just some remarks on our first month [3 weeks, really] of vaping from me and the husband, and things we've learned in the valley of the shadow of n00b vaping.
- quitting analogs: the husband quit cold turkey [as far as i know] and hasn't looked back. i am a different story. after finding the right juice [more on that in a minute], i am down from a pack a day to a pack every 2 or 3 days. i'm not completely off analogs, but it's definitely an improvement. so if you get your new PV setup and can't immediately swear off analogs forever, don't feel bad. you're not alone. and cutting down on analogs in ANY capacity is good for you, so go at your own pace.
- hardware/starter kits: we originally purchased a riva 510 SE starter kit from liberty-flights for both of us to share. the hard part about sharing this starter kit was actually not the hardware itself, but the juices [once we got good ones]. we get excellent battery life out of the riva; i charge mine MAYBE every other night, and not always that often.
- hardware/atomizers: we ordered some replacement atomizers, again from LF. we have discovered that we personally prefer the eastmall riva 510 atomizers to the standard joye 510 attys. they seem to have a smoother draw, which was a big concern for the husband. we have only received one EM atty so far, so we know there is a chance they will be different, but we have a 5 pack of EM attys on the way and so far we like what we see. without getting bogged down in resistance/ohms, our experience is that the EM riva 510 atomizer "runs more smoothly" than the standard joye 510 attys.
- hardware/carts and drip tips: my experience so far with the carts has been pretty good, we have had cartos and drip tips recommended several times for several issues, but personally i think i like the batt-atty-cart setup. i have found that although i like the "look" of whistle-tip carts better in theory, i prefer round carts in practice [you don't have to try to line up the cart so you're not pushing sideways on the battery, and a round cart does look better in real life, at least with a riva. important to remember that pictures on the internet only show you one angle!] the husband purchased an aluminum drip tip, yet again from LF [we are pretty much ordering all our hardware from them, you can't beat 20% off on every order and $2.99 shipping!] and i think he prefers it to the carts. i definitely like the drip tip for direct dripping [obviously] but for "day-vaping" while i'm working and the husband is at work with all the juice, i prefer the carts. i started using the http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartridge-mods/79418-highping-cart-mod-simple-gets.html]"high-ping simple cart mod" yesterday and i love it! you just cut out most of the filler from your cart, fill it up with juice, tank-style, then put a small piece of the filler back as a "plug" at the end of the cart. definitely helps with the frequency of refilling.
- juices/ordering: this has been probably the most surprising, frustrating and ultimately fulfilling part of the whole shebang. we ordered TEN different kinds of tobacco-flavored juices from LF when we placed our very first hardware order. this was a huge mistake for us, a mistake that i'm sure most or all vapers had to make in the very beginning. we have found that we do not like tobacco flavors! this actually kept me from vaping at all for about a week, because i could barely find a juice that i could tolerate, let alone enjoy. so by all means, grab a couple of [small!] bottles of tobacco juice with your first order ever, but be ready and willing to go elsewhere for your juice. LF in particular was out of a lot of juices when we placed our order, so that and bad [or no] judgement is what led to the "tobacco-rama" we put ourselves through. we got caught up in "walmart syndrome", where we wanted to get everything from the same place. what i have learned is, the ecig industry doesn't work like that [and i've since become grateful for this fact, despite the shipping costs]. we ended up ordering juice from velvet vapors because they have "create-your-own" 3ml sampler packs, and have had an excellent experience with their juices so far. more on that in a minute.
- juices/PG and VG: one of the coolest things about vaping is the sheer number and variety of flavors, compositions and strengths of the juices. as i mentioned, we ended up ordering from velvet vapors, which specializes in VG juices [i kept getting light-headed and getting chest pains when vaping PG juices, which i'm told is a common occurrence both for first-time vapers and for people who might be allergic to PG] so we erred on the side of caution and have ordered VG juices for our last 2 orders from velvet. i am checking out freedomsmokesUSA for my next juice order [which has to wait until i get some more monies] and they seem to have a 50/50 mix, so i am going to revisit PG, at least in part, and see how that goes.
