Noob's guide and thoughts on the ego/510 and tornado-tank systems, on PG vs. VG and nic levels...

[VAP3n00b]

Noob's guide and thoughts on the ego and tornado-tank systems, on PG vs. VG and nic levels...

This past week has been life altering for me. I think that vaping has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I started vaping on Thurs 2/10/11, haven't touched an analog since and feel great! Please remember, I am not claiming to be an expert but I'm writing this to help new people(like me) who are on the fence about vaping. I'm not saying one thing is better than another, just what works for me.

My PVs:

I'll start with a review and thoughts on my tornado tank.

I chose the TT for it's convenience factor. One tank lasts me from morning until I get home from work or longer. The 650MAH battery lasts at least all day. I've not had it run out on me yet. It produces decent vapor, is easy to keep clean and works great!

Yesterday I was given an ego/510 atty, cone and cart to use with my existing 650mah tornado batteries.

I popped in some liquid and was immediately blown away. This thing produces a clean, great tasting, HUGE cloud of vapor. The negatives are; it's a little messy and constantly refilling the cart would be an annoyance for someone on the go(like myself).

If I were to compare it directly to the tornado tank, I would say the tank system has half the flavor and 3/4 the vapor. The tank system also imparts a mild plastic taste.

I still love my tank and it will be my portable system. I'll use my ego at home where I can use it in comfort.

Withdrawel:

I have only thought about analogs two or three times in the past week, each time, a drag on the pv has taken the craving away.

I'm usually a great sleeper and have no problems falling asleep and staying asleep for 8-9 hours.

On day two, Friday 2/11, I stayed up until 3AM for no reason at all(keep in mind I wake up at 4AM M-F to go to work). That night I knew I was going to have some problems.

Over the past week I think I averaged 4-5 hours of bad sleep. Nightmares, sweats, cold and anxiety all played a part in this. I believe this was caused by two things:

1) Withdrawel from the other 5000+ nasties in my Camels that I'm not getting anymore.

2) Too much nicotine.

I tried drinking scotch(usually my go to sleep aid for rare bouts of insomnia) and this seemed to get me to fall asleep but I would wake up a few hours later feeling like absolute garbage. I'd get out of bed and puff on my pv until it was time to go to work.

I read about passion flower extract(many doctors recommend this for sleep problems) and this seemed to have the same effect as the scotch. I would sleep for a few hours and wake up feeling horrible.

I had been using a mix of 18mg and 24 mg liquid. Nicotine being a stimulant, would keep my brain active and from falling asleep.

Yesterday I went out and got some 6mg liquid and started vaping this a few hours before I went to bed. This combined with 50mg of diphenhydramine (Benedryl) did the trick. I slept like a rock for 9 solid hours and feel so great today.

PG vs VG

I started off using pure VG based liquids. Two days ago I received some 80pg/20vg liquid and started using this. I notice my lungs starting to hurt and my throat getting dry and raspy. Staying well hydrated seemed to help but not completely alleviate my problems. I switched back to using only VG yesterday and these problems went away. I can honestly say I feel perfectly fine this morning for the first time in a week. I don't have a single complaint or gripe.

Conclusion:

Vaping has changed my life and I hope I can get my mother, uncle and everyone else I know and love into it so they can stop killing themselves with those nasty death sticks.

 

[MamaD]

Congrats on quitting the smoking! I too am new to vaping (2 weeks), and having the sleeping problems, about 3-4 hours is all I can get in one setting lol. I will order some lower nic juice and see if it helps. I'm vaping 24 in the morning and 18 during the rest of the day and into the nite, so maybe the lower nic juice will help me sleep some.

 

[trouble2k]

Very well written and thought out! It will help a lot of people just starting with vaping

Congratulations and I'm glad that you are adjusting so well.

 

[H Niemand]

I really appreciate you thoughts. I haven't completely given up on the nasties yet. I did go from a pack a day to about 2 a week.
I have a Blu and I believe it was a mistake. I will see what the Philly Fest has to offer and go from there.

 

[VAP3n00b]

Thanks guys...I just wanted to make my contribution to this awesome place since I've learned and am learning so much here. The and more I vape on my tank I start to miss the taste of the ego510 I've got sitting at home in my vape toolbox.

