Recommendations?

[eghost]

I'm still a noob as far as vaping is concerned, but I smoked analogs (cigarettes, pipes,cigars, anything with tobacco...) for 22 years... I started with a Blu and liked it alright save for the fact that it wasn't consistent so far as vapor production is concerned...So I built myself a 510 based, 3.7V NicoStick mod, which I just got up and running yesterday with the low-res cartos...

Since I'm a tech geek and I love these things, a review:

Blu e-cigarette: Decent, with the warning that you definitely have to pay attention to your gear and its cleaning and maintenance. About 20-30 drags in on a cart, vapor production decreases noticeably, and at the 50-60 range becomes so light as to become a chore. Mid-range smokers (1/2 pack a day or less) might find these to be perfect, but anything heavier than that and you'll probably want to look at a mod or something with a bit more power/juice capacity to it.

[EDIT]
Envy Disposable e-cigarette 24mg: Arguably this was a menthol, though it tasted (and smelled) more like I was smoking wet hamster shavings. In my defense, I was doing my best to avoid analogs while I waited for my shipment of replacement carts for my Blu. Suffice to say it won't happen again, however it did introduce me to the concept of good, consistent vapor production.
[/EDIT]

10440 Protected TrustFire 3.7V 600 mAh (Rated): Good so far. MapVapes rates these at 350 mAh, but with the performance I'm getting so far I have to wonder if they got a bad batch at some point. I picked up two, and with the amount of vaping I do I can get about 8.5 hours of use from a single battery. Fortunately there's still enough space in my case to step up to a slightly larger (with mAh) battery. Most likely if/when I upgrade the battery, I'll step up to the 14500 3.6V 900mAh model. If my math serves me right that should bump my operational range to the 12-14 hour mark assuming a 2.4-2.6 Ohm carto.

BogeTech 2.0 Ohm 510 Cartomizer: TONS of throat hit, but overall vapor production seems low, even using a straight VG juice. It also seems kinda harsh to me...

Royal Smokers E2 R4 Ceramic cartomizers 2.4-2.6 Ohm: These are definitely my go to carto. Good throat hit, and ridiculously smooth...Not to mention I could go on the road as a fog machine for any band you care to name... Flavors come through really nicely too. Combined with VG juice and you've got yourself a very long lasting carto.

Johnson Creek Original Smoke Juice (PG): Good flavors overall, though I only ordered three.

• Spiced Apple Cider - Good, but maybe a bit sweet for my tastes. From everything I've read though it mellows out some if you mix it with the Tennessee Cured... I'll have to try that...
• Tenesee Cured - Pretty tasty, might be my go to for the time being
• Simply Strawberry - Maybe it's just me, but I'm not getting the strawberry flavor from this, just a very light hint of something citrusy. Seems to be pretty weak on the vapor production as well.

Johnson Creek Red Oak Smoke Juice (VG): Got the sampler for this one. Awesome vapor production from the flavors I've tried so far.

• Valencia - I like this one a lot more than I expected to. Great citrus flavor, but it comes on strong.
• Swiss Dark - Tastes like you might expect, good dark chocolate undertones. Kinda makes me think of Baker's chocolate though. I'm going to have to try blending it with the Valencia and see if I get a Chocolate Orange out of the deal that I don't have to beat my cabinetry to enjoy...
• Domestic - Very smooth, understated flavor. To me it tastes like a very mild pipe tobacco.
• Wisconsin Frost - Not sure if this one should be considered a menthol or a mint. Not a lot of front hit to the taste but you can feel a minty sensation as you draw. It would probably mix really well with the Swiss Dark.
• Island - About what I expected really. Very strong pina colada taste. If you dig pina coladas it might be good...That said, I'm not a fan of pina coladas so I won't be reordering this one.
• Tennessee Cured - The VG mixture of this has nice maple flavor that I didn't pick up from the PG version. Very nice and smooth.
• Marcado - Really digging this one, very nice cinamon clove flavor to it. I think I just found one that I'll have to keep on hand!

I'll finish up the flavor review as I get to them...It's going to take a while...

Any part/flavor suggestions thoughts or ideas are really welcome... I love tinkering with stuff so I'll probably end up trying any mod I can think of. Right now I'm debating the design of a 5V model with a built in battery gauge.

 

[banjo]

Welcome to the ECF community. Nice review & first post.

 

[JD1]

Hi and welcome. Very good first post--I enjoyed reading it. +1 on the E2 R4 cartos. I have the 2.8 - 3.0 model and I'm really enjoying them. If you build the 5v mod let us know how it turns out. Later, JD

 

[dormouse]

Thanks for the reviews!

Hopefully your reviews will inspire me. I need to start trying the juices I bought. New hobby + web shopaholic = a ton of little bottles all over the place. And I just vape on juice all day every day and never try the samples. I have to stop buying them and start trying them. I have that Johnson Creek Red Oak sampler waiting, plus stuff from at least 8 other juice vendors, including multiple orders from a several vendors.

 

[floridamale]

Tennessee Cured & Marcado are 2 of their best

 

[eghost]

Glad to contribute, thanks for the welcome.

I did forget to review one e-smoking device that I ended up using (and won't ever use again), so I'll update the main post with that.

