Help me purchase for my longtime smoker dad

[imsoenthused]

Swimmingdancer, if you aren't having problems with battery life then you quite simply aren't using it like an average user. I understand that your device is working for you and I congratulate you on that. The experienced users on these forums will continue to try to help people meet their actual goal of quitting smoking, and part of that means continuing to warn people away from the lack luster performance and truly horrible battery life of all mini and super mini PVs, as well as the unreliability issues with all automatic PVs. If someone decides after learning about all these that form factor is more important than dealing with these frustrating facts then we will direct them to the least horrible option available. What we won't do is pretend that it's a good idea, sorry.

 

[Nikinic]

Personally my first was a cig look alike and after about a week I was back to analogs. The flavor was not the greatest and holding something that looked like an analog just made me want the real thing. Fast forward a year later and I got my LT clone and have not touched an analog since, nor have I had a single craving. Everyone is different. My advice to the OP is to talk to her dad about it and get an idea on what he feels will help him. vaping is all about personal preference so it is hard to know what will work, the important thing is to not stop trying. I admire you for wanting to help. I lost my dad two years ago to lung cancer and would have done anything to save him. Best of luck and I will keep him in my thoughts and hope that he joins in the wonderful world of vaping.

 

[sailorman]

Swimmingdancer, I would urge you to read the posts that come up every single day about people who had a hard time quitting until they changed PVs, vaped for a while and went back to analogs, almost gave up for good and gave up on vaping for various lengths of time.

Virtually every one of those stories has one thing in common. The poster was trying to quit with a mini-cig type battery.
If you smoke less than a 1/2 pack a day, you might have a decent chance with a mini. You'll pay too much money, but you have a fighting chance. Otherwise, you get caught up in constantly recharging batteries that lose capacity every time you recharge them and the length of time during which you get a quality vape decreases in each battery every time you recharge it. Unless you're on top of things and accumulate multiple batteries, you find yourself in the position of having a dying battery in one hand and a dead battery in the other hand while the third battery has another hour or more to charge. In a period of less than 2 months between the day I got my first 510 kit, and the time I got my BB mod, I had accumulated no less than 7 batteries and used each one at least once a day. Some of them had deteriorated to the point I couldn't use them for more than an hour or so before they needed a recharge. Constantly charging and rotating batteries wasn't a quality vaping experience. But at least they were manual. That's the only newb mistake I didn't make.

There are serious limitations to little batteries that no one and no juice and no carto can overcome. In the face of that fact, most people get over their initial fascination with LED lights, auto batteries and the analog form factor within a shockingly short period of time. Then, the mini that they have invested $100 or more in, gets relegated to a drawer and used for backup, if it gets used at all. They're just a bad deal all the way around and any time I can spare someone else from that mistake, especially someone not in the position to research and choose an upgrade, I'm going to do it.

 

[Pelagic]

Never charge batteries while you sleep.

Elaborate please?? I charge all my other (non-e-cig) batteries while I sleep, why should these be any different? Are you implying that it is dangerous? Cause I am certainly not going to sit and watch my batteries every time I charge them (and I can't imagine many others do either).

Swimmingdancer, if you aren't having problems with battery life then you quite simply aren't using it like an average user.

Have you ever tried these batteries? Perhaps (likely) batteries have greatly improved recently and/or vary greatly from brand to brand, because I am pretty much vaping constantly all day and only needing to charge every day or day and a half. I'm not kidding, I work for myself and so I am able to vape all the time other than when I'm sleeping, eating or showering - I dunno, maybe around 100 long puffs per day? (just guessing) It's possible that the battery performance is extra good right now because these batteries are not very old and that potentially they will get worse as time goes on, but I have 2 friends that use the same brand and they say they have the same results as me with battery life and one has been vaping for several years. The only thing that I've found annoying about the batteries is that they take a long time to charge.

The experienced users on these forums will continue to try to help people meet their actual goal of quitting smoking

I think there's also something valid in the viewpoint of someone who is not an experienced long-term vaper and who is freshly switching from cigarettes to e-cigs and can talk from very recent memory about what's working for them (and many others I've talked to). What works for everyone is different of course, and whatever works for someone is the best system for them, but I don't think you can just ignore the fact that for a lot of people initially a simple analog-lookalike is more desirable and/or helps them quit, even if it's just a mental thing, and even if they end up switching to something else after a couple months.

Also, did the OP say it was her dad's goal to quit smoking, or was that just her goal? Because I think that if vaping is not someone's own idea and/or they aren't that interested in quitting that these factors can be even more important.

Everyone is different. My advice to the OP is to talk to her dad about it and get an idea on what he feels will help him. Vaping is all about personal preference so it is hard to know what will work, the important thing is to not stop trying.

