Hi all - new member, initial setup

[fcon]

Hi guys and girls,

I signed up for the forum not long ago after stumbling on some posts about Long Island Vapors from another user. I would have messaged them to get some more info but it doesn't seem like this site has a messaging feature, that or I missed it.

Anyway, before I get into my setup, I should mention that I'm a non-smoker. I smoke black and milds socially, now probably replaced by my PV, but I go for 0 nic vape if I can. This may be a bit uncommon since a lot of recommendations for juice and such come from smokers who look for nicotine levels and flavors to match their former go-to cigs. I just enjoy a variety of flavors, and given the right combination, a sweeter tobacco I'd probably enjoy too, i.e. an RY4 which I have to shop around for still. On top of all that, I'm also a modder by lifestyle: computers, cars, etc. I fix phones/ipads and such, so I like to tinker. However, seeing the size of some of the modded PV's out there, I'm not sure if I want to walk around with something that flashy, while it would look nice, I think it would bring too much out of my inner nerd, at the sacrifice of freeing up pocket room, so the extra bulk doesn't strike my fancy.

So, I've only researched the past couple of weeks, started off getting a couple of disposables from 7-elevens, killed the apple flavored one already. My brother mentioned he found a deal on Slickdeals.net for a $20 Fantasia Ehookah setup from smokeythestore.com. I figured sure why not. Turns out it's been working pretty good, and going by some ebay sellers I've been talking to for extra tanks/carts, it's basically an ego 510 threading battery and a small 1.6ml kanger knockoff. I think basically it's close in appearance to a Kanger Evod kit. I haven't had issues, the charge would last me at least a half a week, so I'm content. After that, bought some ejuice from a seller on ebay, his stuff was alright so far, depending on the flavor, but it was cheap and I got 6 flavor samples for $7, so I can't complain. Bought myself some kanger t2 tanks which came yesterday (I believe they're knockoffs, but they're rebuildable, so they get the job done for now) and ordered a few things from Ms. T's bakery, excluding tobacco since her tobacco flavors weren't really what I was looking for.

Future goals: Now that I have one PV, sometimes I feel like I want to go out and not have such a flashy/bulky setup, so my next step is to find out if there's a decent PV kit that's kind of like a V2 or an Njoy, where it's a disposable ecig size as far as diameter, but still has blank carts that I can use for dedicated flavors. Ideally, it would be nice to find a disposable sized battery or two, and have a 510 threading so I can a. use my charger from my Fantasia setup, and b. use a bigger tank instead of a mini blank cart if I felt like it. Might look a little silly, but whatever. In either case, it's hard to use these terms and get an accurate google search since the market for these things is flooded right now, so if anyone has recommendations, I'm all ears. I stumbled on a site with a Halo kit that looks like its disposable sized, so that may be around what I'm looking for.

So yeah, that's my story in a nutshell, to kind of sum up, I'm looking to end up buying the following:

1. a bunch of juice that's not too crazy expensive, mostly sweets/some fruits like banana cream pie or a good blueberry crumble or apple pie, so far I'll see how Ms. T's does
2. a second PV to bring out that isn't so conspicuous as the Fantasia setup, so something like a Halo, Njoy, etc sized PV where I can use blank carts, or preferrably 510 threading to tie into my other gear.

Also, I was curious about VV and such, but while I understand people use higher voltage to cook the vapor easier, or hotter, i don't get why some people would use a higher voltage battery only to use a higher resistance tank, like 3+ ohm. I figure you would get the same result with a higher voltage and higher resistance than you would dimming down the voltage with an LR coil. Perhaps someone can clear that up.

Anyway, good to meet you ahead of time, I'm not sure how active I'll be on the site, but I know as far as reviews go, once I get into it, I give pretty good details. I'm part of a cologne forum on Fragrantica.com and some of those guys say I should be writing reviews, so we'll see how well that transfers to this site, lol.

FCon

 

[jrenae4]

Hi and welcome! Unfortunately it seems common here that you won't be getting your Ms. T's juice for quite some time. There were some threads dedicated to it that have closed now, but I think customers were looking at 6+ weeks or more. I don't really think anyone knows what's going on. I haven't personally ordered from her but perhaps someone who has can chime in.

