A little discouraged...is vaping for me?

[Brewlady]

I smoked Marlboro Menthol Lights, but I started with 24mg, and now use mostly 18mg, occasionally 12mg. vaping takes more effort than smoking, it is extremely easy to buy a pack of cigarettes. It took me months to figure out what flavors worked for me, and I am still buying new mods, even though the ones I have work. When you stop smoking, your taste buds seem to go whacky, you'll go through times where you can taste absolutely nothing, no matter what flavor you vape. The first flavor that I absolutely loved was Tasty Vapor's atomic cinnacide, and there were days I couldn't even taste that! Once your taste buds settle down (which could take longer than you'd expect, like months), the times where you can't taste anything should diminish. It doesn't happen to me at all any more.

Find a local vape meet, and go! Vapers love to help noobies, going to a vape meet is the best way to sample flavors, and you can swap the flavors you don't like for something you do like.

Don't give up on flavors that you try as soon as you get them. When you order from a vendor who mixes their liquids to order, try it when you get it. If it isn't to your liking, put the bottle in a cool, dark place for a week and try it again. One of my favorite flavors needs almost a month to "age" to it's peek taste, so what doesn't work now might be great in a month. And as your taste buds recover from years of being assaulted by tobacco smoke, you'll notice nuances in flavors that you can't taste at all now. The flavors I loved 6 months into vaping aren't even in my tackle box any longer. There is nothing wrong with them, I've just found other flavors are more to my liking.

Please be careful about adding flavors to your liquid. Cinnamon oil should NOT be vaped. There are threads on ecf about what is safe to vape, do some research before you add an ingredient yourself.

vaping has a huge learning curve. It is worth the effort, but you will buy liquid you don't like, hardware that doesn't make you happy, and feel like you aren't saving anything, but spending even more! That does improve over time. When you wake up and know your favorite flavor is in your favorite device with a fully charged battery, and you know that cigarettes are no longer a part of your life, it is well worth the effort.

Cheers!!

 

[propagandax]

Up the nic, I needed 24 mg to be satisfied and i smoked same as you. Lower nic means more puffs needed to get same nicotine. Think of it like wine versus beer, how much do want to drink to get your buzz.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

[Trucapri]

To get the full benefit of flavor and nic, practice your vaping style to include your nose. Yes, your nose senses flavor, aroma, and absorbs the nic much better than the lungs. If you inhale and then exhale through your nose, you'll get more sensation.

French inhale will do even better, but I'm one of many that just can't get the hang of it.

Best wishes!! And don't get too discouraged. Vaping is NOT smoking. It can be soooo much better!!

 

[jdrewry]

To the OP...

Congrats on wanting to make the switch.
You want to give e-cigs an honest shot--a lot of what is being suggested is good advice. As long as you're happy with the hardware (meaning, as long as you have no issues with your kit), the next step is to find that eliquid with the right nicotine level.
I wouldn't worry too much about your taste at this point--your taste buds, after smoking analogs, have been altered, and will undergo a change after you've been vaping for a few weeks. In other words, that eliquid that tastes kind of, "meh" right now, might be really excellent for you a few weeks from now. 24mg sounds like a good starting point for you, as far as the nicotine level. You can adjust up or down from there.
Save yourself a few bucks, and make sure you order the small sample sized bottles until you find the nic level that works for you.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!

 

[SuperLuckyLady]

I have to agree with all the above, and would like to echo the advice about different juices. I started with Backwoods Brew. He has some very strong flavors, very satisfying to me as a smoker. 555 was my favorite - went through about 100ml of that stuff. Now, 6 months in, I can't do it - makes me choke.

Before you spend a bunch of money on different equipment, i would go to BB and try a bunch of samples. IMHO.

 

[swedishfish]

This is from the ECF tutorial-

Beginner Tutorial - 2


What nicotine strength do I need ?

