Hi from Cumbria - New vaper

[Old Greybeard]

Thanks everyone for the sage advice. Been reading up extensively, and I'm pretty much overloaded with the number of options and possible variants that my head is spinning, and it is not due to a nicotine rush .

I've got an Aspire Quad Flex kit on order, and I'll be ordering some coil building kit in a few days, as well as a decent battery charger. I'm not too happy about charging my 21700's in-situ via USB, and the AQF will give me chance to experiment with different vaping methods, and some rudimentary build your own coils.

I may hold off on the DIY juice side for a bit, but I'm conscious that I need to get the right all day juice for me. Am currently using Ruthless Dulce De Tobacco which I fell in love with after trying it out on Friday, but I hit it so hard initially I may have given myself vapers tongue in the process. 3 days on, it is not quite as tasty as when I first experienced it. I'm happy with the nicotine levels [no withdrawal symptoms with 18/10 -> 50ml juice] and I haven't displayed any of the classic irritability and foul mood I normally get going cold turkey. I'm very aware though I could easily spend as much, than if not more on vaping kit than on tobacco, and that kind of defeats the object. As you say, once I've stabilised, it will be fine. I'm concerned that if I don't get the taste consistently bang on, I'll drift back. I could easily making regular trips to the vape shop testing out different flavours, and while my local shop allows you to taste the juice on your finger, they don't sell the smaller 10ml bottles or have any sample sets. So really you are committed to 50ml at £17 per flavour, and as I've discovered, what a juice tastes like directly on your tongue is very different from the DTL experience. For the price of 3 bottles, I could get a pretty good starter kit.

So my priorities at the moment are:

1. Get the vaping technique right for me personally - DTL, MTL or blow on coils then MTL. DTL works for me, but am more concerned about flavour than lots of clouds [Though they are cool]
2. Find a juice that doesn't have me hankering for the taste of burnt tobacco
3. Stay within or below my current 5 RYO limit
4. Once I've sorted out [1], get a backup box / spare batteries /something for outdoors
5. Build a few coils

Successes:

1. Really happy with my nicotine levels
2. I like the Cleito 120 tank, being under running this for a week now, and the coil shows no signs yet of needing replacement. That's over 265 puffs per day. Only downside is the TPD compliant 2ml capacity which means frequent refilling
3. Found a juice that hasn't curled my toes up. Some juices taste worse than a burning cigarette filter
4. Am impressed with the Releaux mod. Being able to adjust the wattage has been key in winning me over, as I can tune to my preference.

 

[djsvapour]

The Cleito tank is a PITA for enlarging with imported adapters and the coils aren't exactly the easiest to source.
Introduce yourself on AAEC and ask about the tank on there. We have an expert.
I use the quad flex in RDA mode (squonk) a lot. I got it free from the person you won't know yet.
I turned down a free Cleito tank at Vapefest. It's one of those tanks that's a little off the motorway really. Like an A road worth a drive now and again. I'm sure it's very good, like most Aspire products.
Send me a message if you are confused at any of this post.
Dave.

 

[Old Greybeard]

Confessions of a nicotine addict

* [Mods, please feel to move if this is not the best place for this] *

I was born at a very early age. Probably a bit too early, as I was approximately 26 weeks old when I was dragged, kicking and screaming, from my mothers womb. Leaving my mother 2lbs 1 oz [935g] lighter, the world was a very hostile place for me, and I was not expected to live as this was the early 1960’s where technology was a lot cruder than now. Penicillin had only been discovered 30 years previously, and there had been no successful heart transplants. Telephones and televisions were beginning to reach critical mass in the consumer marketplace, and Twitter was what birds did.

Being a premature baby messes with you in lots of ways. For me, it was underdeveloped lungs and really bad eyesight. I have a very high metabolic rate, and my heart rate is rapid. I don’t put on weight and thrive on strong coffee and nicotine. Maybe I really should have given these two chemicals a miss, so far in life I have avoided wild women, gambling and song, so I am not complaining. I didn’t have a chocolate habit until my first serious attempt at giving up cigarettes. As as far as other substances are concerned I’ll take the 5th amendment, but as a Sixties child I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.

