South disposables

[Truckdriver712]

Hey everyone. I first posted on here a long time ago, when I was ready to finally quit smoking and go to vaping.

I got easily frustrated by all the coils, the liquids, the burning tongue etc as a newbie. I finally gave up trying.

But, flash forward and I was fed up with cigarettes, I had someone tell me about the disposable types that you use and throw away. No chargers, no coils, and no fluid.

I finally was able to successfully quit smoking altogether and honestly enjoy the current product that I am using. It is a South Disposable one (I'll post an image below)

But, here is the deal, these are fairly cheap and they do not last very long. One major issue I have, I am a truck driver and on the road 10 hours a day. Some of these flavors, like Virginia Tobacco and Love Story taste really good, (no fruity taste, but sweet like chewing gum) but I literally will hit this over and over. Next thing I know, I have a flashing light and it is time to throw it away.

Of course, my own doctor had to tell me that this was ten times worse than smoking, because I was doing it so much. Along with telling me that I was inhaling steel, metal and other stuff. Of course, I got the warning about popcorn lung (I did a search on this site and it seems that the study was overblown) but once a doctor tells you something like that, it gets stuck in your head and causes you to worry.

The problem is, when you start searching Google and even AI, you go down a rabbit hole with either anti-vaping pages or other pages about how it is not safe but SOMEWHAT better than smoking with vague wording that leaves you with more questions than answers.

So what is the story on this ? Does anyone have a reccomendation where I can find some objective information ? For a note, my doctor is totally anti-nicotine all the way in all forms, and not totally unbiased. When I tried nicotine gum a couple of years ago, they also said I was just giving myself mouth cancer.

Here is my go to product :

 

[AsComaDIM]

I used only disposables for about a year. I used to buy Geek Bar Pulse X, and the vape shop I buy them sometimes gave me South bars as gifts. It's been a year since I stopped using disposables, and I've also given up salt nicotine because high nicotine in them (50mg/ml) was not good on my blood pressure, going on with freebase nicotine e-liquids with pod devices for the most part.

 

[Truckdriver712]

I used only disposables for about a year. I used to buy Geek Bar Pulse X, and the vape shop I buy them sometimes gave me South bars as gifts. It's been a year since I stopped using disposables, and I've also given up salt nicotine because high nicotine in them (50mg/ml) was not good on my blood pressure, going on with freebase nicotine e-liquids with pod devices for the most part.

That is another thing, last doctor check up, I had good blood pressure and all the other vitals were good. When I happened to mention that I had quit smoking, but was vaping, they started asking all these questions.

Then they started the "Well that is worse for you than cigarettes" line. There is so much confusing info out here, I was just wondering if the stories about popcorn lungs, inhaling metal and such were true.

I was able to find some articles on here about the popcorn lung being mainly overhyped nonsense, but was trying to find additional info about the metal and steel stuff.

Like I said, my doctor is so anti-nicotine that they refuse to hear anything about it.

 

[englishmick]

Popcorn lung seems to be a nothingburger. The people who got it initially worked in a factory where they made microwave popcorn and didn't have appropriate safety systems installed, plus one guy who lived on MW popcorn for ten years. The number of cases that have occurred is tiny, and I haven't heard of even a single vaper getting it.

The cause is one chemical, which is also an ingredient in some cream flavors used in vape juice. It exists, but the folks in the popcorn factories were inhaling orders of magnitude more than you could get from vaping the stuff.

Don't know much about the metal deal. When it became an issue there was discussion here about the validity of the testing methods used. They were using equipment that ran coils for long periods at ridiculously high temperatures and managed to drive off some metal. Nothing that resembled an actual vape being used the way they are actually used.

I don't know enough to say it definitely isn't real, but I certainly haven't seen anything convincing.

What is consistently missing is any evidence of vapers actually showing symptoms that would be expected, like getting popcorn lung or metal poisoning.

Still, vaping hasn't been around for long. Maybe there are long term consequences that just haven't appeared yet. And who knows what's in the juice in disposables.

