I may have gone a bit... overboard.

Status
Not open for further replies.

RevelRob

Full Member
Jan 13, 2017
6
18
40
Hi!

I'm Rob. Although I'm a new member here and would consider myself a newer vaper, I actually used Cig-a-likes and then finally an Ego style vape pen back in 2012 to quit smoking.
I used it strictly as a smoking cessation tool.
I bought a couple of batteries, a few cartomizers, and 2 tiny 10 or 15 ml bottles of tobacco flavoured juice. They were exactly the same flavour but one was marked as "High" nicotine (probably 24mg), and the other was nicotine free. I would use the high nic juice at first and then slowly use more and more of the 0mg juice every time I refilled the carto until I used only the 0mg. After a few tanks of 0mg, I didn't have cravings for neither cigarettes nor vaping and I was smoke free!
...
Fast forward to the summer of 2016 when I got drunk in Costa Rica and my travel buddy (a strictly "vacation smoker"), was smoking a cig... You pretty much know the rest of that part of the story.
I ended up being that "bummer" who never bought a pack but would bum smokes from everyone I knew who smoked. That lasted for a couple of months and then, I bought a pack... then another.
It was at around pack 2 or 3 or 4 where I was performing (I'm a professional Stage Illusionist) at a big trade show on November 11 & 12, 2016. In between shows, I would stroll the floor and check out booths. Well, there was a local vape shop that had a booth there. I immediately figured that I should cut the cancer (literally) out of my life immediately and bought a starter kit. The Vaporesso Target Mini. I still love this lil kit and use it every once in awhile.
...
"Wait a second... did he just write that he 'still' loves that kit that he bought exactly 2 months ago?!?!"

This is where the "overboard" comes in and how I fell down the wormhole.

I went from the Target Mini kit to buying a Sigelei Fuchai 213 with a Joyetech Ultimo and iJoy Combo RDTA...
Then I bought another Ultimo so that I can switch between 2 flavours instead of waiting for the tank to run out.
Then I realized how much cheaper building your own coils are, so I bought a few spools of wire and 2 RBA decks for the Ultimo tanks I have.
The flavour was so much better (even though they are the worst leaking pieces of garbage ever).
Then I found out how to make Fused Claptons... how SS can be tastier than Kanthal... how TC for SS is better than Wattage mode... how my Sigelei Fuchai 213 ....s the bed with TC... how the DNA chip is amazing... how they now have a DNA 250 chip... Ya... I've become obsessed.

So, I now have:
- 3 mods (Vaporesso Target Mini, Sigelei Fuchai 213, Lost Vapes Triade DNA 250)
- 12 tanks (Vaporesso Guardian, 2 Joyetech Ultimos, iJoy Combo RDTA, Smok TFV8 Cloud Beast, Mutation xV4 RDA, OBS Engine RTA, Digiflavor Pharaoh RDA, Wotofo Serpent Mini RTA, Steam Crave Aromamizer Supreme RDTA, Augvape Boreas RTA, Tsunami 24 Clone RDA)
- 10 18650's (all Samsung INR 25R 2500 mAh)
- CoilMaster V4 Kit
- TONS of wire in a bunch of gauges from 22 to 40 (all but 4 spools are SS, 3 Kanthal, 1 Nichrome)
- Avidartisan Daedalus Coil Maker (LOVE this thing for making Fused Claptons. I used to do it the drill and swivel way, but it was way too difficult with gauges higher than 34)
- Around 1200ml of various juices (that's what I bought, not what I currently have. I still have a good amount of that)

So... I think I have a problem. Either that, or I am trying to find that near perfect vape for me.

Next... Making my own juice. That is DEFINITELY going to be the hardest part for me because I'm not very good at making flavours. I may need to find some highly reviewed juice recipes and try them out. I also get bored of flavours easily so I may be buying a ton of flavours and wont settle. I'm worried for my wallet.

Anyways, just wanted to introduce myself :)

Rob.
 

Fog n Vape

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Dec 18, 2014
370
650
Vancouver Island Canada
Hi and welcome. Wow that's a lot of gear ! I think you will enjoy diy juice as it's exciting exploring new favours and recipes. Might want to check out the diy juice forums for ideas and recipes. Have fun with it, make small batch's until you get combo's you enjoy. After reading a zillion recipes you'll start getting an idea of % ranges most used. What worked for me at first is taking a recipe then raising or lowering individual favours to tune it to my personal taste. After making juice for a couple years now I have a pretty good idea of how the favours I have interact and have come up with a few good ones that myself and friends enjoy. Also have saved a ton of $ compared to buying juice.
Lots of information here on the forums and again welcome aboard
 

HecticEnergy

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jan 24, 2014
2,417
1,638
TX, USA
welcome!

Yeah, I did the same thing when i first got into it - finding that perfect vape and playing with all the new "toys." Now i buy a new setup once every 6 months - sometimes longer. I'm not super hard on my gear, so it lasts me a while - and before i buy new stuff i research the holy hell out of it.

