•I'm initially willing to invest $400 to $600 on startup kits, hardware, cartos etc not including juice (hell that's still less than what it costs me to smoke a month)
•I don't want anything that looks like a cigarette. I want to get away from those damn things
•I'm not too self conscious about the size of the PV in public within reason
•I'm leaning towards a tank that I can refill myself and that is clear so I can see how much juice I have left
•1 smaller or short stumpy PV that I can take out drinking with me and on the plane ( I travel a lot)
*****
Yes, I have some ideas.
Fortunately, you have a great attitude. You "get it". You understand that cigarettes are the enemy, vaping is a great - and probably the best - way to ditch them, and you're willing to spend whatever it takes to vanquish them. This reminds me of a very good movie I just watched called "Charlie Wilson's War", about a US Congressman who was instrumental in getting weapons to the mujahadeen in Afghanistan so they could defeat the Russians. He eventually increased their funding from $5 million to $1 billion, and they proceeded to shoot down and destroy hundreds of Hind gunship helicopters, Mig fighters, and tanks that were previously cutting them to pieces. The Soviets were defeated and withdrew from Afghanistan, and a few years later, the Soviet Union dissolved, the Berlin Wall came down, and the Cold War was essentially over.
Charlie Wilson's main CIA contact put him in touch with a weapons expert who told him exactly what the mujahadeen would need to defeat the Russians. I don't claim to be an "expert" on vaping equipment, but I do know a fair amount, and I am going to recommend to you what I would get to defeat the enemy.
First, everything I'm going to recommend will be variable voltage. IMO there is no longer any compelling reason to buy a fixed-voltage device. There are quite a few that are cool to have, like the Silver Bullet, Black Beauty, kGo battery, or Joyetech 18650 mod, but those are on the periphery of essential vaping hardware. Variable voltage (VV) is at the epicenter. VV allows you to warm the coil or coils to exactly the right temperature to suit a wide variety of conditions; juice flavor ("lighter" flavors, like a fruit flavor might want less heat, and "heavier" ones, like coffee or chocolate, might want more), PG/VG composition, juice delivery to the coils, and even your mood.
That's a hell of a budget you've got there; again, a testament to your good sense since you are clearly aware of how much you've been spending on cigarettes, and realize how short-sighted it would be to underfund the mujahadeen. There are a select few VV devices that are worth buying IMO, and you could buy any one of them - or two, or three, for that matter. IMO, they include:
The ProVari V2, the Smoktech VMax, the Apollo SS Vtube, the Buzz Pro 2, and the Joyetech eGo-C Twist.
For your "power sources", I'm going to recommend that you get the ProVari V2 and three 650mah (milliamp-hour) Twists. If ProVape can't get a V2 sent to you in time for your trip, I'd go ahead and get a VMax from All About Vapor, in chrome - they just lowered the price from $128.95 to $95.50, now including two AW IMR 18350 batteries, making it an all-out "Buy" IMO. No, the VMax does not have nearly as many "user-hours" under its belt as the ProVari V2, which has earned its reputation as an extremely high-quality, extremely reliable, and very, very well-performing device, but neither has it shown any appreciable signs that it will fail to make quite a good reputation for itself. 'Version 1.0" had some quirks - endearing enough to me that I bought two more of them - but they have been "fixed" in "Version 1.1" which is now what virtually all vendors have in stock.
As for the "business end" of the power source, I like Smoktech 3.5ml (milliliter) DCT tanks fitted with Boge single-coil stainless steel "XL"-sized cartomizers, the Vivi Nova tank with replaceable atomizers of various resistances, the Bulli atomizer, and the GG Odysseus atomizer/tank. The last three have the distinction of being liked by me without my ever trying or owning any of them. You might also want to try a Joyetech "C"-type atomizer, just to try it. You might just like it. It's a three-piece version of the Joyetech "T"-type one-piece atomizer, comprised of a base, a cone, and a replaceable atomizer "head". Thee heads come in 5-packs of either 1.7 (?) ohm "low resistance", or 2.3 (?) ohm regular resistance. Some people love them, some people hate them, some are in between. You won't know which "camp" you'll fall into if you never try them. As this insanely long thread testifies to:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ego-type-models/232530-new-ovale-ego-c-changeble-system.html -
the Joyetech tank system has some quirks and possible shortcomings. That said, it can be a pretty nice setup for "stealth vaping", or vaping at work, out on the town, and is very pocket-friendly IMO.
