I'd like to catalog my vaping experience so far, in the hope that other newbies browsing the forums for information will avoid some of the mistakes I made. I use the word 'mistakes' loosely, because IMO, anything that gets you off smoking cigarettes isn't really a major mistake. It might not have been the wisest choice you could have made, but as we all know by now, a lot of 'mistakes' are made due to a lack of knowledge about e-cigs.
July, 30th, 2010
After 40 years of smoking, I decide out of the blue that I can't stand it any more! This is one of many occasions when I decide I'm going to quit. Needless to say, all previous attempts failed miserably. But this time, I remember that a few weeks before, a friend of mine told me she was going to buy a gadget from the pharmacy which was a sort of 'electric cigarette'. I call her and sure enough she bought it, and she says it seems to be working. So I make the 8 kilometer journey to the village further down the valley, (I live in a tiny village in the italian alps with only 4-5 stores), and buy this thing. It's called a T-Fumo, and from what I can gather in these forums, it's something like the 'Blu'. Your basic e-cig - looks like a cigarette, is sold as an aid to quitting, with pre-filled (no nicotine) carts. It costs 60 euros with a spare pack of 10 carts, (multiply euros by 1.3 for a ballpark dollar figure), but to me that's cheap, if it works.
So, off I go, vaping away on this wonderful device, and Lo and Behold!, in the first 4 days, I manage to cut down to 5 analogs a day. Wow! Amazing! But the fairytale is shattered fairly quickly when I realise that I'm using 3-4 carts a day and a replacement pack costs 10 euros. At that rate, it'll cost me about half what I spent on cigarettes. However, I'm not exactly disillusioned by the e-cig - I just want a cheaper way to fuel it. So, with the internet being the answer to every question you can think to ask, I use (italian) google to check cart prices. Nada. They're the same price no matter where I look. Reluctant to admit defeat, I google 'e-cigarette' and find an italian users forum - pretty much the same as this one - lots of info and support, etc. This is where things start getting interesting for me.
Blunder #1 - I bought a generic commercially available e-cig which tied me to the manufacturer's carts, and which (I know now) wasn't very good anyway.
This is an excusable blunder to make for most people. You can't buy something if you don't know it exists - especially when you decide on the spur of the moment. And no matter how useless it was, the dratted thing did get me started vaping, so I can't complain. As to the cost - I could recoup that in 10 smoke-free days.
August, 5th, 2010
After doing some research on the italian forum, I order a (rebranded) 510, some pre-filled carts, some empties, and a 10ml bottle of e-juice - tobacco flavor/0mg nicotine - and it arrives 3 days later. In the meantime, I'm up to 7-8 analogs a day, but I'm hopeful that's temporary. I read the instructions, toke it up with a pre-fill, and I'm off again. Dagnabbit!! It tastes of nothing very much, and the vapor is minimal. After 10 drags, I'm already on another cart, and I carry on like this till the battery runs out an hour later. But I already have the spare (auto) charging, so I'm still good to go. But what I can't understand is why I'm not 'getting it'. I'm sucking away on this thing like it's the exhaust on a truck, and getting not much of anything, (except the occasional dizzy spell).
I hit the forum, post, and to and fro with some members. Finally, the consensus is that the generic juice that came with the 510 is garbage. Great! Now I have to start again!
Blunder #2 - I relied on the supplier to provide decent juice. This may/may not be wise, depending on who the supplier is. Secondly, I failed to realise that the juice is one of the most important factors in an e-cig. (Yeah, I know it's obvious.... now Doh!).
August 11th, 2010
My consignment of juice arrives. It comes from Flavour Art - generally agreed to be the best in italy. (Their flavors are available through Totally Wicked or by international shipment). I've got a PG/VG mix, extra PG & VG, and 8 flavors. This time, I'm convinced I've hit the jackpot. Vaping is a whole new experience! Lots of vapor and good taste. The 510 is like a different implement altogether - the way it should have been to start with.
But there's a snag. Being an arrogant idjit, convinced of my superior willpower, (not sure why, given my previous track record in quitting), I ordered juice with 0mg nicotine, because (of course!)..... I can quit! Yep! I can do it! Lookee me, ma!
Well, sad to tell, I couldn't. Not a bit of it. Despite blowing out bigger plumes than the Icelandic volcano, and feeling like a seasoned vaper, it took about 3 hours before I hit the analogs again. Argh! Back to the forum to read more and figure out where I went wrong this time. (I sort of knew already).
