A" tool to quit smoking" becomes a "hobby"... Your story...

[Rocketpunk]

My story is probably much like everyone else's. I was a smoker who wanted to quit. I had many reasons to quit. Health. Money. My girlfriend was a non-smoker. It became more intrusive than enjoyable. Well, anyway, I remember seeing "e-cigs" and stuff back around 2006. They were cig-a-likes. Then one day I saw my cousin with a box mod that looked like a grey bomb detonator with a huge red button in the middle. Back then, I had nothing else to compare it to, and I was like, "No freakin' way am I using that thing!" He was patient with me.

Then finally, one day, a dude showed up at work with an eGo. We had no idea what he was using. "Oh, it's an e-cig, only it lasts longer..." He had no idea the revolution he brought to our world. Within a month, almost all of the smokers had made the switch. Some have still stuck to it, others have given up. That was my old job, and I see them regularly in my new job when they stop in for vape gear.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but there was a point where I knew this was no longer a way for me to stop smoking real cigarettes. Where once I spent up to 4 hours playing WoW, I was now obsessing over vape videos on Youtube, and scouring website after website for different vendors, ogling their products and dreaming of owning a mod or sampling a new juice.

What started out as a way to quit smoking rapidly turned into a life-changing hobby. I'm sure that's almost the same story for the bulk of you. I'd like to hear your stories. Please share!

 

[Butters78]

Well it all started when my dad and mom met. My dad and mom were married to other people...

Ha I made it a hobby real quick, I already quit smoking with snus and was bored, a buddy on the snus forum sent me batts and it's all history.

(it's true about my parents by the way, I guess it's where I get my machismo)

 

[RoseB]

Life changing hobby indeed For five years I switched between smoking and dipping. Before that I smoked for fourteen years. Tried many of the regular quitting methods. Also, I tried some of the more desperate/strange techniques. Such as the fake cigarettes made out of yard waste. Several years ago I heard a commercial for e cigs on A.M. radio, and thought it was a load of b.s. Liked the idea, but forking out a hundred bucks to fake smoke? A couple family members had them back in '09. Last year I had to quit chewing. Every time I would go right back to smoking. By the end of the week I was back at a pack and a half a day. My sister in law had just picked up a blu. So I took a puff. It didn't taste bad. Came home and went online. Figured I would switch when I could buy a good setup. Then I saw the mistic display at walmart. Picked it up and a small pack of nicotine gum. That was a year ago. Now I own 4 eGos, 3 kr808s, 1 MVP, and 1 provari. At this point in time I have got to say: that fake smoking thing is rather nice

 

[bosun]

Long time trying to get off of cigs. Decided to try the 'e-cig'. Something for my hands to fiddle with, oral thing for the lips, 'smoke' for the lungs, nic for the addiction. Worked for me. Amazed and pleased!!! Just ordered a hundred bucks worth of supplies for DIY liquid making. A habit has turned into a hobby! Now I'm a PV'er"!

 

[Rice Noodle]

Smoked for 33 years, 2 packs a day. Never thought I could be tobacco free before I died. Picked up an e-cig 2 months ago. Through trial and error, managed to be smoke free for a while, but started smoking again.

I realized I needed an e-liquid that tasted better than my smokes (I loved the taste of my smokes). So I delved into DIY since the juice from various venders wasn't cutting it; more trial and error. I've lost track of the hours I've spent on this forum reading about nicotine, flavorings etc. Mixing, steeping, note taking takes up quite a bit of time too, yes it is now a hobby.

I spend my free time watching videos of big burly tattooed men wrapping little coils (teenage Daughter doesn't know what to make of her cupcake baking Mom). But she does know I no longer keep an ashtray by my desk and is grateful for that.

I had a cigarette 2 weeks ago, the urge to drive to the store for smokes is waning. This new hobby is definitely a good thing.

