I have to say, this will probably be a long post. In part, most of the veterans have travelled this road, or heard similar stories. Addiction is still addiction no matter how you term it, as of now I have kicked 2 of the hardest in my life, the hardest being being cigarettes just recently, the other a far more insidious "substance" and far more destructive in the short term. Both were quite hard to kick, but the later far more easier than the first, and during my kicking the later addiction, support groups, and support of those closest to us are some of the key most corner stones to a road away from any addiction.
Though I have just recently registered here, and began posting, this forum has been one of those corner stones in my road away from tobacco, with its wealth of information, the community within them, and all of the resources it is linked to, so to those veterans with all the tidbits of helpful advice and tricks, to those that put these forums together, support organizations, and the community as a whole, a very grateful and large thank you to this supportive community. To those reading this as well as other similar starts to being tobacco free, take the time to study the reviews, tidbits of advice present if you look for it well enough, tips and tricks, as well as the benefits and longer life making your first steps into this quite excellent alternative avenue to get there. I have tried almost every possible way out there, patches, gums, lozenges, hypnotism, and medications to achieve my independence from tobacco before the electronic cigarette came into being, last 2 to 2 1/2 years experimenting with different over the counter models until now. 2 pack a day at first decreased to 1 pack to 1 1/2 packs out and about or at work where I smoked the most, crutching on ciga-likes at home.
Once I stepped up to a generic 510 cig-alike kit almost 6 months ago, I was down to 1/2 a pack on high stressed days, gradually down to my last week ever touching an analog cigarette 2 weeks ago, my last week down to 1 cig a day, in the last 6 months of using blank cartomizers and filling with my own choice of strength and flavor, I began seeing the top of the whole analogs had pulled me into. Main points I hope to portray to those wanting to get away from analogs is 1 it can be done, and though I have spent more than what I wished to getting to this point, hopefully it can help those still lurking and wondering where to start at the cheapest. I have gotten to 3 main units I use for various situations, maybe settling on 1 yourself initially will help you get started. First the 510 cig-alike, I have 3 manual batteries with this kit, main advantages to me personally, one battery charging while I use the others when home, easy to stash, easy to use, easy to refill the cartomizers and tanks, if need a couple of puffs or have a different flavor setup on it done, $45-55 US for 3 batts, some cartomizers, and some liquid, easy to carry around as well. Second kit that I use more often or the most the past month to month and a half are my Joye Ego T pass-throughs, 1000mah, can have one charging while at work and carry the second with me, with several Kanger T3's, cost me about $100 US all together, but the better battery life, and capacity of the Kangers can last me a whole stressful day at work, with the 510s for emergencies. My third unit is an SBL Ego-V V2 I just got this week with a Kanger ProTank, USB pass through like my Joye Egos, this one sits at home and lasts me the rest of the day for 2 days before needing a battery top off, got it because the ProTank really wasn't performing on the Joye passthroughs, $35 US for the V V2, $25 for the ProTank, another $13 for some spare coils. Don't chase the fabled best Tobacco flavor out there, I made this mistake like many, and don't settle on just 1 flavor, look into 2,3, maybe 4 you believe you can like when it comes to liquids. I have since settled on 3 main All Day Vapes, and only 1 in the "Tobacco" flavor category I get from a local B&M retailer, a decent RY4 variant, seems I like the sweeter end of this genre with more Vanilla tone than the rest, Vanilla, and Bannana of all the flavors that I could have imagined I get used to without gagging or getting sick, all in the 18mg of Nic level. I also have 2 change up flavors, Caramel and Pina Colada at 18mg, would have thought 24mg or 36mg I was an avid Marb Red and RYO smoker at the last, but I only have 1 flavor in this Nic level, Strawberry at 24mg, I use as a change up flavor, but mostly have on hand for after eating, before going to bed, and first thing when I wake up. Just getting started, remember your taste is all messed up due to the chemical bath your taste buds get all day long from a cancer stick, menthol fans look into the minty and minty-mixes, you got an easier time than the non-menthol user in the transition, non-menthol users, don't be discouraged, try a minty fruit mix as well, but you, from my experience, will get going better looking at the Chocolates, Caramels, Vanillas, Coffees, or creamy liquids out there. Surprisingly due to the fact some tobacco companies use chocolate, caramel, or vanilla during some curing soaking processes to promote more nicotine out of the tobacco leaf before going into other curing processes, ever have a sweet tasting cig from a winter made batch, here is the reason, the sugar promoting more nic like alchohol fermentation. Don't quote me on that but I read it somewhere years ago, and it made sense to me at the time. Second liquid you should have on hand, a fruity or dessert type flavor to keep your stunned taste buds interested from time to time, or when one of the others above don't keep you satisfied all day or after a couple days, then go back to your ADV, next a dessert or treat flavor in the strongest Nic level you can handle for after eating, getting up after sleep, high stress moments, or like me before you go to sleep. This was just my formula to get started on my path to independence from tobacco, hopefully your own variant of it will help you, for since I moved to the tank "AKA Clearomizer Tanks" and larger a bit more powerful batteries almost 2 months ago was a major tangent or perpendicular junction in my path, for I could control the nicotine level I need as well as use a flavor I would not have expected to counter or appease what my taste thought it would need to get away from real tobacco cigarettes and the taste of them. The e-cig and vaping IMO is a very good alternative to the real thing to get away from the real thing due to it simulates everything a smoker's addiction entails, draw, inhalation, nicotine absorption, hand to mouth as well as holding something in your hand routine/habit, and thus why I believe it can be a successful alternative to the most ardent and stubborn smokers out there to get them away from the real thing.