Beginners who are reasonably heavy smokers probably need the strongest liquid they can get, for two reasons:

E-cigarettes are far less efficient in delivering nicotine to the user than tobacco cigarettes, so to make up for this you may need to go strong at first. It's very easy indeed to reduce the liquid's strength with a little DIY - but hard to increase it.

Beginners have poor technique so the end result is not optimal - they don't get the full benefit of the nicotine content.

For these reasons, it is probable that, if you are a heavy or medium smoker, or prefer high-tar brands, you should order a bottle of 36mg liquid (or 30mg if that is what your vendor offers) in addition to whatever comes as standard. You can easily reduce the strength if you need to, by adding some VG (glycerine), available at every pharmacy and many general stores.

However, it is difficult - perhaps impossible - to provide a nicotine strength or liquid volume equivalency between cigarettes and electronic cigarettes, because the nicotine is absorbed less efficiently from e-cigarette vapor than from cigarette smoke, and because there appears to be a variance between the tolerance to nicotine in cigarette smoke and that in vapor (as there is no correlation between the amount people smoked and the e-liquid strength they end up using).

I would try higher nicotine, bigger battery model so you can use low resistance cartomizers, (warmer vape) or look into the 5v box mod someone suggested.

 

[dearme]

You could also try the easy simple approach.........Drink more water. New vapers get dehydrated quickly. Drink more water than you think you need, then drink some more. Water will help flush the cigarette toxins out of your system and improve the taste of your flavors.

 

[hulsey76]

There seems to be a light learning curve, more for some - less for others. I started out with menthol flavors, since that's what I smoked, and got 36mg which was the highest concentrate I could find. Some would gasp at a noob starting with 36mg, but I was a 2-2.5 pack a day puff-dragon. I'll admit the flavor isn't as "full" as with an analog, but it satisfied my craving, and after 3 days with no analogs I walked past someone smoking and almost gagged when I smelled the smoke. I was shocked, and oh so happy. I have no desire to ever light up again. Good luck. Find some good juice, maybe consider stronger nic levels, and also consider using tank atty's and carts. The juice feeds directly onto the atty coil. It's like dripping, but automatic!

 

[mattiem]

Unless you were a light smoker you might be better off using 18-24mg nic to start off..I started at 36mg it was too high and then I used 24mg for awhile and it really got rid of the cravings..I was a more than a pack a day smoker..more nic will get you more throat hit also...

+1 to what he said.

 

[muzichead]

To the OP,

I am nearing 1 year now and have tried quite different things since i quit analogs and basically have come to the conclusion that it was just me and I just don't like carto's at all. They too gave a very muted taste to any and all juices I vaped and got very discouraged. That was until I finally made the switch to dripping with an atty. My juice flavors jumped through the roof. I was a 2 pack a day menthol smoker and it took me over 6 months to find a menthol that was satisfying to me. I found it in DeKang menthol juice. There are several vendors here on ECF that carry it and some that aren't. My suggestion to you would be to try an eGo type device and either a 510 or 306 low resistance atty and drip your juice. You will see the juice comes to life. I was even able to find out that a couple of juices I thought I kinda liked, I didn't after dripping them with an LR atty. Just stay with it and give a few things a try. I know I have spent quite a bit of money during my trial and error period, (and so have others), but nothing compared to what I would have paid for analogs.... I spend a lot of time on the ECF and just taking in what other peoples experiences have been and kinda make my decisions based on that, but keep in mind those are "their" experiences and yours could be quite different. That is why I call it the trial and error period.... Congrats on giving up analogs and I wish you luck in your journey for the perfect vape.....

 

[ruet]

Since you're using 808 equipment I'd recommend some of Vapor4life's pre-filled cartos for testing purposes. Their coffee flavors pack a nice punch. Their Wowboy tobacco flavor is one of my daily vapes. They are available in 36mg too. If you can't taste them then I don't know what to suggest. Another thing is the volt cartomizers. I bought a pack once and thought they were a little airy and produced slightly muted flavor. Try some 808 cartos from different manufacturers. ... especially Boge.