People start smoking for lots of reasons, but I’m confident in saying that whatever the reason you have for starting smoking is an important key to breaking the habit. Some people are social smokers, some are just addicted to nicotine, some have an even deeper relationship with the wicked weed. For me, I fall into the latter category. Cigarettes have been an emotional and social crutch for me from the start, and to quote a friend of mine who died of lung cancer, “Cigarettes really have their hooks into you”. What I find immensely ironic is the number of friends I’ve lost through cancer, none of which have smoked regularly. The number of casualties down to the “C” word in my social circle has continued to mount, yet like some sort of paradox I have survived against the odds. Genetics or spirit no doubt play a part in this, but I’m a tough old bird. Despite an attempt on my life [Slashed 14 times with a butchers knife, spinal cord showing, 74 stitches] and an argument with a car at 60 Mph [me outside, car well dented front and back], I’m still here. Cigarettes were my friend throughout. A friend that is hard to give up.

I’m personally convinced on two things, and you will have a difficult time persuading me otherwise. One, I’m convinced my mother smoked. As I was adopted, I doubt if I’ll ever know [another story], and second, I wasn’t breast fed. My first cigarette fired off things in my brain you couldn’t believe. Despite my screwed up lungs, there was an immediate connection. Everything fell into focus, one of these so very rare “aha” times where you get it. I got it, and got it bad.

So here we are, 40+ years later on the vaping trail. Friday evening was the first time I “got” vaping. I maxed out my kit and my lungs, but boy have I learned a lot about myself and life in the process. So I’m happy to share with you my “recipe”, although your mileage may vary. I suffer from COPD, asthma, and a heart condition, so please don’t take this a medical advice.

1. Get it. As a smoker, the last thing I expected was the revelation. Thanks to my brother in law, who let me play extensively with his kit, I found I could inhale vape. If you said to me 14 days ago I would be down to ~ 5 RYO a day, I would have laughed. To get this, you need a lot of things. Patience. Understanding. Commitment. Walk into a vape shop, and all they want to do is sell. You need at least an hour mucking about to hit that sweet spot. I was lucky, BIL is into tobacco, mother in law likes sweet fizzy stuff which I wouldn’t touch with a sh*tty stick [MIL I love you really]. So expect the unexpected

2. Play with your lungs. How you vape will have a great influence on your success or failure. For me, an air filled direct draw into my lungs made it [DTL] rather than the classic cigarette smoker method, MTL. I’ve never achieved the right ratios [Air, Fluid flavour, Heat] to date on the latter to bother continuing. Maybe just me, but a good DTL draw makes it, but I’m willing to learn ...

3. Flavour. You need to be ruthless here. At > £15 for a 50ml bottle with nicotine in the UK, it is big commitment. Sure you can “sample” the flavours in the vape shop, but long term, will it make it? Will you slide back? So many variables here, but the thing to remember is that that vape stores are there to make money for someone. They want to profit. How much investment they want to make in returning customers will vary widely. Treat them like a bar during the prohibition, and you won’t go wrong.

4. Enjoy yourself. Buy some kit, make it a hobby rather than an addiction. That’s the path I’m following. If you serious about giving up, I’d recommend spending some money. I say that not as I want to promote anyone or anything, but on a basic premise – you get out of life what you put in.

5. You need a trigger. Be it health, finance, or whatever, you need a persistent voice somewhere in your soul that merges with your understanding. Given enough force, a decent mod struck upon your skull, or inserted into various orifices will not make a difference [irony here]. The worst thing is a reformed smoker, or any convert for that matter. If you want to give up, you need to have as a base point an incentive, if not the will.

6. Work it out. I can go to my local store and buy 20-30 brands of cigarette. Vaping has hundreds, if not thousands combinations. One week in, I’ve hit a 60% satisfaction level. Initial investment, 5 packs of tobacco. I realise to kick the habit, you have got to make an investment. I was a committed smoker to my grave, now I’m not so sure. Agreed, I’m just changing the delivery system but PG/VG has got to be a better medium. I’ll elucidate further if ECF likes my long posts.

