Before I purchased my device I put well over 40 hours into research on the internet. I visited two B&M and put in close to 5 hours between them actually holding and working with all kinds of batteries and tanks and actually vaping on multiple styles--all the while putting the clerks through the ringer with questions and blank stares. I talked to other customers. I talked to the two people I know who are vaping. BDC, BVC, OCC, RTA, RBA, RDA, mahs mls mms and ohms, diketones, ceramic, vv/vw, kanthal, mods, ego, 510, afc, PG, VG, throat hit, vapor's tongue, steeping, and video after video of how to replace wicks and coils....It's really easy to go into information overload. On more than one occasion, I simply had to step away from it all. It started to feel too much like I was cramming for a final exam. After smoking for 35 years, I had to ask myself how commited I was to this whole vaping thing because this isn't as simple as walking into the gas station and pickin up a pack of smokes.
Analysis paralysis, plain and simple. For all the other researchers who've stumbled onto this thread trying to make an informed decision to make a purchase they won't regret and wish they'd just eaten $100 dollars for breakfast instead--I feel your frustration. For all the folks who have tried a low-end device, realized it wasn't enough to replace a cig, but aren't sure what to purchase that will feel more satisfying--I feel your anxiety. I'm sure I'm not the only one with limited budget and limited hours in the day to fiddle and faff with multiple devices and styles even if I could afford to buy them. How does it travel, is it going to be like carrying an egg in my pocket all day waiting for it to break--do I really need one device that never goes anywhere other than the endtable next to the recliner and another when I go out to plant vegetables and flowers or change the oil on the tractor?
I'm one of those folks who will dry my hands with a paper towel and set it in a stack for use as a disposable snot rag later in the day. Household plastics get recycled and all metals get thrown in the back of the truck and taken to the local recycler. I DIY all the time. I love working with my hands and I love the sense of accomplishment. I've got drawers and buckets full of nuts and bolts and nails and wires and hand tools and power tools and if the shear bolt on the brush hog kisses the clouds I can change it out quicker than it takes to stop and pee. All of which is to say, I like to think I'm taking steps to be environmentally friendly, and DIY and self-sufficiency is pretty much always in the background around here.
All that said....I consciously and intentionally purchased a device that doesn't require me to build and wick my own coils. For me, I took coil wrapping and head rebuilding out of the equation. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. After I've broken even with the cost of the cigarette habit in a few months, and if I'm still finding vaping satisfying or even desirable six or nine months down the road and not smoking cigs, perhaps I'll choose an alternative approach. Or maybe not. We all make lifestyle choices based on our own very personal habits and needs and budgets and worldviews and even physical differences with our eyes or hands. One size fits all only means no one is fitted well.
