Don't know a thing !

[sstella100]

Hello all

I have been a smoker of at least a pack a day for 35 years. I would like to try E-Cigs but have no clue where to start. I have known people who have mentioned Blucigs and V2, but I thought I would get better information for this forum. I am looking for something that resembles a cigarette and is simple to use, no mess, no fuss. If this works out like I hope it does, then I can move up to the more elaborate.
If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Appreciate your help!

 

[Robert MW]

Hello,

I am a newb as well. You are in the correct place. Tons of info on this site. One thing i would suggest is to forget about getting a ecig that looks like a regular cig. You have to wrap your head around the fact that you will no longer be smoking. You will be a vaper and vapers use personal vaporizers. E cigs that look like real cigs have horrible battery life and you will spend as much time charging batteries as you will spend vaping. Come on this site and do your research. You have a lot to learn. It can feel overwhelming at first but you can do it. It is worth any cost to give up the cancer sticks. You may want to look at an eGo, Riva, or something like that for your first kit. Both of those models are about the size of a cigar and have much better battery life than e cigs that look like real cigs. Others will have better recommendations.

 

[lolady]

Don't start at either of those places. Start at vapor4life.com.

Here is a long, rambling blogrant about it, especially for confused people who don't know a thing, written by an even more confused person who knows even less.

 

[BardicDruid]

I suggest a KR808 with prefilled cartomizers to start off with, it just a battery with a one piece atomizer and cartridge in one piece. MyVaporStore has them, but as long as you stick with the suppliers listed on the main page you can't go wrong. Also start reading in the ECF Library it'll give you a ton of info in an organized manner that's easier to understand.

 

[Mindfield]

If you want an easy solution with as little adjustment required as possible, get yourself something like a Joye 510 automatic, Bloog MaxxFusion, Volt or Smoov kit. No buttons, just attach the atomizer, fill the cart, and puff away. There are some things you do have to get to know, like how to take care of your atomizers, experiment with different juice flavours, blends and strengths to find your particular sweet spot, and a few other things. But this is probably the lowest maintenance solution and a great place to start. If you want you can move up to different/bigger models down the road if the smaller kits aren't "doing it" for you, but getting started is the most important part, and that's a great place to start.

There are a metric ton of vendors to choose from for both hardware and juices: Juicy Vapor, MadVapes, Kick Bass Vapor, Velvet Vapor, Ms. T's Bakery, Backwoods Brew, and Tasty Vapor, just to name a very few of the more popular ones.

 

[dormouse]

Read the illustrated multipart guide here in the ECF library and totally ignore the super-minis and M4xx (if you buy any of them, 95% chance you will be buying something better within 3 weeks)

The ECF Library

100mah is about 1 hour of moderate vaping

Most popular slim starters and best supported

Joye 510 manual - 180mah
Joye 510 mega xl manual - 280mah
Those come as 3-pieces so lots of blank cartomizers available, few prefilled. See the hardware at Liberty-Flights.com (press the 20% off first) or LiteCigUSA.net

KR808D-1 manual (180mah or 280mah though the Volt type says 220mah or 320mah) - see Vapor4Life.com and SmokelessImage Volt (this is a 2-piece so lots of prefilled cartomizers available)

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Or for much longer battery life and the ability to use the hotter low resistance atomizers and cartomizers, see Liberty-Flights.com Ego and Riva 510 (press the 20% off first to lower the shown prices).

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Those all need eliquid. Buy at least 30ml with your order and more later at a real juice vendor

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I smoked as long as you and I use all of the above. I started with something not as good then within the first month I bought both the manual 510 and the Vapor4Life manual standard size. I have used those for the last 7 months, using the manual 510 mostly with Boge cartomizers (but since I have manual batteries I can also use the dripping method to test juices or vape on the 510 atomizer). Recently I also bought a Riva 510. I bought these because they are the most popular models here and I like all of them.

For the slim models I recommend manual batteries because they are much harder to damage or kill with juice leaks. (And cartomizers, a favorite way of vaping, will occasionally leak a bit right where an auto battery can be damaged). Manuals also won't turn on accidentally from wind or vibration. And Manuals generally make it easier to get a good hit. Most people here use and recommend manuals. Almost all larger models are manual.

