I felt the same way about pods until recently. FranC recommended the Justfog Minifit, so I decided to to try them out. Great for portable little throw in my pocket and go devices. The coil can be rebuilt on them according to some videos I watched, that is what decided me on it in the end. At home I stick to my mods, at work, or out it's the minifit.
I tried rebuilding the Minifit a few times, using 30 & 32 kanthal that I had on hand, and did not have good luck. I got very little vapor, compared to the stock pod coils.
I'm not sure where I got the info (may have been here on ECF) but Pre-Coiled Welded coils from Fasttech were recommended to work well. I tried one and it worked very well, so I ordered a few bags. They come 50 to a bag for $1.72. They're NR-R-NR. I think the legs were heating up before the coils were, in my kanthal attempts.
$1.72 Pre-Coiled Welded Wires - NR-R-NR (50-Pack) 50-pack - 33 AWG / 1.8ohm / 30*30mm at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping