The cloud chasing fad

[Equilibrium]

This reminds me too much of the Y2K scare. At the stroke of midnight on January 1st 2000 the world didn't come to an end as we knew it like so many believed would. The vaping world isn't going to end either IMO. There is probably going to be some regulations BUT some regulations are needed... again... IMO.

 

[Krashman Von Stinkputin]

This reminds me too much of the Y2K scare. At the stroke of midnight on January 1st 2000 the world didn't come to an end as we knew it like so many believed would. The vaping world isn't going to end either IMO. There is probably going to be some regulations BUT some regulations are needed... again... IMO.

Get where you're coming from and normally I would agree....

But comparing tobacco (which now includes ecigs) to any other product or activity cannot be done.
Tobacco is singled out and given "special treatment"
It's been getting that special treatment for decades

It's SO special it got it's OWN LAW that dictates:
1) How it can and cannot be made.
2) How it can and cannot be marketed.
3) Who you can and cannot sell it too.

and 4) A brand new approval process, administered and overseen by the Food & Drug Administration

As a product, tobacco has a unique position somewhere along the spectrum of PHARMACEUTICALS, MEDICAL DEVICES, and possibly FIREARMS.

Don't recall the Federal Government getting involved in legislating computers and how one should handle Y2K.

I used to buy a pack of smokes for 25 cents and enjoy them anywhere.
In the end that same pack was over $5.00 and I could smoke them virtually nowhere.
This was all due to government intervention and fiat.

And if that doesn't "scare" you then as another example of what the government can do, I invite you to investigate how the government shut down the "online poker" industry (another vice) at the height of it's popularity and revenue.

Additional point:
While the FDA is "required" to read comments and suggestions on the deeming regs, they aren't required to adopt them.
By the 2009 Tobacco Act it is ultimately at their discretion.

 

[Rocketpunk]

Contrary to what many, if not all, people who rebuild want you to believe, it is NOT *the* endgame for vaping.

I took umbrage to a girl who acted shocked when I told her I use carto tanks exclusively. She kept asking me "why".

Why? Because I like it and it suits me best, that's why.

1) I couldn't care less about the size of my vapor clouds.
2) I get plenty of flavor out of a carto. Even Japanese cotton tastes different than my cartos. Not as good, in my opinion. IN MY OPINION.
3) I don't want to go through 60 mls in three days. Part of the reason I switched to vaping was to save money.
4) I don't care for the young dripper crowds. I find myself zoning out when I hear the constant gibbering about coil builds.
5) I don't care for the attitude young drippers present; don't act like I'm some kind of relic from the ancient days of 1 year ago and everything I do is sub-par and beneath you.
6) I really, really, really, REALLY couldn't care less about your coil build. I don't care. Yes, I see it, you took the cap off and pressed your fire button. I see the coils turn red. Yes, yes, I see it. So.... what do you want me to do? Burn effigies on the lawn in your name?

 

[Emmanuel G.]

it's like F1, what's the point in going in circles at the fastest speed possible? it's ridiculous!

only, if we didn't have F1 (or auto racing in general) and these "stupid idiots", we'd probably still drive steam machines at around 20mph

Sub ohmers, cloud chasers pave the way of what the vape will be tomorrow, they take risks (and have fun doing it) so tomorrow we all can a quality, flavorful vape using appropriate and safe equipment.

They take what could have been a boring medecine and turn it into a hobby that brings people together, improve their own lives, technically, intellectually (wait, did you think it was easy to blow huge clouds?), socially, culturally

for some people, vaping is just a medication to stop smoking, I'm fine with that. For others, it's an opportunity to improve themselves, develop themselves into better beings.

Feel free to only look at the surface (blowing big clouds), negate all the rest and deem it ridiculous or stupid. But we don't need your judgment, just stick to what you like and leave people do what they want.

thank you

 

[Equilibrium]

I'm not sure how illegal gambling plays into the e-cig industry?

 

[tj99959]

And then you see a thread on here about how much money you are saving

The single most expensive product we use is e-liquids, and once you blow the vapor out your nose it's gone forever.
So I would much rather get three hits per drop, than use up three drops per hit.

I tend to look at the efficiency aspect of how I use my vaping gear, and blowing clouds is the least efficient way to vape.
I use mechanicals most of the time, RDAs most of the time, but I do so because they are the most cost effective, NOT because they can blow big clouds.

 

[K31Scout]

Cloud chasing is like people who like to build fast cars. My Nautilus Mini and MVP are great but about as exciting as my stock Ford Focus.

 

[Krashman Von Stinkputin]

I'm not sure how illegal gambling plays into the e-cig industry?

This way: Because it used to be LEGAL.

It used to be legal to play poker from home.
It was a booming industry, in fact a online poker play named Chris Moneymaker parlayed his online play into winning the World Series of Poker.
You couldn't turn on the TV without seeing another POKER show.
The industry at it's height was estimated to be at $2.5 Billion

Then the US Government DECIDED to change all that and define it as ILLEGAL.
And the industry was killed virtually overnight.

 

[Baditude]

I see this issue from several perspectives.

