Hello world, who I am and one question -long and rambling-

[Subservient]

Well, I may as well tell you all who I am as I plan on being here for a while.

The basics are that I am 25, got out of the US Army seven months ago for medical reasons, got a job doing satellite communications field support in Afghanistan. Got shot at, blown up a couple times and the thing that did me in was falling off the loading ramp of a Chinook coming home from the second deployment. C'est la vie.

I am a video gamer, physics and engineering enthusiast, firearm fanatic, automotive lover and rock climber in my spare time. If you ever have questions on any of those subjects, I can probably give you a good answer or find one for you, just message me.

So, here I sit in Afghanistan smoking like a chimney as I am wont to do when I'm bored, and let me tell you, there is no other job where you get paid so much to be so bored as Satellite Communications. During the breaks between cigarettes, one of the marines out here asks if I want to buy his electronic cigarette. He just doesn't like it and I have a reputation for smoking anything with nicotine. Sure, why not. Fifty bucks later and I now own a Blu cig set with a random assortment of flavors. Hey, coffee, that sounds awesome. I like coffee, and I love nicotine. Match made in heaven. First puff... Sweet mother of god what did I just put in my mouth. It tasted somewhere between the day old coffee that's been cooking the whole time and a chemical spill. Ok, coffees all go in the trash. That's ok, I still have six carts left in the other three flavors. Vanilla is next. I look at the cig with apprehension for a moment, wondering if I'd just gotten taken for a fifty. Deep pull. Slightly vanilla, but no chemical spill. Alright, we're cookin now. Pop in Fallout new Vegas and start puffing away as I wander the wasteland. Twenty minutes later, puff... Nothing. Ok, battery is dead. Pull the other off the charger, puff, alright, crisis averted. Ten minutes later, there's that chemical spill again. Burnt plastic. Carts out. Easy enough. Next on the block is cherry. Can't go wrong with cherry. Same story. Forty five minutes, cart is done. Wow, these things go quick. Thought they were supposed to have a pack a piece. Maybe it's just me. tobacco goes on. Not nearly as good as the other two and it's the one I was looking forward to. It's got a little icon of a pipe. So pipe tobacco? Not so much. Kinda tastes like a cigarette if you smoke it too close to the filter.
So, two days of puffing on the thing and I'm out of cartos. Time to order more. Seven bucks for five? Hell, I smoked that many a day. That's worse than my smokes.
Research time.
Enter both modern vapor and this forum. After poking around during one of my insomniatic benders, I've settled on a 902, a bunch of refillable cartos and three different flavors. A least for now. I've been banned from nicotine purchases on anything but my VA checks by the wife, so any more experimentation will have to wait till next month. So, shopping cart is full, enter all the info... Transaction denied... Ok, I know I'm not ......ed, but it's telling me that the bank says my billing address is wrong. Check the billing address according to the bank. The only difference is that my phone number has dashes on one, not on the other. Much cursing later, I try again... Declined. Insufficient funds. Ok bank man, now you're just messing with me. Sure enough, the first time I tried to order, it put a pending transaction in, locking those funds. The only funds I have for the month.
Well, crap. So here I am writing to all you fine people, bored, order-less and unable to sleep.

So, the one question I have for y'all. For a seriously heavy smoker, how much juice would I need to order in order to make it through a month? I saw in another thread that a carto will last right around a week of constant use, so I ordered three five-packs to be safe. The only thing I'm worried about is running out of the tasty stuff and going back to the smokes. They make me feel like hammered crap in the morning when combined with all the other joyous crud I inhale just by being here. I have four ten ml bottles, two each of energy cow (hopefully it actually tastes like red bull) and USA havanna, and two 20 ml bottles of ry4 which sounds like it should be somewhere between listening to good music and intimacy on the pleasure scale.

Let me know what y'all think, and I'll answer any questions you have about me. I'm very much looking forward to having a new hobby I can actually do out here.