Suggestions to look at, is to remember, not just 1 PV unit type might work for you, as was my case, nor is just one liquid flavor going to be it either, we are human after all, we get bored of things eventually, who wants to eat the same meal day in day out you have to ask yourself, vaping is quite similar in that regard =). Considerations on a PV unit or units to get started with, portability/lenght of life/cost of parts/ease of use/cost to maintain/interchangeability/standardization. Liquids, as I stated above, don't expect to find the bullseye "Tobacco" flavor out there to get started, for it does not exist, instead, go for something completely opposite of what you believed would satisfy your "Craving" for flavor would be, a good Marlboro, Camel, or such flavor, you have to trick your mind into something else, the main point of quitting smoking real cigarettes, is to get away from most if not everything eventually if you like, so why not change the flavor as well and spice it up, after all there is a world of interesting flavors out there, and as stated above you will most likely change your All Day Vape flavor regularly, does not mean you won't eventually come back to your starting flavor from time to time. One side affect of vaping, cotton mouth, this has a nice little benefit, as with most addictions, water is by definition to us the element of life, but it is also the element of cleansing, though you will be drinking every few vapes to wet your whistle, while your body adjusts, heals, purges the remnants of toxins from the tobacco you used to use, up your daily average water intake another half to full gallon a day the first month or couple of months, especially now at time of this post we are getting into the warmer seasons of the year in the upper hemi-sphere of the globe, the extra hydration gives your body that much an easier time to heal and "Cleanse" itself.
Good luck, good future health, good fortune, and hopefully a good more years being added to your life making your choice to quit smoking.
Modifying a quote from the Torch of the Fantastic Four, "VAPE ON" =)
Several deeper appreciative thanks go out to these people for their advice and/or information to help my direction on this new path:
pbusardo
Dimitris (VapinGreek)
GrimmGreen
all 3 of their YouTube video reviews and/or informative videos are a wealth of information for everyone, others are also out there.
2x pack a day ex-smoker now full time jubilant and relieved vaper signing off for now.
Though I have just recently registered here, and began posting, this forum has been one of those corner stones in my road away from tobacco, with its wealth of information, the community within them, and all of the resources it is linked to, so to those veterans with all the tidbits of helpful advice and tricks, to those that put these forums together, support organizations, and the community as a whole, a very grateful and large thank you to this supportive community. To those reading this as well as other similar starts to being tobacco free, take the time to study the reviews, tidbits of advice present if you look for it well enough, tips and tricks, as well as the benefits and longer life making your first steps into this quite excellent alternative avenue to get there. I have tried almost every possible way out there, patches, gums, lozenges, hypnotism, and medications to achieve my independence from tobacco before the electronic cigarette came into being, last 2 to 2 1/2 years experimenting with different over the counter models until now. 2 pack a day at first decreased to 1 pack to 1 1/2 packs out and about or at work where I smoked the most, crutching on ciga-likes at home.
