New here, considering E-Cigs, advice sought please!

[Heike]

Hello all, my name is Heike, I'm 64, and I am considering E-Cigs. My sister (66) was diagnosed yesterday with stage 1 COPD, and I fear that I am next. My immediate goal is to mix E-cigs with real cigs, and reduce the real cigs I smoke by half. I could then decide if I want to go on.

A bit about me. I started smoking when I was 12, during school break, and when school resumed, I was a very committed smoker, a pack a day. I've smoked a pack a day since then, except for when I went through menopause, then it was a pack and a half a day. I smoke Marlboro reds 100's; I appreciate cigarettes that are long and strong. Most of my smoking is done when I'm doing nothing else, so I can fully enjoy my cigarette, as well as smoke the entire cigarette. I've never quit, never tried to quit, never wanted to quit, except for now, I at least want to reduce my smoking.

What E-Cigs would work best for me? Naturally, the feeling in the lungs is most important, but I would also hope for something that I would hold like my Marbs. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Heike

 

[somdcomputerguy]

Welcome to ECF, Heike. I hope everything works out well for your sister.

 

[Heike]

Welcome to ECF, Heike. I hope everything works out well for your sister.

Thank you and bless you!

 

[Daniel Forsyth]

Welcome to ECF Heike, some very good advice will come your way in no time

 

[HigherStateD]

Welcome!

As stated, you will get some very good advice here.

From me, let me just put out there, your goal of reducing by half, what you smoke, while commendable, is unnecessary, and my actually be a hurdle.

Try not to set goals. The key is to keep trying to find something else other than smoking. vaping just may be your answer. For me, it's a good one so far. I hope it works as well, or better, for you.

Many here will say replicating a cigarette feel is also a hurdle. When I first tried, that was a sticking point for me. You may find something like that that works for you. I know I didn't.

Edited for clarity, and to add: if you'd be open to something a little wider, maybe the size of a medium-to-thin cigar, a whole world of options will open up for you. I Know If vaping is for you, something in that form factor would work, regardless of almost anything else.

 

[Horselady154]

This might be for you.
Innokin Adept-Zlide kit may be the new starter kit to recommend to new vapers

 

[Heike]

This might be for you.
Innokin Adept-Zlide kit may be the new starter kit to recommend to new vapers

Thank you for the recommendation. Can you tell me why you recommend this? Pros and cons?

 

[Horselady154]

Read the 1st post in the thread that I linked for you. I personally have not tried that setup, but the tank is a very good mouth-to-lung tank. MTL is what approximates more the puff we did in smoking. Pbusardo was behind this setup and he is one of the big names in vaping. Most of his reason for being right now seems to be to get smokers off of smoking. I trust him. So, I think this might be a good 1st setup for you to get. Note: I do know about the tank and can highly recommend it. I think this would be a solid 1st setup for you.

If you purchase this, be sure and get plenty of backup coils for the tank. They are what causes the vapor and they need to be replaced every so often.

Here is a video for you:


Since you smoked Marlboro Reds and since this is a MTL tank, I would recommend you start with 18mg or 24mg ecig juice. One of the biggest reasons people fail is that they do not use strong enough nic juice to satisfy their nicotine cravings. As you transition off of cigarettes, you will already be going through withdrawal of all the other crap they put in cigs; you don't need to be going through nic withdrawal too. I quit cold turkey; it was amazingly easy. For me, at least. I still had cravings, but every time I did, I just picked up my vape. Craving gone.

If you want to know some web sites that offer juice like this, just ask. Or, you can also go into your local vape shop. They often let you test some to find one you really like.

 

[B2L]

Hello all, my name is Heike, I'm 64, and I am considering E-Cigs. My sister (66) was diagnosed yesterday with stage 1 COPD, and I fear that I am next. My immediate goal is to mix E-cigs with real cigs, and reduce the real cigs I smoke by half. I could then decide if I want to go on.

A bit about me. I started smoking when I was 12, during school break, and when school resumed, I was a very committed smoker, a pack a day. I've smoked a pack a day since then, except for when I went through menopause, then it was a pack and a half a day. I smoke Marlboro reds 100's; I appreciate cigarettes that are long and strong. Most of my smoking is done when I'm doing nothing else, so I can fully enjoy my cigarette, as well as smoke the entire cigarette. I've never quit, never tried to quit, never wanted to quit, except for now, I at least want to reduce my smoking.

What E-Cigs would work best for me? Naturally, the feeling in the lungs is most important, but I would also hope for something that I would hold like my Marbs. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

Heike

Welcome to the forum! Your story is a lot like mine, I loved smoking but hated what it was doing to my health.

