Hobby vs. a means to an end

[bols2DaWall]

I just recently found out about this huge world of ecigs and all the gear that's available . Boggles my mind .
I am presently a 1/2 PAD smoker, my quit date is Nov. 12 , the day after we get home from the Dominican Republic .
My plan is to start using 18mg nic and slowly start reducing the nic level until i'm at zero , at that point i'm hoping to quit that too .
I have a very basic Electro Vapours 510 torch and extras of everything , fits the bill perfectly for me .
I can't believe the amount of people that actually make a hobby out of this and the equipment that some folks have .
I am not passing judgement on anyone , just curious if you folks with all the latest stuff and piles of vaping gear started out thinking like me and you created a monster along the way or was it initially your intention to have a new hobby .

 

[Moueix]

At 1/2 PAD, you don't have the same reference that many of us do. I was 1.5PAD, and the $10.50/day savings goes a LONG way in justifying the expense of the cool stuff. hehe.

 

[Robino1]

I knew I would never quit smoking. Then I discovered this world. My goal is to cut down the nic hopefully to zero at some point in the future. I know I will never quit the vaping because of the physcological hand to mouth that cig use for over 40 years has created. But then again, who knows what I may end up doing? I knew I would never quit smoking but yet, I HAVE!!! One day at a time, my friend, one day at a time.

 

[the_vape_nerd]

I did start out like you and it is a hobby to me now. Though I'm probably no where near as deep in the woods as some of the people on here. You can still have nice stuff and save money if you only buy items that are tried and true, have been extensively reviewed etc.

A lot of people here will go and buy every new thing they see just for the coolness factor I guess but I let them try it and tell me how it is lol. So thanks, you early adopters. I really appreciate it.

 

[matrixxu]

I used to smoke 40-50 cigarettes a day. Avoided almost 26000 cigarettes so far , never had a drag off a normal cigarette in almost 2 years, did not plan to quit or slowly decrease nicotine, i just wanted to have a significantly safer alternative to continue enjoying my addiction. Dropped nicotine from 24 to 16mg, and if my body tells me it's too much, i'll drop it again. I don't plan these things.
I did not care about the money, it was all about the health, but it turns out that vaping costs me 3 times less than smoking, so that allows me to buy whatever device i find interesting and i know for sure that i will enjoy using. That's how "piles of vaping gear" start to build up, but generally, any vaper would be very happy with just 2-3 good mods , everything else is just backup/variety/hobby.
If i were still smoking, my health would be in a terrible state, i'd spend 60% more money ,and all i would have for it would be ash in the wind instead of a nice mod collection to keep me happy.

 

[bols2DaWall]

I should add that i used to smoke a PAD up until about 6 months ago and i've smoked for about 35 yrs.
It's my "intention" to continue using my 510 torch only to facilitate the end of my smoking & purchase as little vapin equip. as possible to get me there .

 

[oldsoldier]

people being people there will always be folks that collect PV stuff and e-liquids...

Just like certain people acquire tools or some people are "car people"

 

[Grimwald]

I started on a whim...just another thing to try. I was a 3 pad 40 year smoker but have not had a cig for almost 3 months. I found myself chasing every new shiny object and then realized that vaping was not my hobby. I have other hobbies. Now I call it a NDS (nicotine delivery system)...nothing more, nothing less. Simple 808 battery and cartos work for me. Frankly, all of the needles and gurgling clearos and tanks were just frustrating. Simple is just better.

 

[Crack3dOne]

I created a monster.

 

[tommycompton]

Obviously we all have addictive personalities, hardware buying is just another form the extra money saved by not smoking also helps fuel the new addiction.

 

[tj99959]

I smoked for 50+ years, and I was never successful at quitting simply because deep down inside I didn't want to quit ... Still don't ... but I vape instead of smoking.

Since I'm going to vape, I might just as well make it a fun thing to do.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Smoked for 44 years and vaping is strictly a smoking cessation prog for me but I have no problem with others looking at it as a hobby. Began at 36 mg/ 40 ml per week and now vaping 1.5 mg/ 20 mg per week. I had my end date as Sept. 2012 but it's no big deal that I wasn't successful. Next end date is end of year BUT if it doesn't happen, again no big deal. I do want to quit vaping eventually but, if I can't, I have no problem vaping for the rest of my days...bottom line for me is to stay off the stinkies regardless.

 

[Zero-g1001]

I can't believe the amount of people that actually make a hobby out of this and the equipment that some folks have .
I am not passing judgement on anyone , just curious if you folks with all the latest stuff and piles of vaping gear started out thinking like me and you created a monster along the way or was it initially your intention to have a new hobby .

From my personal observations, this mind set, which I share to a degree, is almost exclusive (but not entirely) to people from Commonwealth countries. Canada and Australia to be specific. I see your from Canada as well, so you know that the price of cigarettes here is triple and quadruple what it is in the u.s. and parts of europe.

For those who don't know: In Canada a pack of Players King size (comparable to Camel or Marlborough) is roughly $14. in Australia I hear a pack can easily be around the $20 mark. Marlborough and Camel are considered imports here and go for even more!

Most Canadians and Aussies initially start vaping in order to quit smoking and save money. When you come into vaping with that mentality......the concept of paying $100+ for a battery and another $100 on mods every so often is absolutely bloody absurd! and in my opinion it still is, but to each his own.

