Looking to upgrade and not sure what to choose...

[pyrefly]

Hi all! I started vaping two weeks ago and I'm already looking for a bit of advice on an upgrade.

Currently I have a Halo G6 starter kit that I bought to see how I felt about vaping as a whole... and now I seem to have an flavor addiction!

From what I've read here and elsewhere, it would be a good idea to upgrade before the cost of the blank cartos gets out of hand...

I'm thinking glass because I don't want to limit my flavor choices, and something small because A.) I'm not comfortable with anything too far from analog quite yet, and B.) my hands are small and anything too big will be akin to dragging around a rocket launcher.

I've been looking at the following:

Kanger Aerotank Mini
Aspire Nautilus Mini

and probably a Vision Spinner battery with either.

Is there anything to recommend one over the other? Ease of filling, options/flexibility, able to switch flavors quickly to test new ones etc.?

I've read/watched reviews but a lot of them seem to be brand biased or very subjective and I can't figure out what the pros/cons really are... help?

 

[Broodmance]

Hi, welcome to the world of Vaping.

Personally I would recommend the Nautilus mini. I started on a Kanger Aero tank and then purchased the Full size Nautilus down the road and preferred the Nautilus over the Aerotank by far. The mini works the same as the full size, just a smaller tank. For a battery I would look at an Istick 30watt. It would give you more room to grow down the line. Its a small box mod with amazing batterly life and VV/VW.

 

[pyrefly]

Thanks!

What made you prefer the Nautilus v. the Aerotank? I'm honestly not sure what the differences might be, and while I know it will eventually just be personal preference... I feel like there should be some technical or usability differences that might make one easier to deal with over the other. No?

I'd really like to be able to switch/test flavors easily...

For the battery, I'm not quite ready for a box mod yet. I held one and for me it felt too much like trying to smoke an analog while it was still half in the pack, lol. Will the Spinner battery work with these tanks, or do I need an adapter or something like that?

 

[gandymarsh]

I agree with Broodmance.

 

[Troy Noh]

the spinner, or the ego C-twist would work great for the Nautilus mini. I love the Nautilius mini, thou my is sitting collecting dust, since I've switched to dripping. Pretty easy to use the mini, fill from the bottom, let her sit for a few mins, and vape away

 

[Baditude]

There seems to be a ton of different clearomizer tanks on the market now. I don't use them much any more as I use rebuildable atomizers exclusively. However, I do have an Aspire Nautilus which worked pretty well for a clearomizer, and I'm going to give my sister (who is going to begin vaping soon) this tank to use on one of my Provari's.

​

Whatever clearomizer you choose, I suggest getting one which uses replaceable coil heads to extend the life of the tank, and one with air intake control to be able to adjust the draw and amount of vapor.

A variable power eGo (like the Vision Spinner or Joytech Twist) would be great, or the more advanced but larger iStick or MVP.

A Good Starter Setup for a Beginning Vaper

Advancing Up the Vaping Ladder from Ego's to Mods

 

[Broodmance]

Thanks!

What made you prefer the Nautilus v. the Aerotank? I'm honestly not sure what the differences might be, and while I know it will eventually just be personal preference... I feel like there should be some technical or usability differences that might make one easier to deal with over the other. No?

I'd really like to be able to switch/test flavors easily...

For the battery, I'm not quite ready for a box mod yet. I held one and for me it felt too much like trying to smoke an analog while it was still half in the pack, lol. Will the Spinner battery work with these tanks, or do I need an adapter or something like that?

I found the Nautilus gave better flavor and hit better. As well as technical issues. The Aerotank gave me more leaking problems, as well as the coil life on them was horrendus. I could only get one week out of a Kanger coil vs averaging 3 weeks for the Aspire Coils (YMMV). Aside from that, I still think the Aerotank is a good device. Its the one that i was able to get off cigarettes with, i just think that the Nautilus is the better product.

