Counterfeit implications

[multiple]

Hi,

I'm a long time nicotine addict, specifically to Swedish moist snuff.

Since I moved to Asia I started to smoke given the lack of supply of my favorite tobacco. This has been going on for a couple of years and I can not say I enjoy smoking, it has been a complete drag...no pun intended...

So, enter the E-cig.

My wife bought me a starter kit from www. taobao .com, brand "Zhen Wei Ru Yuan".

Little did I know it was a complete counterfeit, as clearly illustrated by this page:

www. zhenweiruyan .com/fwjb.asp (scroll to bottom, 假... means fake)

Before I thought it would be a good idea to check out what I'm smoking, I'd gone through a couple of days smoking nothing but this counterfeit...

So, there is a slight taste of water moisture, similar to the taste you'll find inhaling straight from an air cleaner (i remember doing that as a kid) other than that I can not pinpoint any taste.

There is however a "stingy", perhaps acid like, film accumulated on lips after a few drags...

Not sure what to make out of it.

What's your take on this...Am I smoking pesticides?

Is it safe or should I check into a hospital asap...?

 

[Rosa]

From googling this it seems like this MIGHT be the company that makes smoke 51. Here's the problems with the way you are describing your experience:

• "So, there is a slight taste of water moisture, similar to the taste you'll find inhaling straight from an air cleaner (i remember doing that as a kid) other than that I can not pinpoint any taste."

This would be relatively normal for those rip-off cigarette look-alike ecigs. They just don't work very well and often the flavor is not very good and has been described as "a weak taste, not sure what it's supposed to taste like"

• "There is however a "stingy", perhaps acid like, film accumulated on lips after a few drags..."

This could be a leak of nicotine juice from the cartridge onto your lips. It will cause a tingly numbing feeling and tastes very sharp and acidic. You can also draw some of the nicotine juice out onto your lips if you drag too hard on it - try taking slow easy drags instead.

I can't read the Chinese symbols, but I do know that there were some complaints about smoke 51 business practices and many people called them a scam because of it. Is it possible that the symbol for "fake" is in reference to this?

 

[dormouse]

What you described sounds pretty close to what vaping is like. The ecig creates vapor made of glycerin (PG or VG) and flavoring and nicotine and there could be some water or alcohol (water could be in the flavoring base or added for viscosity, alcohol is sometimes an additive for more TH, but I think both would be more common in VG juices because VG needs thinning, PG is already thin)

Nicotine is a skin irritant, PG lets through the most harshness of nicotine, most TH, most flavor and is most commonly used in prefilled carts with ecigs (unless it's a US rebrand that includes its own carts or cartos). When i started I vaped 18mg 100% PG juice and my tongue got sore from it. Having some VG in a juice buffers the irritation of nicotine, reduces the TH somewhat, adds more visible vapor. I like around 70pg/30vg. With Chinese juices this could be accomplished by buying a 30ml bottle of a flavor in PG and a 10ml bottle of the same flavor in VG and mixing them to make 75pg/25vg. In the US we can buy from US juice makers who offer PG/VG blends in hundreds of flavors including dozens of tobacco flavors (most of flavor is aroma but we call them flavors).

The filmy feeling is the glycerine.

What you got is not a good model of ecig. But I doubt it is dangerous. Certainly doesn't have the pinnacle of eliquid in it - probably 100% PG Chinese.

Look for Joye 510 (Joye is the original manufacturer, or maybe a Boge 510 would be OK. I am not fond of SLB and they also make one). 510 threading is THE most supported. I recommend manual batteries. It won't look as much like a cig. But if you get a white 510 it will look close, and even closer if you use cartomizers with it instead of atomizer + cart. Boge soft-cap cartomizers are nice.

This is what a white 510 looks like - notice the part above the gold is 2 pieces - a white atomizer in the middle and a white cartridge on the end. if you can only find black cartridges, then that will look a bit odd. With a cartomizer, everything above the gold line is replaced with cartomizer and they are usually black. i think (but not sure) that the white ones have a red led.
http://www.e-cigexpress.com/p15-Discount-White-Joye-510-Starter-Kit.html

I use a black 510 - everything is black, the led is blue. The battery life is 2-3 hours. You can get a PCC charging case that can charge one battery while you use another. It can use 3-4 charges. There are also 1-inch longer batteries available called 510 mega xl with 3-5 hour life. They use a different PCC though I did see a mega PCC at Vaporkings.com with an adapter to charge a short or long battery.

I recommend manual batteries because they are sealed on the end against getting killed by juice leaks. Autos are dependent on a drag sensor through an open hole in the threaded end. Also manuals won't turn on by accident from wind or vibration. And I think they give more consistent hits and are less work.