Holy Smokes...

[SuperCluster]

New to the fourm and new to vaping. I have tried some of the cheap devices found in gas stations (Blu, Vuse, etc.) but never found them to be satisfying, not much vapor, and continued to smoke the Marlboro lights I have been smoking for years. Today, a friend told me to try the Voodoo brand also found at my local gas station. I paid the $25 for the starter pack and added the berry flavored juice as well. Charged it up and tried it.

It seems to be much better than the Blu/Vuse type stuff and the taste isn't too bad, but not very strong, but after coming here, I realized, I do not know .... about vaping. I had no idea it was so complex and at times confusing. I have spent the last hour and a half reading through the forum, checking out the newbie section and while I learned some stuff, I think I am more confused than when I started.

I really want to stop smoking the real things, and vape.

So my question is, do I stick with the Voodoo or look for something better at a real shop? I do not mind spending some money as I go through about $25 a week in regular cigs and it is worth a couple hundred to quit all cigs if I can find something that satisfies my additction. Would love to eventually get off the nicotene all together as well, but baby steps...

I will say that I do not want to go crazy modifying stuff unless that is something that I really need to get satisfaction.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

[Stephen1520]

I would say if they Voodoo isn't satisfying you then it wouldn't hurt to just go to your local shop, check things out, and ask some questions. It sounds like you may want to just experiment with some different juices

 

[IMFire3605]

If the Voodoo setup looks similar in size to a cigar, we call this a stick or Ego class, they can be effective, but most of the "Gas Station/Smoke Shop" blister pack types the tanks are good only for a couple weeks max. If it is keeping you away from smoking, or, has decreased your smoking significantly you can most times just upgrade the tank to a better one like a Protank3/Aerotank Mini, Aspire CE5 or K1 for a back up device, one thing about this, backups for your backups, this should keep you going in case of an emergency, the 4 tanks I listed use replaceable coil heating elements so the tanks are still good, its the coils and wicks in these heads that give out first, the Protank3/Aerotank Mini and K1 are all 3 metal and glass so are pretty durable and can handle any flavor juice you want, I am talking juices with flavorings that can be acidic to plastic (citrus, annice (licorice), hot cinnamon, banana, and several others), generally can be found up in the $15ish USD range. For an all day, primary unit that is expandable and can grow with you until you decide to go more advanced and get your feet wet instead of just your toes, would be to look at an Eleaf iStick30 watt/iStick40 watt TC, coupled with an Aspire Nautilus Mini, Eleaf GS Air, or Kangertech Aerotank, and add in a decent juice will serve you well, being it sounds like you are half a pack a day of lights, juice strength I'd look at would be a 12mg/ml (1.2%/ml/medium strength) liquid, if that has to much of a throat hit or makes you to light headed you can try a 6mg/ml (0.6%/ml/low strength) liquid, try and get a 30ml bottle, if not available 2x 15ml or 3x 10ml.

A local vape shop will be good to look at a tank upgrade for your Voodoo and to test juices, you'll pay a premium over online prices, but it gets your foot in the door, next go online to get the setup I suggested above, myvaporstore.com and vapenw.com would be a good places to look, decent prices, check the coupon tab at the top of the forum page see if they have an active coupon code, the mod (battery unit), tank, and a couple packs of extra coil heads should land you in the $60-$80ish USD range maximum, find a place with a good code, can probably get away with under $50USD after shipping. The setup will have Variable Voltage/Wattage capability (can adjust the power output to promote vapor, flavor, and throat hit to your taste pallet, as well as adjustable airflow to loosen or tighten the draw to your liking, the iStick30w /w a Nautilus Mini generally play well together in the 12 to 18watt range optimally. As stated about a vapor shop, being juice flavors are so diverse, it is good to visit one just to sample flavors, gives you an idea of what types of liquids you will enjoy most, fruits, menthols, candies, desserts, the list is long, once you get an understanding of that, you can go to places like Nicoticket, Mt Baker Vapor, and several of the more quality brands out there and order direct for cheaper. Any questions don't hesitate to ask, the most stupid question here is the one never asked,

g/l and enjoy the trip, just don't follow the rabbit down the hole to far, didn't end well for Alice ya know

 

[AndriaD]

New to the fourm and new to vaping. I have tried some of the cheap devices found in gas stations (Blu, Vuse, etc.) but never found them to be satisfying, not much vapor, and continued to smoke the Marlboro lights I have been smoking for years. Today, a friend told me to try the Voodoo brand also found at my local gas station. I paid the $25 for the starter pack and added the berry flavored juice as well. Charged it up and tried it.

It seems to be much better than the Blu/Vuse type stuff and the taste isn't too bad, but not very strong, but after coming here, I realized, I do not know .... about vaping. I had no idea it was so complex and at times confusing. I have spent the last hour and a half reading through the forum, checking out the newbie section and while I learned some stuff, I think I am more confused than when I started.

I really want to stop smoking the real things, and vape.

So my question is, do I stick with the Voodoo or look for something better at a real shop? I do not mind spending some money as I go through about $25 a week in regular cigs and it is worth a couple hundred to quit all cigs if I can find something that satisfies my additction. Would love to eventually get off the nicotene all together as well, but baby steps...

I will say that I do not want to go crazy modifying stuff unless that is something that I really need to get satisfaction.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Welcome to ECF! And you're very far from the first who got here and went HOLY FOGBANK BATMAN! If it hadn't been for this new users' forum, I wouldn't have had a clue where to start, when I got here.

