Hello Forum! New to the world of vaping..

[Alex Smith]

Hello forum,

I'm totally new to the world of vaping and just started actually looking at the many different products out there this week since getting the recommendation from a co-worker who uses a vaping product. I currently smoke about 1 or maybe 2 pack of Newport cigs a day and have been for at least two decades now...been looking to quit because I can tell that I don't breathe as well and have short of breath.

After looking at sites such as e-cig express and other products sold in China I realize there are so many options and it seems like a daunting task to find out a product that would actually work and help me switch and to learn the process of fluids etc. What e cig products do you folks recommend for a starter kit that has a slim look and offers many different flavors to choose from?

I was looking at blu but I hear mixed reviews about their products so I was unsure whether I should give them a shot. I don't want to pick one that turns out back and end up back smoking the Newport's.

 

[djsvapour]

Welcome.

Firstly, can I beg you not to consider BLU. Blu are a tobacco company. They aren't interested in vaping and vapers, just their own yearly bonus. In Europe they are actually encouraging the government to regulate e-cigs to near extinction.
The same goes for Mark 10, Vuse and Greensmoke. Although I can't say if they are as evil as Blu by bringing about the demise of refillable e-cigs, but they are certainly quite useless and very, very expensive.

If it looks like a cigarette (a big plastic one) chances are
1. Its made by a tobacco company
2. It won't be good enough to get your off the smokes... they are basically vanity sticks - products that look right and claim to do 'the equivalent' of a certain amount of cigarettes, but I'm afraid none of it is true.

I made a post yesterday (somewhere) about some research into "what type of e-cigarette will actually produce the same Nicotine as a real cigarette?"

At the minimum, you'll probably be needing a EGO e-cigarette.

I'll be back.

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Alex Smith. Glad to have you here!

Not pen sized but I often recommend an iStick 30 watt or Coolfire 4 (both mods) with an Aspire Mini Nautillus or eLeaf GS Air M (both tanks).

But if pen sized is what you feel you really need, look at the Innokin Endura. It's very new but is getting good reviews. It's VERY SIMPLE (not that the above are hard to use/operate).

Video Reviews

• eLeaf iStick 30 Watt
• Innokin Coolfire 4
• Aspire Nautilus Mini
• eLeaf GS Air M Tank
• Innokin Endura

Picture of the Mini Nautilus on the iStick 30 watt

========

If you are interested in learning more about e-cigarettes (and all the parts and pieces) below are some blog posts by ECF member @Baditude that I highly recommend for someone new to vaping.

• A Good Starter's Setup for a Beginning Vapor
• Advancing Up the Vaping Ladder with Egos and Mods
• Proper Terminology - Is it a carto, a tank, or what? A Guide to Juice Attachments
• Beginner Video Playlist

Here are a few more links from New Members Information <= Link covers many topics. Here are two of them:

• The Three Main Types of Ecig
• Vaping Slang and Acronym

Nicotine

A "general guideline" for nicotine concentration in e-liquid to the number of cigarettes smoked per day. If you are subohming (resistance under 1.0Ω) cut these nicotine levels by at least 50%.

06 mg = 10 cigarettes or less
12 mg = 20 cigarettes
18 mg = 30 cigarettes
24 mg = 40 cigarettes

eLiquid/Juice

PG = Propylene Glycol - the "flavor carrier" of e-liquid. A secondary source of "throat hit", but not as strong as the nicotine concentration. Some people have a sensitivity or even an allergy to PG. It's very thin.

VG = Vegetable Glycerin - the "vapor maker" of e-liquid. Used as a sweeter in many food sources, and also as a skin emollient. It's very thick. Often labeled just "Glycerine"

PG and VG are often used together in different ratios in e-liquid. For example, a 50/50 PG/VG ratio. Many juice vendors offer a range of different ratios as far as PG/VG.

 

[djsvapour]

In the mean time.

I looked up e-cig express and they only seem to sell e-liquid (juice).

However, one MASSIVE word of warning. The combination of "e-cig" + "express" + "USA" gives me endless Google results sending people to VAPORFI.

If you should consider reading their marketing gas, you might think you have discovered the best e-cig in the world, ever, backed up by countless thousands of great 5/5 star reviews. You would be wrong.

A company that sells a $30 e-cig for $119.99 claiming it 'was' a $279.99 e-cig deserves to receive a very special accolade by the vaping community.

