Looking to get a good new setup, been out of vaping for a long time. Please point me the way.

[VapeSlice]

I've been out of vaping since about 2011. I'm looking to get a good setup to start up again, I might be starting a job which requires a nicotine hit now and again to keep me alert. What is going on these days? It looks like the laws have all gone stupid and I hear about people saying they only have tobacco flavors now and other lame stuff I'm hearing. I thought technology would have improved, not regressed. So back before I quit I was considering a custom titanium or otherwise setup with aftermarket batteries.

I'm very familiar with this type of stuff having been a flashlight collector and electronics hobbyist for over twenty years, but I don't understand what is going on out there these days with the laws and all the proprietary systems I see out there nowadays with the proprietary batteries. I have a lot of spare lithium ion batteries setting around, so I'd be happy to use them in custom setups. For reference the last vape setup I had was an Ego-T with the refillable tanks and that had an internal proprietary rechargeable battery. And I used to purchase my vape juice separate from custom online shops like Mom and Pop's Vape Shop. Could someone point me in the right direction so I can get a decent new setup? I'm taking it they don't have flavors like cotton candy or /pineapple-watermelon anymore? I guess that's only reserved for marijuana these days.

 

[Territoo]

Need to know some more information. Are you a mouth to lung or direct to lung vaper? Do you want nicotine or since you've been nicotine free, do you want 0mg/ml juice? How old and what brand are those batteries? For tootle puffing at low watts, they may be ok, but if you want sub ohm vaping, you'll probably need new ones. Flavored juices can be had, at least for now, depending upon where you live. There's always DIY, which will be easy for you if you go nic free. There are tons of good set ups, but a lot depends on the style of vaping you prefer.

 

[VapeSlice]

I don't now what that means, but probably mouth to lung since I used to smoke for many years and the old vape gadgets were like sucking through a straw I guess.. I don't think I want direct lung bombs. I do want nicotine, I used to use the strongest, so I'd like the most potent in the least hits. The batteries are something I can worry about, I know a lot about those things running hi amp electronics and battery chemistry, age, and amps, voltage, ohms.

I'm not stuck on flavored juices right now, I could start out with whatever the not so great stuff is that is out there now. I'd probably be interested in a custom 18650 setup. Could do IMR16340, or all kinds of different things. The batteries in the old proprietary vape setups, and even the current ones from what I can see are pretty low capacity setups as far as amp hours, so I think anything 18650 or IMR16340 should be more than adequate considering what I used before in those old cheap setups.

 

[Territoo]

I'm thinking about a single 18650 battery setup like the iPico or the Geekvape Solo and an Aspire tank, since they use the Nautilus coils which are easy to obtain. An Innokin swag 2 is also a good kit. Others may also chime in with some good suggestions.

 

[Opinionated]

I've been out of vaping since about 2011. I'm looking to get a good setup to start up again, I might be starting a job which requires a nicotine hit now and again to keep me alert. What is going on these days? It looks like the laws have all gone stupid and I hear about people saying they only have tobacco flavors now and other lame stuff I'm hearing. I thought technology would have improved, not regressed. So back before I quit I was considering a custom titanium or otherwise setup with aftermarket batteries.

I'm very familiar with this type of stuff having been a flashlight collector and electronics hobbyist for over twenty years, but I don't understand what is going on out there these days with the laws and all the proprietary systems I see out there nowadays with the proprietary batteries. I have a lot of spare lithium ion batteries setting around, so I'd be happy to use them in custom setups. For reference the last vape setup I had was an Ego-T with the refillable tanks and that had an internal proprietary rechargeable battery. And I used to purchase my vape juice separate from custom online shops like Mom and Pop's Vape Shop. Could someone point me in the right direction so I can get a decent new setup? I'm taking it they don't have flavors like cotton candy or /pineapple-watermelon anymore? I guess that's only reserved for marijuana these days.

Buying ejuice will depend on what state your in. I think Mom and Pops have closed now.

You can still get nicotine base from MFS (they are having a going out of business sale and are about to close, so be quick if you buy from them) as well as Nicotine Giant... but you'll have excise tax on it depending on what state your in. Virginia's tax on liquids is 6.6 cents per ml, and is one of the more reasonable states of the states which have implemented a tax on liquids. West Virginia is 75 cents per ml... its nuts.

So get some unflavored base - freeze in glass bottles for longevity leaving out just what you'll use over the course of a year or so.

Then just mix your own juice. Depending on your state the laws could end up being pretty harsh, and the taxes ridiculous. VG, PG, and the flavorings we use are sold for purposes other than vaping, so no problem buying those. It's the nicotine that gets you, so buy a couple liters if you can. We can help you DIY..