A few months shy of 30 years smoking I decided to try an electronic cigarette. I dual used for about a week and woke up one morning, went to light my morning cigarette (first thing in the morning was the hardest cig for me to kick) and thought “wow, this is disgusting, what am I doing?” I haven’t had one since for almost 9 years now.

I don’t really have much advice as in starter devices but will tell you, give it some time and don’t feel guilty about the cigarettes you smoke, just celebrate the ones you don’t.

Also, whatever nic level you settle at, have some on hand in the next higher level for when the craving hits, that’s what finally did it for me.

Lastly, there are a lot of folks here that have been there, done that and have the T-shirt who are willing to help any way we can.

Wishing you the best, enjoy the journey

 

[Rossum]

Hi and welcome.

What E-Cigs would work best for me?

That's very difficult to say. People who smoked the same will often like very different things when it comes to vaping.

Probieren geht über Studieren

In other words, you may have to try a few different things before you find what's right for you.

I smoked for 36 years. Two packs a day for the last couple of decades. I did try to quit on a few occasions, but it never lasted more than a few days to a week. During my last serious attempt, my wife (a never smoker!) told me that if I wanted to stay married, I should start smoking again, at which point I pretty much gave up on the idea of quitting. But I was also getting pretty tired of the smokers' cough and chronic bronchitis that I had most of the time. So I ordered a starter kit. I had no intention of quitting. Like you, I just wanted to see if I could use it to cut back some. Well, I never finished the pack I had opened just before that kit arrived, but it did take one equipment upgrade and a quite a few different liquids to try before I was able to not smoke the one cigarette per day that I got down to.

Are there any vape shops near you?

 

[MJCSD]

Hello and welcome to ecf

 

[Hawise]

Hi Heike. You're very welcome to ECF, although I'm sorry for the circumstances that brought you here.

I've come to the conclusion that people need a personalized approach to quitting/switching. For some people, the best strategy is to set a firm goal and stick to it. For others (e.g. me), it was better not to have any real goals at all. Like you, I had never tried to quit and I didn't particularly want to quit. I sort of wanted to want to quit, but I could never convert that into the slightest desire to actually drop cigarettes. But I kept getting pneumonia each spring, and it was really irritating. Besides, smoking was expensive.

I eventually decided to try out vaping. I was pretty sure that if I told myself I wanted to switch I'd manage to sabotage things, so I firmly informed myself that I was just trying to save a bit of money and cut down on cigarettes. I started vaping with no pressure and no demands, and over a week or so I found I rather enjoyed it and naturally smoked less and less. After about a month I reached the end of the carton I'd bought before the vape arrived. As I worked my way through the last pack, I thought it might be interesting to see what happened if I didn't buy my next pack ahead of time. I'm a block away from a 24-hour corner store, so I could pick up the next pack whenever suited me. That was over six years ago, and I've somehow never managed to get around to it.

Moving on to recommendations, there are now three types of vaping:

• Pods - small devices, vapourize a very small amount of juice with very high nicotine levels
• MTL (mouth-to-lung) - in between pods and DL for juice amounts and nicotine levels, inhale like a cigarette (suck the vapour into your mouth and then inhale it)
• DL (direct lung) - high juice consumption and low nicotine levels, inhale directly into your lungs

I would actually recommend trying all of them to see what suits you best. It's a bit pricey since you'll need more than one setup, but they still end up being a lot cheaper than cigarettes.

More background: MTL and DL setups have two main parts:

• Mod - the battery part
• Tank - where you put the juice

You can't usually use the same tank for MTL and DL (at least not with much success), but you can use most mods with either type of tank.

I vape MTL myself, so I can't offer any worthwhile recommendations on a pod system or a DL tank. For MTL, I'd suggest something along the lines @Horselady154 mentioned. The Zenith and Zlide tanks are the most popular MTL tanks right now. They're very similar and use the same coils so it won't matter too much which one you get.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to ask as many questions as you can come up with!

 

[DeloresRose]

Hi and welcome!

I agree with @Horselady154 great advice.

I think it’s fairly easy to replace half of your cigarettes with vaping.

I started vaping mostly to avoid going outside in the cold to smoke. I smoked 1.5 PAD of Camel wides. First day with my e cig I smoked 3-4. Without suffering. I started with 24 mg/ml.

I agree to start with higher nic, as you can always go lower as needed.

And please ask anything, stick around for assistance and encouragement.

 

[Nitron]

I think you can just go cold turkey on cigarettes and vape when you get the cravings. Most of the cravings come from the nicotine. Probably to start with higher nic as well.

