I own a gaggle of iSticks---five iStick 20Ws, two iStick 30Ws, and one iStick 50W. While I’ve encountered the usual problems with them---bad fixed 510 pins on the 20W, occasional misfires, etc.---they’re all still in service and working fine. While iSticks are no longer my preferred mods, they represented a significant turning point. For me (and, I presume, for many of us), the appearance in the marketplace of the iStick 20W in autumn 2014 kicked off what became a frenzy of higher-wattage regulated boxes, followed by the subsequent tsunami of sub-ohm tanks.
Sure, cloud chasers had already been vaping for quite awhile at 50-100 watts using RDAs/RTAs on mech mods and regulated boxes, but back in early 2014 that kind of vaping was pursued largely by a distinct subset of vaping enthusiasts. The rest of the vaping world, which I’ll divide for purposes of this post into two camps---new vapers and more experienced vapers---remained skeptical of high-wattage vaping on sub-ohm builds. New vapers had their Blu stick ecigs and eGo batts with CE4 clearos. More experienced vapers, including much of the membership of ECF and other internet vaping forums, had their 15-watt mods (VAMOs, ZMaxes, iTaste MVPs, and other moderately-powered VV/VW tubes and boxes) and were happy with the then-current generation of tanks---Aspire Nautilus, Kanger Protanks, etc.---using replaceable heads with coils that ranged from 1-2 ohms.
After eight months of the exploding hardware marketplace, during which many of us were seduced toward higher power and lower resistances, some experienced vapers have returned to their former vaping style. Why? Well, for one thing, high-wattage/sub-ohm vaping virtually requires direct-lung inhaling, and that’s not comfortable for everyone. Some of the so-called “tootie-puffer” mouth-to-lung vapers have found that they don’t need or even want increased wattage in their vaping. They’re very happy with an eLeaf GS Air tank at 10-15 watts.
For others of us, however, higher-wattage/sub-ohm vaping has proven to be an unexpected revelation, almost a revolution in our vaping. An eGo Twist/Vision Spinner topped with a 1.5 ohm clearo was (and still is) a decent vaping setup, but vaping ultra-low nic juices at 25-50 (or even higher) watts on a sub-ohm tank---such as an Aspire Atlantis, Kanger Subtank, Joyetech Delta II, or any of the newer tanks and RTAs (Arctic, Starre/Maganus, SilverPlay, Goblin/Goliath, etc.) is a qualitatively different experience. It’s not necessarily “better,” but it’s definitely more intense. Over time, I’m finding that intensity to be preferable.
I’ve been rebuilding my own coils and heads for almost two years, and I switched over long ago on my bottom-feeder REOs and Phids to small-chamber RDAs with lower ohm builds (0.8-1.2 ohms). The big change for me came more recently with the gradual introduction of direct-lung inhaling. I still do mouth-to lung about half the time, as that works very well for me with much of my existing hardware. For instance, even with my Taifun GT-T V2 RTAs built with 0.7 ohm rayon-wicked single coils vaped at 25 watts, I usually inhale mouth-to-lung, and it’s completely enjoyable, with deep flavor and thick mouth-feel. Basically, I still have to be careful about direct-lung inhaling, since my lungs can’t always handle it (40 years of smoking…). The main challenge for me is not to inhale too deeply or too long, to take in some air along with the vapor, and to keep the nic content as low as possible. I'm still not a cloud-chaser, but I do appreciate the copious vapor that I get.
Luckily, I’ve been DIYing my own juices for a long time, so reducing the nic content of my juices from 12-18mg down to 3-6mg (and even some zero-nic mixes) is easier and much less expensive than if I vaped retail juices.
At this point, in my fifth year of vaping, I’m well into in the process of replacing my sizable inventory of old hardware and juices in favor of higher-wattage regulated boxes, sub-ohm tanks/RTAs, and ultra-low nic juices.
I’m really not sure where all this is headed, but so far I like it.
