My pleasure!
For reasons that are hard to explain, even to myself, I stopped vaping and started smoking again maybe almost two years ago, after having vaped almost exclusively for more than three years.
We all smoked for different reasons (different triggers, needs, and satisfactions), and it is
my opinion that to make the switch to vaping successful, you have to find solutions to those criteria. For me, I needed nicotine, and the sensation of something (smoke) in my lungs. I never smoked because I liked the taste.
My first experience with vaping was in the early days with the little cig-a-likes, which couldn't provide the "lung-feel" I required. So, even though I could make myself nearly nic sick, it was unsuccessful and I gave up. 2 years later, someone introduced me to an early tank (a Vivi Nova), and I actually coughed because the vapor was so dense (by comparison to the cig-a-like). I found
my solution.
Then came the hunt for juice flavor. I tried various fruits, mints, and tobaccos; as that was about the extent of the choices back then. Again,
for me, I learned I liked some of the fruits but there excessive sweetness made them cloying and I couldn't vape them very long, mints were good AND I could find a couple that weren't overly sweet, and tobaccos were okay but tended to make me jones for a real cigarette.
So my personal "solution" became a steady diet of mint, with an occasional fruit as a treat or to break up the monotony, and stay the heck away from tobacco flavors for about the first two years. The switch was pretty painless.
So even though I've been vaping for quite a long time, I'm not very advanced in a lot of ways.
I have been vape exclusively for 4 1/2 years now and I would not describe myself "advanced" either. Maybe "experience;" but even that is a stretch. I would probably use "content" as a better personal description. I tried chasing the "latest and greatest and newest" for a brief time, but didn't have the finances to continue the chase, so had to give up chasing. I found a few pieces that work for me and now I focus on making my DIY juices as good as I can
for those. For me, it is cheaper, and more satisfying.
I'm going through a period of experimentation right now.
Smart! Find what works best for
you!
One thing I've never gotten into is building coils. I've pretty much just always bought them and then disposed of them. It's something I think I should learn to do, but... well mixing my own juice is a higher priority for me, and I don't want to bite off too much at once, especially since I'm pretty busy these days.
Finances forced me to learn. $1.29 Vivi Nova coil head vs. a 5 cents worth of wire and cotton was a no-brainer
for me. I can't do much more than a basic contact, and no contact coil, but it works for me. I am in awe of those who can do all the claptons, and staples and all the other wild coils, but like you, I have neither the patience, nor interest in developing the skill.
I did try a few store bought advanced coils to see if I could tell the difference, but I couldn't really, so I let that direction go.
Today, I look at coil building as a chore, like brushing my teeth or doing laundry. It isn't something I particularly enjoy, but it is necessary, so I do it.
Also, I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy mixing juice- I'm cook a lot, and I tend to like things like that. I have a feeling that if I start making my own coils, etc., that I'll like having the control, but consider the doing something of a chore.
I think cooking is a good comparison to DIY; if you like cooking I think you will enjoy DIY. Time, practice, and patience are the keys to being successful.
What I don't understand about having a lot of tanks though is that you still have to put a fair bit of juice in them to taste, right? If you just want to sample do you just prime the wick thoroughly without filling the tank?
It kind of depends on the tank and the person.
For me, I only need about 0.5-1mL of juice it a tank to get a really good idea of what I am vaping. An, yes you are correct, a thoroughly primed wick can give you a good 2 or 3 puffs (which may/may not be enough for adequate feedback)
As for the tanks, depending on how the tank assembles, some will place
only the chamber cap (the dome that covers the coil and wick), and chimney (the tube that goes from the top of the chamber cap to the underside of the drip tip) onto the base, and then vape from the top of the chimney as if it were the drip tip. This effectively makes the tank an RDA (without really having the ability to drip... you still need to remove the chamber cap if you want to re-wet the wick). If you try this; use caution as the chimney can become hot fairly quickly depending on how high a wattage you like to use.
I guess I might have to bite the bullet and start looking at RBAs.
@anavidfan gave you advise that I would also give. If you go looking for RDA's (drippers); look for as small-chambered devices as you can find. The biggest differences (in rebuildable tanks and drippers anyway) are 1) chamber size - because a tank chamber has to fit within the tank; it is always going to be smaller. And 2) airflow - a tank's airflow is dictated by the diameter of the chimney. It doesn't matter how big the air holes/slots are if the chimney tube is restrictive. When searching for an RDA/dripper to use as a test apparatus; try to find something that mimics the tanks you like as closely as possible.
For me, that led me to do two things: find tanks that I like which have the largest bore chimneys; and buy a small chambered dripper, that would accommodate a dual coil build (because that is the set-up I seem to prefer in the tanks); and has adjustable airflow (not a big challenge these days as most seem to offer this feature) because even my largest bore tank still has a bit more restriction that a wide open dripper.
For tanks, I am currently using Vaporesso Gemini RTAs (note: these ARE the rebuildable versions; Vaporesso does also make at least one that uses a factory coil head which I have NOT tried (I won't pay the price for the heads)) and a Geek Vape Griffin RTA. All three perform very similarly.
For my test dripper I am currently using a Praxis Derringer RDA. It has the smallest chamber I could find, something I can (relatively) easily build my two coil builds on, and has my needed adjustable airflow.
For coil building; I like the simplicity of the Kuro Koiler/Coil-Master style of coiler. I find it pretty "Joel" (re: idiot) proof. It is not the only way, nor the "best" way, but it makes the "chore" tolerable
for me. 
The flavor of the same juice on a 1.5 ohm bridge-less had nothing in common to how it tasted in a tank with dual coils metering 0.5 ohms and wicked with organic cotton. The information was next to useless.
Though I could get a comparable resistance; the flavor was still not at all comparable to when I put it in my tank. I think part of it was I just couldn't get as much juice on the wickless coil as the wicked coil permits. This creates a great disparity in vapor density and taste. Again; the info was less than helpful.
and I appologize, but how do you embed an actual partial quote from one thread into another? The best I have been able to figure out is using the permalink option for the entire post to create a link; but that won't let me highlight the pertinent info in the manner you just did. Help please? And Thank You!