I started DIY in like 2014. Like you said, I found a few recipes, then started tweaking them slightly to fine tune it. I stuck with recipes with one brand of flavoring (TFA) so i didn't have to buy as many flavors (different vendors have different strengths and flavors - its not like swapping C&H for store brand sugar...). start buying small amounts of the flavorings for a few recipes, try them (after recommended "steeping" time) and see what you think. It's a bit more time consuming at first, but I spent $100 on my first order for DIY supplies and had enough stuff to make over a gallon of juice. Now i've got several recipes that i like and switch between, I order supplies once a quarter or so ($60). i reuse the bottles so it costs me less than $1 per 30ml. I buy flavors in mostly 30-120ml bottles, VG by the gallon and the 1 1L bottle of 100mg nic i bought probably 2 years ago still has about half of it in the freezer. (I broke my Nic down into 60ml glass amber bottles, when i pull one out of the freezer I dilute it down to 12-24mg to mix down to 3-6mg for recipes - this way I don't have to glove up every time I mix, just when i pull a bottle out of the freezer.)

There is definitely a lot of little hobbies in vaping lol (some are more expensive than others... like hardware)
 

Smoke_too_much

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Jul 8, 2016
1,213
1,393
71
Hi Rob & welcome
Oh you are going to fit in just fine around here :thumbs:.

E liquid Recipes is the place to find those popular ones. Register with the site as that allows you to do a bunch of stuff all very handy to DIY. A vendor like Bull City Flavors handles all the major flavor brands and actually sells them cheaper than the manufacturers themselves.
 

BrotherBob

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Dec 24, 2014
14,118
12,449
Sunnyvale,CA,USA
Next... Making my own juice. That is DEFINITELY going to be the hardest part for me because I'm not very good at making flavours. I may need to find some highly reviewed juice recipes and try them out. I also get bored of flavours easily so I may be buying a ton of flavours and wont settle. I'm worried for my wallet.
Welcome and glad you joined.
1.Before I place a DIY flavor order, I order only those flavors which I will need to make 3 or more recipes, then I order all the flavors for those recipes. After I receive the flavors I test them as standalone single flavors. These tests are important because they will give a feel for taste and strength (note taking is a must for me) , not necessarily if they taste good, but more on how they might interact in a mix. I find that very few single/standalone flavors can be used by themselves.
2. Might want to run a review on every blender's flavor before you purchase. Like vanilla custard. Run a review on each blender, ie CA VC, TFA VC, LB VC etc.etc. . The idea here is to purchase only the good or highly rated ones that are within your self imposed budget. The flavors you purchase do not have to be the most highly rated and expensive.
3. "I also get bored of flavours" Stand alone flavors will sometime change taste when mixed in a recipe.
 

gandymarsh

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
May 11, 2014
2,598
5,003
WI, USA
I haven't counted lately but my best guess would be over 30 battery devices and a similar number of juice delivery devices (tanks, RDAs etc). I have enough nic base to last about 5-6 years and quite a collection of flavorings (not enough though, must buy more). A bunch of other stuff that I won't mention because there's too much.

I blame the FDA:D
 

Microwench

Full Member
Jan 20, 2017
12
56
42
JOCO, Kansas
This made me giggle at my desk!

I started vaping 3-4 years ago with cig-a-likes (they were crummy), tried and ego pen for a while (better) but nothing 'stuck'. Little over a month ago I did some research, asked the only IRL friend I know who vapes for recs, and bought myself a Kangertech Subox Mini-C. I haven't had an 'analog' cig since the day I set up the Kanger.

Meanwhile, I discovered r/ecigclassifieds over on Reddit and I currently have, on the way to me, the following:
- Baby Beast tank
- eLeaf iCare kit
- a Pico mod
- one of the pretty caged Nautilus tanks
And I am stopping by my local B&M after work to pick up the tank they ordered for me last week. :rolleyes:
Definitely fell down the rabbit hole, lol. But...I don't have kids, my bills are paid, and everybody needs a hobby!
It's a little dangerous to the ol' wallet, but it's fun, and it's saving my life from cigs, so I call it a win all across the board!
 

Shawn Hoefer

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jan 21, 2015
11,191
49,147
58
Arkansas Ozarks
There's no such thing as overboard...

@Shawn Hoefer, am I right? lol
0cf5cfd555c60fe09246abe2c4fe899b.jpg


Rabbit hole?

ETA: Another just arrived :)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 

djsvapour

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Oct 2, 2012
11,822
7,901
England and Wales
Just wait til you have so many mods that the ones you don't use anymore are stored in Vape Purgatory, not knowing if they'll ever be brought back to life or not :D

It's not purgatory for mods like the Smok SID, eVic (v.1) and Vamo though. It's justice!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread