Looking for advice: Does more expensive equipment mean better vaping experience?

[Jaguar07]

What you spend on it often has very little impact on how well it vapes directly. Though it may effect how long it lasts and does the job, significantly.

FYI Debb, there are a couple events in the coming weeks, where you may "try before you buy".

The LA Vapers club is having a meeting this Saturday in Glendora from 12noon - 5pm
LA Vapers Club


There's a "E-Cig Expo", NEXT Friday and Saturday(21st and 22nd) at the Anaheim convention center that is free if you pre-register online.
E-Cig Expo

VapeFest is in Las Vegas on the 21st and 22nd also.
VAPE FEST

 

[XeniaMike]

Not necessarily. What I notice most is build quality - workmanship, quality of materials used, etc. in my higher end mods. But that doesn't mean I don't get great vapes from my lower-end mods. Mercedes are nice, but Kia's are nice too.

 

[Bob Chill]

One small thing that you can do for free is keeping your coils really clean. I mostly use evods, protanks, and davides. They all use the same heads. I prefer 2-2.2 ohm heads on my vv/vw devices. Keeps my life simple using the same heads.

I never run more than 3-4mls through a head without doing a clean/dry burn. It makes a big difference in always having a clean vape with inexpensive batteries and tanks. You can see the coil turn from black to silver when you do the burn. Try keeping up with this practice before investing in more gear. The cost is free.

I have twists, itaste 3.0's, and a smokteck SID. I like the SID for unwavering power and huge battery life but I can still get a good vape on a twist too with simple delivery devices. I do have a k100 mech mod and igo L on the way but I would work up to a mech/rba over time.

Improving the experience is something I call chasing the dragon. I don't think you can ever actually catch it but you can keep getting closer to the fire. Each person chases differently. Throwing piles of cash at the chase too quickly is rarely worth it. You can get solid gear that performs darn well before "having to have a provari".

 

[DebbM]

Deb this really depends on what kind of vaping experience you are looking for.

Taste?
Clouds of vapor?
Grab and go?
Being able to adjust voltage or wattage?
Etc…

This thread will throw you in different directions because everyone has a different preference.

For myself, I wanted to chase the big clouds. I enjoy the clouds and it feels close to the real thing.

My first upgrade from a ego twist was a vamo. I knew I wanted to be able to vary my voltage like the twist. I definitely noticed a difference in power output just upgrading to the mod (vamo). Mostly because I'm using better performance batteries ie. AW IMR or EFest IMRs. I was rolling with a protank and was happy with the result. I learned how to rebuild my protank and began tinkering and was able to push more vape by trying different wicking materials. I found out what I liked, what worked , what didn't to suit my wants through rebuilding the protank.

Someone suggested to get a dripper so I went ahead and got the IGO-L. Watched a bunch of YouTube videos an found out how easy it was to rebuild the IGO-L. Then the clouds started coming in. I can no longer use my protank since even my best setup could not compare to the experience I was getting with my rebuildable dripper, the IGO-L. I ended up giving my protank away to my brother.

I played around with the IGO-L and found several great wick setups and realized the limitations of a variable device. I was capped in terms of resistance limits and power limits and I didnt like that. I researched other more expensive variable devices and they had the same limitations (except for dna20 mods but at the time the only ones available were box mods so didn't want that).

Through live chat here, someone suggested to try a mechanical mod, these devices have no wires no internals just pure usage of the batteries. Batteries have their own limits amp wise and voltage drops etc…. So getting a good battery is key. I wanted to try going sub-ohms which is resistance lower than 1.0 to push more clouds. Now I am very happy with my current setup using a Segelei #5 (45$) with my IGO-L at 0.6 ohms using ekowool and 28g kanthal. Don't let the terminology scare you, there are lots of videos on YouTube that go over this info. Now I only use the Vamo as a resistance checker, it's practically shelved!

I'm conclusion, you should think about what kind of vaping experience you want and go from there. You do not need to buy very expensive devices to get what you need. Unless you want the bragging rights, ie hollister shirt vs a similar shirt at target.

If you want to chat with someone check out live chat, there's a bunch of us there who are wiling to help you get there.

