A beginner guide to vaping
My opinions and conclusion So after all this what are my conclusions and opinions on the basics of vaping and where should someone begin? Lets start with safety. From a safety and health concern point of view am I saying these are 100 percent safe, not really. However they blow traditional tobacco products out of the water. I would say E cigs are probably at least 100 times better for you. As far as we know they pose no real health risks and since they don't burn you don't run the risk of catching something on fire. Lung cancer and health issues aside, do you know how many fires get started by cigarette users? House fires, car fires, forest fires, trash can fires. It is a lot I assure you. And your little kid is less likely to play with matches or a lighter because they won't see them laying around all the time. Not to mention, how many times have you been dying to have a smoke and can't find your damned lighter!
My thoughts on tanks, cartos and atomizers. Well I personally don't care for cartos or carto tanks but many love them. The tanks with the wicks and coils on top are an improvement, but tend to have trouble wicking and need to be tilted from time to time. My personal favorite right now is the bottom coil tanks. The ones I have seem to just work better and have better flavor. And I really want to try one of the new ones with adjustable air flow. Truth be told, try some out and see which you like better. In the end it boils down to personal preference. E Juice, this one is purely subjective. Everyone's tastes are different. I tend to like fruity and candy flavors with low nicotine levels. I am all about the taste. Good vapor is nice though. And I really don't care much about the throat hit. Some really want that throat hit, some really want a ton of vapor, not me. First and foremost I want to taste the flavor and have it be pleasing. To me the tobacco flavors really don't taste like tobacco. They taste more like tobacco smells if that makes sense. I do use some tobacco flavors though. I tend to mix them with other flavors to give me that cigar or pipe smell and feel. Juice is really something you just need to try, and try a lot of it. Some of it you will like, some of it you won't. But when you find one you do you will be hooked. I suggest hitting a couple shops if its possible and see if they will let you try out some of their flavors before you buy. Or you could try some E juices people have reviewed and see if you like them. If you tend to like what that person liked then follow their reviews because you probably have similar palettes and likes. Devices and where I think you should start. Well I would just skip the little E cig kits and disposables right off the bat. They are simply not worth the money in my opinion. The vape probably won't be that great and batteries will not last you long enough. You will grow tired of them pretty quick. At my local vape shop if someone comes in asking for BLU's or the likes they send them next door to the tobacco shop. They don't even bother carrying them. These are the devices you are going to find in gas stations, smoke shops and drug stores. Not normally something you will see in a vapor lounge or vaping store. Some do have them though. My guess is sure, they could probably sell a lot of them because of the hype. However most of these owners want return business and truly want you to quit smoking and enjoy vaping. These little kits and disposables are probably just not going to do it for most people. Especially when you can get better products for about the same amount of money. Standard Ego kits, If you are on a budget or really not sure what you think about vaping then go ahead and snag up a basic ego kit for 30 bucks or so. It will come with a 650mah battery, a tank, a charger and some juice. If you don't like it or its too much of a pain in the ass you were not out much. You can always give it to a friend that wants to try them out. If you have tried one of the basic ego kits and liked it, or are pretty serious about wanting to quit smoking and start vaping I say jump right to the adjustable voltage models. The Ego twist, the iTaste VV or the iTaste mvp (square style device) are excellent choices. You can get full kits for under 100 dollars. Normally around 70 or so and they will come with batteries, tanks, charger and juice. Pretty much everything you need to get started. And they offer you the option of adjusting your vape to your tastes. I would suggest going to a good shop and trying a standard ego battery with a tank, then take that same tank and put it on a variable voltage device and play with it. I would almost bet you money for the price difference you will walk out with the variable voltage unit. Had I known what I know now I would not have even messed with the other versions. I would have walked right in and got an Ego Twist or an mvp kit. And I would have saved a lot of money and time experimenting with different stuff. As for the more advanced variable wattage models, I would also suggest taking a look at some of them. Some of the prices are pretty good and they offer more features and flexibility. A good shop will let you try just about anything they have and answer any questions you have to make sure you make an informed decision. Who knows, they might even have one on sale and you can get it cheaper than an Ego Twist kit. I would not advise jumping right into a 150 or 200 dollar mod for your first device though. Unless you have money to burn and simply don't care. I would say start out at these two levels and if your happy after a while treat yourself to a gift and keep the other one as a back up. Or let someone else use it if they are interested. Mechs and rebuildable attys, like I said they have their place but its not in the hands of a beginning vaper. Since I wrote the device page I have actually purchased a mechanical device, an RDA and an RBA ( one is a dripping atomizer the other is a tank style system where you build your own coil on top of it). I can honestly say with the right information and some patience they give a pretty satisfying vape. I put 1 ohm coils in each of them and used cotton for the wicks. The taste is fantastic when the wicks are saturated properly, but when they start to dry out a bit, ick. But that is part of dripping. Also since you are running lower ohms and the device is not