 

[KLWhitener]

I don't have any info to add, just wanted to say good luck and enjoy the learning process. You'll be tasting as smelling things you haven't in years! It will truly change your life, in the best of ways.

 

[Eddie.Willers]

Welcome the wide, wonderful (and often wacky) world of vaping!
As you can see - ask a simple question and you will get many different answers...

One thing all are agreed on, however, is YMMV.

Firstly, do you really want to fool other people into thinking you are smoking? As RobertMW said, you are now part of the vaping community and you use a vaporizer - it has nothing to do with 'cigarettes' other than as a way to break the hold they have on you.

Read around and do some thinking about what you want - don't be taken in by the mall vendor's schtick - this community is the best source of info.

 

[kreapster]

If you are looking for something that resembles a cigarette to start then I can highly recommend the Smokeless Image Volt. I had tried 2 other brands (both resembled a cig) prior to the Volt and hands down the Volt blew the other 2 brands out the window. The Volt has an easy draw, no primer puff to get it going and lots of vapor. It did the trick for me and truly felt like I was smoking a real cig. For me it was important that the device look and feel like a cig. I smoked for 32 years 2 packs a day the last 5 years and had never tried to quit until now. Analog free 5 weeks 4 days as of today. When I had made the decision to try E-cigs to quit I had decided I would give myself as long as I needed. So after I got my first E-cig if I needed to smoke a real cig I would smoke and I did with no guilt. Noticed that everyday I was smoking less and less and with in a week I was down to two analogs a day. That stayed the same for the second week, one analog in the morning and one before bed with the E-cig in between. Then I got my Volt and from that day never touched or had the urge to touch another analog. Quitting was way way way easier than I had ever imagined it would be. You have come to the right place for researching what to buy. You will receive lots of help here at ECF that will help you decide what you need. Smokeless Image Volt is worth looking into and they do have a thread on here. What ever style you decide to go with I wish you the best of luck with quitting.

 

[guitarzilla]

Don't mess with Blu, the price is great but performance sucks, waste of money. V2 are just too expensive. All of the other pre-packaged cigs (Greensmoke, South Beach) are expensive or have issues. I suggest you stay with the "open market." Get something that performs well and doesn't waste your money, so you can stick with this.

If you want something that looks and feels like a traditional cig, buy a Joye 510, you can get them in a white color with a red LED. This is one of the most common ecigs, they're cheap and highly compatible, replacement parts are easy to find. I suggest getting a couple batteries or just buying a starter kit, usually includes 2 batteries. Consider getting the mega battery if you can deal with a longer cig. Manual batteries are way better than automatic, I know it seems weird to push a button, but you will quickly forget it's even there.

Since you said no mess, no fuss, then you probably want to buy prefilled cartomizers instead of trying to fill your own. There are several places to buy them, here's one: 510 Cartomizers | 510 Cartridge Pack | Cartomizer 510 - Electronic Cigarette Refill Cartridges I'm sure there are other places maybe someone can recommend one.

Eventually you may want to step up to something with better battery life and performance like the eGo, but for now, this is a great way to start. Good luck!

 

[Marb]

I started with a V2 kit, which was a KR8/carto kit - good product for what it is, but spendy for what you're getting. Albeit, still cheaper than most kiosk or heavily advertised kits.

The cig-look-alikes seem to be an initiation of sorts... You want to quit smoking, but if you're like me, you don't want to draw attention yourself by sucking on a pipe-bomb, a battery box or some other phallic-shaped device... But you'll get to the point where you end up saying "Screw it! This thing's always dead! And I'm not fooling anyone with this little thing, and since I'm NOT smoking, why should I be using a pretend cigarette?"

Ok, maybe it's not always like that for most... lol

I'm currently using an eGo-clone and very happy with it's looks and the battery life is great. With a Mega Dual Coil Cartomizer, it looks a little like a cigar... not really, but I really don't care what bystanders think as much any more.