 

[Territoo]

Nobody has claimed that vaping is safe, but it is safer than smoking. The doctors are heavily influenced by Big Pharma and have heard all the manufactured stories enough that they believe them. I'm a physician (retired) and I know how the system operates. BP has to demonize vaping as it interfere with their sales of smoking cessation drugs.

 

[CrazyNight]

For a note, my doctor is totally anti-nicotine all the way in all forms, and not totally unbiased. When I tried nicotine gum a couple of years ago, they also said I was just giving myself mouth cancer.

Sounds like Doc missed a few months of med school, or at least is not educated about nicotine. Nicotine is not a carcinogen. Nicotine gum does contain tobacco, and therefore is also not a carcinogen. The American Cancer Society recognizes nicotine gum as a safe nicotine replacement therapy - Nicotine Replacement Therapy to Help You Quit Tobacco

But responding more toward your main topic, I have a bit of personal experience to share.

Background - For 10 years I strictly vaped traditional "freebase" e-liquid in popular tanks with coils on common mods. I started with around 16mg nic strength the day I quit smoking in 2014 (was a pack a day for 30 years), and was able to gradually taper down over the course of a year, stepping down to 16mg, 12mg, 6mg, and then finally 3mg. I truly believe that vaping saved my life.

But then the state I lived in banned flavored e-liquid, and eventually by early 2024 I found myself unable to obtain it. Desperately not wanting to risk going back to smoking, I was able to obtain some popular disposables through a friend and began using them instead.

I have to admit - I enjoyed the convenience and certainly did not miss dealing with coils, tanks, messes, batteries, mod tweaks, etc...

BUT, between the convenience and the "salt nic" or "nic salts" liquid that is used in them being so much stronger than traditional e-juice, I personally did encounter some adverse effects. First, it quickly became much more adictive for me, and I found myself hitting the disposables more frequently. Eventually I started to feel some chest tightness, sleep issues, new anxiety, and raised blood pressure. Still, I tolerated it for quite while I could not obtain traditional e-juice in order to go back to my tanks and mods.

So, while I assume that many people don't have the kind of issues that I did with disposables, for me personally they just aren't a good choice and seem worse for my health than old-school vaping.

But as far as what your Doc has to say, such as chain-vaping being "10 times worse than smoking", well... you're talking about the same doctor that thinks nicotine gum causes mouth cancer, right? ;-) I'd get a second opinion on that if I were you.

My last personal take on your sitch - I can definitely understand how much easier disposables make your life, especially since you often live in a truck (I spent a year OTR moving furniture for United Van Lines, living out of a Peterbilt bunk and truck stops back in the late 80's), I'd still encourage you to try going back to at least semi-non-disposable vaping. There will likely be a certain amount of withdrawal symptoms because you'd be stepping down from crazy-high salt nic to a lower / mellower freebase nic, but you'll survive. Not long ago I switched back from disposables with nic salts back to traditional 3mg nic freebase (because thankfully I found a friend who is able to help me obtain flavored e-juice again), and I did experience some discomfort for about 10-12 days while adjusting to the strength change. OR... Something else that might be a good option for you - switching from disposables to pod mods (like XROS or Caliburn or OXVA etc...) and fill them with your favorite flavors of nic salts juice. That way you'd have the high level of nic that you've now become used to from the disposables, but in a somewhat smilar device that you have control over and could use to work toward switching back to traditional freebase juice. I'm actually in the process of switching from tank mods to pod mods myself, because I'm no longer a "cloud chaser" and I want the ease & convenience of the disposable pod devices.

All of that is just my personal experience and opinion (except for the nicotine not causing cancer part - that is a medical fact), YMMV.

 

[englishmick]

Sounds like Doc missed a few months of med school, or at least is not educated about nicotine. Nicotine is not a carcinogen. Nicotine gum does contain tobacco, and therefore is also not a carcinogen. The American Cancer Society recognizes nicotine gum as a safe nicotine replacement therapy - Nicotine Replacement Therapy to Help You Quit Tobacco

But responding more toward your main topic, I have a bit of personal experience to share.

