New member and my experience so far

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aminuts

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2014
232
134
Texas
A little history. Started smoking at the age of 28, started casually at work and bummed left and right from a friend, paid him for a pack a week lol. Well bumming then moved to doing it at my buddies house, which then led to me buying my own packs. Always a closet smoker as my wife hates it (she is a radiation therapist), and i of all things, work on peoples hearts for a living. Anyway, i always had a stash of cologne, various wash soaps (love lavender by the way lol) and so forth. Took many baths in a sink so to speak, at many locations lol. Anyway, times progressed, i am now getting older, and well i was up to a pack, sometimes a few more, a day.

So i show up to my buddies house one day and he has this new gadget. A Kangertech EVOD kit. He showed me it, we went outside and had an analog or four. Hung out for a while. Go back next evening, same thing, except he did not have any analogs. We chat, he said he had not had but one all day. I thought "hmmm, interesting". Now he has smoked since 13...we are now both 40. Couple of days passes, couple of visits pass and what used to be us hanging out outside having a few smokes had turned into me going outside to have a smoke.

About a week later, I decide to visit this vape shop where he got his setup and ended up purchasing one after some instruction and demoing juices. Ended up with an EVOD kit and some atomic fireball (which i loved, but wow, talk about a killer for the rest of the day if you try any other juices).

And so the journey has began. Well I used the EVOD kit the next day all day, went over to buddies house and another friend who stopped by had his analogs....i could not resist and had just one. I am now proud to say i have had zero since that night. I am a little over 4 months now i believe.

Now, here is the crazy part. So I not only jumped onto this train, i have now become captain commando of this train. The progresson and short long list so far. EVOD kit, then i found a sale on a Smoktech SID....which worked great...then i found an even better sale...so i bought three more. Batteries, charger, tanks (which i will describe shortly), and then i found mount baker who has dirt cheap juice...so many flavors were ordered. Then came the MVP2 and someone had a great sale on those. One came, loved the battery life and form/function of it, so two more came. Then came along the seven-22....absolutely love these...own 5 of them at the moment, but getting rid of two i still have in the box lol. Did i say love love them. Feel awesome and have worked flawlessly. Then buddy talked me into a mech after i saw his cloud blowing stuff...liked the big cloud for fun, so i bought a clone nemesis and stingray.

So thats some of it. Will add more shortly with the tanks, juices, and experiences so far with all. I love it, feel much better and being a tinkerer this has been right up my alley which i think has helped to keep me interested. After about two months, I had plenty of cravings for the real deal, I have finally gotten over that and no longer think about it. I pass someone doing it and think to myself, my gosh I did that to others. I no longer smell or have to hide. I no longer take a perpetual bath in odd restrooms lol. I only carry smell good to smell good, not to cover my smell lol.

I have been lurking here for some time and have found tons of great info. I have had answers to some questions i have seen people ask, so I finally decided to register so that someday I may help someone as so many of you have helped me. :D it has been a great ride so far.
 

jblack741

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Mar 11, 2014
257
162
Detroit
Welcome! I've been cig free since 11/22/13 after 33+ yrs... I started when I was 11 and tried the usual suspects (patches, gums, cold turkey, meds). They all had some affect but it was temporary, vaping on the other hand is a whole new ball of wax and I like it! :D I no longer smell like and ashtray, my apt. no longer smells like an ashtray, all my ashtrays are now candy dishes! Lots more on the horizon pal! Vape on!
 

aminuts

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2014
232
134
Texas
So my tanks so far. And don't ask, yes i like to try new shiny things and i have a buffet of flavors always loaded for my nightly vape session. Will talk more about juices i have tried soon.

Started with EVOD kit ones, then got an aerotank. Like it, but even wide open it seems restrictive. Worked fine, but does not hold a bunch of juice. Also tried a Protank 3, hated the draw but i guess that could be fixed with new aero base. Will make it to the sell pile i bet.
Multiple Aspire Nautilus tanks - Love the size, amount of liquid they hold, and when the stock coil works, lots of good vapor. Love hate relationship with stock coils as some work for more than a tank and others a few puffs and they suck. So i found a method of rebuilding and i am beginning to like them again. I have 10 of these so i better lol.

Kanger Mega tanks. Work great so far. Old style dual coils fit fine. I rebuild them all with single micro coil. Work beautifully. Favorite right now. Also have one of the Giant tanks for my seven-22's. Works same, holds a little more juice. Nice and beefy if ya haven't seen one.

Kanger mini-protank 3's. Work great also. Don't hold much juice so i take those on short outings. Small form factor and again, coils easy to rebuild.

Kayfun clones....have several versions from various companies. All have worked so far. Work very well, but i hate the cleaning. If you dont take all pieces apart and wash well between flavors I get cross contamination of flavors. Guessing from between the joints and threads of each piece. If i could find one piece glass tanks i think these would be my favorite due to flavor production and how long my coils seem to last in them. Filling is a pain sometimes. I get liquid out the vent holes unless i use a syringe and needle to put it into the tank with some clearance around it. I know why it happens, just sucks lol.