I'd say you're on the right track, with all the reading. One reason that nothing is going to taste very strong to you for some time is that smoke basically puts your tastebuds into a coma, along with your sense of smell, and taste is probably 75% smell. It's not really necessary to quit the cigs altogether, all at once, but if you can vape enough and get sufficient satisfaction out of it to at least start cutting back on the smokes, then you're heading in the right direction -- every cigarette not smoked is a victory, and the more of those there are, the closer you are to ditching them completely. For me it started as a cool experiment: "how many cigarettes can I replace with vaping?" and it was a little of the procrastination game: "I'd really like to go out for a smoke, but for now, I'll vape... later if I REALLY want a cigarette, I'll go have one then." At first, I did still go for a smoke from time to time, but the more I vaped, the worse the cigarettes tasted, and I would often not go out for a smoke at all.

But there's no need to stress yourself about it, because that will just make you wanna smoke more. Once you can get down to only a few cigs per day, you'll begin to notice your sense of smell coming back... and possibly just a little of a sense of taste, though that part seems to take a bit longer; when I first started, I used a very mildly flavored Virginia Tobacco ejuice, because it tasted a bit like the Virginia Slims I was used to, and because sweet flavors had very little taste to me at all. It was about 6 months before sweet flavors actually tasted anything like the flavor they were meant to be. Everyone is different in how long any of this takes, but it does seem to be true that just getting most or all of the smoke out of your nose and sinuses will improve your sense of smell almost right away, but the taste-part takes longer. And maybe that's fortunate about smell coming back so quickly, because once you can actually smell those cigarettes... you find you desire them less and less.

Although it's true that hitting a vape shop *can* be a useful endeavor, doing some reading first, as you've been doing, will make you a more educated consumer rather than a mark to be fleeced. There *are* some good shops out there who actually care about helping new vapers get started well, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule -- many of them, if a new vaper walks in the door without any real clue about any of this, they'll just sell you the most expensive thing they have, regardless of its fitness for your needs and experience level, and that's a really bad way to start.

Just hang in there, keep reading, and keep vaping... it gets so much better and easier!

Welcome!

Andria

 

[inspects]

New to the fourm and new to vaping. I have tried some of the cheap devices found in gas stations (Blu, Vuse, etc.) but never found them to be satisfying, not much vapor, and continued to smoke the Marlboro lights I have been smoking for years. Today, a friend told me to try the Voodoo brand also found at my local gas station. I paid the $25 for the starter pack and added the berry flavored juice as well. Charged it up and tried it.

It seems to be much better than the Blu/Vuse type stuff and the taste isn't too bad, but not very strong, but after coming here, I realized, I do not know .... about vaping. I had no idea it was so complex and at times confusing. I have spent the last hour and a half reading through the forum, checking out the newbie section and while I learned some stuff, I think I am more confused than when I started.

I really want to stop smoking the real things, and vape.

So my question is, do I stick with the Voodoo or look for something better at a real shop? I do not mind spending some money as I go through about $25 a week in regular cigs and it is worth a couple hundred to quit all cigs if I can find something that satisfies my additction. Would love to eventually get off the nicotene all together as well, but baby steps...

I will say that I do not want to go crazy modifying stuff unless that is something that I really need to get satisfaction.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Welcome....!

You're in the same boat I was eleven months ago. After reading and reading what the best vaporizers and batteries were (at that moment) I've spent a few thousand dollars since, and wouldn't change a single choice I made. They all serve a purpose, to keep me off cigarettes. Luckily I was able to quit smoking the same day I started vaping. It just takes the right amount of nicotine, a good tasting juice, and a good reliable device (battery) to vaporize it. Plus you want backups, and backups for the backups, so you don't have any reason to buy another pack of smokes.

In the last year it would blow your mind how far vaping has come. Just when you think your set for life another beautiful device is available. I'm all done buying for a while (or perhaps not quite). I have dozens of tanks, drippers, batteries, and enough juice to last a decade.

Good luck in your journey...

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum @SuperCluster. Glad to have you here!

If you are interested in learning more about e-cigarettes (and all the parts and pieces) below are some blog posts by ECF member @Baditude that I highly recommend for someone new to vaping.

• A Good Starter's Setup for a Beginning Vapor
• Advancing Up the Vaping Ladder with Egos and Mods

Here are a few more links from New Members Information <= Link covers many topics. Here are two of them:

• The Three Main Types of Ecig
• Vaping Slang and Acronym

Nicotine

A "general guideline" for nicotine concentration in e-liquid to the number of cigarettes smoked per day. If you are subohming (resistance under 1.0Ω) cut these nicotine levels by at least 50%.

06 mg = 10 cigarettes or less
12 mg = 20 cigarettes
18 mg = 30 cigarettes
24 mg = 40 cigarettes

eLiquid/Juice

PG = Propylene Glycol - the "flavor carrier" of e-liquid. A secondary source of "throat hit", but not as strong as the nicotine concentration. Some people have a sensitivity or even an allergy to PG. It's very thin.

VG = Vegetable Glycerin - the "vapor maker" of e-liquid. Used as a sweeter in many food sources, and also as a skin emollient. It's very thick. Often labeled just "Glycerine"

PG and VG are often used together in different ratios in e-liquid. For example, a 50/50 PG/VG ratio. Some juice vendors offer a range of different ratios as far as PG/VG.

 

[SuperCluster]

Thank you everyone for all of the helpful information. So far the VooDoo is actually working quite well to cut down on the cigs. Sine purchasing on Friday evening (3 days ago), I have had a total of 3 cigs and none today. I still have the cravings but a couple hits off the VooDoo and the cravings are basically gone. I will want to upgrade I think and all the above information as well as all the other threads I have been reading have been incredibly helpful. Thank you everyone for the info and the kind words.