Bumping nicotine of non DIY juice

[jandrew]

I'm just going to chime in on what @IDJoel mentioned up-thread about unflavored -- it really is worth trying. I started vaping 6 years ago, and started DIY a month later and the first thing I did was make unflavored (I'd seen it mentioned a few times in various threads back then) -- and that, along with minimally flavored(1) juices, has been the backbone of my vaping ever since.

I still make some richer flavors (tobacco/cigar type vapes mostly), which I drip on a squonker filled with unflavored/minimally-flavored and let the flavor fade as I continue to squonk.

When vaping unflavored, you taste buds might become more sensitive to nuances in the flavors you do use, and you can use unflavored to cut or dilute a commercial liquid that you like but find too overwhelming. Eventually, you might find you can use a commercial eliquid more like a flavoring.

(1) minimal as in just a very few drops of flavoring in 30ml of unflavored -- like maybe a drop of menthol or vanilla in 30ml of unflavored. For my "in your face" menthol, I'll use one drop in 10ml of unflavored (which may be in the neighborhood of 0.5%)

 

[TylerA]

@IDJoel & @jandrew

What vg/pg ratio do you guys use for your unflavored juice? The coffee flavored juice I ordered came, and while good for a few pulls, it was just too intense to vape on all day.

I think I'm going to go the DIY route, but going to get some unflavored to start with just to try.

Also, if I may ask, where do you purchase your PG/VG as well as your nicotine? I bought a bottle of 100mg/ml nicotine from Vape Wild, but it looks like the liquid is orange or pinkish, its not clear (100% VG base) ... so I'm not sure if I want to use it.

 

[jandrew]

@IDJoel & @jandrew

What vg/pg ratio do you guys use for your unflavored juice? The coffee flavored juice I ordered came, and while good for a few pulls, it was just too intense to vape on all day.

I think I'm going to go the DIY route, but going to get some unflavored to start with just to try.

For myself, I make 50:50 --- for others, I've made everything from 80:20 PG/VG (actually I used to use that ratio back when I started) to a MaxVG using just VG thinned with 5% distilled water.

 

[TylerA]

For myself, I make 50:50 --- for others, I've made everything from 80:20 PG/VG (actually I used to use that ratio back when I started) to a MaxVG using just VG thinned with 5% distilled water.

I suppose I'll have to grab a few 10ml bottles and play around with the ratios. Do you have a preferred place to order your VG/PG/Nic?

 

[jandrew]

I suppose I'll have to grab a few 10ml bottles and play around with the ratios. Do you have a preferred place to order your VG/PG/Nic?

For larger Nic orders these days I'll use FusionFlavours (I'll usually buy any flavors, glass bottles, and labware I need from them at the same time). For PG/VG Dashvapes has much better prices (and free shipping over 35 bucks) -- they also sell 65mg Nic (either PG or VG) in 60ml and 120ml sizes, and flavors as well, so if you want to start small and get everything at one place, they are a good place.

 

[IDJoel]

@IDJoel & @jandrew

What vg/pg ratio do you guys use for your unflavored juice? The coffee flavored juice I ordered came, and while good for a few pulls, it was just too intense to vape on all day.

I think I'm going to go the DIY route, but going to get some unflavored to start with just to try.

Also, if I may ask, where do you purchase your PG/VG as well as your nicotine? I bought a bottle of 100mg/ml nicotine from Vape Wild, but it looks like the liquid is orange or pinkish, its not clear (100% VG base) ... so I'm not sure if I want to use it.

I use my usual ratio (happens to be 40PG/60VG). Unflavored doesn't vape any differently than flavored.

If you are buying a mixed ratio nic base to try DIY; I would suggest buying a somewhat higher VG ratio than you normally vape. The majority of flavor concentrates are in a PG base, and their addition will count toward the overall PG percentage. But... if you are buying separate PG and VG anyway... I would just get your nic in a 100% base of either PG or VG and be done with it. If you favor a high VG ratio in your e-liquid; a 100% VG base might help reach high-VG/max-VG levels. Pure VG is rather thick (viscus) and can be a bit of a pain to work with. So, if vaping high VG mixes is not important to you, then stick with 100% PG.

As for where I buy; I live in the U.S., and my suppliers are stateside. If I recall correctly(?) you mentioned you live in Canada. From what I have read, importing nicotine into Canada, is rather difficult right now (strength limitations, international shipping fees, taxes, tariffs, and occasionally seizures). You will likely be better off sourcing your ingredients in Canada. And, I am afraid, I have no personal knowledge, or experience, with Canadian vendors.

I know @ceeceeisme is a Canadian vaper who also is an avid accomplished DIYer. Perhaps she will be kind enough to share some of her wisdom regarding Canadian suppliers, and viability of importing ingredients from the U.S.. I also see that @jandrew is Canadian; so maybe they will chime in too. (never mind... I see they already did )


On a side note: hang on to that coffee e-liquid. When you get your unflavored, you can use it to try diluting the e-liquid. Many commercial e-liquid manufacturers use high flavor percentages, so that the smoker (and recent ex-smoker) can taste them better. If you are a non-smoker, or a longtime ex-smoker, or just have really sensitive taste buds; it may be over-flavored for you. Diluting it with unflavored may make it more palatable for you.

