Hi all,
I've been lurking here for a long time, decided to finally join up and participate in the community.
I was a pack a day, unfiltered American Spirit smoker for just under a decade. Stared with Marlboro Reds, moved to Camel Wides and Filters, then bought a pack of Unfiltered Camels and never looked back. From there it was Lucky Strikes, unfiltered Nat Shermans, and finally I moved (and stuck) to American Spirits. Mainly because of their wide availability, and the fact I was sucking down the others like air. I was also a fan of shag tobacco, Drum being preferred. Lots of hand rolling experience. I picked up an iTaste VTR and started vaping, at the behest of my partner (last year we moved to Washington from California, and agreed to quit smoking. I didn't end up quitting, much to her chagrin). That didn't do much. It worked for a few weeks to hold my cigarette consumption in abeyance for decent chunks of the day, but on I smoked. And smoked, and smoked. American Spirits average $9-11 a pack here, a not exactly cheap habit growing ever more expensive.
Finally, I had had enough. She was getting very tired of having to deal with secondhand smoke whenever I was around (I don't smoke indoors, but the smell obviously persists), and after a long, heated conversation, I said "Screw it, I'll quit". The first 24 hours were like tearing out my teeth with a rusty pair of vice grips. I'm normally a very calm, level headed person. Almost to a fault. Never quick to anger, always preferring to handle a situation with discussion and planning instead of emotion. 12 hours into not smoking, I was sobbing in my truck in a grocery store parking lot, wondering how I was going to deal without the most surefire coping mechanism I had developed (I started smoking regularly at 14, when my father died, so it was a fairly ingrained behavior).
The next 24 hours were a lot easier. I charged my 18650s, dripped 24mg fluid like crazy, and chewed about 3 packs of sugar-free gum a day.
The third day I got rid of the gum (that much chewing is quite taxing on the jaws), and ordered more of my favorite flavors from Virgin Vapor. By now I was more or less alright, and feeling like a fool for letting chemicals I used to buy at a gas station, distributed by major corporations whose greed is fed by making their product as absolutely addictive as possible (while remaining legal) rule my life. However, I still wanted a real smoke.
The nicotine satisfied the cravings to some extent, but I could never really feel satiated from nicotine alone. I would vape too much, get jittery, develop a headache, and keep on vaping, searching for calm. Then I heard about Aroma ejuice and Dvap's work on WTA. I've got a bit of a background in bio- and organic chemistry (just short of declaring a chemistry major. Mechanical engineering gives me more immediate gratification, however), and I was excited to learn that someone was producing an extract that contained the entire alkaloid profile of the plant. Excited, I ordered a bottle of unflavored WTA, and never looked back. From the first drop that hit my RDA, I knew I had found the answer. It was absolutely perfect. A true replacement therapy (in the medical sense) for smoking analogs.
It's been almost three weeks now, and I can't see myself ever smoking again. Now that I can look at things in retrospect, it was a terrible way to cope, and an awful thing to do to my body. It's kinda like sticking one's head in front of an oncoming semi to cure a toothache. Technically, the tooth is gone, but the draw backs far outweigh the benefits.
I've since upgraded to a mechanical mod, a Cartel clone (searching for an authentic American made mod that won't break the bank at the moment. Might pick up a Precise Workhorse from Super-T before they're all gone.) with a Dark Horse RDA (rockin' the chuff cap). Currently built with a twisted 28 dual coil build at .8 ohms. Dropped down from 24mg to 6mg pretty quick after switching over from the iTaste! Have gotta order some Samsung 25r batteries and a smattering of new juice. All the 24mg juice I used to vape is possible to use with this setup, but it's a bit of an exercise in masochism to do so. Watering it down with pure VG works pretty well, but the flavor's just not there.
Eventually I'll drop to 0mg, but blowing clouds is fun. And I'm a hobby machinist - I've got all sorts of ideas for mechanical mods! Just need get some more aluminium round bar and I'll be good to go.
Well, that's me. Hi all.
