Bought my first "real" e-cig - how did I do?

[wilfra]

Was looking for a laundry place in Santa Monica today and walked past a shop called Vapor Delight. I was curious but didn't expect much as every place I've ever seen selling e-cigs has the same crap $50 starter kits that get horrible reviews/taste like crap etc.

To my utter shock they had all of the good stuff and none of the crap. Provari's and eVic's and ego's and all of the stuff I have been reading about here but haven't yet bought, mainly because it's hard to tell which would work best for me without touching and trying them - and I don't want to spend a couple hundred dollars on something I might not even like!

So I tried out a bunch of stuff, realizing instantly that the evic/provari type models are way too big for me (glad I never bought one!) and after mixing and matching some different things I ended up with:

2 ego c upgrade batteries: 2 kanger evod "clearomizers": 6 different e-liquids 5ml each (all 24mg, i can't get myself completely off of regular cigs and the guy suggested starting at 24mg to do it). usb+wall charger. total w/ tax was $125

i know i could have saved money if i bought the stuff online but getting them the same day + trying out a bunch of different models + an hour worth of trying flavors and getting advice in the shop made it well worth the extra few bucks.

any thoughts on my setup? i'm not ready for some huge rig and still a bit shy vaping in public. but this should be a lot better than the white cloud disposables i have been using for the last couple months!

 

[Leal]

I think you did awesome.

Of course, it was a little spendy but its worth it to find something that works for you. Now that you have a working set up you can browse the internets for deals.

Welcome to ECF!

 

[wilfra]

Put the pen in there so you can get an idea of the size

 

[Susiejo]

Welcome to ecf!
Sounds like you did alright to me. Sometimes it is worth a little extra to be able to actually put your hands on the stuff before you buy it. I have already made the mistake of buying the wrong clearos and now I'm stuck with 5 clearos that don't fit my batteries. But we live and learn.
It is the same with the e liquid you buy. I really like mtbakervapors for my e liquid as they have really good prices but I have gotten a few that I really don't like. So now I will go to my local shop and try different flavors and I do buy some from them because I like to support my local shops but then I will also buy that flavor from mbv and try theirs. Sometimes its better, sometimes its not. But I do suggest getting several clearos and keep different flavors in each because it really helps to switch up your flavors once in a while.

~Susiejo

 

[OBDave]

Awesome selection IMO. Yes, you paid a lot more than you needed to, but there's something to be said for supporting a local shop and they set you up with good equipment. I'll continue to harp on my opinion that the basic Ego setup with Evods is great...in the future you might want to go online for extra hardware (maybe some more Evods to have a bunch of different flavors handy), but buy juices locally - I'm loving MBV quality and price, but my favorite juice from Villain Vapor is in a local shop and, even though it's overpriced, I'm going back soon to buy another couple bottles, chat about products with the totally-cool-guy owners, and hope they don't hate on me for saving money sourcing some of my gear elsewhere.

 

[Leal]

Love the looks of evods. Why haven't I gotten a few of those yet?

I use the same type of ego batt for at work with mini rebuildable atomizers. They are good batteries and the voltage stays fairly stable no huge drop off until right before they need to be charged.

 

[wilfra]

So now I will go to my local shop and try different flavors and I do buy some from them because I like to support my local shops

Ya that's a good point. Anytime some latest greatest new ecig comes out it'll be awesome to go in there and try it - but that wont be possible if they can't stay in business lol

 

[wilfra]

Love the looks of evods

Ya me too. He tried to set me up with something else but it was clear and you could see all of the liquid. I preferred how this one more closely matches the look of the battery so it looks like one unit instead of a mishmash of different components.

 

[markdm4805]

Hey if you can afford it and your happy it doesn't matter how much you spend. Unless your married and then thats a whole other thread lol. Also as you an others have said you supported a local vape shop and I am a big proponent with new vapers and even with E Liquid purchases in general, if you can get to a local vape shop and try it out do it. What I tell you an Ego C is like may not be your experience and what I say a juice tastes like may be nowhere near what you think it tastes like. Anyways welcome to the forum and to vaping. It sounds like you did good.

 

[Ref Minor]

High prices, great choices.

Lol, I spent $150 on a Greensmoke Starter kit and a months carts so I am not going to criticise you. (Although I consider that money well spent as it got me off the analogues)

 

[Ref Minor]

Start planning for when things break. Go online to get extra juice and spare Evod heads. Maybe a cheap ego battery or two more as back up.

With vaping you need to be more organised and able to plan ahead than a smoker. Although you do have an expensive B&M close buy which is an excellent resource for emergencies.