RDA's. I have the Igo-W...very cheap and they have worked perfectly. Also have Tobh, another favorite and has a small amount of reservoir if you use single coil. Keeps me from having to drip so frequently when i get that urge. Probably least used, but best flavor and vapor.

I love to sit in my man cave, vape from my buffet, read, and listen to my music. Anyone into music?? I love home audio and video, my other hobby.

Anyway, i am about to thin the herd some. I have gone a little over board, but i don't regret most of it lol.
 

aminuts

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2014
232
134
Texas
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Absolutely thankful that i have found this hobby. I feel better than ever these days and pass my knowledge and what little info I know along to anyone who even look at me like they are curious at what I am doing with that thing in my hand lol.

So, to juices we are. So far I have tried several vendors and hope to try many more. Initially atomic fireball from local B&M was my first two bottles. Great stuff but definitely ruins the day for any other flavors. Then came the fruity stuff. Initially thats all I liked, as i had tried a few bakery types from local store and was not that impressed. Then came mount baker. Ordered most of their best sellers and liked most of them. Extreme Ice was a great menthol/mint flavor which I still use occasionally. Then local shop started carrying Halo. Liked a couple of theirs, but was not in love. I must admit, I only tried a couple. After that I dug into the juice portion of this wonderful forum and ventured out. So far these have been my favorites and ones I have re-ordered. By company and some of the type.

1. Good Life Vapor - Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE deadly sin. Circus Circus would be my next favorite from them (blur cotton candy YUM!!), El Kamino was my first great tobacco mix. Have also tried decadence, butterscotch yo, our yi chai (or something like that), panty dropper, and 925.
2. Seduce Juice - All snakes with the snake oil and snake venom being very good. Snickerdoodle is worthy of a re-order. Also have a couple more i have not made it to. Will update on those.
3. Nite Lite Vapor - NLV Gold was so good, went through it without using any other until the 30ml bottle was gone lol. Just got in a mini jug today from their 4th of July sale...yum. Bounty hunter and nlv4ya were also good. But, LOVED the gold. Also have a few new ones to try out with the order that came today.
4. People's Vape- Kremlin....great stuff!!! Cosmonaut not bad, definitely a different flavor but i like it.
5. Juice Mafia- very good experience so far with Peach Tobacco, turkish tobacco, and tropical. Will try more from them as they have added a few new flavors and are very reasonably priced.
6. Five Pawns - Local B&M have just started carrying them. Grandmaster and Castle long. Love them both. Having to pace myself cause this stuff ain't cheap. Castle long is phenomenal though.
7. Coval - produced here in Texas. Found a few flavors i have really liked. Churro, PBB Clouds (peanut butter banana), crunch berry, and their Kentucky have all been great. Also tried one called Napalm which was great the first time, but I think i got a bad second bottle. May give this one another whirl later on.
8. Nicoticket - Custards last stand (awesome), H1N1. Creme Brule is phenomenal also. The snickerdoodle and cinnamon danish from them were ok initially. I have them steeping a bit more as the cinnamon was very pronounced. I like a mild cinnamon, these were like biting into a fresh stick. Hopefully aging will mellow them a little.

Ok, I think that's all i have tried for now. Im sure i missed a few, but i have had overall great experiences from most of the juices i have tried.
 

Stephanie0221

Full Member
Jun 14, 2014
47
35
Houston, TX
Welcome! Congrats on kicking the cigs to the curb!

Our journeys are similar. I'm in Houston. 40. And my husband and children hated that I smoked. I too started with the EVOD kit. Moved to a shiny pink SID and within a week I had three. Then I tried a provari and OMG it was better! Now I've got two provaris. Went from the EVOD Tanks to protank 3s and mini PT3s to aero tanks and now I've got aero tank megas in the lineup too.

I haven't saved a dime. Ha! I've spent MUCH more than I would have saved so far not buying cigarettes. But I'm saving my life :). And it's turning into a fun hobby. :)
 

aminuts

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2014
232
134
Texas
Hey Stephanie, are there any shops there you recommend? I'm not far from there and have wanted to take a vape trip and hit a couple of B&M's over there. I dig meeting new people and talking shop.

And the buddy who got me into it has a Provari and has tried to get me to buy one....just can't do it yet lol. Actually he says they are coming out with a newer model so i'm waiting to see before i drop the cash. He loves his too. It was very easy to get the shiny toy addiction lol. I have never received so much mail in my life :)
 

Stephanie0221

Full Member
Jun 14, 2014
47
35
Houston, TX
The shops around me are popping up like mad but I haven't found "the one" yet. I mostly use them to try the premium lines of juice because I hate spending $22 on a bottle of juice based on a description and then hate it. I'll buy a bottle from them when I go sample. But I buy most of my juice from Giant Vapes online because they carry mostly premium juices from MANY vendors and always no tax and free shipping. FAST too. Always get my order 2 days later. I've joined Zamplebox too. LOVE that! $24.99 for the basic box. Last month I got 125ml of premium juice and some of them I never would have bought because the description would have put me off from even tasting them. I buy all my gear online because it is SO much cheaper online.

