How did you discover vaping?

[HeavenNorHell]

If this turns into a chat thread, I will request to have it moved to the Lounge. For now, it seems worthy of the General section.

Around Two years ago, a friend of mine bought a Blu starter pack. We tried it, but the flavor was never there, and didn't incline us to quit smoking. Around a week later, my brother and I decided to get a couple batteries and some real attys, no more disposable cartridges. We got them from a place here in Tacoma called B&I. Well, that was short lived. About a month after I got mine, I had it plugged in.

They said it was an "authentic eGo". No name, no nothing, just eGo. Thing exploded while charging, causing an electrical fire in my dad's living room. No worries, it was put out with minimal damage and no one got hurt. We definitely thought of a lawsuit being in order, but never got around to it nor had any money or time to get a lawyer to pursue the guys with, and that section of the B&I ended up going out of business (its a strip-mall type place, kinda).

I went online and found a REAL eGo-T, and got 2 of em for 60$ with two clearos and some free juice. I still use this battery to date, as I stopped vaping for a year and a half. Now, after all that time, I am using my eGo again, looking to buy a new PV soon, and life couldn't be better. Quite a journey, eh?

Would love to hear your stories of when and how you got started, and any comments on my little experience. BTW: My brother got rid of his "eGo" from the B&I immediately after I told him what happened to me lol.

Thanks for reading,
Vape on

 

[happydave]

about a year and a half ago i was at a bar out side smoking an analog and someone was hitting this shiny metal tube so of course was like, what is that?!?! he explained what it was (eGo with top coil tank) and when i got home i looked around a bit online found a kit for under $50 and never looked back. my first one was a JoyeTech Joye 510-T. i still have it and it still works. rarely used however.

 

[meanckz]

I first 'discovered' it 2.5 - 3 yrs ago...I bought a cig-a-like starter kit, but wasn't impressed, the mouth piece got too hot and it didn't charge well, it was an experiment that didn't bring results and I went back to smoking, then about less then 6 month ago, some person at work showed me their mods and what not and explained how the thing works ... I went to a local B&M that recently opened near where I live and I got a mod and cigarettes are history

 

[ebee]

to be honest, i only really got into it this year. i knew these things existed but just never really looked into it. i started out using the viper e-cigs a few months ago but the cartridges worked out pretty expensive for the amount i was vaping. the reason i started was because i just wanted to try and be a bit healthier, i switched to herbal substitutes for other things and the vaping stuff for the replacement of analogs. so far i'm enjoying it, i have had a couple of slip ups since, but that's due to my equipment being unreliable - hopefully the new one i have ordered will be good and hold it's charge longer/vape better x

 

[cassandraschild]

Overly expensive cig-a-like from a mall kiosk. It was good enough to get me curious, but sucked enough that i knew i needed something better. Online searches brought me to ecf...

Edit/Add on:

I started smoking when I was 15. My mother died when I was 17 due to cardiac issues very much related to her smoking. We both tried to quit about 7 months before she died, and we lasted 3 days. I've tried to quit smoking so many times over the last 20 years. Tried everything NRT, to Welbutrin, to herbal remedies... No luck at all. Most I ever lasted was 2 weeks.

This is my second go round with vaping. I quit from November of last year until june of this year. Had a very stressful ex-girlfriend and my life melt down between June and November. I also had a lot of technical difficulties with my gear and not being able to really taste any of my juices. So in October I decided to do a lot more research and plan a quit date for November 1. And I'm a lot more motivated this time.

The cigalikes at the mall were $125 a pop for a kit. The batteries lasted maybe 4 hours at a time, the carto's lasted maybe a day each. They were pretty crappy for their price compared to the set ups I have now. But I have to say, that was likely the best $125 I've ever spent, because it got me curious... and curiosity may have saved the cat.

 

[Sickkboy]

Manager that I report to ask me why don't you try e-cig? Maybe because I cough all the time and disturb her lol.

So I do a research about it and end up got overpriced knockoff ego-t set, month later I try to search in English to find more information and here I am.

 

[BillyWJ]

A couple years ago, a smoke store I bought cigs from had some on the counter, this was early on for ecig technology. I'd read a few things about them, I was curious how they worked, tasted, etc. Remember the "smokeless" cigarettes they were working on in the 90's? Bought the trial pack, which came with the usual cig-alike battery, and 3 cartos, and a charger built into the pack. $30. Worked okay, but wasn't enough to replace cigs. When the cartos ran out, I couldn't find any replacements, the store stopped stocking them, and I couldn't find anything online. I do remember using it at work, however, which was fun.