 

[IOU]

Great write-up! Congrats on the switch to vaping. I feel so much better now 2.5 months in. Sure I have been tempted to smoke, but the longer I have gone without an analog, the better I feel. I cannot stand the smell of cigarette smoke and I can still imagine how bad they taste. I even smell smoke on people once in a while and hate to think that I was once in the same boat.

 

[mr quackums]

one thing i do is switch to no-nic about 3-4 hours before i go to bed (then 3-4 drops of 24mg right before laying down to recreate my "good night cig").

many vendors sell 0 nic (sometimes called doubles because you can delute other liquids to get twice as much at 1/2 strength) for less than normal juice, or the same price but a bigger bottle.

 

[achtungbaby]

Good advice. So you really notice a big difference w/the all VG? How's the vapor?

 

[SlowNorman2008]

Great thread, and congrats on quitting!! I know how hard it is. I stopped in about August of 2010 and I will never go back. I had a Blu for my first pv so I can also relate to having a horrible first choice...I personally like using juice thats about 20pg and 80 vg. It has a great taste and good amount vapor, PLUS it doesnt make my throat hurt as much as it did while I experimented with pure pg liquid. I now have a Joye Ego and LOVE it. I also drip, so I mean I do fill it a few times during the day, but with a drip tip, it makes it a whole lot easier. I suggest you try one. It gets more flavor and everything when your using it. You can also find them very cheap. Although some look really cool, they aren't very good performance wise. Hope this helps some. Vape on!

 

[GaryR]

VAP3, congratulations on quitting the cigs. I too am new after smoking for around 50 years! Patches and other stuff didn't work but vaping worked right away, even with a 2-to-3 pack a day habit. I appreciate your feedback on nicotine levels, as I'm still trying to find that magic level.

I seem to still be craving some chemical(s) from cigarettes though, and have no idea what it might be. One of the main things I miss is the aroma of burning tobacco in my nose. Tried around two dozen juices so far and not found a single one that mimics that smell....or maybe my smeller is just still dead from years of smoking. LOL.

 

[diglass]

I also just quit the analogs with the eGo on 2-2-11. I bought the tank system from later on from cignot, but I have to say James at value vapor sure does ship FAST at a really good price. He has all the dekang juices I'll ever want and every eGo part except tanks, drip tips, and tank carts. (I got my ego kit from him $45)

Now I'm getting into the diy liquids, couldn't find glycerin at Walgreens (looked in 3 sections). Then was at Walmart Sat before val day and it was way too packed in there to even try to look.
I'm waiting on 2 bottles of menthol drops from juicy liquid (can't wait). Trying to figure out who to order big bottles of naked nic juice.

Anyways, I was a smoker for 15 years, had a cig a day after getting my eGo for the first 2 days, and I've been all vape going on 2 and half weeks now. I was a little bummed the day I saw they banned e-cigs on commercial U.S. flights, I was so looking forward to that, flying from OR to LA and back, usually having to ride 3 different planes each way (usually an all day long affair).

Back to the point. Every time I go to band practice now, my clothes and jackets smell like smoke for a couple days. Milk and other foods taste different now. I've vaped in about every store I can think of and yet, not one person has said anything, lol I've been waiting to say "I'm not smoking" hehe it will happen soon enough I'm sure.

Best of all, my daughter, my fiance, and my Mom are all really proud of me, and you know what? I'm proud of me too (just don't tell them how easy this thing made it for me to quit)

 

[VAP3n00b]

Good advice. So you really notice a big difference w/the all VG? How's the vapor?

I do notice the difference and I'm loving it so far. Great vapor at the cost of TH, and cleaning the attys a bit more often.

VAP3, congratulations on quitting the cigs. I too am new after smoking for around 50 years! Patches and other stuff didn't work but vaping worked right away, even with a 2-to-3 pack a day habit. I appreciate your feedback on nicotine levels, as I'm still trying to find that magic level.

I seem to still be craving some chemical(s) from cigarettes though, and have no idea what it might be. One of the main things I miss is the aroma of burning tobacco in my nose. Tried around two dozen juices so far and not found a single one that mimics that smell....or maybe my smeller is just still dead from years of smoking. LOL.