 

[TylerA]

@IDJoel, @jandrew,

Thank you both for your suggestions and recommendations! Hopefully @ceeceeisme sees this and can give her recommendations for DIY supplies (good quality nicotine, etc) here in Canada

I've been looking up scales, and it seems everyone is a fan of American Weigh Scales LB-501. Do you guys use anything different - something cheaper, more expensive? Would ideally like to spend once on a scale, have it last a decent amount of time, and most importantly give accurate readings.

I did, however, give the coffee flavor to my younger brother who is also trying to give up smoking (as well as 5 or 6 other bottles of e-liquid I didn't care for). He's a little less picky when it comes to flavors, maybe that's a youth thing

 

[ceeceeisme]

Thank you for the very flattering page @IDJoel

Welcome to the rabbit hole that is DIY @TylerA !

I do have a long list of DIY supply houses here in Canada but to save you and I both some time I'm just going to list my top picks.

For Best Price: www.bestglycol.com out of Montreal. This place has a limited selection but has great prices. You can get TPA, Capella and FlavorWest from these guys at prices nobody else can touch here in Canada. Their VG $9 per liter ($22 for 4 liters) and the PG is also $9 per liter ($24 for 4 liters). They have nic but you have to email them for prices.

For Best Selection: www.diy-ejuice.com in BC. These guys have the biggest flavor selection here in Canada. Almost 2000 flavors are available. Decent enough prices and they do have regular sales. These guys also have nic but you do have to email them first and ask permission for access to the listings.

For Best Customer Service: The Broke Vaper in London Ontario. Prices include GST plus a there's a good selection of flavors and the best customer service you'll find anywhere. Nic prices are excellent too and they usually have a monthly sale.

For scales it's going to depend on what your needs are. The AWS LB-501 is cheap in the US but it isn't here in Canada. Amazon lists it for $48.91. It has a 500 gram capacity and unless you think you'll be needing to make that much eliquid at once you may or may not feel this is a necessary scale.

https://www.amazon.ca/American-Weig...78033&s=gateway&sprefix=lb-501,aps,614&sr=8-1

This is the scale I use pretty much 95% of the time:

https://www.amazon.ca/American-Weig...78075&s=gateway&sprefix=lb-501,aps,614&sr=8-2

It's also an American Weigh Scale but the capacity is only 100 grams. It's half the price and (for me) a perfect little scale for someone who never mixes large batches. It's $24.27 and is very reliable.

I do have a second scale that I bought off of Fasttech - it was $12US and has a 600 gram capacity. I use it twice a year to mix up a large batch of my favorite recipe as a one-shot. It can be advantageous to buy a larger capacity scale right from the get go so you may want to go that route if you can wait a couple of weeks to receive it:

$11.91 2" LCD Precision Digital Jewelry Scale (600g/0.01g) - 2*AAA/micro-USB powered / 7 switchable units / 3 minutes auto power off / count function at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

If you opt to go the Fasttech route make sure you select ePacket for your shipping option (usually $1 to $1.50 extra) in order to receive it faster.

I do have to toddle off and get ready for work now. If you want my full list of Canadian DIY vendors just let me know and I can give you that listing later tonight.

 

[TylerA]

Thank you very much, @ceeceeisme

 

[TheFish]

Hario is a good brand of scale also.

I have had the VST-2000 now for about 8 years. It travels with me and just gets thrown in the car, has never let met down except when the battery has gone flat, twice now in 8 years.

They are known as coffee scales, great product

 

[TylerA]

I ended up buying the LB-501 ... everything I read, literally everywhere says its the mother of all scales for DIY lol. Hope it lives up to the hype

 

[kross8]

Thank you very much, @ceeceeisme

FTR---I'm holding my breath hoping you try the Coffee ejuice as it arrives,,,, finding a good coffee vape is like understanding your unicorn! !

 

[TylerA]

Just as an update, the LB-501 scale came today and it seems pretty damn accurate to the hundredth of a gram .. it was even able to register from 0 to 0.01 ... which a lot of the scales I looked at seemed to have a problem with.

This is particularly useful to me since I'm just starting down the DIY path, and being able to make small (10ml) batches accurately to test flavor combinations is what I need.

A bit pricey here in Canada, but worth it I think.

 

[Hawise]

DIY is certainly cheaper (in the long run) and can be a lot more interesting than prepared juices, so you're off to a great start. I do have a suggestion for the prepared juice issue, in case you want to try it again at some point. There are a few juices I really like that I can't duplicate with DIY. My solution is to dilute them 50/50 with a PG/VG mix. I order the juices at twice the nicotine concentration I want so I get the right nic level in the end. I don't think you can get 36 mg/ml of most juices, but it's still easy enough to mix up some unflavoured juice at whatever concentration you need to hit your target.

 

[kushka]

I would just like to second the suggestion that people try vaping unflavored - it is so cheap and easy. I have been vaping for a decade, and I have two children in there late 30's who vape. Before I started vaping I had been a 3 pack a day smoker for around 40 years, so I like my e liquid stronger then most - around 30mg/ml. So around once a year I buy a liter of 100 mg/ml 50%pg/50%vg from MFS for $50 and mix it with 2 liters of VG. I give a liter to the results to each of my kids and transfer the rest to small dark glass jars and keep them is the freezer for myself - and that is what we all vape. So our e-liquid expenses are less the $25 a year each. I know one of my kids likes sweets - so he adds liquid sucralose - and both add some extra vg - since they prefer a weaker vape. But - this is not rocket science, I know a lot of people make DIY into something complicated, but it can be as simple and as cheap as this. Also I figure it is healthier this way - since I am not inhaling the chemicals that are in the flavoring.