About two years ago, after moving to NY, I got tired of the $9 a pack prices, so picked up another starter kit, forget the brand, but the pack plugged into the wall, which was convenient. Again, not enough to replace cigs, and then my mom got sick and my stress levels went way up, as did my smoking. $40 for the kit. Batteries lasted an hour, if i was lucky. Tossed it when the cartos were done.

This last year, moved back to CA, been trying to quit, tried gum, tried patches, tried hypnosis, tried cold turkey. Nothing worked. Moved into a non-smoking apartment. Got tired of going out to the parking lot to smoke (No smoking 20 feet from the building) Tried NJoys...better...but really expensive, and not enough. Tried Blu. A little better, but REALLY expensive. ($60 for the kit...facepalm) I'd seen a few things on PVs, so did some Googling, went out the next day and bought an ego-style battery and clearo and some cheap juice. Almost there! Did some more googling, found this forum, went out the next day and got a Vision Spinner and a ProTank Mini, and some good juice. The rest is history.

 

[mavric]

I began to get self-conscious of my smoking the stinkies because all of my friends had quit and doing what I do I literally thought I was the only one left that smoked them, but I didn't want to quit nicotine completely. The patch and gum sounded ridiculous to me and I remembered watching some guy at a mall kiosk blow out clouds of smoke through his e-cigarette so I went up there and approached him to get more information. I went home to do some research online from what he'd told me and found that they might be a viable solution so I got myself setup with a cig-a-like (Swisher, I think?) and it helped slightly. I started learning and eventually grabbed a few cartos, my own juice, and an eGo battery (which were fairly new at the time IIRC).

Now I am sitting here at work looking at my expensive setup and still wondering whatever the hell happened. The signature says it all!

 

[tonyorion]

My daughter went back to graduate school about a year after my beautiful wife passed away from a freakish form of cancer. 18 months later, my daughter gets her MBA and even ends up with a good job in one of her targeted areas when many of her classmates were slinging burghers during the height of the recession. She just got a fabulous job offer with a great company here in town and will be moving back. The little smarty pants is making far too much money for someone who just turned 28. She really wowed them in the interview and had the job offer within a half hour after leaving the facility. They had already interviewed 6 other candidates. Sorry, proud dad is getting away from the story.

So dad asks "What do you want for a gift?". That was a bad question to ask, because her answer was "I lost one parent, I don't want to lose my other one. Quit smoking!!"

Like a deer in headlights, I mumbled out a yes. Now the question became "how". So I tried patches, nic gum, hypnosis, and the results were nada, nichts, rien, nothing.

I was at a party one night and talked about my problem with a friend, and he told me about an in-law who had quit using ecigs. He would call the next day to find out the name. The deal got clinched when I met an attractive woman at the party. We had an interesting conversation, but when I asked for her number, got the answer "I don't date smokers". It was not the first time facing that same answer since getting back into the dating scene. It was impossible to comprehend. After all, I am intelligent, successful, handsome, fit, articulate, witty, talented, etc., etc., etc. Why should my smelling like stale ash tray be a turn off to women?

At home that night and totally dejected, I started digging around the Internet for reviews of ecigs. A lot of them seemed like copies of the same exact text-ringers and phony reviews. In the end, I bought Greensmoke cigalikes. The batteries did not last very long, and they gave me an inkling of what pasteurized horse manure would taste like.

But I was into two weeks without an analog! That never happened before.

Returned them and decided to try VK's because there was not a lot phony hype. Not bad, but the battery life still sucked. Then I discovered TW with their rebranded and overpriced ego's.

Still stumbling around, I found ECF which led me to buy a Buzz Pro, but I was still using carts. Then came the Reo's. Almost perfect but the only way to get any punch was LR atty's with the short battery and atty life.

Happiness started to happen when I discovered RBA's, BC's, and VW/VV mods, and of course.........................DIY.

Now I have one box full of dead stuff: leaky carto tanks, some RBA's, ePowers, Lavatubes (crap, real crap both died in less than 3 months), and sadly my Buzz Pro. Still deciding what to do with that one. It's $35 to fix it plus postage, and for the same price I can get a nice VW/VW mod from Fasttech with far more modern circuitry.

Another box has stuff I don't use any more: my Reo's, some mechanical mods, and some top coils like the Vivi's and Drunkard.

Of course, I have far too many mods. Twists and Itaste's are my go to stuff when out and about. Storage is a real issue. I have the DIY under control with a nice used chest of small drawers in the basement.

I just got some plexiglass to build a stand to get rid of the clutter on my desk.

In the meantime, it will be 4 years in April being analog free. And women even want to go out with me now.