 

[TheVapingKitty]

I didn't start out with a starter kit when I first got into vaping a month or so back, so I can't really help you on recommendations on that one. But what I can do is welcome you to the community! I do hope you enjoy your stay here and good luck on your vaping journey

 

[Susan~S]

A company that sells a $30 e-cig for $119.99 claiming it 'was' a $279.99 e-cig deserves to receive a very special accolade by the vaping community.

And that word would have to be due to .

 

[djsvapour]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Alex Smith. Glad to have you here!

I often recommend an iStick 30 watt or Coolfire 4 (both mods) with an Aspire Mini Nautillus or eLeaf GS Air M (both tanks). Videos below.

Well done @Susan~S

You tell folk what you suggest they buy and I'll do the telling them how not get ripped off.

We could call it the Yin and Yang approach.

 

[suprtrkr]

Hi and welcome. +1 to @Sir2fyablyNutz The iStick/Nauti combo is a good place to start.

 

[djsvapour]

Hi and welcome. +1 to @Sir2fyablyNutz The iStick/Nauti combo is a good place to start.

Indeed it is.

I did 4 hours of work today (I know, it's the weekend, but overtime is overtime) and sat next to my work computer was a blue iStick 30w, a mini Nautilus and some 8mg fruity liquid.

Best of all, I didn't need to go to the bathroom for a stealth!! Hooray.

 

[Dextrose]

Welcome @Alex Smith to ECF you have found your way to the greatest place on the internet for anything vape related, as for a good starter setup i would suggest as was above, a istick 30 with a nautilus, not very expensive and work quite well.

 

[AngelaV]

Hi and welcome. I could also recommend the istick 30 with a nautilus. It's simple and reliable

 

[pbxbelmar]

Another +1 for the iStick 30 watt device.

The pen style devices are what many of us started with because they are 'like' a cigarette but most of us quickly end up leaving them behind. (I did...) They don't last long, rarely produce enough vapor to satisfy (not enough wattage) and, even if you get the type with a replaceable tank, don't hold enough eliquid to last a day and you end up fiddling with it all the time.
Nautilus mini is a good tank. I recently changed to a Cero tank which I like even better but it seems to only be available through a seller on ebay.

Along with your device (which should come with a charger) you need:
1. A tank (or two for a backup)

2. Coils for the tank - they need changing after a while because they will get gunked up from heating the juice. With the juices I use I generally end up changing mine once a week or so.

3. Eliquid - taste is very subjective and many first look for something that 'tastes like tobacco', but there really isn't one and why would you want something that has that nasty smell and aftertaste anyway? If you go to a local vape shop that has a 'juice bar' you can taste test a few to get an idea of what you like. Since you're a Newport smoker you might want to try one of the menthol varieties or something with that 'icy' overtone since that's what you're used to. Be aware that brick and mortar stores will have higher prices (usually) but nothing really compares to being able to try out something in-hand when you're just starting. It will likely take you a while to narrow down your preferences...some prefer fruity juice, others custards or bakery types, others tobacco/coffee/chocolate...you get the idea.

3. Information - your friend who vapes is a good place to ask questions and you've already found us here so you can ask anything and get ideas/info on whatever you need.

As for what nicotine level to get in your juice? I was smoking a pack and a half a day of menthol cigs. I started with 24mg and nearly coughed up a lung Went and got another juice at 18 and that was too harsh, too. For about the first year I slowly lowered my nic level and ended up at 6mg for a good long time but would keep a bottle of higher nic juice (12 mg) in an emergency tank for those 'I just want to kill somebody!' stressful moments... It's been my experience that the lower the nic, the more I can vape and the better the taste of the juice. I doubt I'll ever give up vaping.

So - though carrying a little square box around seems strange at first the iStick 30 is one of the easiest tanks to use with enough power to manage MANY different tanks, uses a micro usb to charge and holds a charge for all day long. It's small enough to hold in your hand for stealthy vaping, is comfortable, and inexpensive. I bought my first one over a year ago and it's still going strong and holds a charge all day.

 

[pbxbelmar]

Oh! And the iStick 30w starter kit is on sale here:
Eleaf iSmoka iStick 30W Box Mod Kit

*rats! shows out of stock. but do a google search and you should be able to find one at a decent price!

