Hi, my first post here. Found this place while doing a passel of web searches, seems like the most grown-up place, least crap-index, and zero spam (cudos to those who are tasked with cleanup in aisles a-z <g>).
I'll try to make this concise, but I recognize that I tend to be a bit wordy (occupational hazard of a former writer).
I smoked, off and on, from the age of 17, until a few years ago (I am now in my mid-60s), when Our Glorious Leaders took it upon themselves to do use the favor of jacking up tobacco taxes well into the nosebleed section.
The first time I quit, it was because I'd burned out on tobacco. After graduating from Pall Malls to Camels (when I couldn't taste the Pall Malls anymore), and then from Camel to Galois (when I couldn't taste the Camels anymore), I finally quit when the Galois became flavorless. I couldn't find any "next step up" unless I wanted to start smoking kindling, so I quit. A decade or so later I started smoking a pipe, then discovered good cigars, and then discovered poverty <g> and started smoking cigarettes again, but didn't really like the taste or aroma. Then I happened to pick up a pouch of Drum, not knowing what it was, but curious. First impression: Wow, this stuff is EASY to roll! -- Second impression: This is GOOD to smoke!
Back to the present...
When I could not stop feeling like I was burning money (and in fact, that's what it actually amounted to), I quit, cold turkey. At that time I was mainly smoking Drum. I remember when I could buy a tin of it for maybe three bucks or so -- and then I discovered Peter Stokkebye (I lived in a town bereft of a decent tobacconist, and found it while stopping in another city). Currently, a pouch of Drum runs about ten bucks (gasp).
Anyway, I've been tobacco-free for several years now. No cravings (other than the occasional longing for a good cigar, which is impossible to find in this town). My declining health was another factor in my quitting -- the money factor was "God's way of telling me to quit," I guess.
So, here I find myself, once again using nicotine, ironically, because of my health. I seem to be coming down with a case of Parkinson's. It got so bad that I could not type -- my fingers would randomly fire like mini-jackhammers. I went to my doctor, who told me there are meds to treat that, if it's what I have, and set me up with an appointment with a neuro guy to find out just what is going on. Unfortunately, it takes a few months to make an appointment, argh.
I did a bunch of research, and discovered that tobacco smokers have a dramatically lower incidence of Parkinson's, and, that nicotine can help ameliorate the effects of the disease. I didn't want to start smoking again. My health isn't that good (to put it mildly), and I really don't miss hacking up brown gunk daily. My wife picked my up some NJOY disposables, which were a two-for-one special. Still seemed expensive to me, at $4 per, but, they were supposedly equal to something like two packs each. That word "supposedly" sure is an elastic term, isn't it.
Well, they weren't much of a deal -- they were defective. Some would die in short order, some hardly delivered any vapor at all. I will say that NJOY's customer service is top notch -- they not only replaced all the duds, but, did so in reasonably fast time -- did not charge us freight, did not require us to return the duds, and even threw in an extra for free. Sadly, we even had a dud with the ones they replaced -- which they again replaced for free, and threw in another freebie.
At best, they deliver nothing even remotely approaching a pack or two of analogs. And, I needed to do a lot more "smoking" to get the same amount of "medicine" as I did with tobacco (when my NJOYs died, I got a pouch of Bugler, a particularly vile substance, and then I asked her to get me a pouch of Drum, and about had a coronary when I saw the pricetag).
I found a testimonial (in a post here) for White Cloud disposables, so, I ordered ten of their full-size in a variety of flavors. They were much better than the NJOYs, both in terms of flavor, and longevity, but I still ended up with a few duds. At this point, all I can say about White Cloud's customer service is that we did have to send back the defective ones, on our nickel. I'll be able to say more when I find out how they resolve this.
And, even though they lasted a long time more than the NJOY King, they still didn't last anywhere near approaching anything I'd consider economical.
Meanwhile, having been a tech in an earlier life, I could not resist the urge to do an autopsy on one of the dead disposables. What I found (confirmed by my research) is that the "disposable" battery is actually a rechargeable LiPo cell, charged once, soldered in place, and stuffed into a plastic tube along with a PCB "logic board " and some absorbent material wrapped around a tube, with a wick/coil in the middle.