Moding was a slow progression for me. I started with a simple device from epuffer. The battery drained to quickly so I bought a 3rd party battery, then tanks became popular and common so I upgraded that part. I wanted a deeper “throat hit” so I tried out a VV battery. The VV battery drained the e-liquid so I moved up to a larger tank.... so on so forth and before you know it you’ve got a tool chest full of random parts and so much eliquid that you feel like you’re playing with Doctor Dreadful all over again. I remember my first hard mod... I bought a part that looked wicked but wasn’t performing very well, so I looked up ways to fix it. I think I found the answer on instructables =D I went through the steps Drill here, change this, toss that... and ended up with a leaky disaster that looked like garbage... but it tasted great and produced wicked vapour!

If you can get away with vaping and never having to mod... you’re a lucky man! But vaping is still quite new and doesn’t have precise standards set. You can buy 10 of the same part and each will have quirks which make it unique from the others. Chances are good you’ll eventually have to tinker with something or upgrade for a more personalised and enjoyable vape.

The vaping community is deceiving. I found that from the outside it seems like a lot of hardcore spenders and moders, tech geeks and the like. Spend what your comfortable with spending because when it comes down to it, it doesn't really matter whether your vapour comes from a Chinese knock off or an ovale or some weird über-Mod...



if you vape your a vaper... if your a vaper you’re amongst friends.

 

[recidivus]

Started as a means to an end, turned into a hobby. I don't chase the latest and greatest, but I definitely enjoy ordering new bits n bobs.

 

[Tiffany Smeggin Peak]

i have had people ask me, so when am I going to quit vaping, and the answer is idk lol, right now I have an ego-t type b setup, and when I gt the $$ I am going to get a drip tip to fit it, and a VV batt. or 2. Other than that i don't forsee going to any "better" setups like a lavatube. Also, i started at 24, and now 18 is too much for me, I start to feel the nicotine too much. Also, i enjoy buying eluquid.

 

[marmin3]

I created a hobby monster. Thinking about writing a movie script about it. I'll probably call it "Hobby Monster".

 

[snime]

I was 1.5 - 2 PAD smoker for 12 years. I never wanted to quit cause I enjoyed the process of smoking, but as my health started to decline I decided that change is inevitable. Vaping is the healthier alternative to smoking and I'm not planing to stop unless that too is going to harm my health one day as cigarettes did. You never know And vaping is now another hobby for me.

 

[Moueix]

For those who don't know: In Canada a pack of Players King size (comparable to Camel or Marlborough) is roughly $14. in Australia I hear a pack can easily be around the $20 mark. Marlborough and Camel are considered imports here and go for even more!

Most Canadians and Aussies initially start vaping in order to quit smoking and save money. When you come into vaping with that mentality......the concept of paying $100+ for a battery and another $100 on mods every so often is absolutely bloody absurd! and in my opinion it still is, but to each his own.

if you vape your a vaper... if your a vaper you’re amongst friends.

I started with Volts. To be fair to SI, they're really nice little devices and fairly priced vs. their likely cost to make. To keep things in proper perspective, when you first vape, it is a killer! You're not used to inhaling water vapor and cough and gag. You never dream for an instant that within a week or two, you'll be pulling on it like it's dead.

I moved to Ego's, oh so much better. And very inexpensive. I felt good giving my Volts to others so they could get a start. The cost of that change was more trying to find juice that satisfied. Wasted a few bucks there. I could have been happy with those to the end, for price and satisfaction. I laughed at Provari buyers, paying $180 for a flashlight, that didn't even come with the bulb and parabola. Laughed my ... off, right up to seeing pictures of the beautiful Caravela. Not even a VV, but my God, the craftsmanship. Handmade as a hobby by a guy, who after reading his forum, I grew to like a lot. Seriously nice fellow. His cost in hand making these has to be triple the cost of making the Provari, easily. About the same price to buy. So I've ordered a couple of them. My kids won't go without shoes, we won't have to eat spam instead of ham, ain't nobodys business but my own.

My only regret is paying the fat dollars for the stupid RBA mod that is required to compliment the looks of it. Could have just dripped an atty on it, but dripping just isn't safe when doing other things like driving. My Nova's would work ok on it, but it would be like putting a pig on a perfume. Cost of admission thing. So I've realized by my own folly, best not judge lest I be judged. At $7/pack, I can justify that I'm not WASTING the money, and the mod will be worth every dime when and if I decide to quit. Same isn't true of the Ego's, the Volts, OR the cigarettes. At $14 or $20 per pack, I can't imagine feeling an IOTA of remorse for spending what it takes to make you happy. To each his own, and may ye all be happy and gain more time with your loved ones. I love your last sentiment. You're amongst friends.

 

[MrsG]

I'm still new to this, but the 11.85/pack price, plus the 3-4 packs a day my husband and I smoke combined, made this almost a no brainer. The setup I bought is pretty basic, but I spent a good deal of time yesterday looking at all the fancy stuff on here like "oooh that's so cool!" I don't know enough about things like vv and all that to buy anything too upscale yet, but I wouldn't be opposed to getting that stuff in the future. I'd have to spend more than 1000 dollars a month to make this a cost prohibitive thing, and I REALLY don't see that happening.

 

[Grimwald]

To each his own. I started with Volts and quit smoking. Branched out to bigger bats and gizmos. But I returned to my Volts and cartos...that's where I'm happy and satisfied. I do chase new and different flavors (and I've cut my nic from 24mg to 18mg)...but I've pretty much settled on those as well. Now I just buy cartos and juice...and a spare battery now and then. My foray into "hobbyland" ended quickly.