 

[partyannimal]

I went to a 4th of July picnic this past summer with my (at the time new) boyfriend. I didn't know anyone, but I'm good at starting up random conversation just to meet people. While hanging out in the "smoking area" with the younger crowd, I started talking to the one woman who looked a bit older than me. I asked her if she wanted a cigarette, and she told me how she quit her 2PAD habit months before by using e-cigs. Miraculously the cig-alikes were enough for her to kick the habit. I figured if she could do it, so could I. I promised I'd try them and got my first disposable at a beer distributor a week later. It was a hookah with no nic though, so I tried a few more (overpriced) disposables that I found at gas stations in town. They all sucked. Not enough flavor, and I went through them in about a day. I finally went into our local tobacco shop (don't know why it took me so long to visit the place, and I was amazed at how low his cigarette prices were compared to what I thought was cheap at the gas station lol) and he tried to sell me a generic eGo, but I went with the eon smoke cig-alike kit with a charger and two carto's. Not long after buying a handful of expensive different flavored carto packs, I found out on youtube that you could refill the used ones with juice. Shortly after that I started DIY because I didn't like the juices the tobacco shop sells. Just a little while later I found ECF, and was blown away with envy over all of the pics of mods and awesome APV's. I got my first eGo K and clearo, and have enjoyed every minute since!
I've saved a lot of $ since quitting smoking, but money is always tight (being a divorced mom with little work in the area) so I've literally been vaping DIY juice since I got my first eGo, and I haven't had the pleasure of trying any of the awesome gourmet juices you all rave about. Maybe someday.

 

[DavidOck]

On a lark?

I'd been hand rolling ribbon cut pipe tobacco for the previous few years, in protest of WA's ridiculous taxes, and just decided that I'd give it a try. Spent time online "looking", decided it was all too confusing. Too many options, and too much $$ to "try" something that I wasn't sure was going to be good for me.

Went down to a (semi) local B&M (Vaporium) and talked with the folk there. Walked out a bit later with a 650 Ego, a CE5 and a couple spare heads, and a 30 ml bottle of 18 mg juice in a flavor I'd tried and liked. Sales person thought the 18 would be adequate, but it wasn't, so the first week was still a combo of vape and smoke.

Went back the following week and got another 650 and some 24. And, almost magically, I was a non-smoker.

Picked up a few auto sticks and LR cartos for hands free vaping (Madvapes used to carry - maybe still does? - a 350 mAh stick which has decent life between charges.) Picked up a 1300 Spinner and discovered the pleasure of VV.

Discovered ECF

OMG! New and shiny syndrome!! More Spinners, Innokin MVP, Innokin VV3, SVD, KSD K-Max... and switched over to bottom coils toppers, rewinding coils, and so on...

Over a year now, and no thoughts of going back. Clothes and breath don't stink, lungs are clear when I get up (which I noticed about a week after becoming a non-smoker!), and I can vape inside my house (wife has been a non-smoker for years) which is a BIG plus here in the Pacific NW!

Nic "down" to 18, although the flavor hunt will probably never end for me. Sure, I have a few favorites, but others are nice for a change of pace, to clear the palate, and so on. Don't know if I'll taper the nic off, but without all the rest of the stuff inhaled from burning tobacco, it's about like caffeine, and I'm NOT switching to decaf!

 

[omyeyes]

I was going on a cruise and a neighbor suggested I try them. 6 months now and never looked back.

I also had a battery explode on me at 1:30 in the morning. All over the kitchen. I thought I got shot!!

Never charge batteries overnight!!!!!

 

[meanckz]

I went to a 4th of July picnic this past summer with my (at the time new) boyfriend. I didn't know anyone, but I'm good at starting up random conversation just to meet people. While hanging out in the "smoking area" with the younger crowd, I started talking to the one woman who looked a bit older than me. I asked her if she wanted a cigarette, and she told me how she quit her 2PAD habit months before by using e-cigs. Miraculously the cig-alikes were enough for her to kick the habit. I figured if she could do it, so could I. I promised I'd try them and got my first disposable at a beer distributor a week later. It was a hookah with no nic though, so I tried a few more (overpriced) disposables that I found at gas stations in town. They all sucked. Not enough flavor, and I went through them in about a day. I finally went into our local tobacco shop (don't know why it took me so long to visit the place, and I was amazed at how low his cigarette prices were compared to what I thought was cheap at the gas station lol) and he tried to sell me a generic eGo, but I went with the eon smoke cig-alike kit with a charger and two carto's. Not long after buying a handful of expensive different flavored carto packs, I found out on youtube that you could refill the used ones with juice. Shortly after that I started DIY because I didn't like the juices the tobacco shop sells. Just a little while later I found ECF, and was blown away with envy over all of the pics of mods and awesome APV's. I got my first eGo K and clearo, and have enjoyed every minute since!
I've saved a lot of $ since quitting smoking, but money is always tight (being a divorced mom with little work in the area) so I've literally been vaping DIY juice since I got my first eGo, and I haven't had the pleasure of trying any of the awesome gourmet juices you all rave about. Maybe someday.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "gourmet" juices ... you'll prolly end up liking yours the best ... I barely touch the juices I bought anymore (including the gourmets ones) since I recently started DIY juices