For a banana pudding, let me suggest this: Flavor of the Week | The Plume Room I got my sample yesterday and it's to die for. It's the special of the week so 10.50 for 30 ml. Pretty good deal. My other favorite bakery flavor is Twas Brilig by Alice in Vapeland, who opens tonight around 10 pm.

As far as small set ups go, I can't really help you specifically for what you're looking for, but again I'm sure someone will chime in soon Welcome and good luck!

 

[Whip1tz]

Mt Baker Vaopr has good flavors for a good price. Kbeevapour also has great juice for a great price. For the cig-a-like check out VolcanoWV they are in morgantown WV but they ship. nice store and good juice aswell. Also to answer about the VV/VW devices you can fine tune to your taste. Like for me on my Provari i run my 1.6 ohm micro coil at 4.6v and thats where im happy at. Different juice may not taste the same at 4.6v so i can adjust from there till i find my sweet spot. Thats why some people like the VV/VW option on there mods. Hope this helped you some.

 

[StevenServo]

mt baker would be a decent place to start... maybe look in to zamplebox? its 24.99 but they will send you a variety of different flavors to try... just not sure you can do 0 nic

 

[Rob0506]

Welcome fcon,
I can explain some things about variable voltage to you. Imagine you are making a 2 ohm coil and it takes 6 wraps of nichrome. A 3 ohm coil will take about 9 wraps. That provides a larger surface area but requires higher voltage to get the same heat. A similar thing happens with dual coil setups. If you have a 1.5 ohm dual coil carto, you are actually driving 2 3-ohm coils. If you give it the same voltage you would for a single coil 1.5 ohm carto it will seem a little anemic.

Another advantage of variable voltage or variable wattage mods is that the power stays consistent through the life of the battery. Unregulated devices will start out at around 4.2 volts straight off the charger, but quickly drop to their nominal voltage of 3.7, then eventually fade to 3.5. Regulated devices maintain the same voltage until they need to be recharged.

-Rob

 

[fcon]

This helps a bit and is a good start, thanks.

@jrenae4 - I actually googled around for best eliquids and a few people have mentioned Alice in Vapeland, but some of the flavors that were mentioned don't seem to be made anymore - Avox being one of them and Ecto Plasma being the other. I've heard White Rabbit and B/W cookie are also good, but I didn't feel like spending $22 on 2 flavors for now, so eventually maybe I'll get on a flavor trade. Also a shame on the waiting list for Ms. T's so I guess I'm getting other stuff in the meantime. Someone from ebay also mentioned Mister E Liquids or something like that, so I may check them out, AVEjuice I have wanted to get some Gorilla Juice, PV Bees Knees since it's basically a sweeter Flue Cured, and Coconut Mojito, I just need to see if AV can do the tobacco ones with 0 nic.

Banana pudding sounds good, I'll check it out, and Whip1tz, I have heard of Mt Baker Vapor as well, I'll look into those, as well as VolcanoWV as well. Assuming you have swung by Halo's site at one point or another, might I be accurate in guessing the Halo is another cig-a-like type? It's cool you have a Provari, but last time I saw they were around $200 and just closed out the page, lol. As I said, not looking to go nuts for a PV to start, what I have now vapes well enough, but also depends on the juice. Fantasia themselves had some pretty awesome flavors, my brother got a 10 flavor starter kit so I've been trying some of his out. Peach fuzzy navel is good, dirty blonde which is pretty pineapple-focused, magic dragon which is mint berry, all good in their own ways, but I would like to just find good dessert and tobacco flavors for now, some dessert ones seem to suck, but you get what you pay for I suppose.

I have started to like gummy bears flavor from Zvapes on ebay, it grew on me after a few refills, but that may also be due to extra steeping time.

 

[fcon]

This makes more sense now, understandable. Well I guess until I find more friends in the area with more setups, I'm going to try not to break the bank and buy one of each type, lol. whether it's a phase for some people or not, at least it will bring a few different setups into public view, easier to see something while talking about the physics behind it.

 

[fcon]

By the way @jrenae4, ever go to Fractured Prune down by you? I'm not sure if there are any in OC, but I know there's one a mile from my friend's house in Parkville. Well worth a trip if you enjoy donuts. Now THEY should definitely make an OC Sand flavored vapor, that would be a good sell.

 

[Free6413]

This makes more sense now, understandable. Well I guess until I find more friends in the area with more setups, I'm going to try not to break the bank and buy one of each type, lol. whether it's a phase for some people or not, at least it will bring a few different setups into public view, easier to see something while talking about the physics behind it.

