When i first joined this forum back in 2009 i was tired of quitting and failing. I quit once for a few months back in 97. Then i quit for over a year when my ex-wife got pregnant with my beautiful daughter in 2000. I started back the day we became exes. I left the house and drove straight to the store to buy smokes. Of course leaving my wife and daughter is no excuse but thats pretty much as stressful of an event to restart i could imagine. I felt i was loosing the reason i wasnt smoking so why not smoke again. 
Back in 09 i did some research but i dont think the amazing equipment available today was around back then. Hell the kits came from China and were held in customs for a couple months on a regular basis. It was a kit with 2 Lookalike cigs, a charger and some carts. Needless to say, they were a freakin major hassle to deal with. Constant flooding, ejuice in the mouth, burnt fluff....In my mind it was more hassle then it was worth so bam, back into the nasty analogs i fell.
Fast forward to Feb 2012. A woman that i have known for over 15yrs finally became available. We were able to start our lives together and we have never been happier. I always told her that someday i would quit and the time was now!!! I was tired of wheezing in my sleep. I was tired of being breathless at anything i did. Ive always been a gym rat and played sports and my breathing was becoming progressively worse. I hated the way i was feeling, she hated the way i smelled but dealt with me cuz she loves me.
I started researching again thinking, its been 3yrs, technology has gotten to have moved forward in this arena as it does everywhere else. And low and behold it had!!! As i looked more and more i was actually overwhelmed with my choices now!! This forum helped tremendously, but still what to get, what to use, will i be disappointed again?!?!? In the vaping world, to each his/her own means alot. Everyone is different in what they prefer, what works for them and the opinions are many!!
So i decided on the ego C twist and a tank and some lemon juice.(i like citrusy stuff) I didnt care about aesthetics, i wanted functionality. I wanted to charge it, fill it up and not have to worry about it for a while. Well the first tank i got was a cartomizer with orings on top and bottom and a hole punched cart. It worked Awesome for the first few days!! Then i travelled up into the mountains one evening for a wine/dinner thing and bam, the problems started. Flooded Carts with a mouthful of ejuice. i carried extra carts and they flooded too!! UGH!!! Panic set in. i stopped at the local gas n go and bought a pack of analogs. Took 2 hits and i couldnt stand the taste so i chucked them and decided to suck it up till i got home and could do something about it. On the drive home as i noticed a water bottle caving in from the altitude change, it dawned on me. The carts were flooding due to the pressure change from altitude. Everything will be ok when we get home. I had some spares there and sure enough it was fine on a swapout.
After 8 days the orings started leaking on my tank(citrusy juice is bad for rubber apparently). I went to the maintenance dept at work and got some new ones and fixed that problem. Boiling cartos to clean them, punching extra holes, altitude causing issues, leaking orings, i felt i was back in the same boat again. More hassle then they were worth. So i started looking again determined not to fail this time. I found the Vision VIVI Nova tank. My prayers werent necessarily answered but it was a helluva lot better than the carto tank i was using. It still had its issues here and there but no where near as bad as the first tank. Incidentally, a few days after i started vaping, i walked by the guys i always went out to have a smoke with at work and they freakin REEKED!!! I immediately called my lady and asked her, "did i smell that bad??" She said OH Yes you did!!! I apologized deeply cuz that was a wretched smell to say the least!!!
Now for the EgoC Twists. They were doing exactly what i needed them to do. I bought 2, used one, kept one charged and that was working great. I played with different ohm heads in my tank, adjusted the voltage up and down to get what i liked for a hit. Of course, due to their construction, i ended up breaking them in everyday abuse. In the pocket of my cargo shorts, snap. dropped on the ground, snap. Ive reattached more wires on them then i want to admit, lolol.