 

[MorpheusPA]

I saw the first round of Blu commercials about 15 months ago and thought about it for a while. I ended up buying a basic cig-alike kit, which was OK.

I worked with that for about a month before wanting something a little more long-lasting. I eventually ended up with the Volt X2, which is where I am today (my first one just "died" of short battery life, so I sure can't complain).

 

[chrisj3982]

About 3.5 years ago a friend of mine got the blu starter kit when it was still fairly new, he hated it. I tried it and was not impressed, so I searched online and found v2cigs. Got a kit and was smoke free for 6 months. Took an over the road driving job and couldn't find v2 cartos anywhere so went back to analogs. This June a different friend got an eon smoke starter, I followed suit. After 2 months of not being able to go far from a charger, I decided to step up and got ripped off on an ego style knockoff. 2 months or so with that and I decided to get an MVP. Live it, and 6.5 months smoke free.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sbc83]

Tried a friends cigalike at a party, I don't even recall if it tasted good or not but I did know that I was sick of spending money on cigs and smelling bad. That experience planted the seed though, couple months later I switched.

My first "kit" was an ego, bypassed the cigalikes all together.

 

[Daniel_c]

Well I actually just started recently, I always knew about them but never tried them tell I noticed how much it was negatively effecting my health. Living in Washington there are tons of shops around and I didn't do much research and I ended up at a local B&B Volcano vapor store. Bought an overpriced inferno starter kit with what I thought were decent e juices. Long story short it has just been a hassle since getting it so I just very recently invested some money into some pro tanks and Aspire bdc's. I also found this awesome forum for support and got recommended into getting the vamo v5 which I should be getting in the mail in just a day or two.

 

[slicknick]

My doctor actually recommended it to me about 3-4 years ago. I started out with greensmoke, then to v4l, now I'm all over the place with mods, tanks, atomizers, juices, and the list goes on.

 

[Recycled Roadkill]

The year I retired I started with a $50 cigalike bought from an ebay vendor. With the first puff I knew this wasn't going to be much help. I used up the 10 supplied cartriges and after that it all sat on a shelf for 3 or so years.

I built a shop in my backyard so that I had a place to smoke and work on projects, smoking in the neighbor hood of 45 cigarettes a day. Remembering the cigalike I began to think that If I would just use one to supplement the "habit" I'd hopefully smoke less. A friends Vapor X seemed like a good candidate though I didn't care for the flavor that it was filled with.

Considering the price of the cigalike I'd purchased before I felt that the beginners evod set seemed to be a bargain at about the same price.
Long story short, just one and a half days after the evod purchase I realized that I didn't need cigarettes anymore and haven't smoked any tobacco product since.

I cannot and will not ever understand how the official smoking cessation aids, none of which worked for me, are still considered the defacto way to quit smoking while our PVs that work amazingly for so many are shunned as dangerous to and by the general public.

 

[Vaslovik]

Someone had given my guy this el-cheapo e-cig from the flea market, and it was called the Smart E-cig. It was not smart. In fact, any product that's called smart is only smart for the one selling it. That's how you know not to buy it. It was a wretched little device that got juice in my mouth, (yuck! ptui!) and you could vape on it for two hours before having to charge it for 3 hours. There had to be a better way.

I'd noted that when I was vaping I didn't need to smoke. So I went back to the flea market and found a booth were a guy was selling eGo batteries and clearos, and went with those for a while, but I just wasn't getting the vape I needed from that. Then I went to a local B&M and got a Protank and a Vision 1300 spinner. That was okay for a while, but I still wanted more.

Then I got a mech for the protank, a Sigelei 24, and that was okay until I started going through 1.8 ohm coils real fast, and got tired of rebuilding those. It was RBA time. Got an AGA-T2 and I was finally getting the vape I needed all along. Since then I got an RSST and a Sentinel mech, and I'll prolly get more mechs and RBA's as I go, but that's my vaping solution, mechs and RBA's. I'm happy with that.