Cheers

 

[dormouse]

Yes they go quick. Blu is a small ecig and is that the 2-piece Blu like the current model? That uses cartomizers, not cartridges

Most cartomizers are just 1ml (but better than the cartridge of a 3-piece ecig which is only 1/2 ml). You can only vape cartomizers down about 1/2 way before worrying you might singe the stuffing. So as soon as a cartomizer's vapor seems a bit dry or a bit weak or a bit funny tasting or the carto is vaping too warm, I take it off the battery, pop the top, add some juice, clean it, recap and continue to vape. I often use a plastic or delrin drip tip as a mouthpiece on the end of the carto so it's easier to pull out for adding juice (also a comfortable mouthpiece)

I use Boge standard resistance 510 cartomizers on manual Joye 510 (you can also use these blanks on Blu though Blu is reverse electrical polarity and shorter battery life than 510 so they cannot share chargers - would fry the battery). And on my hotter slim model KR808D-1 manual (Vapor4Life and SmokelessImage's Volt) I use Vapor4Life cartomizers and some use the Smokeless Image cartos. I mostly use blanks with thin light color juices (20% Vg or less and light colored for less chance of leaving carto-clogging flavoring sediment). Those are the two most popular and most supported slim ecigs. Most people here use and recommend manual batteries - they are much harder to damage or kill with a juice leak, won't turn on accidentally from wind or vibration, and make it easier to get a good hit. BTW Vapor4Life has some camo colored batteries with no LED

And also - there is an armed services forum here on ECF
Armed Services Forum

Once you have 5 non-spammed posts or replies in New members and wait about an hour, them you can post elsewhere

 

[JC Okie]

Hi, and welcome to the forums. On your question about how much juice you need.....the average vaper goes through around 3ml per day. Of course, everybody's different, and it really just depends on how much you vape. But at least that's a place to start. So.....30ml would last around 10 days.....so 90ml for a month...at least. But another BIG variable is the nic content of your juice. What mg of nicotine is the juice you've ordered? If it's too low, you'll vape a lot more and run out faster.

Sorry for all your hassles in getting started! Also, you will probably want to "upgrade" your e-cig one of these days. The Blu doesn't have the best reputation....esp. for battery life. There are bigger batteries that will last several hours (versus the 1-2 hours for a Blu per charge, most likely.)

Read around these forums and you'll learn a LOT. Go visit the ECF library...it's full of good info.

Good luck....and thanks for your service!

Jan

 

[NicLiq]

Hi - sorry about the mess with ordering. I'm going to re-read your post again, but for now, I think you need at least 30 ml per week just to be on the safe side.

 

[dormouse]

Re how much juice in a month, only you can know that. Figure each cartomizer is 1ml. How many do you vape per day? That's about how many ml of juice you are using per day.

 

[NicLiq]

Hopefully the pending transaction will clear up in about 2 days. I just looked at the 902 system, and I think if you're willing to spend that much, maybe you'd be better off with a bottom feeder mod using cartomizers, so look through this thread when you're bored: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ttom-feed-juice-box-mods-available-links.html

Another idea would be an e-power from Liberty-Flights.com which uses a mod battery.

Are you staying in Afghanistan because of the job? I felt bad reading what you've been through, I hope you can come home soon, if it works out.

 

[Subservient]

I've seen the bottom feeders but I'm wanting to stick with something that is easier to chomp on while I've for my hands full. When I do have an issue with my systems, it tends to be buried in a rats nest of cables and I'll have a smoke in my mouth as I work. Was the same way with the Blu while I was smoking it.
As for the mg fluid I've got lined up, it's all 24 mg. I'm hoping it'll be strong enough that I won't have to suck down 30ml a week, but if so, then so be it. This is the initial order with all the hardware, so I can only order so much. Next month I'll be able to go further with juice and cartos. I saw those xl cartos for the lux and from what I've read, they work on the 902 bats without issue, so I'll probably be picking up a boatload of those too.
I'm buzzing to actually have the thing in my hands, but I've got to take care of the bank thing and order them, then wait 2 weeks to a month for them to actually arrive. I really dig the fact that they have free shipping for stuff if the order is over 100 bucks.
As for the staying here question, yeah, I'm staying out here. The money is just too good to pass up despite the living conditions and crap food. Though stir fry nights are awesome. Now I want some stir fry...
As for everything that's happened so far, it happens. I joined the army knowing I was going to the sandbox and all that came with it, and it got me this job, which is setting me and my wife up for a very comfortable life after a few years. Would I rather not have to worry about my legs going numb if I turn wrong, yeah, but I can't, won't be angry at something that's given me an opportunity to have a half million dollars in the bank by the time I'm 35.
I'm sure that at some point I'll have a little extra in my bank account and I will be able to order a bottom feeder for those long nights where nothing happens, bit we'll see how I like the 902 once I get it.