Blunder #3 - Quitting nicotine isn't easy, especially after years of smoking. Maybe you can do it, but I sure couldn't! Better to play safe and get nicotine. You can always cut it down later.
August 16th, 2010
In the meantime, I'd already ordered a Joye eGo (no rebranded merchandise this time, thank you very much!), and I put in another order for 24mg nicotine. By the time both shipments arrived yesterday, I was getting near the psychological barrier of a full pack of analogs a day. Grrr... So, as soon as I collected my goodies, I cut the 24mg with 0mg to make 12mg, added some flavor, filled a 510 cart, and........ Whoopee!! Heaven On A Stick!!
Finally, I'm a happy bunny! The 510 works perfectly, the eGo is even better, the juice is great, and the nicotine is keeping the wolf at bay. Since yesterday, I've smoked 1 analog, and it didn't taste that wonderful, to tell the truth. I think I tasted something similar years ago when I bit into a rotten fruit by mistake.
So... there are various morals to be found in this story, and I'll leave it up to anyone who cares to read this to take what advice they can find. After spending about 300 euros on this malarky, I'm left with 2 serviceable e-cigs and enough juice and flavors to last me for a couple of months. I expect to recover that money in the space of 5-6 weeks, so I don't really care. I'd have paid double to stop smoking. Double? Hell, triple and more! How much is your life worth?
I know 1 cig in a day is a bit early to get out the champagne, but I have the benefit of all those failed attempts in the past to draw on. I've never managed a day with less than 5, so I'm confident I'm on the right track. Not to mention the fact that in every previous attempt to stop, I felt like I was ready to kill strangers and eat babies. Right now, as it happens, I'm feeling rather mellow. LOL.
One final note. During this whole, long, drawn-out farrago, I started visiting these forums and reading everything in sight. The most important thing I got out of my visits here was the conviction that, (to paraphrase Barack Obama), "Yes, I can do it!". Reading the numerous posts by people who smoked 2/3 packs a day and now vape full-time, helped me to hang on each step of the way. It wasn't so much, "Well, if they can do it, so can I" - more like, 'Hell! They all did it, so it really is possible!"
A HUGE thanks to all the vapers who came before me, and who help all the others who are showing up now.
cheers
mac
July, 30th, 2010
After 40 years of smoking, I decide out of the blue that I can't stand it any more! This is one of many occasions when I decide I'm going to quit. Needless to say, all previous attempts failed miserably. But this time, I remember that a few weeks before, a friend of mine told me she was going to buy a gadget from the pharmacy which was a sort of 'electric cigarette'. I call her and sure enough she bought it, and she says it seems to be working. So I make the 8 kilometer journey to the village further down the valley, (I live in a tiny village in the italian alps with only 4-5 stores), and buy this thing. It's called a T-Fumo, and from what I can gather in these forums, it's something like the 'Blu'. Your basic e-cig - looks like a cigarette, is sold as an aid to quitting, with pre-filled (no nicotine) carts. It costs 60 euros with a spare pack of 10 carts, (multiply euros by 1.3 for a ballpark dollar figure), but to me that's cheap, if it works.
So, off I go, vaping away on this wonderful device, and Lo and Behold!, in the first 4 days, I manage to cut down to 5 analogs a day. Wow! Amazing! But the fairytale is shattered fairly quickly when I realise that I'm using 3-4 carts a day and a replacement pack costs 10 euros. At that rate, it'll cost me about half what I spent on cigarettes. However, I'm not exactly disillusioned by the e-cig - I just want a cheaper way to fuel it. So, with the internet being the answer to every question you can think to ask, I use (italian) google to check cart prices. Nada. They're the same price no matter where I look. Reluctant to admit defeat, I google 'e-cigarette' and find an italian users forum - pretty much the same as this one - lots of info and support, etc. This is where things start getting interesting for me.
Blunder #1 - I bought a generic commercially available e-cig which tied me to the manufacturer's carts, and which (I know now) wasn't very good anyway.
This is an excusable blunder to make for most people. You can't buy something if you don't know it exists - especially when you decide on the spur of the moment. And no matter how useless it was, the dratted thing did get me started vaping, so I can't complain. As to the cost - I could recoup that in 10 smoke-free days.