Some of the 5000+ chemicals that the tobacco companies add are calming MAOIs. I too miss those chemicals but not the nasty smokes. I've heard of some people using snus to get some of those back without analogs. I just figured it will pass. So far today, I feel great!

I also just quit the analogs with the eGo on 2-2-11. I bought the tank system from later on from cignot, but I have to say James at value vapor sure does ship FAST at a really good price. He has all the dekang juices I'll ever want and every eGo part except tanks, drip tips, and tank carts. (I got my ego kit from him $45)

Now I'm getting into the diy liquids, couldn't find glycerin at Walgreens (looked in 3 sections). Then was at Walmart Sat before val day and it was way too packed in there to even try to look.
I'm waiting on 2 bottles of menthol drops from juicy liquid (can't wait). Trying to figure out who to order big bottles of naked nic juice.

Anyways, I was a smoker for 15 years, had a cig a day after getting my eGo for the first 2 days, and I've been all vape going on 2 and half weeks now. I was a little bummed the day I saw they banned e-cigs on commercial U.S. flights, I was so looking forward to that, flying from OR to LA and back, usually having to ride 3 different planes each way (usually an all day long affair).

Back to the point. Every time I go to band practice now, my clothes and jackets smell like smoke for a couple days. Milk and other foods taste different now. I've vaped in about every store I can think of and yet, not one person has said anything, lol I've been waiting to say "I'm not smoking" hehe it will happen soon enough I'm sure.

Best of all, my daughter, my fiance, and my Mom are all really proud of me, and you know what? I'm proud of me too (just don't tell them how easy this thing made it for me to quit)

I'm proud of you too! Almost as much as I'm proud of myself and my family is proud of me. Even my mom who's been smoking analogs for 40+ years is proud. I will be ordering her a kit soon.

 

[GaryR]

diglass,
Congrats on quitting the tobacco. I'm shy about telling anyone for a while to keep down expectations and to avoid BS in case I have a slip. I, like you are shocked at how easy the e-cig made it, although I would also like to cut back on nicotine down the road.

Think I visited your fair town years ago, I believe in a paper mill on a service job. Beautiful country you have there. I drove down to the coast after the job and went sight-seeing up the coastal highway all the way to Portland to fly home. Back in those days, I recall speed-smoking about six cigarettes to prepare for a long flight!

 

[diglass]

diglass,
Congrats on quitting the tobacco. I'm shy about telling anyone for a while to keep down expectations and to avoid BS in case I have a slip. I, like you are shocked at how easy the e-cig made it, although I would also like to cut back on nicotine down the road.

Think I visited your fair town years ago, I believe in a paper mill on a service job. Beautiful country you have there. I drove down to the coast after the job and went sight-seeing up the coastal highway all the way to Portland to fly home. Back in those days, I recall speed-smoking about six cigarettes to prepare for a long flight!

Thanks Gary, I appreciate the kind words. I kinda understand about not wanting to tell people. My urge to get people on e-cigs has been greater and if I say "look I was smoking those analogs for 15 years (though I was doing the myo method with empty tubes and wholesale tobacco for the last 5) and this e-cig helped me quit in a matter of two days! Then going out to the bar here and vaping inside, everyone wants to know what I'm doing and how I'm blowing such huge clouds of "smoke" without a lighter. I let everyone try mine and give them websites. I want everywhere to be vape friendly (for the most part so far it has been).

But yes I grew up in the swamp down in LA, came here to OR a few summers in a row, then one time about 8 months after leaving OR I got a call saying I was about to have a kid. So I moved up here. This place is the most beautiful in the US. I can drive to over two dozen different waterfalls or just simply stunning places in less than a few hours (many less than an hour).
I worked for Mayflower for a while and have been to every state in the 48 except above NY and I can say the Pacific Northwest is the most beautiful in our country. It's way more expensive to live here, the dirt is worth more lol.

But yes I'm not surprised about all the paper mills, this used to be logging country. They have cut back quite a bit on that though. Anyways, I'll be on these forums forever if I don't cut it off here.