Anyway... If you're going to start with a cig-look-alike, browse the kits at Madvapes and/or LitecigUSA. For ease of use, I suggest getting a cartomizer kit instead of the separate atomizer/cartridge kits. And for your own sanity, get some non-tobacco flavored fluid with your first order. I honestly believe that's what causes a lot of people to quit vaping - they don't like the tobacco flavored fluid that comes with most kits and don't realize how easy it is to try other flavors. Google/youtube cartomizer cleaning and filling. Lots of great instructional videos out there

I figured since I was a smoker of Pall Malls, the logical flavor to choose would be V2's "Red" flavor... wrong, I ended up disliking it - A LOT. Turns out I prefer just about anything other than their tobacco flavors, lol!

BTW, my $80 V2 kit was comparable to these kits ($30-35):
White 808-D Kit
Kr808d-1 starter kit: kr808d-1 cartomizers, kr808d battery and more! Kr808d-1 kit from LiteCigUSA!

Pretty much the same kit, but with a 510 connector and you have to fill the cartos yourself:
510 Manual Battery Carto Kit

Sorry for the wall-o-text, hope it helps a little

 

[pkj]

Welcome to our new members who have posted here.
Glad you found us and you've come to the right place.

I have nothing to add, but will endorse the suggestion you check out the ECF Library. I spent about a month reading in the ECF Library before I ordered equipment. It is a wealth of information for folks new to vaping.

Welcome & Happy Vaping,
Paula

 

[stevenp]

I smoked 2PAD for over fourty years and not one analog since I started vaping. started w/several brands of regular e cigs.... do yourself a favor and start with an EGO kit so you have many diff types of atomizers and cartos to choose from you will be far better off.
Then we can talk about the Provari.

 

[JD1]

The volt has been getting good reviews and meets your criteria. Do a youtube search for it for some videos. My first good pv was the eGo and I still recommend it. It is a little bigger though.

 

[sharpster]

this is all great information

 

[Christopherdav1d]

This is In my opinion. But all the review's I've done and TONS of PV's and MODS I've owned....if I was a newbie all over again I would probably start with a Volt. Decent price, very easy to use...just screw on a carto and vape. The e-go is what got me of Analogs, but generally newby's are looking for something that is like a cigarette to quench that cigarette thirst in the brain. So all in all, if you compare price, size, and most importantly a PV that is enough to satisfy the craving and make you think twice before you pick up a real cig....I personally think the Volt wins. For me to be a veteran vapor, and still get a completely satisfying vape out of a little ecig like a volt says a lot about the product. Plus the new 78mm batteries have a pretty decent battery life...and the carto's are more then satisfying. Anyway...that's my opinion in a nut shell. Volt is sold at Smokelessimage. com , and the ego is sold....well everywhere lol

 

[Pokerchix]

Well I am a noob....3 days into the "ecig" but really not the e-cig at all...but vaping. I thought when I started this I wanted the cigarette style, was really looking at the aesthetics of the e-cig. I bought the Cig2O, nice little product but I still smoked, but you are not here to read my story....

Long story short, do you want to "work your way up" to what you are really going to need to break this habit, or get what you need and get this show on the road.

Think about what IS REALLY going to make you put down the cigarette (analog). Is it the TH (throat hit) of a cigarette? You may think it isn't, but you will be surprised in the beginning of how important the TH is to make your mind totally erase the thought of picking up a cigarette. You are going to want a tool that is powerful enough to give you enough strength and heat to taste the juices, feel the warmth and give you the vapor (exhale) that you enjoy from an analog.

Then look at your costs...my issue was I didn't want to pay $50-$100.00 for a tool that was not going to be strong enough in 1 month and I would be back to looking for a stronger setup. I also wanted a no fuss setup. I just wanted to put juice in something, charge some batteries and go, heck normally I would just go into a store and buy a pack and light it up....THAT is what I wanted, but I didn't know I wanted that until the fine folks at ECF figure it out for me.

That is why you see that "tank" on the top of my PV, because I don't want to mess with to many cartomizers or atomizers (heck I am still trying to figure out those tools!)

So really think about what you are looking for, because you don't want to be like me and start investing only to find out "I DON'T NEED THAT I NEED THIS!" Listen to the folks here, they know exactly what they are talking about, but it is only YOU that will know EXACTLY what is going to work for YOU.