Don't buy the hype, buy what suits your want.

Disclaimer to people who argue clouds: my wanting to chase clouds is what I look for in a vaping experience. I use my money to get there and enjoy it when I'm there, so unless you want to buy me my vaping experience spare the chasing clouds argument etc…it'll just be ignored. My chase for clouds is what keeps me off analogs and at the end of the day that's what matters.

Good luck Deb and see you in live chat

Thank you so much for all your information. I am still learning all terminology and have a few questions. By clouds do you mean the amount of vapor? What exactly is a dripper? I will definitely check out the live chat. Thank you!

 

[DebbM]

What you spend on it often has very little impact on how well it vapes directly. Though it may effect how long it lasts and does the job, significantly.

FYI Debb, there are a couple events in the coming weeks, where you may "try before you buy".

The LA Vapers club is having a meeting this Saturday in Glendora from 12noon - 5pm
LA Vapers Club


There's a "E-Cig Expo", NEXT Friday and Saturday(21st and 22nd) at the Anaheim convention center that is free if you pre-register online.
E-Cig Expo

VapeFest is in Las Vegas on the 21st and 22nd also.
VAPE FEST

Wow. Very active here in our neck of the woods. thanks so much for the info. Did not even know there was a vapers club.

 

[K_Tech]

Not necessarily. What I notice most is build quality - workmanship, quality of materials used, etc. in my higher end mods. But that doesn't mean I don't get great vapes from my lower-end mods. Mercedes are nice, but Kia's are nice too.

That's a very good point, and a good analogy. Years ago when I was pretty active in an audio forum, a topic that came up quite frequently was the point of diminishing returns.

Comparing audio equipment to vaping gear may be a stretch, but consider that there's a point where it's difficult to put a finger on what that extra dollar is buying you.

What do you have, what does it do for you, does it please you, and what more do you want are questions that are very personal (once you're at the point where you're comparing two differently priced but technically similar pieces of gear), but must be answered in order to go forward - or sometimes stay where you are, realizing that you're quite pleased with what you have.

 

[vernhall]

Consider too that there's always going to be new hardware rolling out from China and the States... More things to temp that are going to be advertised as the next thing better than sliced bread... So, as has been said, weigh your options and decide what 'you' want out of your vaping experience...

 

[Ride394]

I haven't gone super expensive yet, except for my eVic. But I can say that I went through some real cheap clearos, attys, and cartos and never was totally satisfied. Then I got some Kanger MT3's and what a world of difference! Much more satisfying! I know now that it's not worth buying super cheap in the beginning as you will spend more on the multiples of those than if you just buy something decent to start. I'll be getting some protanks and and IG-W next week and can't wait for my vaping to get even better.

 

[IMFire3605]

Well, with your iTaste VV v3, in VW (VP) mode is a heck of a nice power device, I own one, and love the dickens out of it. I also own an MVP V1 and V2, and an SVD, as well as some basic Ego's and 510 manuals that I still use. Once in VW level, knowing your wattage range, any device will work excellently for you. About the only upgrades you might look at, at this stage now would be longer battery capacity devices, and your delivery attachments, if at all. If what you are using right now is keeping you off tobacco and satisfied, then keep at it at what you have if it is making you happy, leaving you the only expenses being liquids, and other expendables like coil heads, and maybe some more backup delivery attachments.

If you are liking the iTaste and looking for a next device to upgrade to depending on your budget, can't go wrong with an MVP v2, an SVD, even a Vamo or ZMax maybe for longer battery life devices as I said above.

 

[CommaHolly]

I think I need one of those Auroras!!!!!

 

[cihansolakoglu]

im very happy with my evic, and its not that expensive

 

[e-pipeman]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you want a hobby then by all means try new stuff but hobby=expenditure.

 

[twgbonehead]

DebbM,

Your question really hit the nail on the head. Anyone can tell you what their favorite vape configuration is, and even the most insane here haven't been able to try even 1% of all that's out there. The number of batts/mods, atomizers/clearomizers/tanks/drips is totally insane. Then, there's e-liquids, which multiply it by about a factor of 100000. IMHO cost is NOT particularly an indication of satisfaction. My all-time favorite vape is a Wizard-Stick with a turkey-baster duct-taped onto it; the whole thing cost me maybe $35 (with an extra $20 for a bunch of rechargeable AA batteries, which this thing absolutely requires). And that's not even a PV, it's a science-fair toy!

