E JUICE This page is probably going to be relatively short considering there really isn't much to E juice. E Juice, or E liquid is what you put in your cartomizer, atomizer or tank to be vaporized. This is the solution with the flavoring and nicotine ( if you choose to have nicotine). The common bottle sizes are 10ml, 15ml and 30ml, although you can get 5ml bottles and bottles larger than 30ml. Prices are all over the place really, I have gotten 30ml bottles for 5 dollars and seen 10ml bottles go for upwards of 20 dollars. The quality of the juice DOES make a difference, but the price does not always reflect the quality. I have seen some fairly low priced Juices that vaped excellent. And some mid priced juices that just didn't impress me much. And some were so bad I wanted to dump them down the drain. One of those being Buck Nasty juice from the head shed. Sorry if I offended anyone from the shed or that makes that product but it was truly nasty, especially for the price.
The above picture shows some samplings from Namber juice, which I have not had the chance to try yet. That being said considering it is being sold by Nick and Amber from Grimmgreen Industries I would go out on a limb and say it is probably pretty damn good. Nick used to review E juices so I would have to assume he knows what good juice is like and would not put out crap. There are lots of reviews on juices you can watch and read. However my advice would be to go to a local store that lets you try them out. Some vapor shops have close to a hundred flavors you can try. I can assure you if you try enough you will find that "ah ha" moment and find something you fall in love with. I also like to buy several flavors and do a bit of mixing and matching on my own to create special blends. Like say some pipe tobacco, caramel and raspberry juice mixed together. It is like making my own flavored cigar. Not all of my experiments turn out as good though lol. So what is in E juice? It is pretty simple really. Most liquid or E juice is made up of PG (Propylene glycol), VG ( Vegetable Glycerin), food flavoring, Nicotine and possibly food dye depending on the liquid. Some liquids will be just PG, some will be just VG, but most are a mix of the two. You can also get the liquids with different nicotine levels including zero if you want no nicotine at all. The most common are going to be 0, 6, 16, 24, and 36 I believe. Sometimes you will see this expressed as mg, as in 16mg other times you will see it expressed in percentages. The difference being 16mg would be expressed as 1.6%. Both represent the amount of nicotine in mg compared to 1 mil of fluid. So a 16mg rating is going to be 16mg/mL of fluid. Basically the higher the number, the more nicotine content. The PG and VG are used to carry the flavor and nicotine. These are what cause the vapor, mist or fog. Quite basically this is a small version of a fog machine you see at a club. PG is normally more thin and has less vapor, but carries flavor better. VG tends to be more thick, produces more dense vapor but tends to mute the flavor some. And the higher the nicotine level the harder the throat hit will be. To be perfectly honest I wouldn't concern myself too much about it. Just try some flavors until you find some you like and enjoy. Wait a minute Paul, isn't Propylene Glycol used in radiator fluid! Nope, that is Ethylene glycol which is more toxic. Propylene Glycol is relatively safe and is widely used in a lot of common drugs and food products, Even in bronchial inhalers. Vegetable glycerine is also used in food products and in the medical profession. So both are deemed safe by the FDA and medical society. So don't believe the hype from uneducated people when they start ranting you are breathing antifreeze, it simply is not so. These two compounds have been being used for years with no adverse side effects or links to promoting cancer. I do feel obligated to state some of the concerns that surround E juice and vaping in general. First of all there have been no long term studies of the effects of inhaling food flavorings or dyes. There have also not been any long term studies on the effects of second hand vapor for those around you. The products have simply not been around long enough. That being said initial studies have shown they don't seem to pose any threat and that second hand vapor is so minimal that it should not be an issue. It dissipates very fast compared to smoke from a cigarette. These are the main reasons no one is going to tell you Vaping is completely safe or healthy. So far it has been proven to be much safer and more healthy than smoking analog cigarettes. And I don't just mean a little safer, I mean a LOT safer. Another thing to talk about would be nicotine. Since these are pretty much nicotine delivery devices and most E juice is going to contain nicotine it deserves mentioning. Nicotine in itself is a drug that can cause your body to become dependent. Notice I did not say ADDICTED. Dependent means your body builds up and adjusts to it. When you don't get it you go through withdrawal symptoms, which are mild. Normally being cranky or jittery, headaches and possibly even feeling ill, In a few days the physical symptoms go away. The hard part about quitting smoking is the habit of actually doing it. Addiction is a completely different story and it will destroy your life and those around you because you become consumed by it. And as for it being a drug, it isn't a particularly dangerous one. It is classified as a mild stimulant just like caffeine. Which is why when you don't have your coffee your body will go through the same withdrawal symptoms. Not having them won't kill you, it just makes you cranky. There have even been some studies that show nicotine actually has some health benefits when used properly. Nicotine can be harmful and even fatal in higher doses and concentrated strengths. It can also cause skin irritation. And it can be absorbed through the skin. I see no way in which you could overdose from nicotine by vaping it. But if you, a small child or a pet were to drink the fluid directly from the bottle it could make you sick or kill you. So a reasonable amount of caution does need to be used when using and storing E liquid. If you spill it all over clean it up immediately. And if you have small children or pets make sure to store it in a safe place where it cannot be reached. If you are mixing your own E juices from scratch using flavorings, PG/VG and pure nicotine it is VERY important to handle the nicotine with the utmost care. Treat it as if you were working with chemicals in a lab. I DO NOT SUGGEST A BEGINNING VAPER EXPERIMENTS WITH MIXING THEIR OWN E JUICE! I know you saw me refer earlier to mixing and matching my own, but this is not working from scratch using the base compounds. What I do is buy ready made E juice and mix them together to change the flavor. Sometimes I might add flavoring or cut it with VG fluid. I have never messed with nicotine in its pure form. This is beyond something I want to experiment with. Basically what I am doing is like mixing pepsi and root beer soda to get a different flavor. Well that is pretty much it for E Juice. Let's get on to the nitty gritty, Devices! |