So, here's my story

[KSfarmgal]

(chants in eerie voice: I'M ONE OF YOU! I'M ONE OF YOU! I'M ONE OF YOU!)

I've been a 1 to 2 pack a day smoker since I was 21. I absolutely loathe the taste/smell of cigarettes, but the ACT of smoking is what I enjoy... and I cannot seem to stop. One of my friends first introduced me to ecigs a while back; he let me try his, and after I got done coughing both lungs (and possibly a kidney) up, I thought it was hands-down the worst thing I'd EVER tried.

So, I continued to smoke cigs like a freight train. Then, another friend gave me a Blu disposable to try. At first, I hated it (and FWIW, it just died yesterday)...and went right back to cigs. Then she gave me one of her spare/old e-cigs (Clean Cig) plus a carto and a USB charger, and let me take it for a test drive. It took some getting used to, but now I have 2 Clean Cig batteries, 2 USB chargers, and 4 flavors of cartos (one is Blu's Vivid Vanilla, which I LOVE- and it works with my rig!). I also have a Blu disposable sitting on my night stand by my bed, so I can puff before dozing off while my 2 batteries are charging overnight.

I went from smoking anywhere from 20-50 cigs a day to about 10, then 5, then 1-2...and today I believe I've finally FINALLY smoked my last coffin (coughin') nail.

Anyway, I found this site a few days ago and have been reading/studying everything I possibly could. I like my little e-cig, as it's portable & very handy/easy to use (plus it was cheap as dirt- only $8.95 at the Cherokee Nation-run smoke shop in Oklahoma), but the battery life stinks & I believe I can upgrade and move on to something better.

After much reading and deliberation, I decided to go with the $29 Volt starter kit from SmokelessImage. It had very good reviews, plus the colors were cool and it didn't look like a pipe bomb or other suspicious device. Since they were running a special for Singles Awareness Day...er...Valentine's Day, I managed to get a starter kit for $27, including shipping. (I chose the Vanilla flavor, as I absolutely LOVE the Vivid Vanilla cartos for Blu.)

On a related note, my father has been in and out of the hospital; he is dying from terminal heart failure, plus COPD/sleep apnea brought on by smoking- it also cost him part of a lung. He and I have smoked the same number of years (he quit when he was roughly my age), and watching him go thru this has brought everything into crystal clear focus.

So, thank you e-cigs, and thank you ECF, for quite possibly saving my life.

 

[dialx7]

Awesome story, welcome to the forum...come, drink of the Kool-aid, lol, jk, these folks are great for helping us along!

 

[LV SuzyQ]

Hi KSfarmgal,

Welcome to ECF and thanks for sharing. I'm sorry to hear about your dad. We are here for you with knowledge, advice, suggestions and encouragement. Ask anything.

 

[3angryinches]

Welcome to ECF and congrats to being smoke free!!!

 

[chrisaaron]

Welcome to the community. Good luck with your search for juices that you love. There are thousands out there, and try as many as you can (or can afford). Congratulations on quitting the analogs. Happy Vaping!

 

[KSfarmgal]

Thank you for the kind welcome! One thing I'd suggest to other converts (we aren't quitters- we're WINNERS! lol) is to put away all your ashtrays and hide your lighter collection...those things are a huge "trigger" for me to grab a cig. I can already tell that my home, my truck, and my clothes smell a lot better, plus I won't be going thru nearly as many furnace/AC air filters trying to keep the smoke/tar levels down in my home. I can't wait to repaint my house and finally be rid of 20 years' worth of ugly yellow stains on the walls, not to mention getting rid of my carpet.

 

[wynsen]

Welcome to ECF! and congrats on staying analog free!

 

[wynsen]

FWIW, i started smoking since i was 13. my grandmother owned a coffeeshop and cigarettes was in abundance! after she passed on and the coffeeshop was sold.. i no longer had a supply of Cigarettes. and prices for cigarettes kept going up! Now, 11 years after my first stick, i managed to get off analogs by using ecigs. best thing that happened!

 

[sawlight]

Welcome to ECF! I'm just outside of Wichita if you need anything! Good luck to you!