It seemed to me that it ought to be possible to recharge the battery, and refill the absorbant material.
I ordered a few vials of "juice" from a vendor that seemed to get decent reviews here. They arrived today. Unfortunately, having run out of nicotine earlier, my hands were a bit shaky, and, I could not find my micro-soldering pencil. That, combined with my failing vision, resulted in my popping a few of the PCBs and one battery. I then gave up on trying to do it the right way (my plan was to place two contacts beneath the "ash"-end cap, with two holes for a charger to contact them (I'd already found a supply of LiPo charger modules for peanuts, but was going to use another one I'd cannibalized from a USB "pocket" charger).
I'll spare the rest of the boring details, and mention that I am now vaping on a frankencig -- I used a small hypodermic syringe to inject some juice into the wad -- I poked the needle into the silicone mouthpiece insert, between the wall and the center hole -- and then removed the battery, and now have a shortened NJOY King, with two wires coming out the middle, soldered to a BIG battery (out of the pocket charger). It is now a Menthol e-cig, and is working perfectly.
I am hoping to be able to re-do the rest of my collection of dead "disposables" -- in a somewhat more elegant manner -- and, will probably get a true-reusable at some point. I need to do more research to find what is the best way to go.
Ideally, I'd like something with replaceable components, in a form-factor similar to either the NJOY or the full-size White Cloud Fling. Would like to avoid something needing to manually power-up to use -- I like the automatic switch in the disposables -- fires up when I puff on it, don't have to worry about futzing around with it to use it, or remember to turn it off, etc., and, I like the "cigarrette-like" form-factor (as opposed to some of the things I've seen in advertisements, which look to me like more "apparatus" than I'd want to deal with).
Well, sorry for being so wordy. If anyone has any suggestions as to a "disposable-like" reusable -- one that can use juice, rather than the type needing pre-filled cartridges (like White Cloud's non-disposable type), please post a reply, thanks.
I'll try to make this concise, but I recognize that I tend to be a bit wordy (occupational hazard of a former writer).
I smoked, off and on, from the age of 17, until a few years ago (I am now in my mid-60s), when Our Glorious Leaders took it upon themselves to do use the favor of jacking up tobacco taxes well into the nosebleed section.
The first time I quit, it was because I'd burned out on tobacco. After graduating from Pall Malls to Camels (when I couldn't taste the Pall Malls anymore), and then from Camel to Galois (when I couldn't taste the Camels anymore), I finally quit when the Galois became flavorless. I couldn't find any "next step up" unless I wanted to start smoking kindling, so I quit. A decade or so later I started smoking a pipe, then discovered good cigars, and then discovered poverty <g> and started smoking cigarettes again, but didn't really like the taste or aroma. Then I happened to pick up a pouch of Drum, not knowing what it was, but curious. First impression: Wow, this stuff is EASY to roll! -- Second impression: This is GOOD to smoke!
Back to the present...
When I could not stop feeling like I was burning money (and in fact, that's what it actually amounted to), I quit, cold turkey. At that time I was mainly smoking Drum. I remember when I could buy a tin of it for maybe three bucks or so -- and then I discovered Peter Stokkebye (I lived in a town bereft of a decent tobacconist, and found it while stopping in another city). Currently, a pouch of Drum runs about ten bucks (gasp).
Anyway, I've been tobacco-free for several years now. No cravings (other than the occasional longing for a good cigar, which is impossible to find in this town). My declining health was another factor in my quitting -- the money factor was "God's way of telling me to quit," I guess.
So, here I find myself, once again using nicotine, ironically, because of my health. I seem to be coming down with a case of Parkinson's. It got so bad that I could not type -- my fingers would randomly fire like mini-jackhammers. I went to my doctor, who told me there are meds to treat that, if it's what I have, and set me up with an appointment with a neuro guy to find out just what is going on. Unfortunately, it takes a few months to make an appointment, argh.