I've been lurking here for a long time, decided to finally join up and participate in the community.
I was a pack a day, unfiltered American Spirit smoker for just under a decade. Stared with Marlboro Reds, moved to Camel Wides and Filters, then bought a pack of Unfiltered Camels and never looked back. From there it was Lucky Strikes, unfiltered Nat Shermans, and finally I moved (and stuck) to American Spirits. Mainly because of their wide availability, and the fact I was sucking down the others like air. I was also a fan of shag tobacco, Drum being preferred. Lots of hand rolling experience. I picked up an iTaste VTR and started vaping, at the behest of my partner (last year we moved to Washington from California, and agreed to quit smoking. I didn't end up quitting, much to her chagrin). That didn't do much. It worked for a few weeks to hold my cigarette consumption in abeyance for decent chunks of the day, but on I smoked. And smoked, and smoked. American Spirits average $9-11 a pack here, a not exactly cheap habit growing ever more expensive.
Finally, I had had enough. She was getting very tired of having to deal with secondhand smoke whenever I was around (I don't smoke indoors, but the smell obviously persists), and after a long, heated conversation, I said "Screw it, I'll quit". The first 24 hours were like tearing out my teeth with a rusty pair of vice grips. I'm normally a very calm, level headed person. Almost to a fault. Never quick to anger, always preferring to handle a situation with discussion and planning instead of emotion. 12 hours into not smoking, I was sobbing in my truck in a grocery store parking lot, wondering how I was going to deal without the most surefire coping mechanism I had developed (I started smoking regularly at 14, when my father died, so it was a fairly ingrained behavior).
The next 24 hours were a lot easier. I charged my 18650s, dripped 24mg fluid like crazy, and chewed about 3 packs of sugar-free gum a day.
The third day I got rid of the gum (that much chewing is quite taxing on the jaws), and ordered more of my favorite flavors from Virgin Vapor. By now I was more or less alright, and feeling like a fool for letting chemicals I used to buy at a gas station, distributed by major corporations whose greed is fed by making their product as absolutely addictive as possible (while remaining legal) rule my life. However, I still wanted a real smoke.
The nicotine satisfied the cravings to some extent, but I could never really feel satiated from nicotine alone. I would vape too much, get jittery, develop a headache, and keep on vaping, searching for calm. Then I heard about Aroma ejuice and Dvap's work on WTA. I've got a bit of a background in bio- and organic chemistry (just short of declaring a chemistry major. Mechanical engineering gives me more immediate gratification, however), and I was excited to learn that someone was producing an extract that contained the entire alkaloid profile of the plant. Excited, I ordered a bottle of unflavored WTA, and never looked back. From the first drop that hit my RDA, I knew I had found the answer. It was absolutely perfect. A true replacement therapy (in the medical sense) for smoking analogs.
It's been almost three weeks now, and I can't see myself ever smoking again. Now that I can look at things in retrospect, it was a terrible way to cope, and an awful thing to do to my body. It's kinda like sticking one's head in front of an oncoming semi to cure a toothache. Technically, the tooth is gone, but the draw backs far outweigh the benefits.
I've since upgraded to a mechanical mod, a Cartel clone (searching for an authentic American made mod that won't break the bank at the moment. Might pick up a Precise Workhorse from Super-T before they're all gone.) with a Dark Horse RDA (rockin' the chuff cap). Currently built with a twisted 28 dual coil build at .8 ohms. Dropped down from 24mg to 6mg pretty quick after switching over from the iTaste! Have gotta order some Samsung 25r batteries and a smattering of new juice. All the 24mg juice I used to vape is possible to use with this setup, but it's a bit of an exercise in masochism to do so. Watering it down with pure VG works pretty well, but the flavor's just not there.
Eventually I'll drop to 0mg, but blowing clouds is fun. And I'm a hobby machinist - I've got all sorts of ideas for mechanical mods! Just need get some more aluminium round bar and I'll be good to go.
Well, that's me. Hi all.