- juices/flavors: one of the first things i discovered is that for me, at this point in time, filling a whole cart with a flavored juice is a bad idea. i got some velvet vapors' cafe mocha, tried it and loved it, filled a cart and 3 hours later was going "ugh, no more". my solution for this is to fill a cart with unflavored juice and then drip whatever flavor i want directly on the atty. it's a little more time-consuming [and definitely do not do while driving!], but i find that i get the nicotine i need without so much flavor that i get nauseated or sick of it. velvet vanilla flavor has become my "all-day vape", especially when combined with hazelnut or butterscotch.
- juices/steeping: an interesting lesson that we learned [a little too late, as we had already ordered a 10ml bottle] is that 98% of flavors will get better with steeping, definitely, but there are that 2% out there that actually take on an unpleasant [at least to us] flavor after they've been around for a week or two. the velvet vanilla is one of those [kat sent us a bottle of vanilla caramel tobacco, and the tobacco has gotten extremely strong as it steeped, so i want no part of it now, but that could just be because i don't enjoy tobacco flavors]. the velvet vanilla had a buttery, almost cupcake-like flavor when we first got it, and it was awesome. the husband and i fought over who got to keep it during the day. but fast-forward a couple weeks, and that buttery flavor has been steeped right out. this could be because we've used most of the bottle, but we shake it well every time we use it, so i doubt it. i can still combine the velvet vanilla with hazelnut or butterscotch and it's good, but it's not as outstanding as it was when we first got it. so i guess our lesson learned here is this: vape it when you first get it, if you find out that you don't like it once it's steeped.
i just ordered my own ego starter kit [from LF, of course] and we are anxiously awaiting it and our second order of juices from velvet vapors, so i guess that's about all i know for right now. just wanted to share our experience with you guys, some tips and tricks we've learned, and some pitfalls we wish we'd avoided.
- quitting analogs: the husband quit cold turkey [as far as i know] and hasn't looked back. i am a different story. after finding the right juice [more on that in a minute], i am down from a pack a day to a pack every 2 or 3 days. i'm not completely off analogs, but it's definitely an improvement. so if you get your new PV setup and can't immediately swear off analogs forever, don't feel bad. you're not alone. and cutting down on analogs in ANY capacity is good for you, so go at your own pace.
- hardware/starter kits: we originally purchased a riva 510 SE starter kit from liberty-flights for both of us to share. the hard part about sharing this starter kit was actually not the hardware itself, but the juices [once we got good ones]. we get excellent battery life out of the riva; i charge mine MAYBE every other night, and not always that often.
- hardware/atomizers: we ordered some replacement atomizers, again from LF. we have discovered that we personally prefer the eastmall riva 510 atomizers to the standard joye 510 attys. they seem to have a smoother draw, which was a big concern for the husband. we have only received one EM atty so far, so we know there is a chance they will be different, but we have a 5 pack of EM attys on the way and so far we like what we see. without getting bogged down in resistance/ohms, our experience is that the EM riva 510 atomizer "runs more smoothly" than the standard joye 510 attys.
- hardware/carts and drip tips: my experience so far with the carts has been pretty good, we have had cartos and drip tips recommended several times for several issues, but personally i think i like the batt-atty-cart setup. i have found that although i like the "look" of whistle-tip carts better in theory, i prefer round carts in practice [you don't have to try to line up the cart so you're not pushing sideways on the battery, and a round cart does look better in real life, at least with a riva. important to remember that pictures on the internet only show you one angle!] the husband purchased an aluminum drip tip, yet again from LF [we are pretty much ordering all our hardware from them, you can't beat 20% off on every order and $2.99 shipping!] and i think he prefers it to the carts. i definitely like the drip tip for direct dripping [obviously] but for "day-vaping" while i'm working and the husband is at work with all the juice, i prefer the carts. i started using the http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartridge-mods/79418-highping-cart-mod-simple-gets.html]"high-ping simple cart mod" yesterday and i love it! you just cut out most of the filler from your cart, fill it up with juice, tank-style, then put a small piece of the filler back as a "plug" at the end of the cart. definitely helps with the frequency of refilling.