The Spinner battery should work just fine with either tank, but it will limit your ability to upgrade down the light without having to purchase another battery first. With the Istick 30w, you could upgrade to pretty much any of the subtanks on the market, or get into rebuildables.

 

[Hitcat44]

Personally,,, IF it was me, I would spend a few more Bucks and go on and get a SubBox Mini Kit. It will handle your Needs quite well for the moment and well into the future when you're ready for the next Step as well.
Size is just right and compact with great Ergonomics (not a "Box" size but more natural to handle and hold than a Tube-IMO).
Batteries are replaceable allowing you to choose and not "disposable" in Nature.
Wide Range of Power variability.
SubTanks are easy to disassembly and clean. Readily available Parts. Glass Tanks for all Juices.
Several pre-built OCC Coil options to choose from and readily available in most B&M's as well as On-line (Price is good and in-line with Competing Brands).
Comes with an RBA Base for when you decide to make the jump into rebuilding and custom builds.
Readily handles a big Range of Resistances quite capably.
More Facets & Features but that will suffice.

Just another Option for you to consider.
All the best no matter what you decide on and Welcome aboard.

 

[pyrefly]

Wow, thanks everyone!

Consensus seems to be with the Nautilus out of my original choices, so I think I'll try that first. It has the air intake control so that's good. I think it has 'replaceable coil heads' too, if I'm looking at everything correctly...? Broodmance and Troy Noh make it sound like exactly what I need right now.

In gandymarsh's photo the Istick 30watt looks a lot smaller than the box mod I saw... so I won't rule them out just because the one I held seemed awkward to me. Probably just the brand (not sure what it was though.) Hitcat44 also makes a good point that upgrade ability is a good thing (and I like that the SubBox Mini is pretty modular.) I think I might need to get my hands on a couple box mod types at some point to see what works for me.

Thanks for those links Baditude... you just made it much easier to understand all of this. Plus, your other blog posts look to be just as helpful!

If I'm testing flavors, is it easy with a Nautilus? Would having more than one tank make sense, or do I need something with a 'drip tip' in addition to the Nautilus?

 

[Sir2fyablyNutz]

If I'm testing flavors in my Nautilus I just run water thru the top part and wipe off the bottom part (that has the coil). Use a paper towel piece folded over to a point and stick it between the glass and the center tube to get out the water. Usually 5 puffs and the old flavor is out of the coil. I'm on the iStick 30 W bandwagon with the Nautilus Mini too.
iStick 30 Nautilus Mini

coolfire 4 with Nautilus Mini

 

[Baditude]

For simply sampling new flavors, and not convinced that they deserve their own tank yet, you could use either a 510 drip atomizer (factory made) or nano clearomizer (disposable). You can easily change flavors in either device, and is more functional for this purpose.

Proper Terminology: A Guide to Juice Delivery Devices

510 drip atomizer

nano clearomizer

 

[dcfluegel]

agreed on the nautilus - was what i started with - fairly user friendly and low maintenance, overall... had no leaking issues... aspire makes very solid products overall

 

[dcfluegel]

and WELCOME!

 

[hashtag]

I would go with a nautilus over aerotank. I always had problems with juice spitting and leaking in my aerotanks.

 

[suprtrkr]

Hi and welcome. +1 on the Nautilus. The spinner type batteries work just fine with it but, FWIW, most people don't stay with them long (some do). I'd really take a look at an iStick 20 or 30. It will give you more room to maneuver and test to see what kind of vape you like. If you can stand the size, go for the 30. It has a bigger battery, so it goes longer between charges, and can go subohm, which the 20 can not. You may not ever want to. But if you do, one day, it's be nice to have a piece of gear so you can test it out. Not all box mods are created equal. Here's a photo of my Snow Wolf, a 200 watt 2-battery mod, next to my SX mini, a 1 battery mod. I took it in my hand so you can see the sizes... and the iSticks are smaller than either, especially with a mini tank. The ones in the pic are full sized.

 

[HighPlainsPuffer]

From left to right is an evod, an itaste4 with one of the taste testing 510 drippers baditude showed above, an istick 30, a nautilus and a mini nautilus.

