Vaping = smoking. Continuing to vape means i had absolutely no intention of giving up smoking.
I am left wondering, quite often, why people smoke. I had or have my reasons for doing what i do. Reading what others have to say about their reasons confuses me. It isn't just about the subliminal addiction to nicotine. For me it's about the conscious sensation i get.
I don't get that from using Proylene glycol, though some say they do, and it's comments such as this which confuse me. Lots of people get theirs from high power, again this confuses me because the same can be achieved using low power.
If i build my current coil it works for me at low power, which is ideal. I could build with thicker wire or use an exotic coil and use a lot more power. All this using the same atomizer. In any case this atomizer produces a sensation i require. I wouldn't use a lot more electricity to produce the exact same effect !. And as i said this atomizer works with any coil build.
Then i might read about an atomizer which apparently works but only with the right coil build...........? It works for them, and as subjective they say it is, they are still recommending it ?. This information is everywhere. And i remain completely confused.
Other information like flavour also confuses me too. Smoking tobacco is disgusting, it tastes awful. Though a lot of vapers, it seems, are more concerned about flavour than anything else. It just doesn't add up, not for me anyway. Smoke something for years on end which tastes disgusting, then when switching to vaping are now concerned with how it tastes !?. Didn't seem to matter to them before !.
My vapour taste bad, Choc fudge brownie/coconut, unsweetened !. May sound nice but isn't at all. When i'm not vaping that i vape Cappuccino unsweetened.
I'd say that it's very common for vapers to talk online about vaping being a "hobby". I kind of agreed with that for a short time but lost sight of why i was vaping to start with. Some refer to mods and vapourizers as "toys". Hobbies !, toys !, doesn't sound like vapers take vaping at all seriously.
Then i thought about the regulations that were being considered. It wouldn't have taken those concerned and involved with regulations much time to research and study the vaping community, via forums such as ECF, or over a prolonged period of time if they chose to, and treat it as evidence for the need for regulation. After reading, not about people/vapers/members concerned with health issues related to smoking etc, but hobbies and toys vapers are talking about. Gathering such data could only really lead to one result. So now the entire vaping world is regulated.
The evolution of online forums has been shaped by their members. There is a social structure which incorporates a kind of protocol. And it is a protocol which will remain unchanged. Reardless of how much damage it may have caused to the survival of vaping.
Forums are fundamentally about the promotion of the latest thing, but oddly, not by the forums or it's affiliates, but by the members.
There are no forums or even sub forums which are dedicated to actually dealing with addiction to nicotine/smoking. Maybe existing forums began with that in mind but as time went by members shaped those forums, not into a "smokers annonymous" type place but more like an adult toy shop. And it "will" continue, and regulations are more than likely to become more stringent.
After all there are lterally 10's of thousands of willing participants who can all take part in an ongoing online study who all have plenty to say about their latest "toys". With plenty of existing participants to help them to help themselves into expanding their "clique".
There really is no other place on earth for government officials to come to gather data/evidence on how the vaping community is evolving than an online forum.
Having said that though there are a few, just a few members spread out across the internet who do actually provide help to those who are looking for it. Those who are experts on the safety aspects of vaping are the ones i am referring to.
For many vapors, vaping does not in any way equal smoking.
I was beginning stages of emphysema more than likely, although I hadn't yet had the testing done.
I couldn't walk to my mailbox without taking rest breaks to catch my breath by the time I turned to vaping. Nor could I do housework for any length of time without my lips turning blue - there was so much damage to my lungs that I could no longer get enough oxygen.
Vaping rather than smoking turned that around... 100%. My lungs healed.. my doctors are thrilled.
I didn't want to smoke. By the time I was 27 years old (I'm 49 now) i tried to quit smoking about once a year.. tried everything to quit, hypnosis, the patch, prescription medication by the dozens. .. nothing I tried helped get me through the withdrawals enough to get free from cigarettes.
And I hated smoking. .. but I was addicted. I found nothing enjoyable about it outside of continual relief of withdrawal symptoms.
I lost my sense of taste due to smoking - got it back when I began vaping - something most people do which is why flavor is important to vapors.
But smoking? I couldn't even quit when they told me I had pre cancer cells growing in my throat - supposedly my entire throat is covered with pre cancer cells, had a camera down my throat to find out the problem, and that was it.
Doc said quit smoking now and it might not turn into full blown cancer...STILL couldn't quit.
It took vaping to free me from cigarettes because it helps with the hand to mouth habits and gives you enough nicotine to get you through the withdrawals.
But as I said before, for those of us who lost our sense of taste, and got it back after vaping for a while, flavor is everything. .. cinnamon roll is my favorite.
If you don't like the taste of what your vaping, perhaps look for something you actually enjoy. There is a plethora out there, experiment...
As for not understanding the hobby aspect - you don't have to.. but we aren't addicts anymore, save a ton of money every month because we aren't smoking anymore, and it's kind of cool and fun to try new things.
It's like kids with their latest Xbox games and newest electronics. . We are just older and vaping actually can be fun, because we make it fun.
No one need understand. ... for some, perhaps even most, it's a means to an end... some of us just play a bit here at our end..
In the end though, we are all different people with different tastes and different styles and reasons... and that makes vaping an individual thing.
No one is wrong or weird, the point is that we aren't smoking anymore, and whatever helps do that for anyone is a definite win!
