How much nic do you vape with and why?

[Susaz]

Hi everyone!

I started my vaping days with unknown eliquid in 18mg. Those early days were of tobacco extracts and WTA (whole tobacco alcaloids) were present. 1 ml of that kept me from smoking days on end. Then the regular nic liquids came along. Times of vaping at a whopping 12w (max for a 2.8 ohm head) and 24mg. I even used a 306 dripping atty for full hits two or three times a day. Back these days, 3 ml was the usual daily eliquid consumption. Then wattage started going up and resistances down, and down came crashing the mg in liquid. 12 was the standart with a 1 ohm coil on a Nautilus or BVC tank. Until these days where many people use 3 or 6 mg vaping at 40 to 60w. Some people are consuming as much as 20 ml a day, as much as if they vaped something with more nicotine but less volume.
But, truth to be told, for a pack a day smoker, 6 mg implies vaping up to 15ml a day to get the necessary nic. Not all people are the same, not all people consume the same.
I see people consuming 2 pods of 50mg liquid, far more than smoking a pack of cigarrettes. Tanks and squonker bottles getting ridiculously bigger, some as the Dot Mod Squonk is 12 ml, or the Aromamizer Plus in 10 ml mode.
What do you think? Should low nic liquids be marketed, or go back to the old days of 24/18/12/9 eliquid?

 

[Rossum]

How much nic do you vape with and why?

Currently, about 5 to 6 ml of 13mg.

I was a two pack a day smoker. I quit with eGo style gear, using mostly 18 mg liquid, but with occasional hits of 24 as well as some WTA here and there. I didn't keep track of how liquid I went through initially. A month or so after I quit, I tried dropping down to 12, but that was unsatisfactory. So I mixed the 12 with 18 I still had to get 15, which seemed OK, and I stuck with that for the more than of two years. Meanwhile, I dumped the eGo batteries for DNA20 mods, and the various Chinese toppers (mostly Kanger) for Kayfuns. That was followed relatively quickly by a transition to MTL squonking.

What do you think? Should low nic liquids be marketed, or go back to the old days of 24/18/12/9 eliquid?

I think everyone should be free to vape in whatever manner they like best.

That said, I don't think anyone is doing themselves any favors by vaping, say, 20ml of 3mg instead of 5ml of 12mg. It cannot possibly be better to inhale several times the amount of PG, VG, and flavorings to get the same amount of nic.
This is why I'm still at 13mg rather than 12. I dropped from 15 a half a mg at a time. I don't make the next drop until I'm steady at 5ml a day, and I don't seem to be getting there at 13. In fact, If I'm still not there the next time I mix (which won't be until next year), I may bump the next batch back up to 13.5...

 

[Izan]

As you have observed, my nicotine level also changes based upon the efficiency of each device.
My .9Ω/20W squonker holds 6mg/ml.
The minifit pod has 25mg/ml.
I was on 12mg/ml before I got my first Spheroid, THAT day I went down to 6mg/ml.
When I started vaping in 2012, my Ego-C tank was full of 24mg/ml.

I believe the market can and should offer a range of RTV (Ready to Vape), flavoured and unflavourd, liquids from "0" to 50mg/ml.

Cheers
I

 

[DaveP]

I don't think it matters that much if you get your daily nic from 24mg juice or 3mg juice. I vape about twice as much juice at low levels than I did at 24mg when I was quitting cigarettes. I recently started mixing juice at 6mg, up from my 3mg lower level. i think my daily juice consumption has been a good bit lower because of the higher nic.

We all will vape more at lower nic levels, but the body wants its nic. I have some DIY 12mg unflavored in a 100ml bottle that I mixed when I did the 6mg, but after a couple of months I'm probably going to dilute that down to 6mg and double its volume. I found that I don't really care for anything higher than 6mg nic strength. My thoughts when I mixed it were maybe being able to use the 12mg to vape a few big hits an hour and reducing my vaping frequency (think stealth in a place where I didn't want to vape, like a movie theater).

My goal is to get to a point where I can vape infrequently and still get satisfaction. It's hard to vape high nic juice after years at 3mg strength. I have a friend who vapes low nic juice in a TFV8. He blows a few 10 foot streams of cloud vapor and is good for an hour according to what he tells me. That gives him a noticeable buzz.

 

[Susaz]

Currently, about 5 to 6 ml of 13mg.

I was a two pack a day smoker. I quit with eGo style gear, using mostly 18 mg liquid, but with occasional hits of 24 as well as some WTA here and there. I didn't keep track of how liquid I went through initially. A month or so after I quit, I tried dropping down to 12, but that was unsatisfactory. So I mixed the 12 with 18 I still had to get 15, which seemed OK, and I stuck with that for the more than of two years. Meanwhile, I dumped the eGo batteries for DNA20 mods, and the various Chinese toppers (mostly Kanger) for Kayfuns. That was followed relatively quickly by a transition to MTL squonking.