Good luck with that! There are so many different setups out there that it would be logistically impossible to have one of everything. If you are looking for a pretty reliable setup that won't break the bank (leaves more for juice) an eGo VV3 with an IClear 30 works great and will do the trick. You have the option of using different ohm coils because you can adjust your voltage to the sweet spot of the coil and tank combination. This, I know, is the lower end but if you don't want bulk and still want performance, this would work. I have one that I use every day at work and it has been bulletproof for me. As far as a juice brand, I visited several local B&M around locally and have sampled the wares. They all have their pros and cons. That's why it is important to not buy large quantities of juice of one flavor as it may not be what y we're expecting and then you have 30 ml bottles of juice you won't use (unless you run out and have to have that vape). The only thing is that if you buy from a local shop they are usually made when you order and will take a few days to steep and become what you sampled in the shop. The good thing is that if you let it sit and "melt" it will taste just like the sample. This means you need to buy before you need to vape. Usually takes about 3-5 days to get right. I hope this helps you in your search! Welcome and VAPE ON, MY FRIEND!

 

[jrenae4]

By the way @jrenae4, ever go to Fractured Prune down by you? I'm not sure if there are any in OC, but I know there's one a mile from my friend's house in Parkville. Well worth a trip if you enjoy donuts. Now THEY should definitely make an OC Sand flavored vapor, that would be a good sell.

OC Sand is my FAVORITE donut of theirs. That would be an amazing vape

 

[fcon]

Well, here's a few replies going by a few criteria given to me today:

1. this is kind of along the lines of what I was looking for, so thus debating getting a starter kit for it, since it's $45 and comes with 2 batteries and a bunch of blanks if I choose blanks:

E-Cigarette Starter Kit G6 | Halo Cigs

Only curious point is the threading, and if it's a standard thread that I don't have to buy their clear tanks or if I can just buy them on ebay if I don't find their cartomizer blanks to be as good for vapor/flavor. So that's kind of along the lines of my thinking. I'd be happy to even just get a slimline battery that's a 510 threading so I can use all the carts I got recently.

On that note my battery just died so I'll have to charge it when I get home, and I think I'll buy a second 510 ego battery on ebay so I have a backup.

2. On the VV VW setups, I was thinking the iTaste VV 3.0 on smokeanywhereforpennys.com. I'm not sure if I really need two PV's at this size, but it's either going to be I get the starter kit from Halo or something similar for $45, or this setup for $70, which only comes with 1 battery compared to the Halos which have 2 batteries.
Innokin iTaste VV 3.0 Kit - Smoke Anywhere For Penny's, LLC Store

3. now I just need an atomizer for sampling new juices as I purchase them. I haven't used an atomizer yet, although I know they prove useful for sampling, I'm just curious how easy they are to clean the old juice out and not have the flavor affect new juices you are trying.

4. I just called Alien Visions and sadly, their tobacco juice comes premixed with nicotine, so I can't get a 0 nic version of gorilla juice or PV bees knees. With that, anyone else know any mostly sweet but still a hint of tobacco type juices they can recommend? Realize, I'm not going for the full charred taste of a cig, since I don't smoke them, but I do like the flavor of some tobacco, as it gives me a resemblance of having some black tea (when it's not burnt, that is).

5. Also on the juice topic, I know there's a bunch of ebay members that make their own that you can personally recommend?

6. Zvapes on ebay made a pretty good gummy bear flavor, although right now my wicks and juice in one of my carts is starting to turn brown, not sure if that's from steeping or if that's from starting to burn. I know steeping/oxygenation causes clear juices to start to turn an orange/brown color sometimes. The flavor seems unaffected, I still enjoy it, it just looks odd that it turned from mostly clear to now halfway towards a shade of Pepsi.

Thanks again so far, I'm still gonna shop around, gotta really just consider where to get juice fast and what my second PV should be. Hopefully the juice from Ms T's won't take too long though.

 

[hootietoot]

I'm pretty sure the Halos are not 510.

This is not VV, but is 510 threaded and has 1.3 ml disposable clearomizers for juice testing and quick switches. I use these for quick errands and juice flavors I don't want a big tank of. They aren't powerhouses by any means, but they do the job. Decent vapor production and easy to carry and use.