I know they are saying the provari 3 is coming up soon. I didn't want to wait. Got a steal on a second hand mini with extension cap, 4 batteries, charger and 3 aero tanks on eBay ($120 buy it now). The day I got it I bought my second one. ;)

I don't want to sound like a salesperson for provari but if you haven't tried your friend's then you should. I was skeptical. Until the first drag off my provari. The quality is outstanding - I'm fairly certain I could use it in a pinch for self defense - it is smaller than I ever imagined it could be and the big factor for me was consistency. It gives the same hit off the same voltage until the battery dies. No crappy hits as your battery drains. That's huge to me.
 
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aminuts

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2014
232
134
Texas
So I have the Aerotank Giant...also have the mega. Work perfectly and if you use the old dual coils you can rebuild them easily...which is what i have been doing with great results. So far i have had no significant issues with them. The Nautilus I have a love hate relationship with. When they work and don's spit at me or flood, they work awesome. I think i finally found a consistent rebuild which prevents both and I can go a few fills before i need to rewick and dry burn the coil.

I tried a pack of the Kanger sub-ohm coils. I bought the 1 ohm version. Honestly, they work fine, produce lots of vapor, but I am a chain vaper....several hits in a row type. They do not wick fast enough to keep up with what they are burning off..and thats at 7 watts...the lowest I can go now that I'm no longer using the SID's.

And yes, he raves about his provari. If i could have found a deal like you got there, I would own one two :D. That's a steal ya got on that setup!!!
 

Stephanie0221

Full Member
Jun 14, 2014
47
35
Houston, TX
I haven't ventured into building coils yet. My youngest is 4 so maybe next year when she starts school I'll have more time to try that. I'm in the camp right now of using the Kanger tanks that take the dual coils so I only have to buy one kind to fit everything. And I really do like my PTs, Aeros and the mega. No real issues at all and easy.

My second provari is a regular sized. Also eBay. $90 buy it now believe it or not. No batteries or tanks but I've got that covered. If you keep an eye out you'll see them for that price but they go FAST. I've seen them sell in less than 15 minutes - the really good deals. But it's not uncommon. I justified my spending by telling myself it was like a Buy one get one free price. :).
 

Stephanie0221

Full Member
Jun 14, 2014
47
35
Houston, TX
Just noticed you love Kremlin. I got that in my Zamplebox last month and it's by far one of my faves! To me it tastes exactly like those cinnamon/vanilla crunchy coated hot almonds you can get at the mall or Ren Fest. LOVE IT!!

If you like strawberry/cream Vapes do yourself a favor and try Oh Face by Beantown Vapor. 30ml $16.99 and it's better than any other strawberry/cream I've tried. Puts Mothers Milk to shame.
 

aminuts

Senior Member
Jul 8, 2014
232
134
Texas
Found the giant vapes website....will try the Oh Face...been wanting to try Mothers Milk but wanted to sample it before I put down the cash for it. That looks like a great place to order from. Thanks for the tip.

And Kremlin.....AMAZING...as you described exactly. And that was straight out of the mailbox. Got it last night and have already finished a mega tank worth lol. Going to give it a few days and see what else happens to it. Seduce juice had it on sale for fourth of July so i gave it a shot. Definitely going to order more of it.

Got any other faves similar to those you have listed? I started off with the fruity stuff but now find I like the more complex mixtures. Five pawns castle long is very good too, but wow, they must mix it in a gold container or something. I'm going slowly with that stuff. The deadly sin is another favorite of mine. Started with a small bottle, then a 30ml, then a 50ml, now I am about to order a 100ml bottle lol. I love it.

I have also been looking into the Zamplebox stuff. Looks like a great deal and have read many good reviews of what they send out. It's a great concept for sure.
 

emily n portland

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Sep 12, 2013
1,636
5,700
portland, OR, USA
Hi aminuts,

Welcome to ECF. I enjoyed reading your story...and congratulations on making the switch!!

You should stop by the Nicoticket sub-forum sometime and say hi...definitely a NuT house, there ;)
Both GCD and Doodle do mellow out over time. You might enjoy them more with some of the Custard's Last Stand and/or Creme Brule mixed in. Personally, GCD + a little Frenilla is my favorite vape.

Best wishes for your continuing vaping journey!
:)
 

Feraloxide

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Mar 14, 2014
321
151
28
Buffalo, NY, USA
Then buddy talked me into a mech after i saw his cloud blowing stuff...liked the big cloud for fun, so i bought a clone nemesis and stingray.

+1 for the Stingray and Nemesis. I did the same thing except I bought the Nemesis clone first. Do you find you like the Stingray more? I do. :laugh:
 
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