I started smoking when I was 16. I figured it was a great way to meet girls at parties.
Strangely enough, though, like a few others, I kept my habit hidden for many, many years. My wife quit when she was put on enforced bedrest in the hospital while pregnant with our second child, but she always told me that I'll quit when I was ready. I never really was--I liked smoking. I enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow smokers as we became more and more oppressed and our numbers became fewer and fewer.
I had tried a cigalike that a friend's wife had given him for his birthday back in 2008. It was a novelty--it didn't last that long and the replacements cost a lot so my friend let it fall by the wayside. For me, cigarettes were still the real deal. The cigalike was an interesting gimmick, but nothing more.
2014: 27 years of smoking, but I was still defiant. A couple years prior, at my high school's 25th reunion, I was dismayed to find that most of the smokers had pretty much up and quit--or, at least, no one smoked (or vaped) at the reunion. My initial raison d'etre for smoking had vanished, my wife was beginning to become annoyed by my constant breaks and step-outs, and even my one friend who smoked--the one whose wife had bought him the cigalike--had been caught up in his own life and didn't have as much time to visit. Smoking was, for the first time, becoming not fun...
In February-March of this year, when the media was running all sorts of hysterical stories about e-cigs and the practice of "vaping," I began to get curious: none of that gear looked like what my friend had gotten, and the stories on the internet that I read were overflowing with praise for the using larger devices. I was curious enough (though ambivalent about truly giving up smoking) to walk into a local vape shop and purchase a pair of ego 650 batts, two MT3s, and three flavors. That day also happened to be my daughter's 9th birthday.
At the time, I had just started a new carton of cigarettes as my insurance blanket--after all, I mostly wanted to see what the fuss was about and whether or not it could save me some money; I didn't really
want to quit smoking. But in those first few days, I ended up smoking fewer and fewer cigs. About halfway through the carton, I realized that smoking was beginning to taste bad and I might have stopped smoking then and there if not for the fact that my coils needed to be replaced (newbie mistake) and that, using smoker's logic, I didn't want to waste any of the cigarettes I had left. The B&M that I had purchased my gear from had, inexplicably, run out of coil heads, so I started smoking a little bit more. Finally, when cigarettes were beginning to start tasting good again, I got the coil situation sorted out by ordering some replacement coils online from Discount Vapors. I had one pack of cigs left, so I decided to finish it. It took me a week, and I almost had to force myself to smoke the last two.
That day, the day that I smoked my last cigarette, April 6, 2014, was the day that I joined ECF. I'd lurked for two months prior (first, while researching, and then after as I was experimenting). After that, I decided to see how long I could go without buying any more cigarettes. To give me some help, I picked up an MVP2 and an iTaste vv/vw v3 from 101Vape. I have since added a little to the collection: my stable now consists of 2 MVPs, a Vamo V5, a handful of aerotanks (various versions) and a handful of Evod Glass tanks. I have remained true to my personal challenge and have not smoked once, and the only temptation to try it again was about a week in when that little voice in my head tried to tell me that I had proven that I could quit--why not go back. I don't listen to that voice anymore.
In the mail today, I should be receiving my first purchase of wire so that I can try my hand at rebuilding coils (I've only re-wicked up until now) and I received my first RBA earlier this week, Of course, this has me now interested in a new device--something that may be able to deliver more power, should I want it--but all in due time.
What can be done to help new vapers? Many will point to bare minimums of devices and tanks, and even samples of juice, but I think that what's just as important is to keep new vapers from going back to smoking by including a handful of replacement coils in any starter kit. Newbies aren't always confident on their own to diagnose why their vape isn't working as it had been and many will secretly harbor any excuse to keep smoking. Eliminate the chances that this will happen and they will keep vaping. That's my
.
Thanks for the chance!
SO...I shall digress... 
that and SAMPLE size juices !!