As for gear, anything that's 510, which is most single and dual battery mods (not pods). Mods run anywhere from 5 to 250 watts; you just have to set it according to the vape you want - which for you will be MTL and low wattage (7-15 watts more than likely) Lots of good ones out there, just stay away from SMOK.

Innokin Kroma-R Box Mod

^^ good suggestion here, single 18650 regulated.

As for tanks, for drop in coils get a Zenith or a Zlide, and the 1.2 ohm coils if you can find them - you'll like that the best... we should be able to get coils into the country from China, fingers crossed. Anything customs seizes your just going to be out the money so be aware of that.

If you want a rebuildable look into a shop that carries the Vapefly Galaxies RTA - it's pretty new, but the galaxies is flipping awesome for MTL...

If you need anything feel free to ask. Good luck! Sorry your back at such a bad time - but at least there is still time to get what you need.

 

[Falconeer]

Welcome to the forum.

Territoo and Opinionated have covered all the bases and I couldn't really add anything constructive to what they have already said!

By the way as I write I'm happily vaping a Zenith with a 1.6ohm coil firing at 8 watts and loaded with 16 strength liquid atop a five year old iStick 30w.

 

[VapeSlice]

Welcome to the forum.

Territoo and Opinionated have covered all the bases and I couldn't really add anything constructive to what they have already said!

By the way as I write I'm happily vaping a Zenith with a 1.6ohm coil firing at 8 watts and loaded with 16 strength liquid atop a five year old iStick 30w.

Thank you Falconeer for the welcome, and thank you for posting your setup. I'd be glad to hear what others are using these days as well.

 

[Opinionated]

Thank you Falconeer for the welcome, and thank you for posting your setup. I'd be glad to hear what others are using these days as well.

I'm using the Dovpo Topside squonker with the Galaxies BF RDA...

 

[VapeSlice]

Thanks Opinionated. This is amazing to figure out and very interesting, even though they've made things weird these days.. I remember when Obama first banned clove cigarettes. That's when the lame really started.

I don't know what the nicotine hits are like now on the current setups, but I used to drag on a marlboro red until about a quarter of it was gone when I first lit it up. That was for many years when I was the worst until I started vaping. I tapered down a bit from my old days of smoking then and found the highest concentrations of vape were good for me at the time.

I didn't lower the concentration, but I just lowered the amount of hits I gave myself through the night. I was mostly an evening and night smoker/vapor having worked a lot of nights back then.

 

[Territoo]

Just remember your now nicotine free. What you vaped in the past would be too much for you now. I'd start low and up the dose if needed.

 

[Opinionated]

Thanks Opinionated. This is amazing. I don't know what the nicotine hits are like now, but I used to drag on a red until about a quarter of it was gone when I first list it up. I tapered down a bit from my old days of smoking and found the highest concentrations of vape were good for me at the time. I didn't lower the concentration, but I just lowered the amount of hits I gave myself through the night. I was mostly an evening and night smoker/vapor having worked a lot of nights back then.

I started on the Ce4 tanks and an Ego battery. Don't know if you ever used the ce4's? Going from that to the modern gear is night and day. Like dying and going to heaven type night and day.

Tanks don't crack, flavor percentages are far lower because flavor really comes through, and nicotine levels depends on how your vaping and what your needs are.

If your going above 25 watts I would try 3 mg first and go up if you need. Under 20 you may see about 12mg but you may end up fine with 6mg.

I get nic sick with 6mg but I stopped needing much by way of nicotine a while back. Right now I'm using 3mg even vaping low wattage, but that's more rare as most people vape around 12 to 18mg at low wattage (unless they just quit smoking) and 3 to 6 at higher wattages.

 

[VapeSlice]

Opinionated, I think I see what you're saying. The dosage goes up with the wattages, I was kind of thinking that. I was doing 20mg (I think that was the highest concentration at the time) just to get anything, but that was with an Ego-T ten years ago with the small little battery. So I can see how a smaller concentration would be a larger hit now depending on the vape cloud.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

18650 Mod:
If you want something small and light, for a mod you could go with the
Vaporesso Swag II mod. The body is plastic and its small, making it the lightest modern mod.

Here's a listing of it from Fasttech in China so you can take a look at it. You can buy it wherever you can find it, though.

Vaporesso Swag II mod

Or the Kroma-R is nice, it's about twice the weight of the Swag II mod.