I did a bunch of research, and discovered that tobacco smokers have a dramatically lower incidence of Parkinson's, and, that nicotine can help ameliorate the effects of the disease. I didn't want to start smoking again. My health isn't that good (to put it mildly), and I really don't miss hacking up brown gunk daily. My wife picked my up some NJOY disposables, which were a two-for-one special. Still seemed expensive to me, at $4 per, but, they were supposedly equal to something like two packs each. That word "supposedly" sure is an elastic term, isn't it.
(Before I get too far, I'll pause to note that the nicotine did indeed put a stop to the tremors -- a mix of good and bad news rolled into one.)
Well, they weren't much of a deal -- they were defective. Some would die in short order, some hardly delivered any vapor at all. I will say that NJOY's customer service is top notch -- they not only replaced all the duds, but, did so in reasonably fast time -- did not charge us freight, did not require us to return the duds, and even threw in an extra for free. Sadly, we even had a dud with the ones they replaced -- which they again replaced for free, and threw in another freebie.
At best, they deliver nothing even remotely approaching a pack or two of analogs. And, I needed to do a lot more "smoking" to get the same amount of "medicine" as I did with tobacco (when my NJOYs died, I got a pouch of Bugler, a particularly vile substance, and then I asked her to get me a pouch of Drum, and about had a coronary when I saw the pricetag).
I found a testimonial (in a post here) for White Cloud disposables, so, I ordered ten of their full-size in a variety of flavors. They were much better than the NJOYs, both in terms of flavor, and longevity, but I still ended up with a few duds. At this point, all I can say about White Cloud's customer service is that we did have to send back the defective ones, on our nickel. I'll be able to say more when I find out how they resolve this.
And, even though they lasted a long time more than the NJOY King, they still didn't last anywhere near approaching anything I'd consider economical.
Meanwhile, having been a tech in an earlier life, I could not resist the urge to do an autopsy on one of the dead disposables. What I found (confirmed by my research) is that the "disposable" battery is actually a rechargeable LiPo cell, charged once, soldered in place, and stuffed into a plastic tube along with a PCB "logic board " and some absorbent material wrapped around a tube, with a wick/coil in the middle.
It seemed to me that it ought to be possible to recharge the battery, and refill the absorbant material.
I ordered a few vials of "juice" from a vendor that seemed to get decent reviews here. They arrived today. Unfortunately, having run out of nicotine earlier, my hands were a bit shaky, and, I could not find my micro-soldering pencil. That, combined with my failing vision, resulted in my popping a few of the PCBs and one battery. I then gave up on trying to do it the right way (my plan was to place two contacts beneath the "ash"-end cap, with two holes for a charger to contact them (I'd already found a supply of LiPo charger modules for peanuts, but was going to use another one I'd cannibalized from a USB "pocket" charger).
I'll spare the rest of the boring details, and mention that I am now vaping on a frankencig -- I used a small hypodermic syringe to inject some juice into the wad -- I poked the needle into the silicone mouthpiece insert, between the wall and the center hole -- and then removed the battery, and now have a shortened NJOY King, with two wires coming out the middle, soldered to a BIG battery (out of the pocket charger). It is now a Menthol e-cig, and is working perfectly.
I am hoping to be able to re-do the rest of my collection of dead "disposables" -- in a somewhat more elegant manner -- and, will probably get a true-reusable at some point. I need to do more research to find what is the best way to go.
Ideally, I'd like something with replaceable components, in a form-factor similar to either the NJOY or the full-size White Cloud Fling. Would like to avoid something needing to manually power-up to use -- I like the automatic switch in the disposables -- fires up when I puff on it, don't have to worry about futzing around with it to use it, or remember to turn it off, etc., and, I like the "cigarrette-like" form-factor (as opposed to some of the things I've seen in advertisements, which look to me like more "apparatus" than I'd want to deal with).
Well, sorry for being so wordy. If anyone has any suggestions as to a "disposable-like" reusable -- one that can use juice, rather than the type needing pre-filled cartridges (like White Cloud's non-disposable type), please post a reply, thanks.
Sorry about the diagnoses. My grandmother had Parkinson's disease and was an avid chain smoker. She ended up on oxygen and had quit for about 6 years before she passed. Not sure if the smoking helped or not, but she smoked 20 years before she had to quit. Here are some links to some of the smaller cigarette style e cigarettes. 