Then i was sitting around watching a few PBusardi vids and looking at his voltage charts. It was then that i realized why my hits were so inconsistent. So i decided on a more regulated voltage from a PV. I was looking at the provari but the price was kinda making it unjustifiable for me even though ive spent that much over the year buying EgoC replacements. Then a buddy pointed me to the Vamo. THANK GOD!!! What i difference that made on my vivi nova. It still didnt work out all the minor issues but it was again....Better!!! So i decided on a different tank and went with the Kanger ProTank. WOW what a difference. My juice tastes the same whether its a fresh fill or getting to the bottom and the Vamo makes it perfect everytime!!!
I now have 100% of my lung capacity back and no longer have to worry about being out of breath, wheezing, stinking or anything associated with those nasty ... analogs!!!! My energy level dropped off a bit on initial quit but it rapidly returned after a couple weeks.
Now about the social aspect of vaping!! I can say, without a doubt i would rather explain to people what im doing, what it is, the benefits ive received from it and maybe even encourage someone to try it than dealing with the aspects of analogs. Cancer, COPD, emphysema, and the thousands of other issues and nasties associated with them. The great thing is explaining to people what it is and what it does. Ive even got my mom vaping. I smoked 28 yrs, shes smoked at least 50. She loves it and i love that fact that she was open enough to try it and now loves vaping. Even at the casino!!
Ive flown a few times with my batts and tanks and never had an issue. As inept as TSA is, they must know what Ecigs are cuz they look at them and keep right on going. I travel with small bottles of liquid so as not to go over the limit and ive been fine. I dont "stealth" vape. I do it where it will be ok. I leave it in the car when we go out. Ive vaped at Baseball and Football games, no probs. I did have a lady start "coughing" when she saw me exhale vapor once. I calmly asked her why she coughed and explained to her what Vapor is. She apologized for being short sighted and actually congratulated me on switching. She also asked me for info that she could give her son who smokes. I keep a few cards printed up with links to this forum and a couple of vendors and my preferences on equipment to hand out when people ask for info in hopes that they will help them understand and/or switch.
So i encourage any of you thinking of quitting analogs to most definitely do it and never give up, Vaping is a godsend. And to those that have quit...BRAVO
I want to thank glowgirl for her story and stickied thread on here. Her story is what inspired me to write this one. If any of this helps just one person move forward with switching, then i will be a happy man!!
Silver
Back in 09 i did some research but i dont think the amazing equipment available today was around back then. Hell the kits came from China and were held in customs for a couple months on a regular basis. It was a kit with 2 Lookalike cigs, a charger and some carts. Needless to say, they were a freakin major hassle to deal with. Constant flooding, ejuice in the mouth, burnt fluff....In my mind it was more hassle then it was worth so bam, back into the nasty analogs i fell.
Fast forward to Feb 2012. A woman that i have known for over 15yrs finally became available. We were able to start our lives together and we have never been happier. I always told her that someday i would quit and the time was now!!! I was tired of wheezing in my sleep. I was tired of being breathless at anything i did. Ive always been a gym rat and played sports and my breathing was becoming progressively worse. I hated the way i was feeling, she hated the way i smelled but dealt with me cuz she loves me.
I started researching again thinking, its been 3yrs, technology has gotten to have moved forward in this arena as it does everywhere else. And low and behold it had!!! As i looked more and more i was actually overwhelmed with my choices now!! This forum helped tremendously, but still what to get, what to use, will i be disappointed again?!?!? In the vaping world, to each his/her own means alot. Everyone is different in what they prefer, what works for them and the opinions are many!!
So i decided on the ego C twist and a tank and some lemon juice.(i like citrusy stuff) I didnt care about aesthetics, i wanted functionality. I wanted to charge it, fill it up and not have to worry about it for a while. Well the first tank i got was a cartomizer with orings on top and bottom and a hole punched cart. It worked Awesome for the first few days!! Then i travelled up into the mountains one evening for a wine/dinner thing and bam, the problems started. Flooded Carts with a mouthful of ejuice. i carried extra carts and they flooded too!! UGH!!! Panic set in. i stopped at the local gas n go and bought a pack of analogs. Took 2 hits and i couldnt stand the taste so i chucked them and decided to suck it up till i got home and could do something about it. On the drive home as i noticed a water bottle caving in from the altitude change, it dawned on me. The carts were flooding due to the pressure change from altitude. Everything will be ok when we get home. I had some spares there and sure enough it was fine on a swapout.