Thanks for the replies so fast. Never been in a forum this active.

Cheers

 

[erich]

I'm a noob to all this too, so take it with a grain of salt, but maybe a couple of weeks ahead of you, so perhaps some will be of use.

e-liquids are rated in mg of nicotine... mg/per what? you might ask. *Generally this means mg/ml, and you buy the bottles by ml size, so that should get you an idea.
Electronic Cigarette Nicotine Content | Electronic Cigarette Web lists your typical analogs to get an idea of what you're accustomed to.

Anecdotally I've found that a refillable cartomizer generally holds somewhere between 0.7ml and 1ml. So from there we need to figure out how much you would want for roughly 'evening out' on what you would normally smoke. That's the mls. Think of how long it would have taken you to puff through a pack of (insert brand here), multiply that by 20, and then divide that by the strength of your e-juice. I know, I know... math, but it's not much. Using our Marlboro red example:
1.2 x 20 = 24mg
So a pack of Marlboro reds has about 24mg in there.

From there, you kinda have to make a guess on your style. I tend to smoke more often, but less at a time because I don't have to get up and go to the designated smoking area, and can finish whenever. i.e. you're not waiting for it to burn out to have the sense of "ok, it's time to go" that you do with an analog. For the reds comparison above, 2 cartomizers filled with 7.5ml of 16mg juice makes them both about a half a pack each. If 2 carts last as long as a pack would, then you're good to go.

Oh, and try to avoid getting to the chemical taste on a cart. It'll start having wimpy vapor before that point, but once there, it's burning the filler and you'll never be free of it. As long as you refill while still a little wet you can get a lot longer than the "expected fills" out of 'em.

* Generally because I've heard there are some that rate it at mg/1.25ml, but haven't run into one of those yet.

Hope that helps!

 

[Subservient]

I read some threads about the 902 cartos that said basically the same thing, to refill once the flavor starts changing. The blus didn't taste good enough in the first place for me to worry about, and I don't have any refill juice yet, so yeah.

Apparently it's around 25 drops for first fill, and around 10-15 for refills. I'm getting a drip tip to make the refilling easier, so I don't have to worry about dropping those little o-rings and such.

I have 100 ml of juice in the cart ready to order. I'm hoping I don't burn through this stuff too fast. Gotta make it last till I can get my next order.

 

[erich]

That outta get you there. I think I'm leveling out at about 45 ml a month.

I get the impression that it's pretty easy to increase your nic intake with these, since it's easy to vape all day, where you wouldn't smoke that much with analogs. Still trying to figure out the right strength to buy to keep it about the same. In your situation of waiting a month between orders, better too much than too little, though.

 

[Subservient]

My thought exactly. I'm shooting to be able to order the first batch, make it last till the next gets here with more flavors in greater quantity and more cartos. I'm hoping to build up a stash so that when the mail decides to not arrive for a week and catches my shipment of goodies, I'll still be ok.
As for easily upping the nic intake, yeah, that is a problem. I'll have to figure out if I need to drop a level once I've vapid this batch. I know when I had flavors that didn't suck for the Blu, I blew through them quick. On that same token though, I have no clue what the mg/ml measure was for those, though I'm assuming it was 18mg seeing as it came from a fellow chain smoker.
I am not a patient dude and just waiting to be able to take care of the bank stuff is killing me, let alone waiting the two weeks for my goodies to arrive once I order.
You'd better believe I'm going to do an unboxing and review for the forum once my stuff arrives. I can't wait and I like being able to share my... Exuberance.

 

[jj2]

Great post---made me laugh and sad at the same time!!!
Hope all is cleared up with the bank soon.

 

[Pamdane]

IT sounds to me as if you will be heavy vaper. If so, you are going to need more batteries. I am not a fan of auto batts, but in your situation, I suspect thats what you will need. I suggest you order a lot more juice than you anticipate. Even though it may sound like something you will like, it is unlikely you will like them all. Nothing worse than getting it and trashing it(BTW, dont trash it, keep it to trade with another vapor when you come across one). I also suggest you look for an automatic fat battery. It will last you much longer. One word of advise: do not fill your cartos while attached to your auto battery- you will fry them and in your situation, you cant afford it. Many of the suppliers on the forum will send to APO addresses, and shipping can be quick. Check those out. For taste bud nirvana try Vermillion River, their flavors tend to be dead on. Also, take advantage of Coupon Codes and sales. Subscribe to those threads.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...iscussion/146219-coupon-code-master-list.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/pay-forward-pif/85781-deals-steals.html
Best wishes, and stay safe.

