Hi all 
Been lurking for many days and hours on this wonderful forum that is responsible for helping me create a wonderful new beginning for my health and future.
I have now been vaping for 6 weeks and have gone through an unpredictably HUGE set of challenges along the way but are surely but slowly getting resolved.
Before I give you a run-down of my pv experiences, I want to share a bit about my smoking past.
I started at age 12 when a buddy had this cigarette thing in his hand and asked me if I'd like to try it. Sure, why not? And after choking and sputtering as I took my very first drags, I remember having the incredulous thought - I will only do this on the weekends. Crazy, but perhaps my affinity for smoke ever since started with my mom's and my mom's mom's smoking ... who knows ... who cares at this point.
All I know is that I've ALWAYS loved the whole ritual of smoking - from packing the cigs against my palm to watching the smoke whirl and swirl into the sky. I've loved it all.
But of course ...
There's the other side to it. At 43, I am keenly aware of the damage done to my body as a result of smoking cigs (and other things) and have gone through nearly every possible effort to let them go once and for all.
Now, I DID have amazing success on my 22nd attempt to quit (had been through the patches, nic gum, hypnotherapy, laser acupuncture, and even some weird drug they shot in my arm which put me out for about three days but didn't work). I managed to be smoke-free for 8 long years!
So, what happened? Well, first let me say that the only thing different the one time I was successful was that besides having a clear, definitive mind-set that this was IT, I also went on a 9-day cleansing diet. All I know is that for the next 8 years I was completely and utterly repulsed by smoke. I'd get ...... at someone smoking while driving in a car in front of me. How dare they pollute my air!?!
Anyhoo ... those were 8 wonderful years that were the healthiest of my life ... so far. I ended up getting in shape, eating extremely healthy foods, and did numerous juice fasts - simply the HEALTHIEST thing I could ever do, in my experience. When the #1 energy expenditure is minimized (digestion), the #2 priority takes over - cleaning house! And boy, does it clean house. I never felt so clean, at peace, quiet, and still than in those times of cleansing. Enough on that for now.
So I was smoke free for 8 years. What happened, you ask?
One night a little more than 7 years ago, I was hanging out with a friend at a bar in Pasadena who had his pack of smokes on the table. Without even thinking about it, I picked up the pack, took out a smoke, and lit it up!
Yep ... that ONE smoke was enough to not only get me back into the habit, it also led me on a decadent path where I'd eat and smoke everything I could get my hands on! Too many years of deprivation in the name of health, I guess.
Let's just say the past 7 years have not been pretty, and my body has really gotten hit HARD from the abuse.
So, for the past few years, I've been slowly edging toward taking better care of myself by taking tiny little steps to creating change WITHOUT ME NOTICING IT. That has been the key approach for me at this stage - to create change as effortlessly as possible and without making a big deal out of it.
No longer do I 'workout' and 'exercise' but simply do things that I find FUN and let the exercise take care of itself. And instead of 'dieting' and deprivation (taking things AWAY from me), my life has now become about filling my life UP with many things that I enjoy. It's a totally different mindset that seems to be working for me.
So, when I started considering how I might let the smokes go without effort, I didn't know what I was looking for but found it HERE on the forum!
YES a more-or-less EFFORTLESS way to have smokes vanish without me trying to MAKE them vanish. The trick for me, whether with food or anything I want to moderate, is to remember that there is a hugely significant PARADOX involved with the mind - the more you try to NOT think of something, the more obsessed you actually become with it!
So .... on with my personal vaping experience:
Month 1:
I bought two No7 minis from PureSmoke, fried both, got them replaced, fried both of those too and found they were extremely difficult to inhale. So no go on that one ... I have to send all four back and they'll replace with their other original brand ... don't know what kind it is. And I noticed they're no longer offering the No7 ... hmmmm.
I had also bought two modified 901's from Dawn at DIYShack ... they were good for about a week but then I got that god-awful burnt taste ..... and I have been on a quest to get clean taste from my vp ever since!
