How to cut a cigar without a cutter

What can you use if you don't have a cigar cutter?

A sharp pocketknife is the first thing to reach for. Your thumbnail works too, and so does a clean, thin point like an unbent paperclip, a nail or the tip of a key. Ordinary scissors are a poor substitute that can ruin the cigar, so cut with them only if there's nothing else but your teeth. Your teeth come last.

The closed end of a cigar is the head, and it's sealed with a cap, a small piece of wrapper leaf that holds the wrapper in place. You have to cut, pierce or remove the cap before you can draw smoke through the cigar. When you cut it with a knife or scissors, take a thin slice and stay above where the cap meets the wrapper. Cut into or below that point and the wrapper can start to unravel. Our guide to how much to cut covers the measure.

Can you cut a cigar with a knife?

Yes. A sharp pocketknife will do it, but it's harder to get right than a cigar cutter. Cutting a cigar cleanly with a knife takes skill and steady hands and eyes, so take your time setting up.

1. Start with a clean blade, and don't clean it with oil.
2. Set the cigar on a steady, flat surface, like a table, and hold it back near the foot.
3. Rest the edge on the cap for a thin slice from the tip, well above where the cap meets the wrapper, with your fingers clear of the blade.
4. Then slice through the cap in one quick, even stroke, away from your fingers.
5. Draw on the cigar. If the draw feels tight, cut a little more.

Can you cut a cigar with scissors?

Ordinary scissors are a poor substitute and can ruin the cigar. Cigar scissors are a specific tool, with small, curved blades, and a normal pair isn't an acceptable stand-in for them. One cigar maker gives a softer warning: use household scissors primarily for poking a hole, and cut with them only if you're truly in a bind. More often than not, it says, cutting with them can lead to unintended damage.

So use the points first: press them gently into the center of the cap to make a small hole, as in the homemade punch below. Cut with scissors only if there's nothing else but your teeth, and then use the smallest, sharpest pair you can find, take a thin slice from the tip, well above where the cap meets the wrapper, and go carefully.

How to take the cap off with your thumbnail

The cap is only a small piece of wrapper leaf. To work it off by hand, press your thumbnail gently into the cap and turn the cigar slowly against the nail. Keep going until you've worked a groove all the way around and the top comes away.

Go gently, especially with a cigar that's been out of a humidor for a while. A dry wrapper is brittle and can crack or unravel.

Can you bite the end off a cigar?

You can, but try everything else first. Your teeth aren't sharp, you can't see what you're doing, and you end up with tobacco in your mouth.

If it's all you've got, close your teeth on the cap where you'd otherwise cut it, apply steady pressure, and pull away.

How do you make a homemade cigar cutter?

What you can make at home is a rough punch. A punch cutter opens a cigar by making a hole in the cap instead of cutting the cap off. A clean, thin point can make a small hole of its own: an unbent paperclip, a nail or the tip of a key.

Press the point gently into the center of the cap, and don't force it. Stop once you're through the cap. A hole pushed too far into the cigar can form a tunnel that burns hot. Then draw on the cigar to check it.

A poked hole is a rough version of a punch cut, one of the three kinds of cut.

How do you cut a torpedo cigar without a cutter?

On a torpedo, the pointed end is the head. Use a knife and take a thin slice off the point. If the draw feels tight, cut a little more. You can always take more off, and you can't put any back. Cut too far down the taper and the wrapper can unravel, the same as on any cigar.

Before you light it

Once the cap is open, the cigar is ready. Here's how to light it.

A cutter that stays on you

The fix for next time is a cutter you don't have to remember to bring. The Xikar 9mm Pull Out Punch has a key ring. You pull its body apart to expose a 9mm stainless steel blade, then push it back together to cover the blade again. Punches work best on straight-sided cigars, and a punch cutter can't open a pointed head.

Cigar scissors are a different tool from the household kind. If you'd rather carry a pair, the Xikar MTX Multi-Tool is a pair of folding stainless steel cigar scissors, 1/4 inch thick, with screwdrivers and a bottle opener built in.