Best option for us?

[manderly]

Hi all, new to the forum. This is all for my BF, as I'm not a smoker.

He's smoked Marlboro Lights for probably about 15 years now, and I've been asking him to quit for years. With the new taxes added to cigarettes this week I can't justify him spending almost $9 on a pack of cigarettes when I am unemployed and we are struggling to make ends meet.

When we met he was at about a half a pack a day, and now he's smoking about a pack plus some every day. Too much stress keeps him from quitting.

I've been briefly looking into the e-cig thing for the last couple of years as a way to save money, keep him from stinking up the house and burning it down, and because I care about his health. Honestly though, the information is overwhelming.

I'm looking for a good place to start. We don't have the money to plunk down on a $100+ starter kit of some of these brands, so I was thinking about getting him the BE103 from bestecig.com and some of the "marlboro" eliquid. Is that a good place for him to start? Any other suggestions?

I was also wondering what nicotene level I should get him? How do I tell? He smokes lights if that tells you anything. How long would 1 bottle last him for a pack a day habit on average? What "extras" should we not live without?

Well, I'll go back to reading around the forums, it's been very helpful but it's a virtual ocean of information out there! Thank you for your help!!

 

[breakfastchef]

E-cigs are not a 'magic bullet' that will stop your BF from smoking. Nagging him will also add to his stress. He must have some inner desire to quit.

As to cost, you cannot get him into this new habit cheaply. Sure, you can throw $30 bucks at a device, but they tend to be somewhat unreliable, hence the need for spare parts. Pre-filled cartridges with nicotine fluid can get pretty expensive which is why most every vaper buys smoking juice for topping off and refilling of cartridges. Start-up cost can get high until you find a device/system that works well for him.

Your most cost-effective solution might be to convince him to visit a physician. Many smoking cessation programs may be covered by your medical insurance plan.

 

[wv2win]

I read this forum and looked at older forum threads for two weeks before I purchased my first electronic vaporizer.

My first electronic vaporizer was a blue DSE901 from Phil at e-Smokey Treats - Electronic Cigarette's, The healthy alternative to traditional tobacco cigarette's. Phil is a little more expensive than some suppliers but he provides a 3 month warranty instead of 14 days, gives you two atomizers instead of just one and provides a phone number where you can call him which most suppliers do not. Like all suppliers, the kit comes with two batteries and a charger. The battery will last about 2-3 hours before needing recharged although some users report getting 4-5 hours but that has not been my experience. His 901 starter kit is $69.95 where some other suppliers will sell them for $49.95 or $59.95 but without the extra’s that Phil provides. I would consider the DSE901 a good first purchase and it is about the size of a regular 100 cigarette.

Many users like the classic penstyle 801 model which has a larger atomizer and cart and a typical battery charge life of about 4-5 hours. The draw is lighter, more like a straw due to having 4 holes in the atomizer and the bigger cart. The 801 is larger and looks more like a big pen instead of regular cigarette. You can also purchase a USB pass-through for both the 901 and 801, which allows you to plug into a usb port on your computer and not have to worry about changing batteries. You can then purchase a portable battery pack for the usb pass-through such as this one from Kennsington (Kensington - Portable Power Pack for Select Mobile Devices - Black - K38021) and make your usb power portable. Make sure the power pack is at least 1000mAh power output.

Most users want an e-vap to provide the “throat hit” that is most like a real cigarette (analog as we call them) as well as long battery life. IMO, the only way to get that is to purchase a manual e-vape that allows you to push a button and heat up the atomizer more before you inhale. The one that does that the best is the screwdriver (SD) from trog at: - The ScrewDriver - An electronic cigarette that simply works. It is more expensive but it just can’t be beat for long battery life and throat hit. And my experience with trog has been outstanding. I have emailed him many times with questions and he almost always responds any where from 10 minutes to an hour or so.