regulated the batteries do not last nearly as long. They do have a "different" feel to them though. It is hard to describe really. The vape seems smoother compared to a regulated or Ego style device. I guess its a more "pure" experience if you will. And it is very shiny and pretty to boot. I will be honest though, had I tried one 3 or 4 months ago I would have hated it. I wanted the least amount of hassle, mess and maintenance then. Yet something that worked well with good flavor. Again, I point you to a simple variable voltage device if that is what you want. And it is what you will want to start with, trust me. For now skip the mechanicals and rebuildable heads no matter how shiny and intriguing they look. Give it some time and then pick up a cheap clone to play with if you think you are up to it. These go beyond simple vaping and put you into the hobby status. This part I simply cannot stress enough. FIND A GOOD LOCAL STORE! Sure you can get tons of cheap stuff from the internet but nothing is going to beat first hand experience. Hell it doesn't even have to be local. The store I go to is like a 70 mile round trip. And it seems like lately every time I go there the weather is horrible. You know why I keep going back? Because the people are awesome! The Crave Cave in Toledo Ohio simply has some of the best people I have ever met. If you seriously want to quit smoking or get into vaping your best chance is to find a good shop that will let you play with the merchandise. I started at a local smoke shop that sold e cigs as a side line. They new a little, but not much. Don't get me wrong, very nice people. They just knew more about cigars than they did e cigs. The first time I walked into a real vapor shop I was amazed. The people actually knew what they were talking about, they knew how the products worked and they actually vaped themselves. Look at this way, if you want I can give you a list of products to buy and where you can order them. You can use your credit card to order it and wait a week or so for it to show up. Then when you get it you can hope you can figure it out and that my suggestions were good for you. Or you can go to a store and personally try out different devices you either like, or they suggest to see which one you actually like. Then try out dozens of different flavors with different devices and tanks to see which tastes the best for YOU. Then if you have any questions on how it works, how to fill the tanks or anything else the staff is there to walk you through it. They will even set you up before you leave the store and you can walk out the door vaping. Which of those sounds like the smarter choice? And if you are worried about walking in there and they are going to try and sell you the newest most expensive device like a tv store does, don't. I have not seen a shop yet that does that. If they know you are a new vaper or have a budget they will be honest with you. If you look at something complicated or pricey they will say "hey, why don't you check out this device, its easier to operate, performs about he same and costs half as much.". In the end they win because they earn your trust and you keep coming back to get juice and other stuff. Or maybe later you decide you want that expensive version just to have it. So did I make that clear enough? FIND A GOOD SHOP AND ASK QUESTIONS! That is going to be your best bet for beating cigarettes. If you think the local gas station selling disposable E cigs gives a damn about you not smoking you are most likely mistaken. They probably haven't even read the box it comes in. I do have one other thing to add, and it is purely my opinion and stance on Vaping in public. A lot of people think that because its not smoking you can just do it anywhere you want. Well in some places technically that is true, because there are no laws against it. But many states are trying to pass them and or out right ban E cigs. I personally pretty much follow the same rules I would as smoking a cigarette unless someone tells me different and I know it is a vaping friendly place. Most don't know the difference between vapor and smoke, so they just see you blowing huge clouds of smoke and assume it is bad. This does NOT help our cause in trying to keep E cigs legal and less regulated. Not to mention sometimes it is just rude. While the vapor may not harm anyone, some of it does have an odor and it does throw out a cloud. This could bother someone if they are near you. I can give you a few examples involving a restaurant. First lets say you are sitting down to eat and there is a family behind you enjoying a nice meal. You start vaping some really fruity juice with a strong odor. While it isn't hurting anyone, or doesn't really smell bad this family may not want that experience while they are eating their meal. I would feel bad if I ruined someones night out just because I wanted to vape during dinner. Fabreeze is perfectly legal, but I am not going to go in someplace and start spraying it around all over. The other thing that is going to happen is people are going to see you doing it and assume you are smoking. And obviously they will complain. Non smokers will complain you are smoking and smokers will complain you are smoking and they can't. If you were the manager of a restaurant which would you rather do? Go around and explain to everyone that it is an E cig and its relatively safe and listen to them complain. Or just ask the person that is vaping to please stop because customers are asking questions. Just because you CAN do something doesn't always mean you should. Sometimes you need to use some common sense. You could however ask if it is ok to vape, Some places openly allow it. I know people that do it in walmart too, but I won't. Simply because I don't like confrontations and I don't want someone chasing me down and telling me not to smoke. Then I have to explain the whole thing to them. I just want to go in and leave when I go there. That is just a personal opinion of mine and nothing more. I am in no way telling YOU what you should or should not do. Well I hope this guide was informative and interesting. For some this might all be old news but my aim was to try to educate someone that is new to vaping, thinking about vaping or just curious what it is. I hope my information was accurate and easy to follow. If not feel free to correct me or help me make it better. |