Border Stories

[FunkyVapes]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to expand my juice collection and really want to try and order some from the US. I know that customs can take shipments of juice and confiscate them, but has anyone had any luck with any US vendors? The flavors on this side of the border seem to be very blah, overpriced, or without nicotine.

It would help if you could include your province and where you purchased your juice from.

Inspire me please

 

[rachelcoffe]

Have you considered DIY, Seaweedshark? I can help to show you how simple, easy & affordable it is, vs. premixed...and how it offers much more in the way of creating juices that are perfectly attuned to your tastes & desires.

Just a thought. If you're interested...just send me a PM, ok? I'm sure in the meantime that Dusty_D & a few others will have some good recommendations re: premixed US suppliers...so yay!

Happy vaping!

 

[FunkyVapes]

Awesome!

Thanks so much, I am actually watching tons of DIY YouTube videos right now, trying to learn the basics and find suppliers. I would love a PM with some tips and tricks, especially reliable suppliers.

I understand some people might not be too comfortable posting in this thread for fear of "outing" dedicated US-Canada Suppliers, so people can PM me if they want.

 

[Kams Cats]

Rachel would you mind if I sent you a PM too about DIY? The other have is itching to try and make his own.

 

[Not Iris]

Can not wait to get into DYI. Waiting for CP to get back to work so that I can play.

 

[rachelcoffe]

Rachel would you mind if I sent you a PM too about DIY? The other have is itching to try and make his own.

No problem hon!

 

[FunkyVapes]

Rachelcoffe is amazing

 

[AllYourBase]

Here's what I've learned about DIY in the last several months:

If you buy flavorings from Perfumer's Apprentice, make sure you pick up the 1 ounce bottles. You get literally 10x more flavoring for just a couple more dollars. When you include the cost of shipping a bunch of packages with 3ml bottles to inevitably replace your quickly used 3ml bottles, the savings are impossible to ignore. Especially if you decide to get deep into DIY.

Also, don't get fooled into picking up the expensive unflavored DIY nicotine juice (or flavorings) from Canadian suppliers. Get some stronger juice (100mg or less) from the USA and cut it down with pure PG or VG. If you buy your unflavored DIY nicotine juice from Canadian suppliers, you'll literally be throwing away hundreds of dollars every year.

Finally, don't measure in 'Drops' when mixing your flavors. Do yourself a favor and get some eyedroppers or pipettes with graduation marks on them so you know exactly how much of everything you are using. Different bottles have different sized holes in the tops, not to mention PG and VG have a different viscosity, so your mixes can get way out of whack really quickly.

 

[dopeh]

/deepsigh@drama

Everything is cheaper in the US.

 

[FunkyVapes]

I'm actually rather comfortable working with 100mg juice, I've got an amateur lab in my garage and more than enough proper safety gear. My main concern was how to get the flavours to come out from the concentrated bases, and find the best possible price, and RachelCoffe was very helpful and unbiased. I think I found 120ml of 50mg juice at Canadian site for $50.00, and that is the only decent price I could find.

The biggest problem with me is that I have a feeling that anything I order outside the Country will be seized at the border. Thanks for the info everybody and for keeping it civil

 

[Not Iris]

This is my fear too, Seaweedshark, losing stuff at the border. I can't afford to lose money, if the stuff gets heisted by Canada Customs. I have seen that site that has the stuff for 50 and I think that is a good price? Don't know because this is all new to me! I'm still in the gathering information stage, but I will be making the leap early next week to plunge in and get wet so that I won't be a n00b to DIY any longer.

I'm actually rather comfortable working with 100mg juice, I've got an amateur lab in my garage and more than enough proper safety gear. My main concern was how to get the flavours to come out from the concentrated bases, and find the best possible price, and RachelCoffe was very helpful and unbiased. I think I found 120ml of 50mg juice at Canadian site for $50.00, and that is the only decent price I could find.

The biggest problem with me is that I have a feeling that anything I order outside the Country will be seized at the border. Thanks for the info everybody and for keeping it civil

 

[FunkyVapes]

Yeah, 50mg/ml, 120ml will yield about 33 10ml bottles of custom juice (at 18mg), factoring in about:

2ml of flavour per bottle (depending on supplier $1.25 per bottle)
4.4ml each bottle for VG/PG base at $6.99 per 120ml ($0.26 per bottle)

it would work out to about $3.05 per 10ml bottle (not including cost of the bottle)

that is some groovy savings and you can keep your supplies coming from Canada!

I negate shipping because you have to pay for premix juice anyways

 

[kalvinf]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to expand my juice collection and really want to try and order some from the US. I know that customs can take shipments of juice and confiscate them, but has anyone had any luck with any US vendors? The flavors on this side of the border seem to be very blah, overpriced, or without nicotine.

