Hi,
First of all, plz let me apologize for my imperfect english.
I'm not an expert on the subject, I'm using e-cigarretes for like 1.5 yrs and tho I find them basically better than the ordinary stinkies, I have too many problems. This is unbearable. I'm afraid that my final verdict will be that, for now, the e-cigs cannot beat the stinkies in terms of practicality, availability, standardization and many other factors. I'm sorry, but the e-cigs are failing in this fight.
I like the feeling of the e-cigs, the aroma, the taste, the throat hit, but that's only in ideal conditions, when you have a good device, brand new coil, full battery etc., otherwise, it's terrible. E.g. the coils get clogged too quickly and become useless. I tried some tricks from Youtube (washing them either with hot water, either with pharmacy alcohol or both), but the results are terrible. Now the aroma is like dirty socks. After keeping the coil in alcohol, I rinsed it with hot water and later I tried to vape, but it seems that some alcohol remained inside and the effect was just terrible. It was like alcohol smoke hitting my brain and it irrittated my nose! I asked myself why the hell I have to go through this?! And how dangerous it is?!
Another problem is that I often travel abroad and the availability of spare parts and liquids can be a problem in some countries and you must think about this. Because of this, you might end up with an atomizer that you don't like, just because that manufacturer is more widespread than the others. You go to a shop and you don't say: "Give me the best atomizer you have", but you say: "Give me an atomizer that I can easily find spare parts for". What's the point in buying a "Ferrari", if you can't find a replacement tire later, sort to speak. Also note that some countries are small and their markets, too, and you can't buy so much stuff like in your country.
Also, one must become a chemistry expert to understand the PG:VG ratio and all that, and also, an electronics expert to understand the relation between the power, voltage and resistance etc. And even if you do everything right, the mod may decide "no to see" the atomizer and it will display "atomizer not found". Then you must do some tricks, screw / unscrew, hoping that it will somehow start to work or you must google for solutions etc... etc.... Friends, I'm not a troll, but this went too far. Why can't they invent a device that will allow me to have a smoke with my coffee without any complications and "philosophies"? Why is that so hard?
Also, there's no compatibility between the products on the market. Say, you bought an atomizer and some spare coils for it, but tomorrow, these coils will not fit into another atomizer. Same with the spare glass tubes and other parts. There's no single standard.
Take compact discs for example, you need a CD player to play them and that's it, you don't have to become a freaking recording engineer to play them and you don't need a studio to play them! I think that this vape subculture went too far and forgot about the basic thing - practicality. I see only advices and advices, do this, do that, use this, avoid that. And where's the fun, then?
With ordinary stinkies there's no deep philosophy. All I need is a matchbox or a lighter. And that's it. I can buy cigarettes almost everywhere and even in remote rural areas. They are all standardized and there're popular brands that we all know, that can be found around the world. But if I decide to use e-cigs, I must think about 500 different things in advance. You must this, you must that. This is abnormal. This became madness.
Also I've read many myths about vaping, like people write on forums: "I'd fill the tank and it last me for days and days". Or they say that "10 ml bottle will last them a week" and they claim that they "saved a lot of money" by switiching from stinkies to e-cigs. Nothing can be further from the truth. A 10 ml bottle lasts me like just a couple of days, which is nothing. And I spent not little on atomzers, liquids, coils etc. Note that I was a heavy smoker, like 2 packs per day. My walls were becoming yellow, my hair and my clothes were smelly, it was terrible and I hoped that the e-cig are a good alternative. Basically they are, but many improvements are needed.
I've also had terrible problems with the liquids. Say, today you're in Italy, you buy your fav juice, everything is fine. But tomorrow you're in Russia, you buy the same brand and you notice that it is counterfeited! E.g. the color is transparent instead of yellowish, there's no taste, there're some differences in the design of the packaging etc. I wrote an email to the original manufacturer and they said that they have no more cooperation with the ru distributor. This is crazy. I've heard that in Turkey you can't buy liquids at all or that they're very rare (I apologize if I got a wrong info). It's a chaos on the world's market, there's no one single standard. Due to the regulations, in some countries the liquids might be without any nicotine and you will have to buy it separately and carefully mix it and shake it or you might ruin it. In some countries I saw some questionable forms of nicotine, with poor packaging etc.
All this is impractical and even scary. No offense, but this is terrible and it needs to change.
Thank you for understanding.
I vape 1ml of ejuice per day. When I first started vaping I vaped 1.5 ml of ejuice per day - and that was chainvaping.
The more power you apply to your coil, the more ejuice your going to use, much like gas in a vehicle. If you run a V8 you use more gas than if you have a 3 cylinder car.
Low wattage MTL devices are very conservative in their consumption levels and best resemble a cigarette.
I am in the U.S. and don't travel internationally. If I did yes, it would be more to consider than cigarettes would, but I imagine my life and health is worth some extra consideration, much like counting carbs or calories is more work, but beneficial in the end.
Every single year smoking related illnesses kill millions of people. Do you want to suffocate to death? Because that is what some smoking related illnesses feels like.. it's not fun..
Vaping is life saving, and your life is worth taking a little time when traveling to make sure your going to be okay.
If you know where you will be staying while abroad you can mail yourself a care package when you leave your home country if it comes down to it, full of proper coils and ejuice to last your business trip.
Coils are a disposable, consumable item.. They don't last forever and they aren't supposed to. 5 days on a coil is fine if your vaping sweet juice, but some coils will last longer.. Figure it in to your cost; coils are around 2.50 each, and lasting a week it's not costly. A pack of smokes is far more, and wont last most smokers a day.
That said, if you want to save money use something like the GeekVape Flint, or the Innokin Z-Biip, or a Nautilus 2s tank on a small mod of your choosing. Those are all MTL devices which you use at lower power levels (10-16 watts usually) so you will use anywhere from 1 to 3 ml of ejuice per day..
Innokin or Aspire coils are easy to acquire most anywhere, and inexpensive to purchase so your more likely to be able to source these coils while travelling abroad - although I wouldn't put my health and life at risk for maybes.
Get a travel bag, and have everything you need in it for vaping, and take it with you. Mail yourself a care package in questionable countries.
Decide whether your health and life is worth the time. I can explain slow suffocation to you if you need..it's horrific and terrifying.