Other threads I recommend you read:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ego-type-models/304652-dual-single-coil-twist.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...sion/302432-why-ego-c-twist-game-changer.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ined-detail-single-dual-coil-atty-cartos.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...on/304955-what-best-vv-pv-market-today-2.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...385-new-variable-voltage-device-smoktech.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-video-reviews/295530-smoktech-v-max-review.html
YouTube Reviews:
A PBusardo Tutorial - How I slot my cartos!.wmv - YouTube pbusardo slotting cartomizers
SmokTech V-MAX Review: Round 2 - YouTube SmokTech V-MAX Review: Round 2
THE EGO TWIST IS A GAME CHANGER - YouTube Grimm Green Twist Game changer
A PBusardo Review - eGo Twist - OvaleUSA - YouTube Phil Busardo Twist review
I wouldn't bother watching any reviews of the ProVari V2; they're all good, it's all good. A "knock" on the Provari for its price is an absurd "knock" IMO.
For the Twist/tank/carto/etc., this is exactly what I would get: [Cut and paste from another post]
Joye eGo-C Twist Variable Voltage 650mAh Battery (MyVaporStore)
Smoktech 3.5ml DCT tank:
Pro DCTank Tube (MyVaporStore)
USB charger:
eGo Rapid USB Charger 6.75 (MyVaporStore)
Wall charger:
Mini AC Wall to USB Converter 6.25 (MyVaporStore)
eGo trim piece:
eGo Cone Cover for DCTank (MyVaporStore)
Plain drip tip:
Colored Drip Tip - 510/901 (MyVaporStore)
Cartomizers:
Crystal Clear Vaping CrystalClearVaping
Cartomizers:
Boge Mix n Match (5 Boxes) SureVapes - $0.92 each
No, I do not own, work for, or am in any way affiliated with MyVaporStore.com.
You will like it, and you wlll like it very much. You will have to slot the cartomizers; either per Phil Busardo's YouTube video:
A PBusardo Tutorial - How I slot my cartos!.wmv - YouTube - or PM me and I will call you and tell you how to do it. You'll need to own or borrow a Dremel tool for someone, and you'll need some Dremel cut-off wheels, # 409. Or you can buy a cartomizr punch. It's hard to find pre-punched cartomizers that will work well with lower-voltage devices, even ones that go up to 4.8 volts like the Twist. Some people - including MyVaporStore - will say that dual coil cartomizers work fine on lower-voltage devices - but they do not.
From the MyVaporStore website:
These cartomizers were designed specifically for use with Dual Coil Tank (DCTank) Tubes. A 510 drip tip and DCTank tube is needed in order to use these cartomizers. There is a hole punch on the side of them so may leak if used without a DCTank Tube.
All of our eLiquid will work with the DCTank (full PG or 50/50 PG/VG). Full VG eliquid is too thick and will not work well in theDCTank. [
VG will work much better in a carto slotted for it].
These new cartomizers contain two heating coils instead of one to produce more vapor than your standard cartomizer [
if you can put enough volts/watts to them]. They have been designed to work great with 3.7V batteries [
Not IMO] or a HV (high voltage) setup. Available in 1.5ohm or 2.5ohm. Please allow +/- 0.3 variation. We recommend 1.5ohm for Ego batteries [
why?] or 3.0V-4.2V batteries and 2.5ohm for 5V or higher.
These cartomizers must be used with batteries of 650mAh capacity or higher and are known to discharge batteries much quicker than single coil cartomizers.
This is nowhere near as complicated as it might seem, and will be well worth the modest learning curve to figure out. This thread:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...sion/302432-why-ego-c-twist-game-changer.html
contains a thorough discussion of why single coil cartomizers are far superior (IMO) to dual coils for use in a Joyetech Twist (or any eGo-class battery/PV).
If you do nothing else, please at least watch the Grimm Green review of the Twist, and feel free to ask any questions that you might have. Good luck, and happy vaping, whatever it's on.