Mini nautilus on the itaste4 is a decent combo, it goes up to 15 watts, pretty much the max for a nauti. The istick really isn't too much bigger and it'd be worth the size increase for the battery increase. WoV had the itastes for $20 so whenever I got coils I'd get the itaste and a ce5 as a giveaway set.

I like the mini nauti for stealth vaping, but there's twice the liquid capacity in the nautilus.

Edit: Sig150 box on right, it's keeping the corner of the paper down...

 

[Toxic Sadness]

My first upgrade was the kanger Aerotank and a vision spinner 2. It got me to stop smoking. I had 3 tanks bc I can't vape the same flavor all day, and two batteries. That way one battery could charge while I still had one to use. The first month I quit, I pretty much vapes non stop.
I got bored fast, and upgraded again within a month or so to an istick 30w and a kanger nano. I take my vaping one step at a time. Looking back, I should have got the istick from the start, saved some cash but I wasn't ready just like you. The more you dive into the world of vaping, the more you will want to upgrade your toys to find your own personal vape.
Since then, I have bought a second istick 30w and upgraded to the new Subtank mini in white. I also have learned how to build so I also own a few rda's and I rebuild my Subtank so I do not buy premodern coils. I don't subohm, it's just not my thing. I like to build higher. I am thinking of buying one more istick and one more tank. Backups for backups lol good luck n vape on my friend


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[dhood]

+1 to what everyone has already said. I like the Nautilus mini and either an iStick 30 or a Coolfire 4. It's a winning combination, light weight, easy to use.

 

[pyrefly]

Thanks to everyone!! I think I'll go with the Nautilus Mini and the iStick30, and a 510 drip atomizer for flavor tasting.

All of the photos have been a HUGE help. From what I can tell the box mod my friend has is the two battery kind or much higher wattage or something, hence the 'way too big' feeling I had; the iStick30 seems far more manageable.

Just so I don't mess this up, and keeping in mind that I'm not quite ready to start rebuilding atomizers YET, any recommendations for a 510 drip atomizer to use with the iStick30? How many do I need, and do I need a 'drip shield' and 'drip tip' too?

 

[suprtrkr]

Thanks to everyone!! I think I'll go with the Nautilus Mini and the iStick30, and a 510 drip atomizer for flavor tasting.

All of the photos have been a HUGE help. From what I can tell the box mod my friend has is the two battery kind or much higher wattage or something, hence the 'way too big' feeling I had; the iStick30 seems far more manageable.

Just so I don't mess this up, and keeping in mind that I'm not quite ready to start rebuilding atomizers YET, any recommendations for a 510 drip atomizer to use with the iStick30? How many do I need, and do I need a 'drip shield' and 'drip tip' too?

If you don't want to rebuild, the 1ml disposable "nanos" @Baditude showed you are your best option. Another possibility is to buy a regular old dripper-- I just bought a Dark Horse clone for 10 bucks off eBay and it rocks the house-- and then pay your local B&M store to put some coils in it for you. The coils should last for months if you're gentle cleaning it to change flavors. You just vape it neatly dry, cut the cotton right next to the coil with a scissors, and pull the pieces out. Then "dry burn" the coils-- fire them on your mod with no wick or juice-- to burn the gunk off of them and check they're both still working and heating evenly. Then you gently wash the dripper base, cover and drip tip in a little hot soapy water-- a worn out toothbrush is useful but not necessary-- let air dry or use your hair dryer, pull a little cotton through the center of the coils and trim it so it just about fills the juice well on the deck. Then you wet it all down with your new flavor of juice and drip on. There's all kinds of wick material, but I started with a 3 dollar bag of drugstore brand organic cotton balls (unbleached) and these work just fine. Just unroll a cotton ball and tear a strip off the side of the cotton sheet, twist a point on one end and pull it thru the coil, snug, but not tight. Then cut the tails to length. Wicking a tank can ge a challenge, but a dripper is easy.