On one hand, I see cloud chasing competitions to be literally adolescent-like pissing competitions by mostly younger to middle aged adult males. It's the phenonomon of vaping extremists branching out from the original purpose of vaping - tobacco harm reduction. I believe cloud chasers have turned a benefitual health risk alternative into an extreme sports competition. These competitions and YouTube videos attract people who were never smokers in the first place to cloud chase purely for competitive recreational entertainment. The problem with this is, to be competitive at this level batteries and equipment are being pushed at or beyond their limits, increasing the risks to them and to others around them for bodily harm. I'm sorry, but forcing a battery to fire a 0.1 ohm coil or lower is above the battery's spec rating.

Like PBusardo, I also see the other side of the fence. People who sub-ohm relatively safely with mechanicals or with higher wattage DNA devices, are able to markedly reduce their nicotine consumption via the practice. There is in some cases better flavor production, and there is a more satisfying experience with more vapor production. But this can be achieved by building coils that are above 0.4 ohms and well within battery specifications.

I do not consider myself a cloud chaser, but I do use a rebuildable drip atomizer at a reasonable 0.6 ohms with the best batteries I can find, staying well within those battery's specs, using a more safely-designed mod, and only after doing the necessary self-education in how to do this with an acceptable safety risk.

My main beef is cloud chasing, if done without proper research/education into battery safety and learning basic Ohm's Law principles, is dangerous not only to the user but also to others around them should an unfortunate accident happen. Way too many ignorant/inexperienced/uneducated people are getting into cloud chasing, using inadequate batteries, pushing batteries to or past their limits, or with inadequate/unsafe battery devices. They don't know beans about how their setups work.

Yeah, statistically there haven't be an appreciable number of accidents...yet. But other potentially dangerous activities (skydiving, bungee jumping, auto raciing, etc) have regulations in effect to protect participants to reduce risks of harm. Cloud chasing does not have that. I have a feeling that as the popularity of cloud chasing increases, more incidents like the mod explosion at Vape Blast will inevitably occur, but with devastating results. That autofiring mod was literally a live grenade thrown into a crowd of people and it was a miracle that no one got hurt.

 

[tj99959]

Cloud chasing is like people who like to build fast cars. My Nautilus Mini and MVP are great but about as exciting as my stock Ford Focus.

WHOA! Now hold one second there!!!!!!!!!!!
Building fast cars fed my family well

 

[stevegmu]

it's like F1, what's the point in going in circles at the fastest speed possible? it's ridiculous!

only, if we didn't have F1 (or auto racing in general) and these "stupid idiots", we'd probably still drive steam machines at around 20mph

Sub ohmers, cloud chasers pave the way of what the vape will be tomorrow, they take risks (and have fun doing it) so tomorrow we all can a quality, flavorful vape using appropriate and safe equipment.

They take what could have been a boring medecine and turn it into a hobby that brings people together, improve their own lives, technically, intellectually (wait, did you think it was easy to blow huge clouds?), socially, culturally

for some people, vaping is just a medication to stop smoking, I'm fine with that. For others, it's an opportunity to improve themselves, develop themselves into better beings.

Feel free to only look at the surface (blowing big clouds), negate all the rest and deem it ridiculous or stupid. But we don't need your judgment, just stick to what you like and leave people do what they want.

thank you

I ready don't understand how mechanical mods can advance vaping technology...

 

[Froth]

It's turning into a sport, rather than a crutch for smoking.

There are dumber sports(IMO), Take for instance...Curling(The Winter Olympics variety). I will never get how Curling was invented or why but it exists and it is an Olympic sport. When do you EVER see Curling broadcast other than during the Olympics? Freaking never.

I'd honestly watch a bunch of people blowing fat clouds on TV over a bunch of stones with handles being slowly but accurately shoved towards a predetermined spot.

 

[WattWick]

it's like F1, what's the point in going in circles at the fastest speed possible? it's ridiculous!

only, if we didn't have F1 (or auto racing in general) and these "stupid idiots", we'd probably still drive steam machines at around 20mph

Sub ohmers, cloud chasers pave the way of what the vape will be tomorrow, they take risks (and have fun doing it) so tomorrow we all can a quality, flavorful vape using appropriate and safe equipment.

They take what could have been a boring medecine and turn it into a hobby that brings people together, improve their own lives, technically, intellectually (wait, did you think it was easy to blow huge clouds?), socially, culturally

for some people, vaping is just a medication to stop smoking, I'm fine with that. For others, it's an opportunity to improve themselves, develop themselves into better beings.

Feel free to only look at the surface (blowing big clouds), negate all the rest and deem it ridiculous or stupid. But we don't need your judgment, just stick to what you like and leave people do what they want.

thank you

No disrespect, but I strongly disagree. I believe cloud chasers do not evolve vaping in any way other than maybe one blowing a bigger cloud than another. I dare say 98% of the time it's just someone copying something off of a youtube video. The equipment side of it is... what? Some RDA with a bigger air hole than another? One coil being closer to the limits of what our batteries can deliver than another?