*****
Final note: I have always found the term DCT[ank] to be a misnomer, since "DCT" stands for Dual Coil Tank, potentially leading one to believe that single coil cartomizers are somehow not well-suited to them, which IMO they very much are. Some people like dual coils, and IMO they have their place, but not in lower-voltage devices; not even a 1.5 ohm dual coil in a Twist, due to the marginal wattage per coil, and the greatly increased amp draw of say a 1.5 ohm dual coil cartomizer over a 3.0 ohm single coil.
bulli atomizer review steve from liverpool
Bulli A2-T atomizer from bulli-smoker.com - YouTube
THE EGO TWIST IS A GAME CHANGER - YouTube Grimm Green Twist Game changer
A PBusardo Review - eGo Twist - OvaleUSA - YouTube Phil Busardo Twist review
***** End of cut-and-paste *****
Final thoughts:
If you get a ProVari, I'd get the 18650 extension cap so you can use AW IMR 18650 2000-mah batteries, which will give you incredible battery life. I'd get at least three batteries, and an XTAR WP6 charger from lighthound.com. If you get the Twist, get two chargers in case one fails, although I've never had one fail. Backup, backup, backup. If one Soviet-made shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missile misfires, shoot down the Soviet-made Hind attack helicopter with the backup one.
If you get a VMax, get at least four, and preferably six AW 18350 IMR batteries. To charge 18350 batteries in the XTAR WP6 charger, you'll need at least two extra spacers (used to accommodate shorter batteries) to charge two 18350's at a time, and ten extra spacers if you want to charge four 18350 batteries at a time. 18650's require no spacers. The XTAR comes with six spacers. I am not one of those who consider it an issue that the VMax uses "stacked" (two, in series) IMR batteries. To me, their chemistry makes it a non-issue.
Callies Kustoms IMR Battery and AW short circuit observations - YouTube callie's customs IMR short-circuit tests Callie's/AW
Fenix Flashlights, Cree LED, Lithium Batteries, Lithium Ion Batteries, Li-Ion Chargers, Leatherman Multitools, Spyderco Knives and more! (Lighthound.com)
Lastly - mentoring. Things are easier when someone can answer questions for you, and tell you just what to do when unfamiliar things get tricky; things that are relatively simple once you know the ins and outs, having already gone through the learning curve. If you PM me, I will give you me email address and two phone numbers so you can contact me at any time so that this will be as easy for you as possible. "Post pulling" (insert joke here), carto slotting, tank filling, replacing a cartomizer in a full tank, keeping batteries happy and healthy, filling tanks and priming cartos, Ohm's Law (volts times volts divided by ohms = watts (two coils need [almost] twice the watts); rebuildable atomizers; great flavors and the best juice vendors, PG/VG ratios, carto punching vs. slotting, and how many holes or slots, and their size; pre-punched cartos, flanged cartos, unpunched cartos, single coil, dual coil, and when and why to use them; what level of niotine to start out with and end up at; health benefits of nicotine vs. the harmful effects of nicotine (yes, there are some) and how to intelligently balance them; and I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out.
There's a lot to this, but the big trick is to do
something, which is just what you're about to do. If you get either a ProVari V2 or a VMax, plus three Twists, a bunch of DCT tanks, about 50 Boge 2.0 ohm single coil XL cartos, about 6ml of juice per day before you plan to reorder, and all of the support equipment I listed, you will be in fine, fine shape. You just will. Of course, you'll aslo have to make sure that you have whatever convertor you'll need to make sure that when in China you can supply 110V 60hz current to your charger(s).
I'm relatively sure I'm about to get a lot of disagreement about my recommendations, but it is very unlikely to change my opinion that you will not go very far wrong by following them. Are there "better" things you could get? Sure. You could get a Darwin, a Reo VV bottom-feeder, some Bulli tomizers, a bunch of Vivi Novas, eGo Vision/Stardust tanks, and many, many other things. But IMO there's no compelling reason to get it all right now. You have a long time to figure out exactly what you're going to like best throughout the rest of your vaping career. So do I. I've barely scratched the surface of exploring everything that's out there, but I know that you will get a fine, fine vape with the things that I've listed, and IMO you will be off to a flying start.
Good luck, and again, contact me if and when you have any questions.
I would recommend not buying all of your juices from the same vendor. It seems that some vendors have the same under tone flavor in all of their juices. This can be good or bad depending on if you like it or not. Nothing against Myfreedomsmokes but for some reason their liquids have a certain harshness for me. Too bad because I like a lot of their flavors. My best friend swears by them and says my Dekang ones are harsh. I think trying different vendors is a great idea despite paying separate shipping in the beginning.