Vapor4Life

 

[brandontrjn]

I have had a similar experience. The flavor is there, but not what I was hoping for. Also I miss the smell of a cigarette burning. I also miss the rich tobacco flavor.

Also when I first started to vape it felt a bit clinical. I did not feel this connection I usually do with smoking. It seems like in the beginning you need to push through. These feelings come and go. At the moment I am really craving an analog. I have been for 2 days. I am not going to give in.

Lastly it seems after a few weeks the flavor is more noticeable when I vape. I think it has something to do with your taste buds healing.

This is a great description. It felt more like a "nicotine delivery system" to me when I started, but it was great to stop the smoking urge. After about a month everything started to taste stronger as the ole taste buds came back.

Keep at it and you'll be happy in no time!

 

[wh01sjongalt]

24mg got me off analogs and I still vape it today. Any thing less and I cant stop chain vaping or wanting something else

 

[propagandax]

24mg got me off analogs and I still vape it today. Any thing less and I cant stop chain vaping or wanting something else

I think I am the same way unfortunately I recently dropped $100 worth of 18 juice. I started with 24 and wanted to drop but now I am having remorse

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[Angi2299]

The tastebuds take a little time to rebound.
Aside from menthol, I'm yet to find a prefilled carto that I truly enjoy (I rarely smoked menthol analogs btw) but when your taste improves, you'll start to notice the flavour of juices more.

I can sympathize with you about it not feeling quite right, and there's always things that you'll miss (I too miss the smell of a freshly lit cigarette) but the more you stick with it, the more you'll start to notice yourself enjoying vaping and seeking out new experiences through new hardware, different style cartos and tasty juices.

Some juice vendors that make juice themselves can make the flavour stronger for you if you prefer. I think tastyvapor is one.

So yeah, stick at it, at first it feels like work but it gets to be so much better after a short time. You're not the only one to have thought this at first.

Ambition is correct it maytake some time for your taste buds to rebound. At two weeks completely analog free I finally started to taste the flavors. You can also order some juices with extra or double flavor and that may help. It takes everyone some time to findhardware and juices that will work for them. Now, at a month+ analog free I can taste and smell everything and it is getting better everyday.

Stick with it and use ECF to your full advantage. The people here are awesome and it seems there is always someone around to answer questions or be there with words of support or encouragement.

 

[ReleaseXtheXKraken]

Thanks for all the input and advice everybody...I have to admit though I did break down and buy a pack today. Not giving up on the ecig but this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. I saw an ego kit for $29.99 on TheEcig.com that I'm thinking about picking up, maybe the bigger batt will work better for me? I do need to get more flavors to try and more cartos. Any 808 carto will work fine on an 808 battery regardless of the site that it came from correct? I saw a 20 pack of blanks for $27.50 on Don't Touch My .... (I was going to get their M602 Ecig that they offered awhile back but they have switched over to the 808) I'm seriously considering uping the nic to 18% because I really don't feel the nicotene when using an e-cig...if anything I get a headache I'm guessing from how perfume like the juices are or I'm just bypassing the buzz and going straight to headache. However, strong throat hit does not appel to me...mild throat hit is ok, I like that its there, I just don't want to feel like I'm well using illicit substances and paraphanalia if you catch my meaning.

 

[VapourMonkey]

Thanks for all the input and advice everybody...I have to admit though I did break down and buy a pack today. Not giving up on the ecig but this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought.

Don't beat yourself up over it, it can take time to get your nic levels right from your e-cig and many of us have fallen off the wagon so to speak from time to time and smoked a normal cigarette. It can sometimes be helpful, it reminds you just how disgusting they taste

 

[willowize]

Thanks for all the input and advice everybody...I have to admit though I did break down and buy a pack today. Not giving up on the ecig but this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought.