- juices/ordering: this has been probably the most surprising, frustrating and ultimately fulfilling part of the whole shebang. we ordered TEN different kinds of tobacco-flavored juices from LF when we placed our very first hardware order. this was a huge mistake for us, a mistake that i'm sure most or all vapers had to make in the very beginning. we have found that we do not like tobacco flavors! this actually kept me from vaping at all for about a week, because i could barely find a juice that i could tolerate, let alone enjoy. so by all means, grab a couple of [small!] bottles of tobacco juice with your first order ever, but be ready and willing to go elsewhere for your juice. LF in particular was out of a lot of juices when we placed our order, so that and bad [or no] judgement is what led to the "tobacco-rama" we put ourselves through. we got caught up in "walmart syndrome", where we wanted to get everything from the same place. what i have learned is, the ecig industry doesn't work like that [and i've since become grateful for this fact, despite the shipping costs]. we ended up ordering juice from velvet vapors because they have "create-your-own" 3ml sampler packs, and have had an excellent experience with their juices so far. more on that in a minute.
- juices/PG and VG: one of the coolest things about vaping is the sheer number and variety of flavors, compositions and strengths of the juices. as i mentioned, we ended up ordering from velvet vapors, which specializes in VG juices [i kept getting light-headed and getting chest pains when vaping PG juices, which i'm told is a common occurrence both for first-time vapers and for people who might be allergic to PG] so we erred on the side of caution and have ordered VG juices for our last 2 orders from velvet. i am checking out freedomsmokesUSA for my next juice order [which has to wait until i get some more monies] and they seem to have a 50/50 mix, so i am going to revisit PG, at least in part, and see how that goes.
- juices/flavors: one of the first things i discovered is that for me, at this point in time, filling a whole cart with a flavored juice is a bad idea. i got some velvet vapors' cafe mocha, tried it and loved it, filled a cart and 3 hours later was going "ugh, no more". my solution for this is to fill a cart with unflavored juice and then drip whatever flavor i want directly on the atty. it's a little more time-consuming [and definitely do not do while driving!], but i find that i get the nicotine i need without so much flavor that i get nauseated or sick of it. velvet vanilla flavor has become my "all-day vape", especially when combined with hazelnut or butterscotch.
- juices/steeping: an interesting lesson that we learned [a little too late, as we had already ordered a 10ml bottle] is that 98% of flavors will get better with steeping, definitely, but there are that 2% out there that actually take on an unpleasant [at least to us] flavor after they've been around for a week or two. the velvet vanilla is one of those [kat sent us a bottle of vanilla caramel tobacco, and the tobacco has gotten extremely strong as it steeped, so i want no part of it now, but that could just be because i don't enjoy tobacco flavors]. the velvet vanilla had a buttery, almost cupcake-like flavor when we first got it, and it was awesome. the husband and i fought over who got to keep it during the day. but fast-forward a couple weeks, and that buttery flavor has been steeped right out. this could be because we've used most of the bottle, but we shake it well every time we use it, so i doubt it. i can still combine the velvet vanilla with hazelnut or butterscotch and it's good, but it's not as outstanding as it was when we first got it. so i guess our lesson learned here is this: vape it when you first get it, if you find out that you don't like it once it's steeped.
i just ordered my own ego starter kit [from LF, of course] and we are anxiously awaiting it and our second order of juices from velvet vapors, so i guess that's about all i know for right now. just wanted to share our experience with you guys, some tips and tricks we've learned, and some pitfalls we wish we'd avoided.
Last edited:
