Juul e-cig

[BostonJim]

I work in Las Vegas and this weekend a new e-cig developer was handing out these https://www.juulvapor.com/

It looks like a USB thumb drive and is $50. You have to buy their pods at $16 for a 4 pack. each pod, according to them, lasts about 200 puffs, roughly the same as 1 pack of cigarettes. I find this somewhat expensive, even for the cig-a-like vapors.

The reason I mention this is because I question if companies see this as viable product. I wonder if they see or know something about the future of vaping. In the casino biz I see a lot of vapors across a wide spectrum. Young, old, in between, and I go as far as say that about 90% of them use some sort of mod or ego battery and a wide variety toppers. I see very little cig-a-likes. So I wonder, is there really a market for this, or will there be?

 

[issy]

Hm. Well, I *hear* the PAX is awesome, but I wouldn't know. Looks cool, but I wouldn't buy it because I'm not interested in a closed system.

 

[brittianm]

I enjoy mine a lot but it is very expensive for what you get

 

[Rabbit Slayer]

data mining before I even entered that link...No thanks

 

[stevegmu]

Doesn't that company specialize in vaporizers for the other stuff?

 

[yuseffuhler]

Doesn't that company specialize in vaporizers for the other stuff?

I think they claim they're mostly for dry (tobacco) leaf. They're featured in a couple adverts I've seen. I could be completely off base.

 

[Rossum]

My understanding was that they sold their other business to focus on this.

They're pretty good for an almost cigalike sized device. 5% nic by weight in their pH reduced liquid produces a decent nic hit despite the relative lack of vapor. Trouble is they only offer four flavors, the battery capacity is a bit lacking, and the cartridges are silly expensive.

I bought one because I was intrigued by the pH reduced juice, but after breaking open some carts and diluting it down to my normal strength of 15mg, I concluded it really wasn't that special; that the pH reduction was primarily a way to make the high nic concentration they use more palatable.

I carry mine as a backup sometimes when I don't feel like taking along a second real mod, but I don't use it much.

 

[BostonJim]

I just wonder why companies are investing a lot of resources developing expensive cig-a-likes when the KNOW inexpensive equipment is dominating the market. Plus the inexpensive equipment has much more options to suit any new vaper.

Anyway, they were giving them away to almost anybody that wanted one, not a bad marketing ploy, and I just thought I'd mention it.

 

[yuseffuhler]

I just wonder why companies are investing a lot of resources developing expensive cig-a-likes when the KNOW inexpensive equipment is dominating the market. Plus the inexpensive equipment has much more options to suit any new vaper.

Anyway, they were giving them away to almost anybody that wanted one, not a bad marketing ploy, and I just thought I'd mention it.

Keep in mind that a lot of these companies assume that cigalikes will be the dominant force in vaping in the years to come. If there was a cigalike that did for me what my dripper did, I'd be all over it. Especially if I didn't have to fiddle with it.

 

[stevegmu]

No one makes a great cigalike because not many are willing to pay for what one would cost...
I'd pay $150 or more for a great cigalike and PCC; most these days balk at spending that much on a mod...

 

[Kitty-Nin]

I have one. The device design is beautiful, sleek, and really well thought out. It makes nice vapor, ajd is wonderfully compact.

The charger blows. It's neat how it works, but make the thing utterly impossible to charge in the car.

The juice is a mixed bag. It has entirely too much nicotine for anyone but incredibly heavy smokers, and is rougher than Rhonda Rousey. It feels like smoking a kitchen fire.

The tabacco flavor tastes like someone scraped a years old ashtray and put the resultant gunk in a rolling paper. The fruit is by far the worst, tastes and feels like smoking a box of knockoff fruit loops that went stale before I was born. The mint and creme brulee taste okay, buy are still rough as hell and have way too much nic.

I'm probably going to mess with their cartridges to see if I can find a way to put my own juice in them. The device, as I said, is awesome, but the juice in intolerable.

 

[puddinman]

I have one and passed it to my son. Much too harsh for me ...

 

[HauntedMyst]

I just wonder why companies are investing a lot of resources developing expensive cig-a-likes when the KNOW inexpensive equipment is dominating the market. Plus the inexpensive equipment has much more options to suit any new vaper.

Anyway, they were giving them away to almost anybody that wanted one, not a bad marketing ploy, and I just thought I'd mention it.

I would guess companies like these are marketing to new vapers, counting on what you don't know will make them money. They can give the devices away as a marking ploy easily because they are counting on people buying their expensive pods. Seems like just another cartridge system in a new shape. I mean, why smoke an electric ecig when you can smoke an electric tongue depressor? Apparently they think the market is clamouring for an ecig tongue depressor.

 

[defdock]

I have one and passed it to my son. Much too harsh for me ...

The site lists the pods as 5%nicotine... which by volume would be 50mg!

 

[WattWick]

I'm thinking their low PH thingy didn't work all that well since they resorted to nicotine levels only Beckd could survive

 

[Rossum]

The charger blows. It's neat how it works, but make the thing utterly impossible to charge in the car.

If I was going to charge it in my car, I'd get a USB extension cable and some adhesive velcro.

The juice is a mixed bag. It has entirely too much nicotine for anyone but incredibly heavy smokers, and is rougher than Rhonda Rousey. It feels like smoking a kitchen fire.

I also thought it was a bit rough at the beginning but acclimated to it relatively quickly. IMO, the high nic level is perfect for those situations when you're stuck somewhere that you can't vape as much as you want. You go outside (or to the bathroom) occasionally, grab a few hits and get enough nic to hold you for a bit.

I'm probably going to mess with their cartridges to see if I can find a way to put my own juice in them. The device, as I said, is awesome, but the juice in intolerable.

It's been done. There's two little tabs on the sides of each cartridge that hold the mouthpiece on. I don't see the point though. If I'm going to vape my regular juice, I have much better gear to use for that.

 

[Rossum]

The site lists the pods as 5%nicotine... which by volume would be 50mg!

If you dig deep enough in their site, I think you'll find that their "5%" is actually 59 mg/ml..

 

[retired1]

SmokeyJoe has tried 'em at a convention and he says they kick like a mule. Would love to get my hands on one but they're selling only in the US for now. May have to see about getting one on my next jaunt across the border.

 

[Rossum]

SmokeyJoe has tried 'em at a convention and he says they kick like a mule. Would love to get my hands on one but they're selling only in the US for now. May have to see about getting one on my next jaunt across the border.

Their retail distribution is pretty sparse at present. The store locator on their site shows nothing in any of the three counties I spend time in, and one of those counties has a population in excess of 800k... Anyway, don't expect to find them at every stop & rob like you would the BT brands.

 

[retired1]

They have quite a few distributors in NY. So the next time I have to whip across the border, I'll look for 'em there.