Background - For 10 years I strictly vaped traditional "freebase" e-liquid in popular tanks with coils on common mods. I started with around 16mg nic strength the day I quit smoking in 2014 (was a pack a day for 30 years), and was able to gradually taper down over the course of a year, stepping down to 16mg, 12mg, 6mg, and then finally 3mg. I truly believe that vaping saved my life.

But then the state I lived in banned flavored e-liquid, and eventually by early 2024 I found myself unable to obtain it. Desperately not wanting to risk going back to smoking, I was able to obtain some popular disposables through a friend and began using them instead.

I have to admit - I enjoyed the convenience and certainly did not miss dealing with coils, tanks, messes, batteries, mod tweaks, etc...

BUT, between the convenience and the "salt nic" or "nic salts" liquid that is used in them being so much stronger than traditional e-juice, I personally did encounter some adverse effects. First, it quickly became much more adictive for me, and I found myself hitting the disposables more frequently. Eventually I started to feel some chest tightness, sleep issues, new anxiety, and raised blood pressure. Still, I tolerated it for quite while I could not obtain traditional e-juice in order to go back to my tanks and mods.

So, while I assume that many people don't have the kind of issues that I did with disposables, for me personally they just aren't a good choice and seem worse for my health than old-school vaping.

But as far as what your Doc has to say, such as chain-vaping being "10 times worse than smoking", well... you're talking about the same doctor that thinks nicotine gum causes mouth cancer, right? ;-) I'd get a second opinion on that if I were you.

My last personal take on your sitch - I can definitely understand how much easier disposables make your life, especially since you often live in a truck (I spent a year OTR moving furniture for United Van Lines, living out of a Peterbilt bunk and truck stops back in the late 80's), I'd still encourage you to try going back to at least semi-non-disposable vaping. There will likely be a certain amount of withdrawal symptoms because you'd be stepping down from crazy-high salt nic to a lower / mellower freebase nic, but you'll survive. Not long ago I switched back from disposables with nic salts back to traditional 3mg nic freebase (because thankfully I found a friend who is able to help me obtain flavored e-juice again), and I did experience some discomfort for about 10-12 days while adjusting to the strength change. OR... Something else that might be a good option for you - switching from disposables to pod mods (like XROS or Caliburn or OXVA etc...) and fill them with your favorite flavors of nic salts juice. That way you'd have the high level of nic that you've now become used to from the disposables, but in a somewhat smilar device that you have control over and could use to work toward switching back to traditional freebase juice. I'm actually in the process of switching from tank mods to pod mods myself, because I'm no longer a "cloud chaser" and I want the ease & convenience of the disposable pod devices.

All of that is just my personal experience and opinion (except for the nicotine not causing cancer part - that is a medical fact), YMMV.

Hi - noticed you joined ECF 2 weeks before I did.

I started with 24mg juice in tiny bottles from China. Took me 5 years to get down to 4mg.

I've used nothing except freebase in tanks. Then earlier this week I inherited some Lost Mary disposables and been hitting them a bit. The nic strength and over the top flavor are a bit of a shock to the system. Haven't used them long enough to see any health consequences but what you said makes me worry a little. I can for sure see the attraction and convenience though, I'm picking it up more and more.

15 years ago I had major surgery on my neck. The surgeon said he wouldn't do it unless I got off the cigs for 2 months before and promised to stay off them for 3 months afterwards. I picked up some cigalikes and managed to quit. On my next appointment I told the doc that and showed him my cigalike. He laughed and pulled a cigalike out of his pocket. Not all docs fall for the propaganda about vape. That doc had to deal with actual reality. Seems that the CO in cig smoke reduces the supply of oxygen to spinal bones and slows down healing, but vaping has no CO in the vapor.

I agree with your suggestion about pod mods. Definitely a good way to transition without too much pain.