There are two reasons generally that people switch to vaping from smoking.
1. They don’t want to die from it
2. They want to spend less money
You can do both.
vaping isn’t harmless, but afaik is massive harm reduction vs. cigarettes. The highest number I’ve heard is 1000x safer, the lowest is 100x. That’s still not zero, so it’s worse than simply quitting, but it’s a lot safer than cigarettes.
Before taxes/fees/etc.. cigarettes in the US in 2010 were something like 65¢ a pack. All the rest is the other stuff. With vaping you get to avoid some (but not all) of the other stuff. Vaping is therefore often vastly cheaper long term than smoking is even if you buy higher end gear. As things get more complicated they tend to get less expensive in the long term but more expensive in the short term. (Upfront vs continuing cost) RTAs and RBAs have very low continuing cost, but higher upfront cost and are more complicated. More like pipe smoking than cigarette smoking that way. There are levels.
All the vapes use more or less the same technology, but the packaging is different.
At the lowest level with low upfront cost but really high continuing cos are the disposables.
For these over usa$100/mo is common. (Cigarettes are well over that)
Then there are pod systems. These are essentially proprietary CTAs where not only the coil is disposable, but so is the tank. They are made generally from at least partially plastic. They are often multiple times the continuing cost of an RTA. These are refillable, and juice is separate. You can usually refill them for several days before you need to change a pod (though some people will do it for a month, which is a problem)
After that are CTAs. cartridge tank atomizers.
These have the cotton and the coil set into a cartridge which is proprietary and disposable. They have a much lower continuing cost than pods, but are still several times that of RTAs or RBAs. These are tha most common, though they didn’t used to be. I have several I’ve never even used. This is because the mod (the part I wanted) was unavailable WITHOUT a cta. They are pushed that hard. The main difference between these and pod systems is the connection to the power source is a 510 connection and is non-proprietary, though the coils themselves still are. They have the disadvantage that you can’t tell how dirty the coil or wick is, so it’s easy to massively overuse a cta cartridge.
At the bottom are the RTAs and RBAs. With them the wick and the coil are separate and not a cartridge. Neither the coil nor the wick are made of proprietary material, so they get much cheaper quickly. The purchace price goes up again though. Kits costing USA$60 or more is common. I’ve seen $400 (though it was a bit insane) one would still eventually save money with such a thing though. It is a question of how much faff you are willing to deal with, and how long you do it for. Because they wick and coil are seperate, you can tell if the cotton or wick is dirty, and you can clean rather than throw away the coil, so it gets very cheap very fast. A wick is maybe 1/3rd of an organic cotton ball. So a few cents. If that. Rewicking every day becomes a trivial cost.
Me I went low cost hardcore. I use squonk RBAs and also make my own juice and do that cheap too. My current cost is in the USA$ 25-30/mo range. Rather than many times that
1. They don’t want to die from it
2. They want to spend less money
You can do both.
vaping isn’t harmless, but afaik is massive harm reduction vs. cigarettes. The highest number I’ve heard is 1000x safer, the lowest is 100x. That’s still not zero, so it’s worse than simply quitting, but it’s a lot safer than cigarettes.
Before taxes/fees/etc.. cigarettes in the US in 2010 were something like 65¢ a pack. All the rest is the other stuff. With vaping you get to avoid some (but not all) of the other stuff. Vaping is therefore often vastly cheaper long term than smoking is even if you buy higher end gear. As things get more complicated they tend to get less expensive in the long term but more expensive in the short term. (Upfront vs continuing cost) RTAs and RBAs have very low continuing cost, but higher upfront cost and are more complicated. More like pipe smoking than cigarette smoking that way. There are levels.
All the vapes use more or less the same technology, but the packaging is different.
At the lowest level with low upfront cost but really high continuing cos are the disposables.
For these over usa$100/mo is common. (Cigarettes are well over that)
Then there are pod systems. These are essentially proprietary CTAs where not only the coil is disposable, but so is the tank. They are made generally from at least partially plastic. They are often multiple times the continuing cost of an RTA. These are refillable, and juice is separate. You can usually refill them for several days before you need to change a pod (though some people will do it for a month, which is a problem)
After that are CTAs. cartridge tank atomizers.
These have the cotton and the coil set into a cartridge which is proprietary and disposable. They have a much lower continuing cost than pods, but are still several times that of RTAs or RBAs. These are tha most common, though they didn’t used to be. I have several I’ve never even used. This is because the mod (the part I wanted) was unavailable WITHOUT a cta. They are pushed that hard. The main difference between these and pod systems is the connection to the power source is a 510 connection and is non-proprietary, though the coils themselves still are. They have the disadvantage that you can’t tell how dirty the coil or wick is, so it’s easy to massively overuse a cta cartridge.
At the bottom are the RTAs and RBAs. With them the wick and the coil are separate and not a cartridge. Neither the coil nor the wick are made of proprietary material, so they get much cheaper quickly. The purchace price goes up again though. Kits costing USA$60 or more is common. I’ve seen $400 (though it was a bit insane) one would still eventually save money with such a thing though. It is a question of how much faff you are willing to deal with, and how long you do it for. Because they wick and coil are seperate, you can tell if the cotton or wick is dirty, and you can clean rather than throw away the coil, so it gets very cheap very fast. A wick is maybe 1/3rd of an organic cotton ball. So a few cents. If that. Rewicking every day becomes a trivial cost.