What I would do, however, is ask myself "What do I like about my current config, and what don't I like"? For me, the (weird) list is like this:

Throat-Hit: I greatly prefer "Lung-Hit". I don't need much bite in my throat, but I really want to feel "Full" in my lungs, and have vapor to blow out. The solution I've found that works for me is to use higher VG mixes; these not only give me better "Lungfull" but also bring out the flavor more in the juices I like. (I really don't taste most flavors well, and I discovered that adding more VG to the juices I bought brought the flavors WAY up, particularly fruits). But that's my slant, not yours, not particularly anyone else's here.

Switchable - I like to switch flavors often, rather than vape the same taste all day

Experimentation - I like to play with my juices; add more VG, add Vodka, mix different flavors. I don't mix my own, but I would love being able to pick any of the 40 different juices I have and just vape that one for a couple of minutes.

These are the kinds of things that will help you focus on what, if anything, you need to change. I know, this site has 10 million posts, and about 8 million of them say "XXXXX is totally awesome!" (And I immediately say to myself, "Man I gotta check this out!"). But I have several setups that work (and there's a new version of the Wizard Stick that doesn't look quite so much like a .... that I'm gonna check out ASAP!).

A co-worker of mine just let me try his itaste VW 3.0. I loved it (and am awaiting 2 of them). There are 30 other devices I'd like to try/own.

ENJOY vaping. That's the important part. There are better setups and worse setups, but nowadays unless you get a piece of crap from the mall-stall you're already vaping well up the curve. It can always be better, but I don't think it fundamentally changes...

However, if you really want to be sure, the recipe is easy. Just read all 10 Million posts on this site and you can't go wrong ;-)

 

[sexxydion]

I am all so at that cross road and I'm thinking more expensive devices as I keep spending more I do find I am enjoying vaping more and mor now I'm looking into life time type equitment such as gg offers and wondering should I just go for broke no matter what the wife thinks ... ha ha

 

[jetcity]

Some people, including me, can taste the polyfill in cartos. Before you order a carto tank it would probably be a good idea to buy a package of cartos first to see how they taste to you.

One thing I have to say is that I can't stand pre-filled cartos or the blank ones you fill yourself and slap them on your battery... but put them in a tank and it's a whole different story. I don't know why and I almost didn't try a carto tank setup because of this.

 

[Brim_]

The higher end devices definitely give me a cleaner vape with much better flavour. I have used starter stuff like ego-c, moved up to e-vic with a good carto tank, but for me nothing beats my Juggy or Ihybrids

 

[zekster76]

While everyone is different, I can say for me , variable voltage was something I had to have, it adds consistency and variability to whatever I put on top of it. There are a lot of choices to suit that from cheap to not so cheap.

 

[mstenbaek]

There are so many cheap mods out there today that does the job almost as good a the high class (and often 4 times the price) stuff. However there are some moral thoughts about the clones (exact copies of the originals with logos and serial numbers). I have expensive and cheap stuff. I do enjoy the high class for the quality fell it has, but cheap stuff will get you a long way.

 

[bobbyh3342]

its kind of liked when you smoked cigs, were nat shermans better than your Marlboros or newports? Not necessarily .. It is a cliché but "taste is subjective"

 

[e-pipeman]

its kind of liked when you smoked cigs, were nat shermans better than your Marlboros or newports? Not necessarily .. It is a cliché but "taste is subjective"

It is indeed very like smoking.

Now you have many choices. Do you want 20 Rothmans or Sobranie Black Russian?

Do you want a Castella or an H.Uppmann?

The good thing about vaping is that the ratio of price to enjoyment is not as high as it was once.

Get a variable voltage device (Vamo), a decent liquid container/atomiser (x9 or Protank) and a liquid that you like.

Bingo!

Then learn to drip for the best possible flavour. (510 atty, drip tip, cone).

For out and about an Ego with an Evod clearo on top takes some beating.