August, 5th, 2010
After doing some research on the italian forum, I order a (rebranded) 510, some pre-filled carts, some empties, and a 10ml bottle of e-juice - tobacco flavor/0mg nicotine - and it arrives 3 days later. In the meantime, I'm up to 7-8 analogs a day, but I'm hopeful that's temporary. I read the instructions, toke it up with a pre-fill, and I'm off again. Dagnabbit!! It tastes of nothing very much, and the vapor is minimal. After 10 drags, I'm already on another cart, and I carry on like this till the battery runs out an hour later. But I already have the spare (auto) charging, so I'm still good to go. But what I can't understand is why I'm not 'getting it'. I'm sucking away on this thing like it's the exhaust on a truck, and getting not much of anything, (except the occasional dizzy spell).
I hit the forum, post, and to and fro with some members. Finally, the consensus is that the generic juice that came with the 510 is garbage. Great! Now I have to start again!
Blunder #2 - I relied on the supplier to provide decent juice. This may/may not be wise, depending on who the supplier is. Secondly, I failed to realise that the juice is one of the most important factors in an e-cig. (Yeah, I know it's obvious.... now Doh!).
August 11th, 2010
My consignment of juice arrives. It comes from Flavour Art - generally agreed to be the best in italy. (Their flavors are available through Totally Wicked or by international shipment). I've got a PG/VG mix, extra PG & VG, and 8 flavors. This time, I'm convinced I've hit the jackpot. Vaping is a whole new experience! Lots of vapor and good taste. The 510 is like a different implement altogether - the way it should have been to start with.
But there's a snag. Being an arrogant idjit, convinced of my superior willpower, (not sure why, given my previous track record in quitting), I ordered juice with 0mg nicotine, because (of course!)..... I can quit! Yep! I can do it! Lookee me, ma!
Well, sad to tell, I couldn't. Not a bit of it. Despite blowing out bigger plumes than the Icelandic volcano, and feeling like a seasoned vaper, it took about 3 hours before I hit the analogs again. Argh! Back to the forum to read more and figure out where I went wrong this time. (I sort of knew already).
Blunder #3 - Quitting nicotine isn't easy, especially after years of smoking. Maybe you can do it, but I sure couldn't! Better to play safe and get nicotine. You can always cut it down later.
August 16th, 2010
In the meantime, I'd already ordered a Joye eGo (no rebranded merchandise this time, thank you very much!), and I put in another order for 24mg nicotine. By the time both shipments arrived yesterday, I was getting near the psychological barrier of a full pack of analogs a day. Grrr... So, as soon as I collected my goodies, I cut the 24mg with 0mg to make 12mg, added some flavor, filled a 510 cart, and........ Whoopee!! Heaven On A Stick!!
Finally, I'm a happy bunny! The 510 works perfectly, the eGo is even better, the juice is great, and the nicotine is keeping the wolf at bay. Since yesterday, I've smoked 1 analog, and it didn't taste that wonderful, to tell the truth. I think I tasted something similar years ago when I bit into a rotten fruit by mistake.
So... there are various morals to be found in this story, and I'll leave it up to anyone who cares to read this to take what advice they can find. After spending about 300 euros on this malarky, I'm left with 2 serviceable e-cigs and enough juice and flavors to last me for a couple of months. I expect to recover that money in the space of 5-6 weeks, so I don't really care. I'd have paid double to stop smoking. Double? Hell, triple and more! How much is your life worth?
I know 1 cig in a day is a bit early to get out the champagne, but I have the benefit of all those failed attempts in the past to draw on. I've never managed a day with less than 5, so I'm confident I'm on the right track. Not to mention the fact that in every previous attempt to stop, I felt like I was ready to kill strangers and eat babies. Right now, as it happens, I'm feeling rather mellow. LOL.
One final note. During this whole, long, drawn-out farrago, I started visiting these forums and reading everything in sight. The most important thing I got out of my visits here was the conviction that, (to paraphrase Barack Obama), "Yes, I can do it!". Reading the numerous posts by people who smoked 2/3 packs a day and now vape full-time, helped me to hang on each step of the way. It wasn't so much, "Well, if they can do it, so can I" - more like, 'Hell! They all did it, so it really is possible!"
A HUGE thanks to all the vapers who came before me, and who help all the others who are showing up now.
cheers
mac
