New Member, Saying Hello!

[Adntigger710]

Hi all!

New member but long time reader (years actually.) You're all so knowledgeable and have such thoughtful and interactive discussions, so I've always been able to find the answer I'm looking for without needing to ask it myself

A bit of background on me: I'm currently classified as a dual-user...still a smoker trying to find the right device, nic and nic level, pg/vg blend etc to help me get off the cigs. It was with help from this forum that I was even able to get this far (learning what devices and pg/vg levels to use, ways to inhale to alleviate coughing, etc). It's been a work in progress, on and off, for a few years, esp because rolling cigs is much cheaper than vaping atm and my work hasn't been truly steady the past few years. I normally would need a higher nic to make a transition but cough (badly) with anything over 3mg. I work from home and used to chain smoke, I'm now able to smoke less and chain vape, but it's very clear that the vape is pretty much subbing in for the oral fixation and not really satiating much (if any) of the cravings. I can't tell if I'm PG intolerant or not, but it seems the throat hit on anything over 70VG/30PG is too much for me to handle. I would imagine not if I can vape 70/30? It's tough for me. I need a throat hit -- that bite -- but the kinds of throat hit I get from vape are just too harsh. Have yet to find a "smoother" throat hit (if that's a thing.) With what I've got now there's none (70/30 on low wattage devices.) Anything I've tried to tailor it makes me cough (higher PG, nic, wattage, decreased airflow, etc.), and the reg 3mg nic just doesn't seem to do anything for the cravings. My fiance has been mostly vaping for about 2-3 years now but still has a few cigarettes a day (more if he's been drinking lol). At this point I'm pretty fed up and trying whatever I can to get off them completely (and can now afford it, which is the big push this time around.)

Luckily, I have been creating my own products for home use for years now, so I have a great deal of supplies (.01 scale, dropper bottles, safety equipment, etc) and slight experience with chemistry to be able to start and understand diy juice creation more easily than a true beginner (that and I love learning, so I've already done more research than most and I haven't even bought anything yet lol). I'm about to put orders in for the supplies and am including nic salts and WTA as well. Hopefully, I'll be able to find/craft something to meet my needs.

Looking forward to continuing my journey with all of you and, hopefully someday soon, be completely smoke free. Thanks everyone!

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Welcome to ecf. Glad you came in from the background to join us.

There are a few ways to increase a throat hit, FlavourArt has a product which the name escapes me atm but I will go look and post a link in a little bit.

Found it.

Flash-FA

Nicotine River and Nude Nicotine are two good sites for nic salts that come to mind. I believe Nude Nic has a low, reg and powerful version of nic salts. This may help you.

But if the cravings for cigarettes is still there then you need a higher mg in your nic strength. Nic Salts can allow you do accomplish that.

Let us know how it goes....

Good luck

 

[stols001]

Hi and welcome to ECF "visibility" as it were. Welcome and glad you are feeling like posting about your questions.

I hope you enjoy your time at ECF!

Anna

 

[zoiDman]

Welcome to the ECF Adntigger710.

 

[MJCSD]

Hello and welcome to ecf

 

[LyLyV]

Welcome!!!

 

[Adntigger710]

Welcome to ecf. Glad you came in from the background to join us.

There are a few ways to increase a throat hit, FlavourArt has a product which the name escapes me atm but I will go look and post a link in a little bit.

Found it.

Flash-FA

Nicotine River and Nude Nicotine are two good sites for nic salts that come to mind. I believe Nude Nic has a low, reg and powerful version of nic salts. This may help you.

But if the cravings for cigarettes is still there then you need a higher mg in your nic strength. Nic Salts can allow you do accomplish that.

Let us know how it goes....

Good luck

Ooooo awesome, never heard of that before! I'm building carts right now at Nic River (the nic, salts, vg, pg, some flavors etc) and Bull City so this is perfect timing, thanks!

You're so right, I'm doing whatever I can to increase my nic (salts) or appease that "something is missing" feeling (WTA). My friend let me try the Naked 100 Lava Flow 35mg nic salt in a little kado stealth. Was still WAY too high for me. Assuming I'll need to get much lower. I read somewhere that nic salts is up to double your reg nic for same throat hit. So mine would only be 6mg in salt. Is this true, or might I be able to go higher?

I'm also going to try lowering everything else (wattage, pg), avoid menthol and citrus and keeping airflow open and slowly try higher mg juice until I hit my limit and see where I land there (I just haven't had access to higher nic lately and diy'ing it will def help me figure it out.)

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Ooooo awesome, never heard of that before! I'm building carts right now at Nic River (the nic, salts, vg, pg, some flavors etc) and Bull City so this is perfect timing, thanks!

