Ponied up and bought my first vape today!

[Steadfast619]

Hey all!

Bought my first vape today, vaped most of my new e-juice, and thought I'd join the awesome ECF community!

I've been doing research for the last few weeks and thought I knew what I wanted. I was ready to order a cigalike starter kit and deal with switching out cartos all the time, cuz I thought I would need the closest to analog vaping experience to kick analogs in the tail, but luckily I went to the new shop down the street from my place. I walked out with an eGo-t/ce4 clearomizer/USB charger starter kit, 3.5ml of juice and a small case for 40 bucks out the door. Before you tell me I could've got a better deal online at whatever website you think is best, just know I consciously chose to pay the extra bucks and support my local vape shop. Vaped all day and night, loved every second of it, and am now 24 hours free of death sticks!

I used to be the occasional cig smoker and have always enjoyed a nightly pipe or cigar, but with school, work, and an upcoming wedding the last year has afforded many "occasions" and I found myself at a PAD, and these last two month have been smoking RYO for the cost, strength, and cuz it felt dang good to roll. With the wedding coming soon and her disapproval (totally right too) of the habit, I decided it was time to quit being the occasional smoker and be a full quitter, for good. Also, cowboy killers killed my grandfather of lung cancer this spring, and I knew I couldn't stay on that path for long.

Of course, I have a few (read: millions) questions for you vape vets out there. First, how long before I should drop to a lower nic level? I'm at 18mg now, no cravings today, and honestly the throat hit was similar to what I loved about those filterless analogs. I want to free myself of all dependency on nicotine by the end of the year (but god no never caffeine). Since I'll need to stock up again in the next day or two, should I stay at 18 or try dropping to 12?

Second, if I'm really trying to quit, should I only vape at times when I used to take a smoke break, or is it okay to vape all the time like I did today? Maybe I should get a second tank for some low nic flavors?

Also, how long should I expect this tank to last? How often should I clean it, and any good links to/YouTube guides on cleaning them?

Every once in a while a hit will taste a little... Metallic? Did I burn it already? Is it just time then to give the battery a rest?

My local shop specializes in all organic, VG juices (Natural Vapes in west LA if you're curious). Is it really better or just BS?

And finally, anything I should be aware of with my current setup? Upgrades I should aware of? I assume a new tank will happen shortly.

Thanks for reading, sorry it turned into a novel! Looking forward to smooth sailing on analog free vapor waves on the horizon. Vape on, vapers.

 

[tmcase]

If you've been vaping 18 mg for awhile, set it aside and try 12 mg for a day. If you find times when you need more, have a few drags of 18 then go back to 12 until you feel you need more. Keep doing that everyday until you don't need the 18 anymore. Stay on 12 for a while then try 8 mg and repeat procedure. You'll finally end up at zero nic.

 

[Steadfast619]

Thanks I'll probably chill at 18 for a bit.

 

[Kelevra]

Welcome to ECF and the world of vaping.

1. Drop nicotine levels when you feel you can. There are no hard and fast rules. Only you can decide when your ready.
2a. Vape as much or as little as you want to. Some people will vape all day, others ocasionally, and some will use high nic e-liquid and take only a puff or 2 to satisfy them for several hours.
2b. If you want to, go ahead and use some lower nic for most of your vaping and then use the higher nic for when you're trying to fight a craving.
3. I don't own a ce4 so I'll let someone else who actually has experience with them answer that question.
4. The metallic taste may be a dry hit. The wicks in clearomizers do not always work perfectly. Sometimes just tilting/swirling the liquid towards the coil and a little time to allow the wicks to pull the liquid in to the coil will help.
5. Some people do have a poor reaction to pg and find using all vg helps. I personally use 50% or higher pg mixes. PG is thinner and carries a little more flavor. VG is thicker, adds more vapor production, and is slightly sweeter.
6.You have a good set up. Yes you will need to buy some more toppers, I think the kanger evods are great for beginners. They are bottom coil clearomizers that you can change out just the coils on (you can keep these little posts, buy some kanthal wire and wick, and recoil them to save some money, if you so choose) otherwise change them and toss the old ones. This community has found that backup batteries are always a must, and a backup for your backup, and a backup for that .

 

[fasteddie]

Congrats!

Sounds to me like you have a perfectly good set-up.

I would stick with the 18mg for a little while and pick up a 12 mg at some point to try along side a bottle of 18 incase it doesn't cut it.

Also make sure you have a spare battery, most people seem to fail in the early stages when they have no batteries charged and cravings kick in. You can guarantee it will run out when you are out for the day and no charger near by!

I would also think about getting another clearomizer so you can have another flavour running and serves as a backup. Maybe think about trying a different atty as your 2nd unit, you might find something you prefer as they are a personal choice.

