

 

[brooklynpiper]

Jars.
And don't tell us they take up too much space! That's normally the follow-up it seems

 

[forciori]

I use pots with Boveda 62% inside.

 

[cigrmaster]

In the picture below you will see opaque containers with white lids. I bought them in a four pack of different sizes from walmart. They cost around 6 bucks for the 4 and they keep my open tins fresh for at least 1.5 years.

 

[the85boro]

I jar my tobacco in wide, short BALL jars. But, when I am using the tins of tobacco that I will smoke and finish in a month or two I just double bag in off brand ziploc type bags. Work fantastic

 

[daniel7]

I use this from IKEA.

https://www.ikea.is/products/16410

 

[brooklynpiper]

I can be more helpful--my apologies.
I have a bunch of 8oz quilted ball jars because they were at the dollar shop next to where I lived.
I started getting wide mouth mason jars because I found them and they were a little bit less destructive for thin STG and MacBaren produced flakes and fit plugs and cake very nicely.
I have a large jar for samples and bulk blends I'm trying out. Similar blends stay in their ziploc but share jars. I have big jars for Lakelands, Watch City blends, bulk VA/VAPer flakes, and Englishes.
I don't store tobacco in large jars that I'm not giving a trial run. I do store aromatics in larger jars that can fit 100grams (Exotic Passion, Blackbeard). I don't smoke many aromatics though. I've also put Tabac Manil in the large jar because I didn't want to crush the bottom down because it comes so dry, but I've also got some aging in smaller jars.
Lastly, I've been buying tiny 4oz jars; my only complaint is that they don't stack well. Like I said, I don't smoke a lot, so some stuff needs to be stored in smaller quantities. This is really good for stuff like Doblone D'Oro which comes in 100gram shells only. I filled up about two and a half of those jars and have been smoking through the half jar. I'm not crazy about it, but we'll see how the other two small jars are with some age. (Sorry Sable)

 

[tkcolo]

Those flip top jars with the metal clamps are almost as tight as a plastic grocery bag with a knot tied at the op. I live in a dry climate, and they will dry out a tobacco in a week for me.
Most use Ball or Kerr jars:

regular mouth 4oz for plugs or coins

regular mouth 8oz and 12oz for flakes

wide mouth 8oz and 16oz for loose cut stuff.
I prefer the narrow jars because mine are in a short drawer at my desk. And I smoke mostly flakes.

 

[homeatsea]

I have similar smoking habits to you, balindamood. I average about 8 bowls a week and have 4 tins open. I just keep smoking right outta the open tins (I put the lid back on, of course). I prefer my tobacco to be more on the dry side than I think the average pipe smoker, so perhaps this is why I'm not bothered by my strategy. But I've never had any issues with a tobacco becoming "too dry" even after being in an open tin for a year.

 

[scloyd]

I jar (mason/ball) all open tins and store them in drawers.

 

[yuda]

My experience is pretty limited, like my ar space, but I got 4 Mason jars largely meant for jams that seem to do the trick pretty well. I tossed my Missouri Meerschaum blends in there since they come in pouches and I didn't want them getting any more dry. It's been roughly a year or so as I've worked through them and they haven't lost any notable level moisture. Plum Pudding was perhaps the exception since I opened that jar a lot and more air was left in as I smoked it more and more, so there was a bit of a difference in taste but it wasn't bad.

 

[daniel7]

@Tkcolo, I use these jars for 10 years now and for me they serve much better than simple jars. Maybe because of the climate, Iceland is not the driest place on Earth.

 

[haparnold]

I like my tobacco dry, and I live in a decently humid area, so I just keep the paper insert on top of the tobacco in the tin, and although it's a little dry by the last few smokes, it's not a problem for me.
However, over the years I have also become much less of a forager, and more of a "one blend at a time" kind of smoker. Some people get bored with that, but I've really enjoyed it, and it keeps me from having to remember which of my several dozen mason jars of a particular blend is undisturbed, and which has been opened for sampling.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I bought a number of the squat Amber Mason jars. Work great.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

tobacco that comes in pouches will preserve moisture better even after opening the seal. Up to a month or longer.

 

[ryeguy]

Honestly, if you put some torque on the twist top tins, they seem to hold moisture pretty well (in fact, I've had them reseal with pressure change--so I needed to break the seal again). If you don't torque them down, they will continue to dry pretty noticeably. I have several tins that have been sitting in an unsealed for two years and the tobacco is still perfectly malleable--not turns-to-dust-when-you touch-it-dry.
Some random context:
--I tend to like my tobacco dry. Some blends, I find, lose flavor if they dry past a certain point--and some just become impossible to handle because it crumbles so easily--, but some I can leave sitting out as long as I want and still find it perfectly smokable (e.g., I once bought a tin of Old Gowrie that had gotten dented and lost its seal--by the time I got it it was basically at ambient RH. It was perfect). So for my preferences, even a month in one of those rectangular tins (that do not, btw, seal) is fine; I have a tin of Capstan that has been sitting around for over a month now, and it is fine for my taste.
--I like sharing an experience with smokers of the past. I can't imagine Carolina farmboys or sailors from (say) 1820 freaking out about how to maintain the perfect moisture of their tobacco. I suspect that most of what they smoked, they smoked at ambient humidity.
--I have found that bail jars don't actually seal for long-term storage. I opened one that had been sitting undisturbed for a couple of years, and it had definitely continued to dry out. Ball jars are probably better but
--I'm lazy.

 

[tennsmoker]

On round tins with the plastic tops, I cut a square piece of wax paper and place it over the opened tin. Then I securly push down hard on the plastic top to seal the tin. It works, but ymmv.
Round top tins, I do like ryeguy and twist the top back on hard and at times I have to unseal the tin.
Square tins get my wax paper treatment, but it doesn't work as well as with the plastic lid. So, I tend to smoke the square tins rather fast.
Bags of tobacco go into ball jars.

 

[jrbjr]

I tried many things as I started less than a year ago. I have 35 odd tins open at this time. All are in wide mouth Kerr or Ball jars. Wide mouth stack better, and there are at least four different sizes. I wasted money on other jars, now my wife has them for jams.

 

[johnnyiii]

Walmart has great deals on jars.
You have the larger quart jars good for 8+ oz
Pint Jars good for 4oz
Half pint jars awesome for tins and 1-2oz baggies.
I also keep two 1/2 pints in my truck for my two daily smokes.
I didn't read all the post but ASSuME someone said the tobacco will last what seems like for ever in them.
If you use old spaghetti jars or reuse jars in general make sure you use fresh lids, and store bought lids will fit them. the rubber in the lid holds the prior flavor of what ever. Don't want your best flake to taste like spegettios ….. or may be you do and find the next best blend. 8O

 

[jpmcwjr]

Honestly, if you put some torque on the twist top tins, they seem to hold moisture pretty well (in fact, I've had them reseal with pressure change--so I needed to break the seal again). If you don't torque them down, they will continue to dry pretty noticeably

That's not my experience at all, but I live in a benign climate (humidity stays 50-70% much of the time.) I tighten my jars finger tight.