I didn't realize it, but I think I was smoking it the wrong way for the first month. I thought the harshness that would sometimes make me cough and gag ( especially when vaping first thing in the morning) was normal.
Thank god I was wrong!!
I got enough perfect hits to know that at least it was possible to have a wonderful, smooth, velvety, rich, scrumdillyishiss flavorful experience ... only it was far and few between.
Month 2:
I then purchased the ultimate ultimate VaporKing Starter kit from V4L. Boy, was I excited to get my package with a few extra goodies included with the package. I toked on each vk I got and with all the different flavors and was surprised at how wonderful the flavor could be! Oh, I have finally found heaven!
Or so I thought ...
It went down hill very quickly. I got the god-awful cottony burnt taste mixed in with a bit of flavor which quickly dissipated into nothing but dry icky heat. And no matter what I did to refill the carts (watched all the videos of course), I couldn't get more than one or two nice hits.
This began my long and laborious journey of trying out the different mods mentioned here ... blue foam, face washing pad, etc.... And I could not get anything to work for the life of me! And this is after about 100 hours of fidgeting with every possible factor.
I am cursed! There's nothing else that could explain my bad luck. No matter what ... it just kept giving me burnt cotton. Cleaning the attys in every imaginable way produced slightly better results for a toke or two, but again, back to the ick.
So VaporKing .... nope, yet another failed one.
BUT THEN ....
I decided to try one more time. I bought the Titan 510 mega black w/ blue LED starter pack of 3. I got them in the mail, opened them up, tried vaping as carefully as possible, and yea, there it is again ... the burnt cotton. Ok, so I went right to the mod approach and finally FINALLY I have something happening:
The brass plug (one circle folded in half then trimmed and indented into the cart) has now worked 70% of the time with all three 510s
I have to tell you (and any frustrated newbies, pay attention here) the absolutely glorious luxuriant velvety smooth and rich taste that can happen when things are finely tuned is beyond description. What a royal TREAT it is to be able to savor the flavor as I slowly suck on my 510 with some RY 4, grape, tequila, or thin mint .
When the mix is just right, I find that there is NO lingering dry harshness left in the throat or stinging in the shnoz when exhaling. It's easy to inhale and has absolutely ZERO taste other than the juice. I am SUPER DUPER sensitized now to anything resembling burnt cotton ..... yuck 8-o
As far as I'm concerned, metal (brass) is truly the way to go for me ... super clean ... and total decadence as I fine-tune things. I've noticed that the slightest thing will effect the flow. Sometimes it's a bit tight so I have to occasionally tap on my palm to encourage the juice to wick, but at its finest, I don't need to do anything but take nice, mellow drags and enjoy.
I'm getting approx. 35 or so vapes per cart now. Not bad.
I will continue to tweak and plan on creating some type of prototype for duplicating the metal plug that maybe I can get to simply 'snap' into place on the edge of my cart to fit perfectly each and every time.
..........
So I started this little mind stream mentioning that I have put my body through massive abuse. I hope and pray that the changes I am EFFORTLESSLY making are soon and strong enough to save my life. Time will tell. I am truly concerned about my lungs, but one day at a time with this.
I have been smoking 40 cigs a day for the past 7 years (and for 16 years before quitting for 8).
Since vaping, I have found myself reducing my intake of cigs by 75% ! And for the past 2 weeks, I am now averaging 1-2 cigs a day. That is absolutely amazing, because I intentionally am NOT trying to 'quit' anything. Matter of fact, I have quit quitting! Quitting is not a good concept for me ... often gives me exact opposite result. I obsess and never am free from the things I 'deny' myself.
My lungs today are getting better. My taste and smell are returning ... AND I have indeed lost some weight (effortlessly!) while vaping ... it definitely takes care of my sweet tooth as well as my desire to smoke .. how wonderful and unexpected!
Ok, my mind stream is finished for now. I will continue to experiment as I slowly settle and relax into this new world of experience I now know as vaping.
Thanks all for your passion for this cutting-edge device that is surely on its way to saving lives ..... and providing a fun, rich, and gorgeous experience to enjoy.