Innokin Kroma-R mod

Tank (clearomizer):
And the Innokin Zlide claromizer may be your best bet in terms of MTL vaping. It takes the Innokin Z-coil coils (at low wattage the 1.6 ohm coil might be your best bet, but you'll have to see. The Zlide should come with a 1.6 ohm coil head. There are 2 sizes if the Zlide...

Zlide 22mm with 2ml capacity

Zlide 24mm with 4ml capacity

Both tanks will fit on both on the above mods just fine. The weight difference between the 2 tanks is about 10 grams.

I might be starting a job which requires a nicotine hit now and again to keep me alert

Juice:
If you are only going to hit your vape infrequently in stressful times, and at low wattage/voltage, you may need to stick with higher mg juice (higher meaning 12mg [aka 1.2%] or higher). Problem is you might have a hard time finding that unless you go with an ejuice made with salt nicotine rather than the regular nicotine freebase you used to vape. Salt nic can be bought as high as 50mg. As I understand it, the reason salt nic was introduced into the market is because at high strengths it's not harsh like freebase can be. So people who want high nic strength without the harshness, salt nic is the solution. But I wouldn't go as high as 50mg, IMHO. I personally have never vaped salt nic, but many others have.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Of course, if you'll be using your vape infrequently and not be using a lot of juice in a day, you may just want to go with something like the Vuse Alto Pod System. Vuse is Big Tobacco, made by RJ Reynolds.

The only reason I mention it to people is becuase many have said it vapes well and it can be found almost anywhere you buy cigarettes. IMHO, once the FDA gets done with their shenanigans, the Vuse will probably survive. And since it's ubiquitous in the market already (to some degree), you should have an easy time finding the pods for it.

The Vuse is a small pod system. It's not a disposable, it's what I call a semi-disposable - you cannot refill the pod, you have to buy prefilled pods, but the battery is rechargeable.

 

[Opinionated]

Opinionated, I think I see what you're saying. The dosage goes up with the wattages, I was kind of thinking that. I was doing 20mg (I think that was the highest concentration at the time) just to get anything, but that was with an Ego-T ten years ago with the small little battery. So I can see how a smaller concentration would be a larger hit now depending on the vape cloud.

yeah you don't need to go that high anymore... not at all..

it's truly night and day, you'll be pleasantly surprised. get you a mod and tank, start low on nicotine and go up until you find the right level for you...

 

[bnrkwest]

My fav set up is Geekvape Solo and a Zenith Pro tank, I'm strictly MTL. I also do rebuildable tanks too, but the drop in coils in the Zenith tank are my fav.

 

[JoshuaAnderson]

I'm a new vaper, so all I can say is that the 18mg/ml Blu works for me as a newbie. Might be worth a shot for only like 20 bucks?

 

[Hawise]

MTL does sound best for you. I use a Kayfun Prime on a Yihi SL Class mini, but I question whether that would suit you - it's a rebuildable, and the mod is higher end because I use TC (temperature control) which you don't necessarily need. You might want to try it out at some point, but probably not to start with.

As far as non-TC drop-in coils go, I agree with those above who have suggested either the Innokin Zenith or Aspire Nautilus series. I've used both and would heartily recommend them.

Just about any single battery mod would do, but I'd avoid SMOK products. SMOK is popular, widely available, well-advertised and characterized by an absence of any quality control.

I think you'll be impressed by what's available now. Best of luck!

 

[YoursTruli]

If you have a vape shop nearby that might be a great place to start. That way you can look at the available gear to see if it suits you and your purpose since you are not using vaping to quit smoking and things have changed a lot. Also going forward your local shops may be your only alternative for getting eliquid and gear.
Some great suggestions here, Innokin Zenith or Aspire Nautilus series, as those drop in coils are easiest to find and should be available for a long time to come. And since you have been nic free for some time you shouldn't start at a high level, 3mg - 6mg is the norm anymore in prepared eliquids. The equipment today is much better at nic delivery than in the past. There are always the convenience store/gas station type all in one pod systems such as Vuse if you are just looking for something small and simple.
Are you sure a good cup of strong coffee or tea wouldn't work better for you?

 

[CloudyFutures]

I have the Swag 2. So, another vote for the Swag. I upgraded to it from the Pico. It is the exact same size as the Pico but it is MUCH lighter. I would go with a light mod over heavy even though the heavy one looks more pro.

I see some people pushing Fasttech. IDK why cause we all know that the shipping time is between 2-4 months, but if you're really lucky then you might get your order in 1 month. I suggest taking a look at a full list of prices and vendors if you're interested in the Swag 2 Mod.

Swag II Prices & Vendors