 

[Brewlady]

Welcome to ECF!! Backwoods Brew juices are really good, the three I bought are waffle, dulce de leche and blast. The waffle is really yummy, the blast is spicy but not overpowering, and the dulce I'm letting steep more, because it's either very light or not ready yet.

After reading your review I want to try the Swiss Dark, I love really dark chocolate, HATE milk chocolate, so I think that one might be a winner for me. Thanks for posting!

 

[eghost]

I do know one thing I'm definitely making in the very near future... A filling station so I don't run the risk of spilling stuff all over the place... I'm thinking a 1/2" block with a few 1/4" holes drilled into it should do a good job for holding my cartos still while I fill them...I guess if I wanted to get really fancy I could add a shelf/rack for my bottles and couple more 1/4" holes in said rack for holding my syringes...Think I'll draw that out later tonight...

 

[fudd]

Blu's suck, i wish I would have found this forum before getting that kit. But I have it now and lovin every word of it!

 

[dormouse]

BTW - you could also try adding some swiss dark to an eh tobacco. That's part of why I ordered that Johnson Creek sampler. I also like mixing a bit of BWB Peach in an eh PG tobacco I have from when I bought my kit.

Some enigmatic juices I want to try - FreedomSmokeUSA's Hypnotic Mist (ordered) and BWB's eJoker (waiting for it to be in stock again)

Gourmet Vapor currently may still have 40% discount code gv40 - They sell juices in their favors and member created favor mixes, and you can combine your own flavors there, up to 4 flavors in multiples of 10% to add up to 100%. I mixed up some weird ones but didn't make them public. Gotta try them first when they arrive. My weirdest is Turkish tobacco plus cocoa plus a bit each or pomegranate and vanilla. I also tried to make an Eggnog w/ hopefully Captain Morganish spiced rum, and a spiced peach.

 

[Frank_Castle]

Wow! Thorough post!

I started with the XhaleO2 & got the urge to research others. I'm rockin the Joye 510 now with no complaints.

 

[eghost]

*grins* Thanks again...I'll keep doing what I can.

Now I need to ask a favor of y'all, since I'm going to be building that filling station today...
Since I'm using the 510 cartos, I know what the diameter for them is (3/8")... But I can't seem to find the dimensions for the other styles...

Any chance someone could point me to a resource/measure their carts and post the dimensions? Then as soon as I get the prototype done I'll post the plans for building it here...

 

[eghost]

Sorry to double post, but I just finished up my "filling station"...

Originally I was thinking of going the carpentry route, but my day didn't allow for it. Failing the carpentry angle I repurposed a box that previously contained my netbook... Now I just need more sample packs from companies that send decals so I can cover up the Gateway logo...;P

Once I actually do have some time to build the final version of this it'll probably end up looking like a small work station/spice rack...

 

[Cranston McCloud]

Wow! Thorough post!

I started with the XhaleO2 & got the urge to research others. I'm rockin the Joye 510 now with no complaints.

I am another ex Xhale02 person. Went to the 1000mAh eGo. Loving it. Having electronics and machine backgrounds, I am working on some mod ideas of my own. (Darn that Darwin device! I thought I had an original idea.) I am also ordering lots of sampler juices to find my favorites. My Xhale has received a new role. I am using it to drip test the samples to see if they are eGo worthy.

 

[floridamale]

I also find the Darwin very interesting. Will be wondering how it works out in it's final design

 

[eghost]

I've stumbled onto a few nice Johnson Creek combinations:

Holidays - Probably my favorite combo so far...
2 parts Swiss Dark (VG)
2 parts Marcado (VG)
1 part Spiced Apple Cider (PG)

Different - It sounds weird, but with as mild as the strawberry is...
2 parts Simply Strawberry (PG)
1 part Wisconsin Frost (VG)

 

[eghost]

Sorry to double post, just figured I'd use this thread since I already started my reviews in it...

An update...

Made an order to FreedomSmokeUSA a while back and wanted to update with a review on the flavors I picked up...

So here's the list (all of these are at 24mg strength reduced to 18mg by adding straight VG):

• Banana Nut Bread - Excellent! Absolutely my favorite flavor so far! Tastes exactly like fresh banana nut bread.
• Vanilla Classic
• Zen Garden - Interesting, kinda hard to pin down the flavor. Not on my list a favorites but it's an interesting change of pace.
• Hypnotic Mist - Unusual kind of floral blend, not one I'm likely to reorder, but interesting to try out.
• Strawberry Cheesecake - Pretty good, but so far it seems that strawberry is a very mild flavoring across the board so the flavor is very subtle.
• RY5 - Pretty good, though I'm thinking I should have ordered the RY4 based on other reviews.
• Chocolate Orange Ball - Not what I was hoping for... The citrus is weak and the chocolate doesn't taste quite right. I'll have to experiment with other blends.
• Chocolate Biscotti - The chocolate flavor on this one is better and more pronounced than the chocolate orange.
• Thin Mint Cookie - Very good taste, but doesn't last well for long stretches.
• Wyatt Earp - This one was a free sample, and I'm glad of that...But it wasn't bad as far as that goes, just not for me.

I also got a free sample from MadVapes on the last order I made to them of Grandpa's Mix 18mg... I'm not even sure how to describe the flavor other than smoking a mentholated floral bouquet...*shudder* Absolutely not my bag... I'd toss it out, but who knows... I'm actually getting some of my friends and family set up with vaping and one of them may like it...