I think everyone should be free to vape in whatever manner they like best.

That said, I don't think anyone is doing themselves any favors by vaping, say, 20ml of 3mg instead of 5ml of 12mg. It cannot possibly be better to inhale several time the amount of PG, VG, and flavorings to get the same amount of nic.
This is why I'm still at 13mg rather than 12. I dropped from 15 a half a mg at a time. I don't make the next drop until I'm steady at 5ml a day, and I don't seem to be getting there at 13. In fact, If I'm still not there the next time I mix (which won't be until next year), I may bump the next batch back up to 13.5...

As you guys were here, I was doing some calculations for coils in the steam engine calc. If I build 316 SS, for a target of double coils in 1.5 ohm, I should go to 36ga wire I haven't built on for 6 years or so!
I'm going to stick to single coils, but, I'm going up in ohms too. No more subohming for me.

 

[tailland]

After coming from cigs, I started with 12mg, reduced to 9 within a week, then bought a liter bottle with 6mg, and now 2 more bottles with 3mg. And I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, as long as I got my menthol coldness in the liquid. I'm good.However, I strongly disapprove of the limitations that TPD2 puts on sales of nicotine bases/liquids. Adults should be free to decide what/how much of it they want to consume.

 

[dripster]

~3mg because it gives the best flavor for me, using reasonably high watts (100+) on an RDA. The time it took for me to lower my nic strength from ~4.5mg (or maybe ranging in between 4.5mg and 5mg) at the start of my vaping life to 3mg (or maybe ranging in between 2.5mg and 3mg) was ~12 weeks, and I didn't smoke any cigarettes or anything after I had started to vape.

 

[DaveP]

As you guys were here, I was doing some calculations for coils in the steam engine calc. If I build 316 SS, for a target of double coils in 1.5 ohm, I should go to 36ga wire I haven't built on for 6 years or so!
I'm going to stick to single coils, but, I'm going up in ohms too. No more subohming for me.

36ga wire is TINY! It's almost like hair. Check out how many wraps of 28ga or 30ga at 2.5mm it takes to get there. You might also try single coil atomizers if you are wanting to go back to MTL. I vape MTL with .5 ohm up to 1 ohm using 28ga single coils.

The link below is set for 28ga, 2.5mm, 1 ohm, 10.4 wraps, single coil. You can reduce the wraps if you take it to .7 ohm and still get good vapor. That's about where I am in my MTL vaping style.
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

 

[Zaryk]

Way back when I first tried vaping, I was using 18mg in a carto. That didn't last long and I went back to smoking rather quickly, maybe a week at best.

It was couple years before I tried again, this time with a MTL tank and 18mg. That might have lasted 2 weeks or so, and dropped it again.

The last time I picked up a sub ohm setup with 3mg and never looked back. High nic and MTL vaping just reminds me of smoking, and sets me up for failure it seems, just too similar for me. Using lower nic and sub ohm is what let me break away from the cigarettes for good. I can do a little MTL and high nic once in a while, but it just isnt satisfying for me. I am more than happy with my 3mg juices, even 6mg is too much for me and can make me a bit queasy at times.

 

[Pete M]

When I started giving up it was 18mg nic in screw on pod cig a like things. Then I got clearomiser tank and went down to 12mg. If I use those tanks I stay at that level.

With a sub-ohm tank I used 6 and then went down to 3; I'm also using 3 on the mtl Zenith tank because I use sub-ohm coils for that even though it's not a sub ohm tank as such. I think because over the years flavour became more of the attraction than the actual nicotine and I wanted to vape for longer without getting dizzy!

Personally that's why I reduced the nicotine - I've still got the addiction but not so much as before so the reason I vape has shifted slightly. I think that's quite a common process for most people I know who vape too

 

[DeloresRose]

I’ve been all over the map with nic, from 24 mg to 3. It all depends, as already said, on the device. Some days I’m fine at 1.6 ohms 10watts and 6 mg, often I need a bigger better hit. I might use 5 mls of juice or 15-20, I find no difference in my health one way or another. I’m not in competition for how little/much juice or nic I use, I just tailor my vape to what I need or want at the moment.

 

[Susaz]

36ga wire is TINY! It's almost like hair. Check out how many wraps of 28ga or 30ga at 2.5mm it takes to get there. You might also try single coil atomizers if you are wanting to go back to MTL. I vape MTL with .5 ohm up to 1 ohm using 28ga single coils.