 

[KSfarmgal]

Thanks, sawlight! I'm also just outside Wichita (live SW of the airport lol). One thing I'm a bit confused about is whether or not the Blu cartos will fit on my new Volt. I know the Blu cartos fit on my little CleanCig, but I don't know if the batteries on the Volt are the same size/threading. Also, are the cartos on the Volt refillable? I ordered the prefilled ones for my Volt and have plenty of prefilled cartos for my Clean Cigs, but I'm also itching to try all kinds of fun new juice (I'm a diabetic, so the sweet flavors that I can't have anymore are what I adore). If anyone knows, please educate me.

 

[gotmantis]

lol i remember after the first time when i first switched back away from e ciggs it was just a terrible taste but my e cigg was a weak one before i knew about variable wattage and yesterday after 1 day of being off cancer analog sticks i decided to try another just to see the difference that one day can do and amazingly i was completely repulsed by the taste of my all time favorite brand camel wide and now i prefer the knock off liquid of my brand called kamel i normally smoke camel wides its amazing at what just 1 day of vaping can do for you isnt it

by the way farm gal you can make your own liquid google it that way you can be sure you can have your sweet flavors and you can pick up most of the ingredients at alot of the health food stores as odd as that sounds just find a good recipe online so you dont try and wing it your first time like i did lol and make the worst liquid known to man and scar the flavor into a perfectly good atomizer and to clean them shake then soak in fresh diet coke then soak in either a flammable "high proof " flavorless alcohol or do what i do rubbing alcohol and get an air hose to blow out the resin like substance that forms on the heating element that's what the coke is for and diet isnst just because of the coincidence of your diabetes it helps clean it better cause the sugar tends to stick to warm metal and cloth at any temp and that isnt a good thing to have in there cause it could lead to a burnt sugar taste lol

 

[gotmantis]

and if you have the cash get an e-Vic from joyetech in my opinion especially if you are a techy lol i love spell check you should see all the red lines i get before i post these

 

[gotmantis]

i started smoking cancer sticks because i needed a crutch for a morphine addiction when i was hospitalized as a teen for a lung infection had to get surgery lol smoking after a major lung surgery i know but its better than morphine and i plan on never going back and to help lock that decision in i now work at an e-cigg store in my mall in my podunk town

 

[Haktuspit]

Once you start getting into filling your own carts give Johnson Creek Vanda a try, it's a lot like the Vivid Vanilla from Blu... actually I'm pretty sure it IS vivid vanilla because Johnson makes the juice for Blu. Plus when you have your own carts there's a lot more juice in there and it is a bigger blast of vanilla to the face!

 

[hellcat]

welcome! welcome! congratulations are definitely in order. I was like you when I first made the switch, I wanted my vaping experience to mimick everything about an analog as much as possible. you may find that your interests change and that longevity and performance become more important. or you may find that you will enjoy your first starter kit so much that you stick with it for as long as you vape. either way, you are not smoking and that is what is most important. if you do find that the battery life is lacking, I highly recommend ego batteries. I switched from the standard cigalike kits to egos and didn't find that they were that much more conspicuous and they truly do last me all day. I do have a larger mod that I usually keep at home but the egos go with me everywhere. The best of luck to you in your vaping ventures!

 

[sawlight]

I sent you a PM on a local vendor.
The cartomizers for the Blu and the Volt are not interchangeable. The Blu has 510 threading, male on the carto, and the volt has 808 threading, female on the cartomizer. You can buy adapters to switch back and forth, but they can be a PITA! They either work great, or not at all!

 

[SPM3]

Welcome KSfarmgirl,to ECF, and congrats on getting off the cigs

I am sorry to hear about your father, but I am glad you have chosen vaping as the way to get off the cigs.

Like LVSuzyQ said, we are a great community here and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Welcome again, and keep on vapin

 

[SBlaire17]

KSfarmgal I'm sorry to hear about your father. I'm probably his age or close to it. I started smoking when I was 8 and smoked for 45 years before using nic gum to transfer my addiction away from cigarettes. For some reason I was put off by the e-cigs at first. I think e-cigs seemed complicated at first, but I'm using one now to get off the nic gum which I've chewed almost non-stop for two years.