That is a good idea. I'm not sure whether the OP is even still reading this thread, but I am wondering, have you talked to your dad about it or are you planning for this to be a surprise? As one can see from this forum and even this thread, everyone has very different ideas about what is the best route for someone starting out and people seem to have very strong opinions when it comes to their personal preference. You could ask your dad what factors are most important to him. My personal answer was "something as similar to a cigarette as possible". After getting used to vaping it doesn't matter so much, but I think it was very important to get me to even give it a shot.

 

[tidegirl]

Elaborate please?? I charge all my other (non-e-cig) batteries while I sleep, why should these be any different? Are you implying that it is dangerous? Cause I am certainly not going to sit and watch my batteries every time I charge them (and I can't imagine many others do either).

They can, and have, exploded on the charger. If the protection in the charger fails, the battery continues to overcharge until it explodes.

Here is just one of the recent posts about an exploding battery. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ego-type-models/274928-my-husbands-ego-exploded.html

 

[imsoenthused]

Have you ever tried these batteries? Perhaps (likely) batteries have greatly improved recently and/or vary greatly from brand to brand, because I am pretty much vaping constantly all day and only needing to charge every day or day and a half. I'm not kidding, I work for myself and so I am able to vape all the time other than when I'm sleeping, eating or showering - I dunno, maybe around 100 long puffs per day? (just guessing) It's possible that the battery performance is extra good right now because these batteries are not very old and that potentially they will get worse as time goes on, but I have 2 friends that use the same brand and they say they have the same results as me with battery life and one has been vaping for several years. The only thing that I've found annoying about the batteries is that they take a long time to charge.

I have not used it, but can definitely say there have been no dramatic advances in battery technology lately. I would have to see the the specs for your particular model, but based on size and physical limitations of current battery tech it pretty much has to be around a 200 mah battery, possibly a little less, possibly as high as 300 mah. A pretty solid estimate for most people is 1 hour per 100mah. Some people get more than that based on intervals of use and depth of draw, but for your straight up hypothetical average smoker, slightly over pack a day, 11 drags per cigarette, it is a pretty solid guideline. It can be considerably less than this too, durring my first attempt to start vaping I was routinely killing a 220 mah mini in an hour and 20 minutes.

Not trying to negate your point, just letting you know that a lot of the bias you will see is rooted in hard learned lessons and failures. We really would rather share our experience and keep anyone else from making the same mistakes, and if we get a little opinionated about it it's honestly based on a desire to help. It's not easy to keep coming back and trying again after failing, and for many of us here mini PVs were a pretty major failure. We came back, tried again, and found something that worked, but I can't help thinking of all people out there who are a little less open to expirimentation and a little less stubborn who had similar first experiences to us and now not only will never try another PV but also tell every smoker they know what a joke they are and not to bother trying.

 

[scooter9o9]

I just make the switch from smoking to vaping not to long ago.

At first i was getting frustrated cause to me vaping didnt seam as easy as getting a cig out and smoking it. i just wanted to pick it up and vape, i didnt want to go through a bunch of stuff every time i needed a cig. I have since figured out a way to make it easy for me. I got me a KGO unit and some vision cartomizers that hold 2.5ml of juice and a lanyard to hang around my neck. I keep my KGO in my shirt pocket just like i did my cigs but the lanyard keeps it from falling to the floor when i bend over. Now when my hand automatically goes to my pocket for a cig it retrieves the KGO and i vape. Its that easy, its just as easy as smoking a cig. Cause i smoked so long my hand and brain are trained to do certain things when i need nicotine and i had to figure out a way to cover all my habits not just the nicotine addiction. I am much happier now that i have found the right combination of parts. i wish your DAD luck..

 

[VapingRulz]

Swimmingdancer, I would urge you to read the posts that come up every single day about people who had a hard time quitting until they changed PVs, vaped for a while and went back to analogs, almost gave up for good and gave up on vaping for various lengths of time.

Virtually every one of those stories has one thing in common. The poster was trying to quit with a mini-cig type battery.

I managed to quit with one of those pen styles from V4L. I was a heavy smoker of 37+ years and I quit immediately. Not only that but I used those 808's exclusively for almost two years. I still use them occasionally.

You do NOT need a large e-cig to be happy. My reason for recommending the KGO to the OP was that her dad sounds like he won't want to deal with frequently recharging batteries.

 

[autumn04]

I am still here. Thanks for even more responses. I will have to take some time to read through and understand the vernacular. I have yet to figure out how to go about this with my dad; whether to tell him beforehand or to just buy him them. I will let y'all know what I decide to do and the outcome. I am so grateful for your time.

 

[Katdavar]

Ego with a tank setup. Easy to fill and try different liquides. Start with high nic and work down. Personaly hate tabacco flavors but love the streight menthole.

 

[karen parkes]

i have copd and was a 2 pk a day smoker and it is working well for me ask him to please give this a shot i think it will work for him to.. it also make your body feel so much better!!!!!