 

[John Phoenix]

Hi Heke, welcome to the best e-cig forum on the planet.

You may have to try a few different types of e-cigs before you find the one that's right for you. E-cigs Do work because it's largely the smoke from cigarettes that kill us. They can and will help prolong your life and quality of life if you use them faithfully.

Today there are 3 major types of e-cigs you'll commonly see. Without getting too technical, there are cigarette like devices called cig-a-likes you can buy from many regular stores (in the USA like gas stations and Walmart) These have small batteries produce the least vapor out of the 3. Cig-a-likes come with a battery, charger and some atomizers (which is the device that actually vapes your E-juice.) that are prefilled with liquid nicotine or "E-juice" as it is commonly called.

The other two types you'll find in e-cig vaping stores and consist in part of a larger device than the cig-a-likes, called a Mod. A Mod is essentially a device with a battery and electronics that help you adjust the wattage and temperature of the vape. Mods can come in many sizes and shapes and generally are squarish and do not resemble a cigarette. On top of the mod sits a Tank for your E-Juice and inside the tank there is an Atomizer. Most vapers like Mods because the tanks hold a lot of e-juice to keep you vaping throughout the day and are adjustable so you can refine your experience. With a Mod you can get really thick clouds of vapor compered to a cig-a-like and many people feel it delivers a better vaping experience because of this. Mods are more expensive than Cig-a-likes. Mods require a separate battery and tank system although most Mods do come with a battery tank and atomizer in the package to start you off. Many vapers do like the cig-a-likes and do stick with them. It all depends on what you like and your price range.

The two types of Atomizers for use with Mods are: Direct to Lung atomizers and Mouth to Lung atomizers. The difference is; Direct to Lung atomizers give you a big vape hit with a Lot of vapor (more so than a cigarette) and are meant to be hit directly to the lungs like a cigarette. Most young people love them but I find at 51 they are way too heavy in vapor for me. This type of vaping is relatively new from a few years ago. Mouth To Lung atomizers give you as much vapor as a cigarette and are designed to be hit by taking puff into the mouth first then knocked back into your lungs second. This type of vaping is how all e-cigs used to be designed before Direct to Lung was introduced.

There are many more types and styles of e-cigs but I've just given you what I feel are the 3 most common you'll likely see.

A word about E-Juice. E-juice comes in many strengths and flavors. You can buy premixed e-juice or you can save money by buying the ingredients and mixing your own which consists of Liquid Nicotine, Vegetable Glycerin Propylene Glycol and FDA approved flavorings (in USA), all USP grade. Mixing your own e-juice can be Much cheaper if your on a budget.

You'll be spending pennies a day as compared to 5 dollars a day for cigarettes with any of these options in the long run. Mods can cost anywhere between 20 to over 200 dollars, a Tank system can run you 40 dollars or more, the replacement atomizers can cost you 3 to 5 dollars each possible more depending on the brand and retailer. Atomizers can last normally two weeks sometimes 3 before you have to replace one, except for the cig-a-likes which have a much shorter life and are not refillable. The initial startup might not seem that cheap when you consider all that info but when you break it down it's way cheaper than buying cigarettes.

I hope this post has helped in some small way and wish you the Best with your journey of health.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

This what I started on - Vapor Cigarette 650 | Tasty Puff

 

[YorkMan]

Welcome, you’ve made a fantastic decision to give vaping a try! It is really enjoyable and I think you will like it. You might want to start out with something really simple like a Juul or one of its competitors. That’s what I did. All you do is pick it up and puff as desired. This will get you going and give you time to investigate other options, of which there are many.

Good luck!

 

[Baditude]

Read this blog that I wrote: Good Starter Setups for a Beginner Vaper. It gives an overview of different products currently available and helpful advice to quit smoking and begin vaping.

The advice given by @Horselady154 is sound.

 

[greek mule]

Just don't buy the Innokin Adept-Zlide kit.You are going to regret it with that auto-set wattage it has.You need a device you can set your preferred power.
Edit:Actually you can set 4 different wattage settings but you can't fine tune in
0.1 increaments.
Another con is that the usb port is located at the bottom which is pretty inconvenient when charging.

 

[B2L]

This might be for you.
Innokin Adept-Zlide kit may be the new starter kit to recommend to new vapers

@Heike if you haven’t already, you’ll find that there are quite a few contests and give aways on ECF. I don’t know if this kit is the bees knees or not but at free (or nearly free) you can’t go wrong.

Giveaway! Win an Adept & Zlide Kit! July 18 - 26th. Join in to win!