Hello! New vaper (cigarette / hookah convert)

[cymptom]

Hi everyone! New and excited vaper here.

I was a hookah smoker for about 8 years and when I moved to Japan gradually became a full-time cigarette smoker as well. Everyone smokes everywhere here, which makes it really hard to abstain once you've started. I spent a month back in the States for the holidays and used that as a chance to jump-start the quitting process so to speak, and so I haven't smoked a cigarette since December 19th.

I did miss smoking a lot though, so I ended up going back to my hookah until I decided to ditch those nasty charcoals and check out the vaping scene. As a hookah smoker I'm already a lover of tinkering and the joy of taking in clouds of delicious VG/PG nicotine vapor, so I knew I was gonna dig it.

I placed my first order on Mt. Baker Vapor about 2 weeks ago - iTaste MVP 2, iClear 30, and a few juices at 80% PG, 18mg nic. and one at 65/35. I loaded up my first vape -- "White Out", a white tic tac kinda flavor at 80/20, 18mg nicotine. Did some primer puffs for a while to get it going, and then took my first inhale. BOOOM it knocked me on my .... Not only did it kinda hurt the throat, but the nicotine buzz just totally floored me in one hit. This ended up being pretty much unvapable for me. I tried letting it sit for a while, doing more primer puffs, but everytime I tried to inhale it felt like inhaling cigar smoke.

After a day I gave up, cleaned out the clearomizer and loaded up Vanilla Butternut (65/30, 18mg) nicotine. This was still heavy, but still very enjoyable for me. I ended up smoking the whole tank, and although it was still a little bit harsher than what I wanted (I could only really do 1 puff every 2 minutes at the most and it left my throat a bit irritated), it was a lot better than the 80/20. I tried a few other 80/20 juices and couldn't do them either, so I don't think it has anything to do with the flavorings.

I had read that the higher the PG content, the greater the throat hit is going to be, and I thought that since I'm used to smoking a pretty heavy brand of hookah tobacco I'd be fine. But damn, it feels like inhaling a cigar. Is this normal or do I have some kind of PG intolerance? Even just holding the vapor in my mouth quickly leads to a burning sensation. This doesn't happen so much with the 65/35 even though the nicotine content is the same.

I went back on Mt Baker Vapor and ordered a bunch of juices with lower PG and nicotine, so we'll see how that goes. I guess what I'm looking for is something comparable to a heavy hookah smoke (ala Tangiers, desi murli, if anyone has ever tried it).

Anyway, that's my story so far! I'm not necessarily asking for advice, but if anyone's got some I'd be glad to listen!
Can't wait to get more into vaping and this seems like a good place to learn, so I'm excited to be here.

Cheers!

Chris

 

[Vappers]

Awesome job man! Welcome to an amazing community. These people are all very supportive and will answer any question you have.. Dont be afraid to ask either!

btw: Im the first reply, YES!

Edit: As far as advice goes, try less PG... PG tends to give a higher "Throat hit" and more of a harsh hit. There are many of us in this community that are PG Sensetive and use 100% VG, i am one of them. Try that!

 

[cymptom]

Thanks man!

I've got a new order on the way already! 50 50, 20 80, and max VG - i figured I'd try them all and see what works best. All at 6mg nicotine, which is probably still more than the extra lights I was smoking. Not sure what I was doing at 18mg, haha.

Random questions - does PG actually produce any visible vapor when vaporized? Or is it all the VG?

Is the max VG likely to vape better in a carto or in my iclear 30? I ordered some boge cartos to try out, too.

Sent from my ISW13HT using Tapatalk

 

[revco]

Welcome to ECF!

Throat hit, as it's called, is primarily tied to three main things. Nicotine content, the temperature at which the liquid is vaporized and the juice itself. With the nicotine, it's probably not a wise idea (as you found out) to do more than what you're used to or your body needs. With the heat, you can try more voltage or a lower resistance coil/carto and it'll get a little warmer and hit harder. Lastly, some juices hit harder than others...cinnamons, for example, hit pretty hard...cucumber mint, however, does not. PG "sort of" hits harder, but it's really that VG hits less hard...at least from my perspective and experimentation.

My first guess is you probably don't have a PG intolerance, but maybe...it's your body and it'll usually not feel right on several fronts. Flavor being too heavy is not usually a symptom, but maybe a preference. You might try some lighter juices, that might fit the bill, and be a little less heavy on the mouth and lungs. Sample far and wide until you find something that works for you, it's a learning experience for all of us.

Welcome to ECF and glad you decided to join us! Thanks for the read!

 

[ZeroOhms]

Welcome to ECF!
When you are just starting out, I would suggest getting various combinations of Juice. Not just flavor, but mix ratio.
Try both 12 and 18mg nic level. Also, try 100%, 100% VG, and 50/50 mix.
This is mainly to figure out if you have any allergy against the PG/VG and finding the right nic level. Once you find the sweet spot, you can venture out to different flavors.
I initially started out with mostly 18mg and some 12mg. After a while, I was able to reverse it to mostly 12mg and a few 18mg. Having different level nic juice available is important when you start to vape hard. For typical cig times (morning, after meal.. etc), you will want 18mg juice. If you are just chain vaping during the day, try to use 12mg. Chain vaping happens to lots of people initially since they can vape indoor.

 

[ElectricalSocket]

Welcome! Yeah PG can be harsh. I'm using 50-60% VG and like it a lot. If I haven't vaped in a while or it's first thing in the morning, the PG will still be a tad harsh at first. After a few good drags (sometimes more than a few), the VG will coat your throat a little and then the PG will give a nice throat hit (irritation), but it won't be harsh.

On the nic side, you might want to get some 12mg to play with too. Sometimes I want the juice strong enough to take 5-10 drags and be good, sometimes I want it to be low enough that I can puff on it for a while without getting nauseous.

Keep at it and you'll figure out what works best for you! This is the best time to get into vaping too, with the better quality stuff coming out.

 

[ElectricalSocket]

ZeroOhms: Haaaa you beat me to it. Great advice.

 

[TheReign]

^^^ what he said! I vape 18 MG consistently and find it's the perfect amount of nicotine for me as well as the 5050 PGVG ratio.

In my drippers I just use 0 MG cause i do it for more flavor than the throat hit or buzz. Thats what my SVD is for

If you get into mechanicals and RDA style vapes, You'll find it resembles Hookah allot. Lots of vapor and lots of taste, Reason why I love my mech so much i'm getting another one soon!

 

[LoriVanPelt]

congratulations Chris and welcome to this merry group of misfit toys it is a wonderful hobby and a cleaner way to live. glad to have you on this journey with us

 

[cymptom]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

I'm interested in eventually getting into RBAs and mechanical mods, but I think I've been intimidated a bit by all the talk of safety issues and whatnot. I'm also going through a sort of hectic time in my life and I'm not sure that I have the time to spend to educate myself and do it all properly and safely.

Why is it that mechanicals and RBAs can produce so much vapor and flavor? Lower resistance coils? I'm not yet entirely sure why something that achieves the same effect hasn't been made commercially available, and why it requires all the tinkering and rebuilding on the part of the consumer. Not that I'm complaining -- I like a hobby that rewards me for hard work and effort I just don't completely understand it...