IMO, the only way you will enjoy vaping is if you buy e-liquid or e-juice to refill your carts instead of use the prefilled cartridges that come with the starter kits. Plus it is way more cost effective. My favorite liquid to date is the riskee and cola flavors from Puresmoker: PureSmoker.com - Your #1 Source For PV's, Parts, & Accessories!. My recommendation is to get a little higher nicotine (nic) strength because you can always dilute it with USP glycerin that you can get at a drug store for $5 or $6. I use 24mg nic strength. The highest is 36mg and there is also 18, 11, 6 and 0. I also thought I would like the tobacco flavors the best, but in most cases, IMO, they don’t taste that similar to real tobacco. I do know that some forum members love e-smokey treats tobacco flavor, however.

Hope this helps and good luck.

PS: the smallest bottle of liquid is 10ml and usually costs $9.99. In general (everyone is different) he should get any where from 5-14 days out of that size bottle. And if you purchase from e-smokey treats, he usually does 10 cartridges instead of 5 which would give him another 5-10 days of vaping. In addition, he can wash out the fabric in the pre-filled cartridges and reuse them. The fabric is simply polyester batting which you can get enough for a year's worth for about $5 from Wal-Mart.

 

[manderly]

breakfastchef, I don't nag him about it, I understand that he's stressed and it has to be something he wants to do. It's just that within a day he went from spending $5 a pack to just shy of $9. When you don't have money to do anything with, it's ridiculous to me to spend around $270 per month on something he consumes by choice When I lost my job I cut a lot of the things that I enjoy doing as a matter of necessity. I am trying to be fair and not deprive him of something he enjoys and "needs", just trying to find a cheaper way of doing it

wv2win, thanks for the great advice, I will investigate your links. I would suspect the flavors would be on him to discover what he liked, as I planned to get this as a gift for him I just wanted to get him started with something he would be interested in pursuing. It's a crapshoot. He seems ambivalent about ecigs right now, but I think it's because he really doesn't think of them at all. I remember a few years back I got him ordering cigs from online (Russia I think) that he was pretty ambivalent about. He didn't like the first couple of packs, but then they grew on him and we ordered cartons a few more times. He said it was weird going back to local cigs after that. He's been talking about ordering online again

 

[Mike1218]

Hello im Mike i was a pack to a pack and a half a day also i started Jan and at this time im 1 month free of ral Cigs it is tough to say what E-Cig to start i have the Original DSE901 and i love it but i wil say it has touchy atomizers and you have to learn how to use them i guess it might be the same as all but i can't say that cause i personaly haven't used them all i have seen great reviews on the pen style most say they are great and have fewer problems and forgive my typing im a Appliance repairman and have no typing skills LOL But really i started with the 36 MG Juices and now am at 24 high and you have to remember this is not a real cig you smoke it like a cig but don't go over board take about 13 puffs and wait about an half hour before puffing again it does work i have had no withdraws myself at all i was so in awww but each will differ as i see in all the others i hope i helped im not a expert just a real person trying to help i wish the best take care Mike

 

[wv2win]

manderly, one thing he has to understand is that vaping is much more involved that simply buying a pack of analogs and lighting one up. But the health benefits and cost savings IMHO far out weigh the hassle of vaping. Many of us on here make our own liquid and exchange receipes. It's like a club. And you get to join this forum and meet nice people.

Good Luck

 

[manderly]

Mike, thank you for your input

wv2win, of course, thank you. I'm hoping that I can get him a starter, get him interested and excited, and that he will join up and get involved I just have to "hook" him first

 

[manderly]

Oops, can't edit......and if he doesn't like it or doesn't take an interest, I'm hoping not to lose a ton of money down the drain That's why I'm looking for budget ecigs, though I'm sure he'd like a higher-end one better, I'm not willing to chance that he wouldn't enjoy it.