 

[gandymarsh]

I would also suggest the iStick 30w or iStick TC 40w with a Nautilus mini or Eleaf GS Air M. If you want to find good prices and coupon codes, go to Vapecrawler

 

[Alex Smith]

Thanks for the very valuable information this helped me a lot in understanding what I should be looking for. Based on what you said from your experiences Pbxbelmare, I will stick with around 18mg since I want enough to mimic what I'm used to but I don't it to be to much. Looking at the beginners guide that Susan posted and the comments from this thread, I'm looking at either the Vision eGo or the iStick 30w as my starter e-cig.

I'm gonna the guides posted from Susan so I know exactly what to do but the explanations in this thread helped me get a good idea so I appreciate that. It's funny though dsjvapor, my co-worker strongly recommended e-cig express for me to buy the stuff I would need..I'm glad I posted first since this forums seems knowledgeable on good suppliers. Glad I didn't purchase the Blu sticks, I was gonna try one out this morning from the local walgreens.

 

[djsvapour]

Well done @Alex Smith

There's probably nothing wrong with the e-cigs express shop. I don't know it, I just found some heinous marketing for a horridly over-priced e-cig store on the internet when I did a google search using those 3 words.

So, BLU is out. Perfect! Nobody should be buying Blu, certainly not in the UK and Europe, anyway.

 

[Susan~S]

Most tanks today use cotton as a wick (Nautilus & GS Air do). All cotton coils have to be "primed" well with juice. If they are not primed well the cotton will burn. Once the cotton is burned, the burned taste doesn't go away.

To prime the coil, drop 5-8 drops (sometimes less/more depending on the size of the coil head) of juice right inside the coil, another drop of juice in all the holes on the side of the coil. Put the coil in the base, fill the tank and screw the base back onto the tank. Once you put the tank on the battery give it several unpowered primer puffs. This will make sure the wick is fully saturated.

Turn you voltage/wattage down, tank a few hits, bump it up, couple more hits. Repeat until you find your "sweet spot". If your vape starts to taste burnt, dial it back down.

 

[nmackan]

Wellcome my friend And you did right choosing this forum. We old timers wait for new recruits every time to guide them right path.
My part is you would consider the liquid. The quitter is liquid not the device. You can quit with any device with right liquid. Once you found it you will want
long battery life, which will carry you to choose bigger mods
easy changing coil or easily remaking one (refer to youtube for that)
and all other fantasies will follow but liquid is the essence of the success.
So go ahead with suggested devices by always getting spares and lots of sample liquids to choose from whatever is right for you. Your smoking story will need at least 18mg/ml nicotine so use coils more than 1 ohm (Because I dont know these devices and whatever they are capable) In short if you use sub ohm (Less than 1 ohm) you can not use 18mg/ml 6mg/ml is the limit they say.

 

[hotrod351]

agree, not blu, i was lucky in that i spotted a vape store and stopped in. she showed me a itaste vv v3.0, also let me taste some flavors, menthol is what i sent with. set up my device and away i went. i would of never known about all the mods out there if i wouldnt stopped in. the main thing i found, and would recommend, is if you plane on vaping for a while then go with a device that you can change the battery, buy a charger and extra battery and away you go. that way if your battery is low and you need to go places you can simply swap out the battery and put your old one n the charger. or two devices, that way one is always charged. a device that has a digital display that tells you the charge of the battery is nice.

 

[Falconeer]

Welcome aboard; well done with your decision to opt for vaping.

I could go round the houses here but if you really want an easy to use set up that will simply work IMHO there is nothing better for a beginner than an iStick 30w topped with a Nautilus Mini. It offers variable airflow so you can adjust the draw til it suits you is easy to use and depending on how much you vape the iStick will run for up to 3.5 days.

As usual READ THE MANUALS before starting - they are simple but you really should read them. Get a couple of packets of coils as you'll need to replace them when you get THAT burned taste. May be get another iStick as a spare then....spend the money on good E liquid instead of even more kit.

It can be well worth while visiting a B&M Vaping Shop if it has a taste bar - this is really the only way to get an idea of what juices taste like as everyone's ideas/likes/dislikes are different.

All good luck and enjoy the journey!

PS Read and commit to memory the advice about Vaping Tecnique in the Beginner's Section - it is the guide to both success and satisfaction