7. Community is important. Strike that, vital. I’m convinced that dedicated smokers are inherently shy, introverts at heart. People class me as outgoing, but truly I cringe. It took me a long time to work that out, to separate the BS from reality. The best relationships, either at the smoking corner or on a personal basis were individuals that didn’t engage in BS. Quality was the recurring thread. If I abandoned vaping tomorrow, I’d immediately hit the smokers corner for a level of understanding and wisdom that is lacking elsewhere.

8. Learn to forgive yourself. Probably the most difficult thing, is taking into account everything. All the time you were fooled, but the biggest lie was what was going on internally. Unless you make peace with yourself, you have no chance in hell in giving up cigarettes, never mind nicotine or any other drug for that matter.

9. It doesn’t matter short term. We all vomit, poo and p*ss the same colour and will rot in our respective graves. Aim for your tombstone, and the inscription you want placed upon it. You may or may not believe that eternity awaits, but your character and credibility will linger.

 

[Bigbob2322]

Hello and welcome to ECF buddy.

 

[Old Greybeard]

Well, I've been a very naughty boy today. Bit the bullet and ordered some PG/VG, concentrates and 20mg nic shots as I am tearing through the juice like a demented V12 in a drag race .

My Aspire Quad survival kit arrived today, and it is a really cute tank. I've got some more ecig kit on order, so once I am "safe to build" I'll put together another write up with photos. This is turning out to be an expensive adventure this month, but in a way it forces my hand - If I can't afford to buy tobacco I can't smoke it. It is a good long term investment as well.

I have got to the point now that I actually enjoy vaping more than smoking, and it is just the first RYO of the day that is the most difficult to resist. The coffee ones are a bit tricky too, but strangely not felt the need with a glass of wine. It is more the "habitual" ones [e.g. after dinner etc] at the moment I'm struggling with.

I realised that I had crossed a point when I looked at my 50ml juice bottle earlier today, and a sense of panic struck me - it might not make it until Friday. After that, I've got 10ml of some expensive designer juice, and 10ml of some of the foulest fluids known to man from a discount supermarket. I'll work around it, but it is comforting to know that my focus is changing, even my wife has commented that this has been one of my better attempts at giving up. She has commented though on the whistling noise of the tank, but if I close the airways it down it kills me. More work to do there, methinks.

Am now running the Cleito at 65W, not sure if it is me getting used to the PG/VG mix or the coils beginning to silt up.

 

[gerrymi]

I was a committed smoker to my grave, now I’m not so sure. Agreed, I’m just changing the delivery system but PG/VG has got to be a better medium.

OldGB...I LOVED smoking cigarettes and figured that I, too, would be a smoker "to my grave"...(in fact my GF promised that she'd stick a cigarette between my fingers in my casket...so people would be assured that it was, indeed, ME)...

Then...I stumbled across this alternative way of doing the things I LOVED...(inhaling "smoke", exhaling "smoke" and getting a hit of nicotine)…

But...with MUCH LESS harm to my body and wallet...

However...it's much more that just "changing the delivery system"...I'm now completely avoiding the other 4,000+ unhealthful/carcinogenic substances/chemicals in the analog's smoke...

..

 

[Old Greybeard]

@gerrymi,

Yes, I am now beginning to realise that my "changing the delivery system" quote is very much on the conservative side. The more I read and research [Thanks ECF!], the more I realise that vaping for a smoker like me has to become a lifestyle/hobby/obsession and connect with my "inner pedant" if I am to succeed.

I went through this a while back when recreating authentic British Indian Restaurant curries [photo attached]. The more I got into it, the more kit, spices etc. I purchased. I'm going the same way with vaping, and decided I'm going the whole hog, extra tanks, DIY juice etc. I know it's a huge committment financially and time wise, and no doubt I'll mess up along the way, but I'm determined to make this work for me. TBH, I'm in the last chance saloon, the only other method that comes close for me is NRT patches, but I cannot take them any more due to health reasons. So it is an all out war between RYO or Vaping.