 

[OldBiker]

Hi, and welcome. I'm pretty new to this myself, but I've been analog free for 2 weeks now. It's gonna cost you something in the $60 range to get started, the starter kits from some of the more popular vendors here are gonna be $45 to $50 for the DSE901, some are higher so shop around a bit. I also don't have experience with a lot of models but this is the one I got after a LOT of reading. A bottle of juice generally goes for around $10 for 10 ml. It's impossible to predict how long that will last, as everyone's different. I was smoking 2 to 3 packs of marlboro light 100s a day, and I vape less than 2ml a day. If he's smoking lights the 24 mg should be more than strong enough, btw the 24 mg means 24 mg of nicotine per 1 ml of liquid. If it's too strong you can do as previously mentioned and dilute it to any strength you need.

Good Luck, and Hope this helps!

 

[badmonkey]

Manderly,
I'd suggest that you ask your bf to prowl around on this forum and get him interested in e-cigs before you plop down money on them.

If he becomes interested in trying them, pm me and I'll share the least expensive suppliers I've found.

I don't mean to bash you or your intentions at all, but men are strange beasties, and we must treat them with care. Forcing them to look one way is a sure-fire way to get them to look the other way. Good luck to you, and bless your heart for trying to help your man.

 

[chainedangel]

Hey, Manderly-

You wouldn't by any chance be a long-hair would you?

Anyhow- If you're looking to purchase for your BF you'll need to know what he smokes, how much he smokes and what he gets out of smoking.

For me- As far as flavor-a cig is a cig is a cig. I smoke relatively lightly and seem to need the action of smoking more than the nicotine. So I'm going for a dse901 with some flavored e-liquid and extra cartridges. My husband is a heavier smoker than I so is going for low nicotine and if I find myself needing the nicotine I'll just snag a drop of his liquid. Also- I personally dislike the taste of analogs so am ordering my juice in flavors I actually might like. I figure that will make it more likely that I choose vaping over analog.

For Someone who enjoys the taste of analogs and smokes pack after pack after pack of Marlb reds and likes to see a big cloud of smoke after each drag- I would reccomend tobacco flavored juice (high-extra high strength) and a ScrewDriver from trog. But others may reccomend another setup.

Not sure I helped any. And I'm sorry if I confused you even more.

 

[MarcE]

Believe me once you get hooked on these things its fantastic, I know a few people who use e-cigs and its all we talk about!! smoking analogues is a really boring and is a complete addiction whilst vaping with an e-cigs turns into a hobby, you end up collecting bits and bobs to aid in maintaining them, there's a massive variety of flavours to choose from and most importantly you will feal so much more healthy!! its brilliant!! However you will always get the sceptics who won't believe in it. . . until they try it and see how great it is!!!

I started with a DSE901 back in august 08 and I've gone through roughly 13 atomizers, 4 battery's and countless amounts of e-liquid. The initial financial outlay is quite a lot but once you have everything and the skills to maintain the e-cig then it becomes very very cheap, I think I spend about £50 per month (I dunno what that is in dollars, $80 maybe?? some of is it unnecessary) so its certanly not cheap but its definatly cheaper then the analogues and the chewing gum that goes with it!!!

Good luck getting him *hooked*

 

[Mike1218]

just do the research and see whats best for you and i will say it does work take care

 

[manderly]

Thank you OldBiker

Badmonkey, that's a really good point, the only problem is he's never been a "forum" type of guy. I'm one of those weird people who do intensive research on anything I want online and spend countless days looking for the best product at the best price. He's not. LOL. I kinda doubt that if he did fall head over heels in love with vaping that he'd even bother to join and try new things. I will talk to him though

Chainedangel, why yes, I am Thanks for the input. Honestly everything is pretty confusing for me since I'm not a smoker, I don't really have a concept for it. Everything is based on assumptions.

MarcE, that's really cool and I hope to get him hooked on this stuff! LOL

 

[chainedangel]

Small world! So,Manderly... Y'think we should get all the longhair smokers over here?

 

[manderly]

Small world! So,Manderly... Y'think we should get all the longhair smokers over here?

LOL, I don't see why not. Nothing sexy about long hair that smells like smoke