When the weather is half decent, a few co-workers and I will gather in the fleeting sun for a cigar. It’s funny how we move with the sun until the shade completely covers our space and forces us to go back inside. 

Anywho, the last time we gathered ‘round the smoke pit I was asked about my favorite cigar accessories. Which brings me to this week’s discussion question: 

What’s the most useful accessory that you own? 

I say useful, because my favorite accessory (without a doubt) is the S.T. Dupont Defi Extreme. It has been the first and only accessory that I’ve bought without even a hint of buyer’s remorse afterward.  My favorite thing about it?  It works exactly like you’d expect without sacrificing the impression and feel of luxury.

But it’s far from being the most useful.  In fact, I’ve had it in my kit every day of this deployment but haven’t been able to use it once.  Since it uses a proprietary butane from S.T. Dupont, it’s just a paper weight that I forgot to remove before flying over. 

The most useful accessory that I own, however, is one that I was initially disappointed with after unboxing it.  The Xikar XO cutter felt too industrial for me, and the rough action of the gears was the one thing I didn’t expect from a higher end cigar cutter. 

And yet, it’s been the one cigar cutter to travel with me everywhere.  I’m hardly ever without it, and it holds one hell of an edge.  I think it’s been about two years now and it’s still sharper than most of the new cutters that I’ve picked up in the meantime. 

In this time, I’ve dropped it off shipping containers, let someone borrow it that left it in the rain overnight, threw it to buddies that can’t catch, and probably cut about 750+ cigars with it.  As it turns out, industrial is exactly what I needed and I couldn’t be happier with it.  

CONTEST DETAILS

One of the comments below will win a $25 gift card.  The gift card will automatically be sent to the email address that you login to comment with, so please use your regular sign-in.   

I’ll be randomly selecting a comment below this Sunday before sending out the Weekly Newsletter. The winner can expect a comment with his or her name in it, a congratulations email, and an email with the $25 gift card information.  The actual gift card email takes some time to generate from the system and may lag behind by a couple hours. 

Only available to U.S. customers.