After 8 days the orings started leaking on my tank(citrusy juice is bad for rubber apparently). I went to the maintenance dept at work and got some new ones and fixed that problem. Boiling cartos to clean them, punching extra holes, altitude causing issues, leaking orings, i felt i was back in the same boat again. More hassle then they were worth. So i started looking again determined not to fail this time. I found the Vision VIVI Nova tank. My prayers werent necessarily answered but it was a helluva lot better than the carto tank i was using. It still had its issues here and there but no where near as bad as the first tank. Incidentally, a few days after i started vaping, i walked by the guys i always went out to have a smoke with at work and they freakin REEKED!!! I immediately called my lady and asked her, "did i smell that bad??" She said OH Yes you did!!! I apologized deeply cuz that was a wretched smell to say the least!!!
Now for the EgoC Twists. They were doing exactly what i needed them to do. I bought 2, used one, kept one charged and that was working great. I played with different ohm heads in my tank, adjusted the voltage up and down to get what i liked for a hit. Of course, due to their construction, i ended up breaking them in everyday abuse. In the pocket of my cargo shorts, snap. dropped on the ground, snap. Ive reattached more wires on them then i want to admit, lolol.
Then i was sitting around watching a few PBusardi vids and looking at his voltage charts. It was then that i realized why my hits were so inconsistent. So i decided on a more regulated voltage from a PV. I was looking at the provari but the price was kinda making it unjustifiable for me even though ive spent that much over the year buying EgoC replacements. Then a buddy pointed me to the Vamo. THANK GOD!!! What i difference that made on my vivi nova. It still didnt work out all the minor issues but it was again....Better!!! So i decided on a different tank and went with the Kanger ProTank. WOW what a difference. My juice tastes the same whether its a fresh fill or getting to the bottom and the Vamo makes it perfect everytime!!!
I now have 100% of my lung capacity back and no longer have to worry about being out of breath, wheezing, stinking or anything associated with those nasty ... analogs!!!! My energy level dropped off a bit on initial quit but it rapidly returned after a couple weeks.
Now about the social aspect of vaping!! I can say, without a doubt i would rather explain to people what im doing, what it is, the benefits ive received from it and maybe even encourage someone to try it than dealing with the aspects of analogs. Cancer, COPD, emphysema, and the thousands of other issues and nasties associated with them. The great thing is explaining to people what it is and what it does. Ive even got my mom vaping. I smoked 28 yrs, shes smoked at least 50. She loves it and i love that fact that she was open enough to try it and now loves vaping. Even at the casino!!
Ive flown a few times with my batts and tanks and never had an issue. As inept as TSA is, they must know what Ecigs are cuz they look at them and keep right on going. I travel with small bottles of liquid so as not to go over the limit and ive been fine. I dont "stealth" vape. I do it where it will be ok. I leave it in the car when we go out. Ive vaped at Baseball and Football games, no probs. I did have a lady start "coughing" when she saw me exhale vapor once. I calmly asked her why she coughed and explained to her what Vapor is. She apologized for being short sighted and actually congratulated me on switching. She also asked me for info that she could give her son who smokes. I keep a few cards printed up with links to this forum and a couple of vendors and my preferences on equipment to hand out when people ask for info in hopes that they will help them understand and/or switch.
So i encourage any of you thinking of quitting analogs to most definitely do it and never give up, Vaping is a godsend. And to those that have quit...BRAVO
I want to thank glowgirl for her story and stickied thread on here. Her story is what inspired me to write this one. If any of this helps just one person move forward with switching, then i will be a happy man!!
Silver