You're so right, I'm doing whatever I can to increase my nic (salts) or appease that "something is missing" feeling (WTA). My friend let me try the Naked 100 Lava Flow 35mg nic salt in a little kado stealth. Was still WAY too high for me. Assuming I'll need to get much lower. I read somewhere that nic salts is up to double your reg nic for same throat hit. So mine would only be 6mg in salt. Is this true, or might I be able to go higher?

I'm also going to try lowering everything else (wattage, pg), avoid menthol and citrus and keeping airflow open and slowly try higher mg juice until I hit my limit and see where I land there (I just haven't had access to higher nic lately and diy'ing it will def help me figure it out.)

Nic River is having a sale on Purilum flavorings today, if you are interested. Code = EASTER 25% off.

To start off with, just get something small. 120ml or so to try first.(totally up to you) I was vaping 3ml so following 'those' guidelines, I bought 6mg. WHOA!. Had to cut it back to the 3mg as it felt like the back of my head was coming off and only after a couple of hits, I felt nic sic. So keep that in mind. You could buy the 6mg or the next mg up from what you currently use and can always cut it with pg/vg. That way you will have a better chance of mixing what is correct for you. That just gives you options.

Let us know how its going.

 

[Letitia]

Welcome Adntigger. When you get your salts I would suggest you do 5ml testers at 5mg, 9mg, 12m, and 15mg salts. If you don't want to test with unflavored juice do all the testers the same flavor. I would also recommend you do your WTA tester without salts so you know exactly what it brings to the table. Easy to add nic after testing.

 

[BrotherBob]

With what I've got now there's none (70/30 on low wattage devices.)

Welcome and glad you joined.
You have probably already read the information below, but it's worth noting if you have not. Low wattage and high VG should help with the wrong kind of TH but you have me stumped on how to achieve the good TH.
Might like to read:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/coughing-at-the-begining.745909/
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/threads/still-smoking-support-and-chat-thread.519384/
Might want to contact an expert, Charles may have an answer (you might send a copy of your thread above):
How to manage cravings and withdrawals

Hang it there.

 

[mav_sd]

Good advice all around so far...it can be a balancing act!

If you are going to pick up some DIY supplies, I would strongly suggest working out your desired throat hit with the base liquids first, then working on flavor once you know your base is good. It was mentioned above to play around with the Nic Salts using a few levels to try out, but you can do the same for your PG/VG blends as well.

You could do max VG, plus Nic Salts at a few likely levels... 90/10, 8-/20, etc... same way.

I know it's lots of variables, but the flavor and nicotine are where the expense comes from really... so some small 10ml testers will help you find a base that you agree with, and unflavored base can just go into your bigger recipes if you really want to prevent waste.

For me, the PG is a big variable, so I mostly just use the PG that is in my Nicotine base, then fill up the bottle after flavoring. Might not work for everyone, but knowing your own special "formula" is priceless, and will help the rest of your DIY recipes "work."

Thanks for joining up! Welcome!

 

[Adntigger710]

All really awesome suggestions, thank you everyone!

I'd love to try max VG when my supplies come in but don't know what to do equipment-wise. Currently I've been using some little MTL AIO devices (though actually doing DL as it helps lessen TH for me personally) -- the aspire breeze (.6 coil), Smok Priv One (the Mi-one copy, .6 coil, spits horribly) and kado stealth. I love them for their super-low wattage, tiny size, and (for 2 of them) auto draw. None of these can take Max VG from what I've read. Not a fan of building coils. Could I maybe still use these and dilute with distilled water or something? At what percentage?

I DO have other mods/tanks in my arsenal, due to being a person addicted to shopping and experimenting and also having a fiance and friends who vape (one of whom works in a vape shop.) E.G. I've got an alien 220 with it's tfv8 baby beast, but have other mods and tanks as well (cleito and a bunch of others I can't name right now, lol). Also happy to buy other tanks/coils if they handle max VG better. I think my issue with them was that I couldn't fire them at low enough watts, the coils were all rated at, the lowest, 30w (the .2 coil). It's possible the bigger (thicker) clouds also made me cough. Guess I have another experiment on my hands. I can say this -- the priv one is 18-25w and breeze 26-28w on full battery. Have 70/30 juice in them (and I think that thickness is pushing it on these coils). Taking a fuller pull than I'm used to on either makes me cough or gives me that weird "I might cough" feeling -- like a wall hit my lungs and they're deciding if they can handle it or not. Then I get a "tightness" on the exhale. Very weird sensation to describe. I'll have to ask my pulmonologist, maybe he can give some insight into what's actually going on in there, lol. But maybe it's the coils just not taking the juice in well enough and I'm burning them at the end? Any way to tell?

My sweet spot seems to be more airflow, DL, less vapor, lower watts. If I can get the PG down too MAYBE I can up my nic to a more satisfying level.

Recommendations for tanks and/or aio devices (maybe with bigger wicking holes) for max VG and low wattage, or ways to use max VG with these regular coils? Should I make this question a separate thread?