 

[Subservient]

I dig the two threads you linked. Much appreciated.

I'm way ahead of you on the battery issue. The two batteries are only for while I'm on the move or elbows deep in electronics. The vast majority of the time I'm sitting and basking in the glow of an LCD monitor. Thank goodness for USB passthroughs. One of those is coming as well. I'm figuring that I'll only be using the batteries while walking to work and when issues arise. It's about two miles to work and back, taking around 25 minutes in foot seeing as we still haven't gotten the vehicle promised by corporate.

I've already read the horror stores of filling cartos on auto bats, so I know that's a no-go. I'm still trying to find a holder of some sort so I don't end up getting my precious juice all over the place. If all else fails, I'll make something out of heavy Gage wire to help out. My hands shake something fierce from time to time. Not sure why.

I'm gonna start sorting through the deals and start drawing up a wish list of taste bud tantalization for this coming first. Again, much appreciated for pointing out the two links.

Btw, beautiful Dane. My wife shows Aussies from time to time. We've got two of them and an oversized sheltie. The sheltie is my boy. I miss all of them.

 

[Xaria]

I would get different mgs of nicotine. You sound like you will be a heavy/chain vaper. You can get a higher mg to take the edge off for when you really need that hit, and use a very low mg, between 0-11mg to sit around and chain vape. Or you can be like some folks and chain vape 24mgs all day everyday..hehe. Your body will tell you when you getting too much. Get backups on everything, batteries, even the chargers. That juice will do you no good if you can't vape. Good luck.

 

[Subservient]

Oh trust me, I don't like not having replacement parts. Each month I'll be ordering more pieces to add to the arsenal and stash. As for ordering lower mg for all day vaping, that's gonna have to wait till I have enough of a stash to not worry about running out during a month between orders. I have a budget of +\- 250 to buy anything I want during a month. I try and keep my fingers out of the main paychecks, as my wife is the chief of finances and is doing wonderful things for our credit scores. This month was short as I bought my normal couple cartons of smokes for the first two weeks of the month on my card by accident.
Next month I need a new pair of shoes, as my Oakley boots are finally starting to show the beatings I give them daily on the gravel out here. But after that, my expenditures should be primarily on juice and accessories.
I'm buzzing to get this stuff ordered and I'm mouth-frothingly bored as I don't have to be at work for another eight hours. Once I'm there I can take care of the bank screwiness and get my goodies ordered. Then it's the long, dreaded wait for the mail out here. I ordered a power supply for my Mac back on July 7th and it has yet to arrive. I'm hoping the goodies don't get caught up in mail limbo like that, but that's life, eh?

 

[Xaria]

Also being in such an arid environment, try to find a dark cool place to store your nic juices, I had read on the forum someplace that light/heat might cause nic to lose it's strength.

 

[VapingRulz]

You ordered a good nic level; 24mg is good for a heavy (former) smoker. That's what I use and I go through about 60ml a month. I don't know much about the ecig you ordered but good luck!

 

[Subservient]

Well, the ordeal is half way done. It took some magic on the part of Sandra over at modern vapor to get my order to go through, and I tip my hat to her and everyone over there. Their customer service is among the best I've ever dealt with. Final order is as follows,
2x Auto Batteries
1x USB Passthrough
3x 5 Packs of Cartomizers
1x Smart PCC w/ USB charging cable
2x Different drip tips (A and C model)
1x USB Battery Charger
3x 20 mL - 24 mg RY4 Juice
2x 10 mL - 24 mg USA Cherry
2x 10 mL - 24 mg Energy Cow
and to top it all off a 10% discount I found on the forum here.
Final damage to the financials, just over 155 dollars.
I can't wait for this thing to arrive. I'll be doing a full unboxing/review type thingy once it arrives so that if anyone else is interested, they can at least get my impressions of the thing. I will most definitely be ordering from them again simply due to the excellent customer service they have.
Now... we wait. 8+ days till it arrives.