 

[wilfra]

About how often should I expect the clearo's or batteries to break/fail/stop working?

I know some last longer than others, but just generally speaking.

 

[spegtoast]

More importantly are you off the analogs? If you missing some tightness of draw, or feeling of pull it's the EVOD. They are nice though if you like it. I prefer a little warmer hit, and tighter draw more like an analog. I just wanted to mention that so you know there are lots of options to customize if your not getting what you need. If it works don't change it! Makes life alot easier than trying everything on the market.

 

[Leal]

It really does depend. With my clearos which are also kanger but a different style I get one to two weeks out of them. Sometimes much less. However, I don't do much maintenance with them other than cleaning.

I would start looking into replacements heads soon.

 

[Ref Minor]

Couple of weeks to a couple of months is reasonable for a clearo head I think. You should be able to pick up spare Evod heads for less than $1.50 online. FastTech.com are good prices so long as you are happy ordering from China, happy to wait a couple of weeks for your stuff and don't mind buying unbranded clones (Evods are excellent there). For Evod heads I believe there are some US vendors who are very cheap too.

 

[spegtoast]

About how often should I expect the clearo's or batteries to break/fail/stop working?

I know some last longer than others, but just generally speaking.

Depends on how much you vape, type of liquid, and a few other small variables. If your using a thicker/ dark liquid chances are the heads will clog up sooner than the clear liquids. Others may differ but I wont go more than a couple of weeks. Nice thing about your evod is that the heads are replaceable for a couple of bucks. Real easy to change to. I found tutorials on you tube.

 

[spegtoast]

Forgot to mention the heads are fairly easy to rebuild as well. Some Kenthal wire and butcher string and your good to go. No that's cheap cheap going that route.

 

[Rat2chat2]

I think your setup was the 2nd best decision you made. The first being the good decision to start vaping. Welcome to the forum. I'm glad you're here. Enjoy your new toy and the new and improved addiction.

 

[Mokuli]

I tried a luci carto type back in 08 and it was just annoying. To tell you the truth. I would burn through the prefilled luci cartos pretty quick. That was because I couldn't see how much juice I had left. So I ended up going back to my Camels and that has been going on till a few months ago. I went to Rockytopvapor.com the store in real life. Since it's just a 30 min drive not that far to be able tp actually see how far ecigs have actually evolved. The salesman showed me the evic but as soon as I seen how big it was I told him I need something that I could put in my pocket and no dangling lanyard attachment because I work near spinning machines. That's when he showed me a starter kit and it came with two standard ego batterys not the twist type and two ce4s. Well I looked at the CE4s first and they looked like they may break in my pocket pretty easily and when I told him this he went and grabbed an evod and showed that to me. Well the aluminum shell sold me on that. Then I looked at the batts and we got on the topic of how long do they last. Then he said a few stats and then told me they make vari volt batteries which lead to the dialing the perfect vape conversation and thats the batteries I ended up getting. All that ended up only being 80 bucks with a 10ml bottle of juice. Now my pack a day habbit is down to 1-2 cigs a day and now I don't worry about quitting the real cigs anymore because I don't really want to smoke them anymore. Also, the battery life on the 900mah batts from joytech last me two days but I smoke it like a real cig like 15 puffs then set it aside.
All in all it was one of the best decisions I've ever made I do feel alot better than I did and I really do feel like it is a good move health wise just because of the way I feel. Just a world of advice a lot of pg can make some people get a sore throat just drink plenty of water and if it doesn't go away you may want to try a juice with less pg or even a full vg juice. No one told me that and it took awhile for me to figure out what was going on. Good luck and have fun.

 

[wilfra]

More importantly are you off the analogs? If you missing some tightness of draw, or feeling of pull it's the EVOD. They are nice though if you like it. I prefer a little warmer hit, and tighter draw more like an analog. I just wanted to mention that so you know there are lots of options to customize if your not getting what you need. If it works don't change it! Makes life alot easier than trying everything on the market.

The disposables got me from 2 packs a day to about 1 pack a day.

I've only had these for about 8 hours now but in that time I've still had the urge to smoke a few analoges. But definitely a lot less than I normally would. If I had to guess I'd say these will get me down to half a pack a day or less of analogues with a slight chance of just a couple per day or none.

I can't describe exactly what it is I'm needing when I smoke analogues. It's probably not the nicotine with 24mg liquid. Maybe just the ritual of it or the taste or being addicted to all of the crap they put in cigarettes that I'm now not having to ingest when I vape, but my body still craves.