Hi RXXK, One thing to remember is that you have the power to become analog free. Don't give up and I agree with Vapour Monkey's statement.
I would like to suggest that you go with a tank system. You mention'd the ego. The ego was the third step in vaping for me. I started off with the DSE901 then I bought a 5v mod off of the classies. I tried atty's, modded them with different fill materials, then started dripping. I tried carto's and I discovered that I liked the flavors better from dripping on an atty but did not like carrying around a bottle of juice and dripping in plubic. Tring to drive and drip is just plain stupid. Then the Ego-T came along. I have to say that the Ego product did for me what I was missing, the flavor of dripping and convenience of not dripping from a bottle in public. I don't know the price range you are looking at but here are a few that are having good reviews lately. Imist, Janty Neo, EgoC. Also check out SuperT has a nice EgoT kit at a resonable price.
Nic level is important too. Everyone so far has suggested that you try higher, and I agree but since you are not wanting heavy TH let me suggest that you get a small bottle of 18mg and 24mg. See what you like better. I'm not big on TH either so I started with 18mg 70pg/30vg ratio juices and that was my sweet spot. I am now down to 6mg and sometimes even 0mg.
Hope this helps and I know you can do it, hang in there.

 

[Viper65]

We switched from carto's to tanks and lemme tell you the difference it makes..........everything!!!!!

 

[PaporPlas]

Thanks for all the input and advice everybody...I have to admit though I did break down and buy a pack today. Not giving up on the ecig but this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. I saw an ego kit for $29.99 on TheEcig.com that I'm thinking about picking up, maybe the bigger batt will work better for me? I do need to get more flavors to try and more cartos. Any 808 carto will work fine on an 808 battery regardless of the site that it came from correct? I saw a 20 pack of blanks for $27.50 on Don't Touch My .... (I was going to get their M602 Ecig that they offered awhile back but they have switched over to the 808) I'm seriously considering uping the nic to 18% because I really don't feel the nicotene when using an e-cig...if anything I get a headache I'm guessing from how perfume like the juices are or I'm just bypassing the buzz and going straight to headache. However, strong throat hit does not appel to me...mild throat hit is ok, I like that its there, I just don't want to feel like I'm well using illicit substances and paraphanalia if you catch my meaning.

Yo Kraken, Cool handle there yep...lol.

Anyway, a couple of things. First and most important 18% nic would be 180mg! So, you want to talk "mg" of nicotine 1% = 10mg. Thus one point eight percent is 18mg. : )

Next, CONGRATULATIONS for finding vaping, you will not regret it. The extra work is soooo worth it. I have read hundreds, maybe thousands of posts on here and other sites, and one thing I am convinced of is that each Vaper has their own unique journey into both finding Vaping and making it work for them. Don't become discouraged if yours is "different" it will be. Over time, this will actually become part of what makes vaping work for you and gives it a bit of excitement, as well. Seriously, the "one cig fits all" is so 1800's!

Get yourself a nice eGo type of PV to try and see if that helps. If no,t then a Variable Volt MOD. Bottom line is that each eJuice vapes best at its own volt level, and each Vaper has different tastes as to what's "best" for that particular eJuice. For some, the smaller "cigarette looking" PV's actually vape their eJuice exactly where they like it, for others that volt level is too low for their eJuice to taste "good".

I hear you when you say you don't want to look like you are using some illicit substance, but smoking death sticks is about as "illicit" as it gets - in my book. Search the internet and you will find something that looks like what you'd be comfortable with and delivers the punch you need. I use CE2 Clearomizers and they make my vaping experience actually better than what I got from smoking, not just a replacement or alternative to cigs, BETTER. : > Yet, the clear little cartos do look like I'm using some liquid Opie-uhm or such. So, I am on a search for what I can get to replace them and look a little less strange. : /

Hang in there with vaping and you will have yourself a great experience. : ))