Carl
Been lurking for many days and hours on this wonderful forum that is responsible for helping me create a wonderful new beginning for my health and future.
I have now been vaping for 6 weeks and have gone through an unpredictably HUGE set of challenges along the way but are surely but slowly getting resolved.
Before I give you a run-down of my pv experiences, I want to share a bit about my smoking past.
I started at age 12 when a buddy had this cigarette thing in his hand and asked me if I'd like to try it. Sure, why not? And after choking and sputtering as I took my very first drags, I remember having the incredulous thought - I will only do this on the weekends. Crazy, but perhaps my affinity for smoke ever since started with my mom's and my mom's mom's smoking ... who knows ... who cares at this point.
All I know is that I've ALWAYS loved the whole ritual of smoking - from packing the cigs against my palm to watching the smoke whirl and swirl into the sky. I've loved it all.
But of course ...
There's the other side to it. At 43, I am keenly aware of the damage done to my body as a result of smoking cigs (and other things) and have gone through nearly every possible effort to let them go once and for all.
Now, I DID have amazing success on my 22nd attempt to quit (had been through the patches, nic gum, hypnotherapy, laser acupuncture, and even some weird drug they shot in my arm which put me out for about three days but didn't work). I managed to be smoke-free for 8 long years!
So, what happened? Well, first let me say that the only thing different the one time I was successful was that besides having a clear, definitive mind-set that this was IT, I also went on a 9-day cleansing diet. All I know is that for the next 8 years I was completely and utterly repulsed by smoke. I'd get ...... at someone smoking while driving in a car in front of me. How dare they pollute my air!?!
Anyhoo ... those were 8 wonderful years that were the healthiest of my life ... so far. I ended up getting in shape, eating extremely healthy foods, and did numerous juice fasts - simply the HEALTHIEST thing I could ever do, in my experience. When the #1 energy expenditure is minimized (digestion), the #2 priority takes over - cleaning house! And boy, does it clean house. I never felt so clean, at peace, quiet, and still than in those times of cleansing. Enough on that for now.
So I was smoke free for 8 years. What happened, you ask?
One night a little more than 7 years ago, I was hanging out with a friend at a bar in Pasadena who had his pack of smokes on the table. Without even thinking about it, I picked up the pack, took out a smoke, and lit it up!
Yep ... that ONE smoke was enough to not only get me back into the habit, it also led me on a decadent path where I'd eat and smoke everything I could get my hands on! Too many years of deprivation in the name of health, I guess.
Let's just say the past 7 years have not been pretty, and my body has really gotten hit HARD from the abuse.
So, for the past few years, I've been slowly edging toward taking better care of myself by taking tiny little steps to creating change WITHOUT ME NOTICING IT. That has been the key approach for me at this stage - to create change as effortlessly as possible and without making a big deal out of it.
No longer do I 'workout' and 'exercise' but simply do things that I find FUN and let the exercise take care of itself. And instead of 'dieting' and deprivation (taking things AWAY from me), my life has now become about filling my life UP with many things that I enjoy. It's a totally different mindset that seems to be working for me.
So, when I started considering how I might let the smokes go without effort, I didn't know what I was looking for but found it HERE on the forum!
YES a more-or-less EFFORTLESS way to have smokes vanish without me trying to MAKE them vanish. The trick for me, whether with food or anything I want to moderate, is to remember that there is a hugely significant PARADOX involved with the mind - the more you try to NOT think of something, the more obsessed you actually become with it!
So .... on with my personal vaping experience:
Month 1:
I bought two No7 minis from PureSmoke, fried both, got them replaced, fried both of those too and found they were extremely difficult to inhale. So no go on that one ... I have to send all four back and they'll replace with their other original brand ... don't know what kind it is. And I noticed they're no longer offering the No7 ... hmmmm.
I had also bought two modified 901's from Dawn at DIYShack ... they were good for about a week but then I got that god-awful burnt taste ..... and I have been on a quest to get clean taste from my vp ever since!
