Many of the variable volt batteries with digital screens for setting the voltage have puff counters so you might look into one of those, as I guess I could equate counting puffs as to counting the number of analogs, you would just have to get an idea of how many puffs you would have taken from one analog - or go with an average. Puff counter method is probably one of the best. I know the Ego V and V2 both have a puff counter as I have them but from reading about others out there its seems like a pretty standard output on the ones with digital read outs (as opposed to like the ego twist which allows you turn a dial to adjust voltage but gives no digital readout on the exact setting, puff counter, batter life - which are pretty much standard on the digital vv).
I have never seen a standard battery with a puff counter. It would be nice to have a standard battery with things like the vv digitalis do, battery charge readouts, puff counter and so on although i am not sure I would be setting my vape session according to puffs.
When I did smoke breaks was it was as much about the socializing as the number of cigarettes smoked and different people would go through different number during the time, others limited themselves to one and it was usually 'group timing', conversation died down, someone said 'oops time to go back in. Things like that. I have found that employers are usually vague on the length of a smoke break, never saying 'no more then two minutes' but getting frustrated if they think you take too long so even when you set a time limit that can be difficult. Then you have those times when you run ut for a 'quick one' vs the time you might smoke more then one while chatting when you have the leisure to do so.
If you go out alone to vape and don't have the 'group' coming and going with you, or others that arrive at the same time so you can cue off how long they stay I think you have to be reminded of time as well as how many puffs you take. While with an analog you could count puffs (at least in your head) its still burning whether you puff or not so it has a definite life span. I find vaping is different in the sense that how close together I take a puff would give me a different count each time and varies each time I take time to vape. If I had vaped a bunch and gotten a bunch of puffs in in a short time, I might be standing there thinking 'oh I hit my number or suddenly feeling i have to hurry cause everyone else went inside and I have not gotten all my puffs. With myself if I went strictly by number of puffs I would very greatly in time spent because I know there are times I might be talking more and vaping less, taking long inhales and less puffs or shorter one and puffing more and so on..
You could test this a bit at home. Just decide on a arbitrary number of puffs and time how long you take to hit that number (make it reasonable like 10 or so so you can easily keep the count in your head if you don't have a puff counter already). Next time you vape see how long it takes to hit that number of puffs and you might want to time how long you spend with the first 10 puffs of a vaping session (when you might want to get nicotine in faster) then towards the last 10 puffs. So deciding how long you spend on a break governed by striickly by puff count might not be the same as being governed by how many analogs you used to allow to burn up - puffing on it or not.
I don't know that there is truly any good answer except to say, of course, that you don't want to turn your vape breaks into 20 minute sessions
I pretty much have rolled all of it into a frame that works well for me. I have a time limit so I am not temped to just wave good bye to those that came out about the time I did, and stand there and vape away talking to people who recently arrived - and stay longer then I should just because I have e-juice left. I gauge it partly on getting my nicotine and social fix - sort of listening to the feelings that tell me I have met the nicotine demand and discussed what I can on this break. I always tended to glance at my watch when I went out on a break and would check it now an then while I was out with smokers, so still do that with vaping.
Drippers might have an easier time with this because I know many that equate dripping one time to equal one analog and the same with cartomizer users that are not using tanks.
I used to watch my vape counter with interest for things like how many puffs to a fill up and so on, just out of curiosity, how many puffs out of 3 ml - how many puffs to a cleaning, how many to an atomizer replacement, am I vaping more then I did last week, or less (at least by puff count, what were puff numbers depending on how well I liked a juice, and did some juice puff away faster then others.. Just playing with my personal numbers for the fun of it. Never really have found myself saying 'okay 20 puffs and that's it'.
I am not sure I would spend the money of a VV with a digital readout unless I wanted it for more then the puff counter - such as its real purpose - having the ability to vary the voltage. Even the battery status would not be a big thing to me - at a glance its nice to know but I know my batteries well now and know just about how long I have on a charge with each of them and always keep a fully charged backup with me so I don't worry that my current battery might be getting low. However I also know many people who never feel the red/green light is all that accurate s a gauge and would prefer a visual cue to a full change or getting empty. We are so used to that on cell phones I think we look for it on anything with a rechargeable battery these days. But just for the puff counter - no I would not invest it for that since it seems to be that a break is counted not by just the number of puffs.
Then again, how you vape ins nothing if not personal choice and very subjective and personally different fore each individual (although we have a lot in common too). If puffs are really the measure you want to go by, and feel most comfortable then I would say that puff counter is for you. I just wanted to throw out all the other things that can impact a session in case you wanted to base you break time on more then one thing.