The link below is set for 28ga, 2.5mm, 1 ohm, 10.4 wraps, single coil. You can reduce the wraps if you take it to .7 ohm and still get good vapor. That's about where I am in my MTL vaping style.
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

Yes! I was aiming at 6 wraps... 11 wraps, who knows if it'll fit in some tanks. I have 32 at home, will play for a while with it. Also I found premade coils at 1.5 ohms at FT. Now we're again at trial and error. I used 32 a long time!

 

[Susaz]

36ga wire is TINY! It's almost like hair. Check out how many wraps of 28ga or 30ga at 2.5mm it takes to get there. You might also try single coil atomizers if you are wanting to go back to MTL. I vape MTL with .5 ohm up to 1 ohm using 28ga single coils.

The link below is set for 28ga, 2.5mm, 1 ohm, 10.4 wraps, single coil. You can reduce the wraps if you take it to .7 ohm and still get good vapor. That's about where I am in my MTL vaping style.
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

Happy medium??? Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

 

[ShamrockPat]

What do you think? Should low nic liquids be marketed, or go back to the old days of 24/18/12/9 eliquid?

I'm happily at 4mg/ml, started at 12, and slowly moving down after 3 years. IMHO all ranges should be available so people can wean themselves down.

It's easy to see why there are fewer mainstream higher strengths available. The cost of the bottle and label is pretty close between 30/60/120 ml sized containers. Nicotine is the highest cost per ml of all the ingredients. Then we have the wattage wars, with mainstream mods capable of > 200 watts. ejuice is the main consumable for this industry.

Don't worry, now I'll tie it all together in my little mind

Juice manufacturers love moving more product. Same as the disributors. Stores love the lower nic strength, higher wattage vaper. They sell more juice, and coils which is where their main profit comes from and gets you in the stores. Your wallet hates it. Now with pre-filled pods, there's no sampling, just ring up another cardbox box filled with 4 of 'em.

 

[DaveP]

Yes! I was aiming at 6 wraps... 11 wraps, who knows if it'll fit in some tanks. I have 32 at home, will play for a while with it. Also I found premade coils at 1.5 ohms at FT. Now we're again at trial and error. I used 32 a long time!

I use 28ga, 2.5mm, 8 wraps at about 7 ohms in my Kayfun, Beserker, Ares, and Siren 2. All will take a single coil at similar wrap counts. For MTL you really don't need dual coils.

I've used 32ga but it's delicate and not as long lasting as 28ga SS316L.

 

[DaveP]

Happy medium??? Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

That coil will heat fast and produce lots of vapor, but it's set in Steam Engine for 7.9 watts. I like 10W and only drop to 7 or 8 if I have a cold and want less vapor.

Experiment and see what you end up liking best. It's all about personal preference.

 

[Letitia]

I think there is too much emphasis on lowering nic. I go with what my body wants. Started at 24mg, now 8mg seems to suit me well with some 10mg at times. For dripping 2.5 is the current sweet spot. Primarily use a single tri core fc coil .35Ω-.4Ω.

 

[Susaz]

I use 28ga, 2.5mm, 8 wraps at about 7 ohms in my Kayfun, Beserker, Ares, and Siren 2. All will take a single coil at similar wrap counts. For MTL you really don't need dual coils.

I've used 32ga but it's delicate and not as long lasting as 28ga SS316L.

Yes, of course, that's why we started doing microcoils. Fusing them was the only way to make them last. Spaced it's impossible to rewick, it breaks when you try to pull out the cotton.

 

[DaveP]

I think there is too much emphasis on lowering nic. I go with what my body wants. Started at 24mg, now 8mg seems to suit me well with some 10mg at times. For dripping 2.5 is the current sweet spot. Primarily use a single tri core fc coil .35Ω-.4Ω.

I'm starting the think that way these days, too. There was a time when nic testing was a big deal with buying health insurance when ObamaCare started, so I dropped to 3mg in case I had to stop vaping for week for blood work. The scare there was that if you tested positive the insurance company would change your status to smoker and jack up the premium. Lower nic was supposedly easier to eradicate from the body if you needed to be tested. Then, there was the hair test that showed nic use in past months. We can't win. I just select non-smoker and that's the truth! So far, so good.

 

[Eskie]

Yes! I was aiming at 6 wraps... 11 wraps, who knows if it'll fit in some tanks. I have 32 at home, will play for a while with it. Also I found premade coils at 1.5 ohms at FT. Now we're again at trial and error. I used 32 a long time!

Shooting for a 1.5 ohm dual coil build is very tough. Remember, those 1.5 ohm pre-made coils will still put you at 0.75 ohm in a dual parallel configuration. Is there a reason you even need a dual coil build if you're going to be vaping a low power higher ohm build?