It would help if you could include your province and where you purchased your juice from.

Inspire me please

There are Canadian suppliers that are doing a concerted effort to offer interesting and enjoyable flavours so without posting names I could offer to PM these to you Seaweed. The CP lockout has hanged orders for a few weeks, so not having easy choices of flavours to put on an order has made an impact too.

As for US flavours there are lots of crummy ones there too.

Just my 1 c worth.

 

[FunkyVapes]

There are Canadian suppliers that are doing a concerted effort to offer interesting and enjoyable flavours so without posting names I could offer to PM these to you Seaweed. The CP lockout has hanged orders for a few weeks, so not having easy choices of flavours to put on an order has made an impact too.

As for US flavours there are lots of crummy ones there too.

Just my 1 c worth.

Sounds good my friend. I would appreciate any information via PM, I'm always looking for groovy flavours and am going to start review videos soon. I wanted to keep it within Canada, but I haven't got anything too noteworthy yet, and the prices seem a bit steep on this side of the border.

 

[Dusty_D]

There's an argument to be had for both sides. I've had good premixed juice and I've had crappy premixed juice. Likewise, I've had good and bad DIY juices.

I've chosen to stick to one vendor out of the US because he makes my All Day Vape. I'm no longer interested in testing or making my own juices (not while that vendor is still active.)

Is DIY cheaper? Yes it is. Is it for me at this time? No! I'm happy where I am right now. And while the argument will always remain that vendors are essentially selling you their DIY juices, I say when they have the recipe right, why mess with it? Example: It's easy for someone to make their own wines, so, why visit the LCBO when it's cheaper to make at home?! Because, while you may make a wine, it may not necessarily be the same as one that has been perfected and sold by a vendor.

I still also occasionally order juices from other local and international vendors when I hear rave reviews about them. What I have learned over the last year is that what works for one person may not work for another.

The best solution is to find what works for YOU. Everything else will then seem second best, whether it be an excellent DIY recipe from RachelCoffe, or the most touted juice in the world from a vendor. You have to figure out what is best for you.

 

[AllYourBase]

Well said, Dusty. The wine analogy is excellent. There's definitely a value-added component to buying premixed flavors. A lot of the premixed juices I've tried from suppliers are just fantastic, and you can tell that the supplier really put some work into getting the flavor right. I've never been able to make a decent DIY coffee flavor, so I stick with Juicy Clear to take care of my coffee-flavored juice needs.

Figuring out what works for you is half the fun.

 

[Dusty_D]

Disagreeing with each other on issues is not necessarily a bad thing.

I agree with Rachel on this point. She and I hashed out over 6 months ago the pros and cons of me DIY'ing vs buying, and chose to follow different paths, without once arguing or slandering each other. This was all done in PM's so as not to make fools of ourselves "arguing" in a public forum. Some folks relish the public battleground, and I raise my hat to those gladiators but it's not for all. Rachel has always divulged a lot of good information and her stance on her recommendations. Somehow that seems to get a lot of peoples shackles up..

We are all trying to achieve the same goals, just following different routes. Does not make one or the other right or wrong.

Now, I'm going to shut up before I start sounding all "sage" like.

Happy Vaping, all.

 

[kalvinf]

We are all trying to achieve the same goals, just following different routes. Does not make one or the other right or wrong.

This is one of the best said summaries - less about dichotomy, more about same goals.

 

[BCman]

DIY is great, you can zero in on exactly how much flavoring/vg-pg ratio/and nic content and custom tailor it to suit your needs and taste buds.

I believe it is as simple as Cost vs Risk, if you use higher mg nic there is a risk no doubt but it comes at a low cost(financially) . And vice versa, you can go with lower nic and have little to no risk at a higher cost.
Its simply how safe you choose to be when handling the nic and what can be done to prevent alot of the risk involved when you approach it.
For those that are clumsy or have children and pets running around and dont wish to take higher risks which endangers the surrounding environment, then going with lower nic levels is good.
But for those that approach it sensibly and take precautions and have a plan, should have little to no problems handling the higher nic.

There is validity to both sides and its simply a personal choice made as to what each person feels comfortable handling especially when doing it the first few times.

Nicotine is a poison and should be treated carefully with respect, as you do with all other poisonous/dangerous materials that are in your household(bleach, ammonia, ajax, gasoline, etc).

Good luck and happy vaping !

 

[Concat]

Backwoodsbrew and FreedomSmokeUSA are quite popular. Great prices and great juice. Both have a history of getting through customs.