12/6 #5
@Fuzzy Thunderbear, I think that, more importantly than wanting to quit smoking, there needs to be a willingness to give vaping a chance. Vaping is more complicated than smoking. With smoking, all you need is a cigarette and a lighter. Unless your pack is empty, or the fluid in your lighter (or your book of matches) runs out, you're fine. With vaping, you need to be concerned with the amount of juice, the status of your coil, the charge of your device--and that's just for starters. All things considered, smoking is a lot easier.
When I first got my starter kit, I made sure that I had an entire carton of cigarettes left. I liked smoking and I didn't fully
want to quit. I was trying vaping to see what it was like and--maybe--save a little money by not having to buy as many cigarettes. At first, in using my non-adjustable egos, I found that it helped me cut down, but I still had that urge for a real cigarette. However, several factors made it work:
First, because I was not
trying to quit, I didn't feel any pressure. If I wanted a cigarette, I had one--and I had an ample supply, so I was never nervous about approaching the LAST one. I didn't beat myself up about it because, well, I wasn't quitting. That said, because I wanted to reduce how much money I spent on cigarettes and the more I smoked the more money I would have to spend, I made a conscious effort to vape a little before I lit up. If I was satisfied after the vape, then I didn't need the cigarette--but if I still wanted one after vaping for five minutes, well then...
Second, like Blue, it was all about the flavors. I deliberately chose non-tobacco flavors (I suppose this would apply to menthol, too, if I had been a menthol smoker). This provided a sharp contrast between the taste of a cigarette and a vape. I purchased my ego kit from a vape shop that allowed me to try a number of flavors before purchasing, and I walked out the door with three of them--non of them resembling tobacco in any way shape or form.
Those two factors made me realize a third: that if I wanted to quit, it wasn't so much about increasing my love of vape above and beyond that of smoke. Instead, it was a matter of reducing my enjoyment of smoking in relation to vaping. By having a vape before any potential cigarette, my mind started realizing just how bad my beloved cigarettes tasted. This was further enhanced by the experience provided by the egos: because of their weaker vapor production, I found that I had to approach them more like a pipe (or what I imaging a pipe to be, since I never tried one) and take several pulls or puffs to generate the same amount of exhalant as did my cigarettes. As I got used to this method for my vape, I also found myself occasionally trying to smoke like that--which really is not as pleasurable as taking a nice long drag.
Within about two or three weeks, this combination of experiences (and an increasing dissatisfaction with cigarettes) had me convinced that I did not wish to continue smoking. Finally, when I reached the end of that last carton, I decided to find out just how long I could go without buying more. One day turned into one week, which turned into a month, and so on... I did progress to more powerful devices within a month or two--I can't remember if it was before or after that--but I enjoyed the fact that I didn't need to recharge my devices as often much more than the additional power. In fact, I stayed vaping between 6-8 watts on 1.5-2.0-ohm coils for at least 6 months.
I hope some of that helps.
.