Kanger E-Smart 510 Clearomizer Starter Kit - EVcigarettes.com

The e-Smart is slightly thicker than a standard 808-style cig-alike. Here's a pic of the e-Smart with its 1.3 ml clearo next to a skinny MigCigs 808 battery with a 0.9 ml V2 EX blank clearo:

 

[Sucker_dad]

Ok I am editing this because I just skimmed over your post above and well I just wasn't paying attention. The itaste is great. The batteries may be purchased without all of the extra stuff for about $30. There is a guy on Ebay, Vapingtown that is excellent. Also you can find just the Battery, no charger at one of the vendors, I think it is desertvapes.com, for like $25 they take a standard micro usb cable. The ones that Samsung uses on their Cell phones now.

 

[hootietoot]

Since you aren't a big battery-drainer, you could also go with a short, fat 400 mah non-VV Ego/510 battery, or a slightly longer VV spinner/twist in 400 or 650 mah.

Here's an e-Smart next to a 400mah non-VV wearing an e-Smart clearo and a 650 mah Vision spinner wearing a full-size cartotank:

ETA: Cross-posted with Sucker_dad. Yeah, that!

ETA2: Pffft! *lol*

 

[Sucker_dad]

ETA: Cross-posted with Sucker_dad. Yeah, that!

Uhmmm, ewww! LOL

No really the Spinners are great. I have 4 of them.

 

[Bikenstein]

Good place to buy ego batteries

650 ego battery

 

[fcon]

Good place to buy ego batteries

650 ego battery

Good call on that one, I may get a few, depending how much shipping is to offset the cheap cost of them.

Uhmmm, ewww! LOL

No really the Spinners are great. I have 4 of them.

Spinners I'm assuming are called that due to the variable voltage knob at the end? I think that's what I've heard from another youtube video when I was looking into basically Modding 101. They're cool and all, but I think what I meant by my secondary is having something not as....fat. I have that fantasia pen right now, shown here:
Rechargeable E Hookah Pens – Smokey the Store

This is where I bought it, in fact, so as you can see, I'm guessing it's a typical 510 threaded ego battery. Now, idk what mAh it is, but it lasts me a while, I know smokeanywhereforpennys has a Kanger Evod 1100mAh kit for $30 which also sounds good but I thikn it's basically just as wide as the one I have now (the Fantasia one). I must say, the esmart and Mig Cigs look a bit slimmer than mine, so those would be potentially good ones to consider.

Really, if I thought about it spur of the moment, if I had to keep a fat tank, and attach a thin battery, I'd probably be fine with it, although I am a man of symmetry so I'd like something uniformly wide. Spinners seem neat, but also does the iTaste VV, despite it not being round, it seems like it has a bunch of features: Ohm testing built in, VW and VV all at once, and so I'm assuming, as Rob said earlier, it would be a consistent power outage until it dies out.

Slightly back on the topic of at least an extra battery for my current pen, do you guys just go anywhere on ebay and get a cheapo and find those are fine or do you feel the failure rate is too high and stick to buying brand name batteries?

 

[fcon]

Not just to bump, but I must say I did find so far one impressive juice in the local head shop earlier. Banana pudding from Egeneration. $10 for 15ml, and so far it's awesome. I have coconut breeze as well, I'm letting them both steep a little for now, but right out the bottle, banana pudding is the best I've bought to date. Not that I've bought many flavors yet, but it's impressive, especially with the full charged ego battery, the first few drags were warm, so....I guess now I DO need to get a VV PV just to recreate that warmth consistently, lol. They come in dropper bottles so kinda hard to steep, I just have toothpicks over the spout to hold up the dropper cap and give a little gap for air to circulate.

Odd enough, I can't find a site for this Egeneration stuff, that's kinda sketchy, but it says it's made in Cali, so at least it's made in the US.

Speaking of that, any of these decently known brands of PV's made in the USA or are really all these batteries and tanks from China one way or another?

 

[Rob0506]

If you are looking for a good atomizer, get the hh 357 from avid vaper. They are still the best, most long lasting prebuilt atomizers you can get. check out pbusardo's video on cleaning the hh 357. It only takes a few seconds and you are ready for a new flavor.

BTW, get the long barrel HH 357. The short ones can spit a little juice.

 

[fcon]

Nice, are the prebuilt ones also rebuildable or is it sort of a thing where once the coil goes, you chuck the whole atomizer?