New coils/wick are cheap enough for those so I would just pick a few spares up, you can guarantee they will go when you can't get any! The lifespan varies dramatically I had some last 4weeks+ and others that only lasted a couple of days.

 

[E Money]

Congrats on becoming a vaper. I started with a KGo and CE4. There are some good youtube vids on how to clean the CE4. I only did it a few times then tossed it. I upgraded to a SmokTech dct tank, then a Mini Vivi Nova (my favorite) and now I'm using an iclear 30 I bought today. You will be upgrading in the near future and it is well worth it. I also just ordered an SVD today, so even the batt's will eventually be upgraded if you wish.

As for nic levels, just stick with 18 until you can drop down to 12 then lower if you feel like. I started with 24mg and use 12 mostly, sometimes use my remaining 18 juice when I want to get nic'd up. I prefer higher VG juices, I'm a fan of vapor production. Although, with clearo's the 100% VG doesn't wick as well. I prefer around 70/30.

 

[raqball]

I started at 36mg and about a year later I bumped down to 24mg. Did that for about a year and then went down to 18mg where I have been since.

I tried 12mg but didn't dig it so I am staying at 18 for now. Maybe at some point I will try 12mg again but my reason for smoking was for the throat hit so if I want to stay away from the stinkies I need my vape to hit me in the throat and 12mg just does not cut the mustard for me..

 

[Steadfast619]

Thanks for all the support everyone!

Made another trip to the B&M today. Got a few new flavors and tanks. I decided to get the CE4 again, but will probably be upgrading to a vivi nova on my next trip. I've found if I take it slow with the VG, it treats me well. Chain vape, and it starts to get dry.

Now, I just have to keep my wallet in check...

Thanks again!

 

[Susiejo]

Thanks for all the support everyone!

Made another trip to the B&M today. Got a few new flavors and tanks. I decided to get the CE4 again, but will probably be upgrading to a vivi nova on my next trip. I've found if I take it slow with the VG, it treats me well. Chain vape, and it starts to get dry.

Now, I just have to keep my wallet in check...

Thanks again!

Yes, if you don't keep a close eye on it your wallet could really suffer!
I would recommend you get 1 bottle, of a flavor you already know you like, in a 12 mg. Have one tank with your 18 mg in it and fill one tank with the 12 mg and just kinda work it in.
I personally had 18 mg in one pv that I kept out on my sun porch which is where I used to smoke (cuz we didn't smoke in the house) and I kept the 12 mg in a pv on a lanyard, I would puff on the 12 mg just whenever I felt like it but when I got to feeling like "hey, I need a cig", I'd go out to the sun porch and take a cup of coffee and sit down and have a vape on the 18 mg just like I would have done with an analog. Keeping up a bit of the old ritual kinda helped me to quit smoking completely.

 

[Steadfast619]

I've been trying to keep up my old rituals too. Same alley on my smoke breaks at work, front porch of my apartment, etc. Always with the coffee too!

 

[Joshua Belleson]

Only thing I can say is you have to want to quit the analogs. I was a pack a day smoker for 20 years, I was ready to give it up. Made the switch a little over 5 weeks ago. I don't have any sort of a time table as to when I should or shouldn't take a toot (check grimm grenn). I take a pull when I want. First week was a little tough, after that not so bad until I went golfing... I was on my piece like the cure for cancer was gonna come out! But I got through it.

I started with the 18 strength to start. Just put in my monthly purchase at the 12 spot. If I have to take a toot a little more than normal, well so be it, but I'll get through it. Just remember that the whole point is to quit smoking. Good luck my friend!

 

[dc519]

I started off at 16mg last Nov when I first decided to go digital. I am just stepping down to 8mg now. A few guys that I switched over are still going strong on 24mg and have no desire to go any lower. We are talking like 40+ fellas who smoked a pack of Captain Blacks a day. Another guy started after me has been down to 6mg for the past little while. I guess what I am trying to say is, your ready when your ready.

 

[LAP87]

Congratulations on quitting ^^
I started out with 18mg and i was coming from 1 pack of smokes a day, kept to it for 2 years and recently i've stepped down to 12mg, because now i'm more or less vaping because i love playing around with liquids, different flavors etc.
I usually take a few drags every 20 min or so then set it down on the table infront of my keyboard, but when i'm outside i'm constantly puffing away just like i was constantly smoking back when i was on cigarettes, probably just a weird habit.

 

[sidetrack]

Your highest demand for nicotine will be when you first get up(you haven't had any for 8 hrs) and at times of stress. If you want to cut down try having 2 -3 different nic level juices starting with the highest when you first get up and decreasing mg/ml throughout the day. I found by the end of the day I was using 0mg because I had chain vaped all day and by 7-8 in the evening I was nicotined out. That's what worked for me. YMMV

Congrats and welcome to ECF