Also, it is important whatever you go with, be able to fill it up with your own style of juices. You might surprise yourself how you will not even want the taste of tobacco in your mouth! GOOD LUCK!!

 

[iBANKAI]

Well I am a noob....3 days into the "ecig" but really not the e-cig at all...but vaping. I thought when I started this I wanted the cigarette style, was really looking at the aesthetics of the e-cig. I bought the Cig2O, nice little product but I still smoked, but you are not here to read my story....

Long story short, do you want to "work your way up" to what you are really going to need to break this habit, or get what you need and get this show on the road.

Think about what IS REALLY going to make you put down the cigarette (analog). Is it the TH (throat hit) of a cigarette? You may think it isn't, but you will be surprised in the beginning of how important the TH is to make your mind totally erase the thought of picking up a cigarette. You are going to want a tool that is powerful enough to give you enough strength and heat to taste the juices, feel the warmth and give you the vapor (exhale) that you enjoy from an analog.

Then look at your costs...my issue was I didn't want to pay $50-$100.00 for a tool that was not going to be strong enough in 1 month and I would be back to looking for a stronger setup. I also wanted a no fuss setup. I just wanted to put juice in something, charge some batteries and go, heck normally I would just go into a store and buy a pack and light it up....THAT is what I wanted, but I didn't know I wanted that until the fine folks at ECF figure it out for me.

That is why you see that "tank" on the top of my PV, because I don't want to mess with to many cartomizers or atomizers (heck I am still trying to figure out those tools!)

So really think about what you are looking for, because you don't want to be like me and start investing only to find out "I DON'T NEED THAT I NEED THIS!" Listen to the folks here, they know exactly what they are talking about, but it is only YOU that will know EXACTLY what is going to work for YOU.

Also, it is important whatever you go with, be able to fill it up with your own style of juices. You might surprise yourself how you will not even want the taste of tobacco in your mouth! GOOD LUCK!!

View attachment 47861

nicely done...I first had a penstyle e cig...and I hated the really long drags..I mean if you a smoker before...your gonna be looking for that "fast fill your mouth with smoke" feeling..there is a slight learning curve to vaping..usually for starters..it's the gonna be the draw..how you draw from your e cig..about a month into vaping..I moved up to a big mod..cuz GrimmGreen's videos on YouTube kinda sold me on mods..but every mod is unique..

bottom line..I love vaping..tastes great..will never go back to an analog...

 

[swedishfish]

I'd get an ego. Battery lasts 8 hours, you get a great vape and it's $30. That and a pack of cartomizers and juice and that's all you'll need.

I started with a Joye ego and I'm still using it. I do have a 510 for walking the dog or if I'm going on short shopping trips.

My mom when the mini route, Smoke Tip, V4L, she eventually quit with the Riva Ego. She still has and uses the KR808's (Volt, V4L) but her main vape is also an ego.

 

[zaxytha]

I'm a still a newbie at this too. Like others, I started with the 'cigarette' type because I thought people would 'stare' at me when I was in public. I got an 808 kit, ordered some XL batteries, ejuice, and blank cartomizers. I got cartos because I didn't want to mess with atomizers/carts. I liked the taste & feel in my hands, but I decided last week I wanted/was ready for something different, so I got the mini reo. Now, if you decide to go with an 'cigarette' type, get either the 510 or 808. The 510 has more suppliers. Plan on checking all suppliers to find your deals. You will probably order from several as the stock/prices will be different per supplier. A kit will come with batteries & usually prefilled cartos. Order some blanks too. Check out ejuice vendors and get some samplers. Don't buy big bottles of juice at 1st because you might not like it. Others here with more experience can give you suggestions at what nic level to start.

For more information, there are all kind of You tube videos that you can watch. I got started with Dr. Vapor. ‪DoctorVapor's Channel‬‏ - YouTube

All-in-all, just know that we all started somewhere. And know because of the different variety of ecigs & mods, that someday you will probably move on to something else. Hopefully, I found mine. Final word, just start with what you can afford. The goal is to start. And keep asking questions. These are the most helpful people that you can find.