Once I stepped up to a generic 510 cig-alike kit almost 6 months ago, I was down to 1/2 a pack on high stressed days, gradually down to my last week ever touching an analog cigarette 2 weeks ago, my last week down to 1 cig a day, in the last 6 months of using blank cartomizers and filling with my own choice of strength and flavor, I began seeing the top of the whole analogs had pulled me into. Main points I hope to portray to those wanting to get away from analogs is 1 it can be done, and though I have spent more than what I wished to getting to this point, hopefully it can help those still lurking and wondering where to start at the cheapest. I have gotten to 3 main units I use for various situations, maybe settling on 1 yourself initially will help you get started. First the 510 cig-alike, I have 3 manual batteries with this kit, main advantages to me personally, one battery charging while I use the others when home, easy to stash, easy to use, easy to refill the cartomizers and tanks, if need a couple of puffs or have a different flavor setup on it done, $45-55 US for 3 batts, some cartomizers, and some liquid, easy to carry around as well. Second kit that I use more often or the most the past month to month and a half are my Joye Ego T pass-throughs, 1000mah, can have one charging while at work and carry the second with me, with several Kanger T3's, cost me about $100 US all together, but the better battery life, and capacity of the Kangers can last me a whole stressful day at work, with the 510s for emergencies. My third unit is an SBL Ego-V V2 I just got this week with a Kanger ProTank, USB pass through like my Joye Egos, this one sits at home and lasts me the rest of the day for 2 days before needing a battery top off, got it because the ProTank really wasn't performing on the Joye passthroughs, $35 US for the V V2, $25 for the ProTank, another $13 for some spare coils. Don't chase the fabled best Tobacco flavor out there, I made this mistake like many, and don't settle on just 1 flavor, look into 2,3, maybe 4 you believe you can like when it comes to liquids. I have since settled on 3 main All Day Vapes, and only 1 in the "Tobacco" flavor category I get from a local B&M retailer, a decent RY4 variant, seems I like the sweeter end of this genre with more Vanilla tone than the rest, Vanilla, and Bannana of all the flavors that I could have imagined I get used to without gagging or getting sick, all in the 18mg of Nic level. I also have 2 change up flavors, Caramel and Pina Colada at 18mg, would have thought 24mg or 36mg I was an avid Marb Red and RYO smoker at the last, but I only have 1 flavor in this Nic level, Strawberry at 24mg, I use as a change up flavor, but mostly have on hand for after eating, before going to bed, and first thing when I wake up. Just getting started, remember your taste is all messed up due to the chemical bath your taste buds get all day long from a cancer stick, menthol fans look into the minty and minty-mixes, you got an easier time than the non-menthol user in the transition, non-menthol users, don't be discouraged, try a minty fruit mix as well, but you, from my experience, will get going better looking at the Chocolates, Caramels, Vanillas, Coffees, or creamy liquids out there. Surprisingly due to the fact some tobacco companies use chocolate, caramel, or vanilla during some curing soaking processes to promote more nicotine out of the tobacco leaf before going into other curing processes, ever have a sweet tasting cig from a winter made batch, here is the reason, the sugar promoting more nic like alchohol fermentation. Don't quote me on that but I read it somewhere years ago, and it made sense to me at the time. Second liquid you should have on hand, a fruity or dessert type flavor to keep your stunned taste buds interested from time to time, or when one of the others above don't keep you satisfied all day or after a couple days, then go back to your ADV, next a dessert or treat flavor in the strongest Nic level you can handle for after eating, getting up after sleep, high stress moments, or like me before you go to sleep. This was just my formula to get started on my path to independence from tobacco, hopefully your own variant of it will help you, for since I moved to the tank "AKA Clearomizer Tanks" and larger a bit more powerful batteries almost 2 months ago was a major tangent or perpendicular junction in my path, for I could control the nicotine level I need as well as use a flavor I would not have expected to counter or appease what my taste thought it would need to get away from real tobacco cigarettes and the taste of them. The e-cig and vaping IMO is a very good alternative to the real thing to get away from the real thing due to it simulates everything a smoker's addiction entails, draw, inhalation, nicotine absorption, hand to mouth as well as holding something in your hand routine/habit, and thus why I believe it can be a successful alternative to the most ardent and stubborn smokers out there to get them away from the real thing.
Suggestions to look at, is to remember, not just 1 PV unit type might work for you, as was my case, nor is just one liquid flavor going to be it either, we are human after all, we get bored of things eventually, who wants to eat the same meal day in day out you have to ask yourself, vaping is quite similar in that regard =). Considerations on a PV unit or units to get started with, portability/lenght of life/cost of parts/ease of use/cost to maintain/interchangeability/standardization. Liquids, as I stated above, don't expect to find the bullseye "Tobacco" flavor out there to get started, for it does not exist, instead, go for something completely opposite of what you believed would satisfy your "Craving" for flavor would be, a good Marlboro, Camel, or such flavor, you have to trick your mind into something else, the main point of quitting smoking real cigarettes, is to get away from most if not everything eventually if you like, so why not change the flavor as well and spice it up, after all there is a world of interesting flavors out there, and as stated above you will most likely change your All Day Vape flavor regularly, does not mean you won't eventually come back to your starting flavor from time to time. One side affect of vaping, cotton mouth, this has a nice little benefit, as with most addictions, water is by definition to us the element of life, but it is also the element of cleansing, though you will be drinking every few vapes to wet your whistle, while your body adjusts, heals, purges the remnants of toxins from the tobacco you used to use, up your daily average water intake another half to full gallon a day the first month or couple of months, especially now at time of this post we are getting into the warmer seasons of the year in the upper hemi-sphere of the globe, the extra hydration gives your body that much an easier time to heal and "Cleanse" itself.
Good luck, good future health, good fortune, and hopefully a good more years being added to your life making your choice to quit smoking.
Modifying a quote from the Torch of the Fantastic Four, "VAPE ON" =)
Several deeper appreciative thanks go out to these people for their advice and/or information to help my direction on this new path:
pbusardo
Dimitris (VapinGreek)
GrimmGreen
all 3 of their YouTube video reviews and/or informative videos are a wealth of information for everyone, others are also out there.
2x pack a day ex-smoker now full time jubilant and relieved vaper signing off for now.
Brilliant 1st post! I used to compare my smoking Camels to eating chocolate. I think it a great flavor to start with and it hit the back of my throat similar to cigarettes. 