I didn't realize it, but I think I was smoking it the wrong way for the first month. I thought the harshness that would sometimes make me cough and gag ( especially when vaping first thing in the morning) was normal.
Thank god I was wrong!!
I got enough perfect hits to know that at least it was possible to have a wonderful, smooth, velvety, rich, scrumdillyishiss flavorful experience
... only it was far and few between.Month 2:
I then purchased the ultimate ultimate VaporKing Starter kit from V4L. Boy, was I excited to get my package with a few extra goodies included with the package. I toked on each vk I got and with all the different flavors and was surprised at how wonderful the flavor could be! Oh, I have finally found heaven!
Or so I thought ...
It went down hill very quickly. I got the god-awful cottony burnt taste mixed in with a bit of flavor which quickly dissipated into nothing but dry icky heat. And no matter what I did to refill the carts (watched all the videos of course), I couldn't get more than one or two nice hits.
This began my long and laborious journey of trying out the different mods mentioned here ... blue foam, face washing pad, etc.... And I could not get anything to work for the life of me! And this is after about 100 hours of fidgeting with every possible factor.
I am cursed! There's nothing else that could explain my bad luck. No matter what ... it just kept giving me burnt cotton. Cleaning the attys in every imaginable way produced slightly better results for a toke or two, but again, back to the ick.
So VaporKing .... nope, yet another failed one.
BUT THEN ....
I decided to try one more time. I bought the Titan 510 mega black w/ blue LED starter pack of 3. I got them in the mail, opened them up, tried vaping as carefully as possible, and yea, there it is again ... the burnt cotton. Ok, so I went right to the mod approach and finally FINALLY I have something happening:
The brass plug (one circle folded in half then trimmed and indented into the cart) has now worked 70% of the time with all three 510s
I have to tell you (and any frustrated newbies, pay attention here) the absolutely glorious luxuriant velvety smooth and rich taste that can happen when things are finely tuned is beyond description. What a royal TREAT it is to be able to savor the flavor as I slowly suck on my 510 with some RY 4, grape, tequila, or thin mint .
When the mix is just right, I find that there is NO lingering dry harshness left in the throat or stinging in the shnoz when exhaling. It's easy to inhale and has absolutely ZERO taste other than the juice. I am SUPER DUPER sensitized now to anything resembling burnt cotton ..... yuck 8-o
As far as I'm concerned, metal (brass) is truly the way to go for me ... super clean ... and total decadence as I fine-tune things. I've noticed that the slightest thing will effect the flow. Sometimes it's a bit tight so I have to occasionally tap on my palm to encourage the juice to wick, but at its finest, I don't need to do anything but take nice, mellow drags and enjoy.
I'm getting approx. 35 or so vapes per cart now. Not bad.
I will continue to tweak and plan on creating some type of prototype for duplicating the metal plug that maybe I can get to simply 'snap' into place on the edge of my cart to fit perfectly each and every time.
..........
So I started this little mind stream mentioning that I have put my body through massive abuse. I hope and pray that the changes I am EFFORTLESSLY making are soon and strong enough to save my life. Time will tell. I am truly concerned about my lungs, but one day at a time with this.
I have been smoking 40 cigs a day for the past 7 years (and for 16 years before quitting for 8).
Since vaping, I have found myself reducing my intake of cigs by 75% ! And for the past 2 weeks, I am now averaging 1-2 cigs a day. That is absolutely amazing, because I intentionally am NOT trying to 'quit' anything. Matter of fact, I have quit quitting! Quitting is not a good concept for me ... often gives me exact opposite result. I obsess and never am free from the things I 'deny' myself.
My lungs today are getting better. My taste and smell are returning ... AND I have indeed lost some weight (effortlessly!) while vaping ... it definitely takes care of my sweet tooth as well as my desire to smoke .. how wonderful and unexpected!
Ok, my mind stream is finished for now. I will continue to experiment as I slowly settle and relax into this new world of experience I now know as vaping.
Thanks all for your passion for this cutting-edge device that is surely on its way to saving lives ..... and providing a fun, rich, and gorgeous experience to enjoy.
Carl