 

[Rocketpunk]

Awesome post, Rice Noodle, and welcome to the General Discussion forum! And by the looks of it, you seem to be a quick learner. I'm sure your daughter is exceedingly proud!

 

[tj99959]

I'm now 72 years old and I was a smoker that NEEDED to quit .... only problem was .... I didn't want to.
I smoked for 50+ years, so it isn't difficult to imagine what condition I was in a couple of years ago when I was introduced to e-cigs. Hell, I would be dead by now if I had continued to smoke. So I've already won by making the switch. Thanks to vaping I think I just might hang around for another decade or two.
Might be kinda fun to be a 92 year old contributor on ecf

 

[XeniaMike]

Yea, I just bought the Blu as a novelty thing to see if it really worked. One of those "more money than sense" moments. Loved it, but it didn't work too well, so I got a better cigalike. Then it really took off when I got my first carto tank and a real APV. Now it's a full fledges hobby. As soon as I hit Powerball I intend to make collecting juice and mods a full time activity.

 

[AgentAnia]

I tried a cigalike out of curiosity, with no intention of quitting smoking. Five days later I smoked my last cigarette and have been smoke free for 10 months.

The benefits of vaping I first noticed were: no stink, no tar stains, no ashtrays. Then it was: no coughing, no wheezing, whiter teeth.

My ecig supplies took up much less room then than the 1/3 drawer to store cartons of cigarettes, spare lighters, cigarette cases, etc.

Now, my ecig supplies occupy 2 1/2 drawers, another drawer in the bathroom, 1/2 of the medicine cabinet, and half a shelf in the freezer, lol!

I'm not a techie. My main joys now are DIYing juice, and collecting beautiful batteries and tanks. I have no doubt that eventually I'll be collecting beautiful mods, too! So I guess the DIYing is a hobby, but my devices are a collection...

 

[Rocketpunk]

A collection. I like that. I have a mobile tackle box that holds all my vape gear. I have so many batteries, it's embarrassing. But I've always said I'm from the Batman School of Vaping. Back-ups for back-ups. And I horde my gear like a dragon. Although I'm inclined to give it away on occasion.

 

[Zealous]

I was in the Midst of some major life changing issue that were....well, changing my life. It was getting really frustrating & I was quite aware that nearly everything that was part of the old me was gone & smoking was all that was left. And the fact was, I didn't want to quit smoking in the first place.

It was within a week of finally admitting that I did not WANT to quit smoking but only wanted to get rid of the nasty mess, smell, health issues, etc. that go with it that I ran across my first ecig. When I saw it I thought for sure it was just a "fake" cigarette & would somehow work like nicorette or something like that. I took a puff off it &(it wasn't a good puff btw) realized it was LIKE smoking but NOT smoking.

Being me I didn't buy the one I tried but instead went home & googled ecigs & did a little bit of research. I got 2 different types of kits and started trying things out. Then I found ECF(cuz how can you google ecigs & NOT find ECF) and learned about filling cartos & how to debridge an atty how to buy things from vendors that AREN'T part of a "kit"(a a whole bunch of other stuff that was WAY over my head). And then RBAs came along.

So then that transitioned into wanting to learn how to rebuild my first Vision tank heads(back when you still had to sort of use a pliers to remove the plastic tank from the threading ring, and I broke the last piece of my Volcano kit that I still had doing that lol). Then I moved on to building a collection of only tanks, attys etc. that I could rebuild.

Now I'm learning about mods & will probably spend way too much time & money experimenting with these to learn what I like & don't like.

Bottom line, there's so much to learn & discover with vaping that with the type of personality I have it was inevitable it would become a hobby.

 

[durianeliquidflavorplease]

The hobbyist aspect of vaping really appealed to me a lot (didn't think it would). I DIY my juice, use mechs and RBAs and as we know these things require experimenting, trial-and-error, and tinkering. I find all these very stimulating and relaxing. Such a nice thing to end a day building a nice microcoil and afterwards vaping on it with my homemade eliquid.