Me I went low cost hardcore. I use squonk RBAs and also make my own juice and do that cheap too. My current cost is in the USA$ 25-30/mo range. Rather than many times that
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Absolutely. I hear too much vilifying nicotine addiction and championing an all or nothing stance to quitting, framing it like you failed or that it's not good enough to use something less harmful than cigs. It's a shame harm reduction isn't taken more seriously (in the USA at least). That and how much easier it is to quit vaping than smoking (because you can reduce nicotine %).
Wow. I had no idea disposables could be that costly. I make my own cigarettes (MYO) with empty tubes and "pipe" tobacco. I pay ~$20 per month. Seems like that should be doable with vaping, especially if I get into DIY juice eventually.
Thanks. Right now I plan on getting a box mod with a CTA (probably an Aspire Nautilus Mini) and a Kayfun clone RTA. I figure that way I can get acclimated to vaping and when I feel like it I'll be able to play around with an RTA but have the CTA to fall back on in case I get frustrated.
I was (and am) very tempted by squokers. I'll almost certainly get one before long.
Edit: formatting
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When you start using disposables you’re more or less getting back into the pre-packaged cigarette thing. There is also DL and MTL vaping which are quite different. MTL is more similar to cigarettes. Lower vapor, lower wattage, lower juice use, higher %nic requirements. MTL vaping requires fractional wattage adjustment which not all mods (power sources) have. I’m not familiar with modern kayfun. Only the really old stuff which was all MTL. More or less anything with an 810 drip tip will be DL. (The fat mouthpiece. About the size of your pinkie) MTL atties will have much smaller openings.
If I vape anything like I smoke, guessing I'll probably land on a somewhat loose MTL draw (~1ohm maybe).
I can't say I know much about Kayfun either, but the clones seem cheap and very well regarded for MTL. They look cool too, which is always nice.
Yeah it took me quite awhile before I realized RBAs are not exactly one size fits all, that they have different users in mind as far as MTL or DL to varying extents. Yet I never realized 810 RBAs were mostly for DL; That's great to know, and makes perfect sense, thank you.
You may want to wind up vaping at under 5w then so the mod you pick may matter. There are lots of them that do it. They used to ALL do it but it’s not the case anymore. A mod that will work for metal usually goes down to 1 watt and has 1/10w increments. Some start at 5w with 1w increments though. These will be barely adequate for you though they work fine for DL. Some attys have both a DL drip tip and a MTL one.
I prefer DL squonks these days myself, so I buy bf RDAs or RDAs that can be modified for BF (you a drill a hole through the middle of the 510 connector)
I prefer DL squonks these days myself, so I buy bf RDAs or RDAs that can be modified for BF (you a drill a hole through the middle of the 510 connector)
Thank you. That's a really good point that I hadn't considered. I'll definitely make sure the mod I get will go down to 1w with small increments then.
Very true. I should have specified. I have my eyes on one in the marketplace here actually: Tobeco Kayfun Lite Plus V2 Clone
Aha. That isn’t a new one. I’ve got one of those. It’s MTL alright. Very MTL. The chamber on those things is tiny and the coil is even smaller. More like a fifth of a cotton ball there. They also aren’t big on exotic coils. Not enough room. Pretty though.
Thanks for the info, that's very helpful.
You think it can accommodate a loose MTL draw or is it too tight? I'm mostly about flavor, but taking a puff that's like pulling through a straw is no fun either.
Sounds like that could be challenging to build in too, especially for a beginner. I've been looking at old DNA mods that only do temp control with Ni200. (I think I like that sort of old school aesthetic even to a fault). Makes me wonder if I'll even be able to fit a ~1ohm Ni200 coil suitable for MTL in there.
Any other MTL RTAs you think I should consider? I was originally thinking about the Vandy Vape B3 (or the B3 mini) before that Kayfun Lite Plus V2 Clone caught my eye.
Thank you both, I appreciate it.
Medium loose MTL would be “all the way open”. Full loose MTL it’s not capable of. It’s a very MTL rta. If you want to imitate a cigarette though it’s an excellent choice. Also it will live longer than you. Those things are tanks. Theyre not real hard to build in, but I do mean tiny. No 1mm thick wire with that thing. At 10 bucks though give it a shot. If you like it you win. If you don’t buy something else.
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Got you. Sounds like a good idea.
Thanks again for all your help.
Np. Feel free to pm me if you got something you need help with. I’m good with lowball juice. Not so good with good juice.
Have a look at the Brunhilde MTL RTA. This would definitely suit your needs! You can go from a tighter MTL draw to a very loose MTL draw otherwise know as Restricted Direct Lung(RDL)
They are a great RTA, very easy to use and very tasty
Appreciate the offer. I'll do that.
I'll definitely check that out. Thank you very much.Have a look at the Brunhilde MTL RTA. This would definitely suit your needs! You can go from a tighter MTL draw to a very loose MTL draw otherwise know as Restricted Direct Lung(RDL)
They are a great RTA, very easy to use and very tasty
The berserker series is good. It’s an rta. Iirc I saw one on aliexpress recently. I’ve got one and like it. It will even do DL too, more or less. It’s dependent on vacuum to keep it from leaking though, so fill level matters. I personally find it works best if you open it from the bottom rather than the top like you are supposed to.
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