There is no magic involved. Only electricity. The limiting factor is the batteries. We are not pushing anything or promoting any new developments that are not already worked on by clever minds funded by millions of dollars - for entirely other purposes. The quest for one of sciences holy grails - the supercapacitor, goes on whether we vape or not. We're just piggybacking on other technological advances. Once a better battery chemistry comes out: Potentially bigger clouds.

Want bigger clouds? Stop using batteries. Then it's just like someone else pointed out in another thread. All about lung capacity. I could slap a coil on my RC battery packs and blow clouds like you've never seen - at several KILOwatts. I simply see no reason to do so whatsoever.

 

[Bob Chill]

I ready don't understand how mechanical mods can advance vaping technology...

It's about as low tech as you can get to be honest but it does a good job for the end purpose. It's like building street drag car with a big block and distributor. Fast as hell but nothing in comparison to a Tesla roadster when it comes to tech.

To me, tech advancement in vaping with be a processor controlled mod that actually mixes the nic and flavor as it hits the coil (with no wick, just a chamber). Like a fuel injector. You can run lean or rich on flavor with a simple push of a button. . High octane or low octane nic the same way as flavor. Coil dirty? Hit the clean button. Want to switch flavors? Just add a new flavor pack.

This is where i see it going unless the regs destroy us. Then we can all go back to 2007 cigalikes and call these the good ole days.

 

[iamthevoice]

I'm just waiting for the lasers...

 

[Cullin Kin]

I don't have an issue with cloud chasing personally, as long as it is performed safely and with consideration for others i.e. at home or in a cloud chasing competition where participants are experienced. Out in public however I would find it pretty obnoxious and would thoroughly disprove of that.

In a perfect world, I would agree. The thing is, participants rarely are experienced. It's great if they are, but the recent explosion at Vape Blast, other cloud comp's, and silly youtube videos (like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUkqIWtOf-4) are enough to show there are plenty of people that have no idea what they are doing. It's also enough negative publicity to curve the average person's view of vaping and PV's.

Edit: Reading through the comments of that video... GrimmGreen, pbusardo, and Suck My Mod all commented.

 

[Shootist]

The singular future? Extraordinarily highly doubtful. It is without a doubt one facet of the future of vaping, however. Pandora's box is wide open, and nothing's going back inside.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, as long as it's done semi-intelligently, and more importantly, cautiously.

I'm still sitting on an ego/clearo, but I'll be dipping my toe into the rebuildable waters tomorrow. I'm sure at some point down the road I'll look into a fun cloudy setup for wild hairs, but I don't anticipate it being my personal norm.

It is a huge buzzword at the moment, I'll give you that, but I don't think there's any reason to expect it to become synonymous with vaping.

going into rebuildable systems has nothing to do with cloud chasing. I rebuild, kayfun's, and although they produce a bigger cloud of vapor, if I want to do that, than most of the other tank systems I have they are certainly not mega cloud producers like you see from drippers at sub and sub-sub ohms.

 

[M3CH M0D M4DN355]

In a perfect world, I would agree. The thing is, participants rarely are experienced. It's great if they are, but the recent explosion at Vape Blast, other cloud comp's, and silly youtube videos (like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUkqIWtOf-4) are enough to show there are plenty of people that have no idea what they are doing. It's also enough negative publicity to curve the average person's view of vaping and PV's.

Edit: Reading through the comments of that video... GrimmGreen, pbusardo, and Suck My Mod all commented.

While I do agree there are plenty of idiots out there (as the video you linked too proves) but its the same with everything. Almost everything in the wrong hands can be dangerous, firearms, knives, cars, alcohol, petrol/gasoline, matches, power tools, hell even the internet is dangerous if you are irresponsible with it, the list is endless it not just vaping.

The problem is some people are either ignorant to danger, have something to prove or are just downright stupid, and sadly these people seem to becoming far more common.

 

[eratikmind]

Different strokes for different folks. I started vaping to quit smoking cigs and cigars. Vaping has been an excellent hobby for me, as well.

Some ex-smokers take vaping to a different level. Non-smokers vape just for the enjoyment.

Whatever one's reason to vape is . . . Simply vape with knowledge and vape safely. Beyond that . . . Enjoy.

 

[The Cloud Minder]

Is this the future of vaping now? Seems like so many people now are more interested in big time vapor, rather than using ecigs as an alternative to smoking and getting their nic fix.

It reminds me of when I was a kid and how we used to ride our bikes, or play hockey and basketball on the street. Nowadays, kids play with iPads, tablets, cell phones and high definition video games. And they wonder why the obesity rate is so high. Gee, I wonder.

It just goes to show how much technology has changed society as a whole. People do things just because it's the "in" thing to do.

There's cloud chasing contests now and "meets" where people go, to see who can blow the biggest cloud? Lol it's laughable.

Actually, ... I like BOTH.

Having recently quit, I still need to get my nicotine fix, but I also like big clouds. Recently, I have optimized the juices and uses of my Mod/Atomizer combos (although I don't have a lot.)

I have my equipment set up for the following uses:

My Car Cigar - This is a ECTO T9 BDC tank (copy of Vivi Nova) sitting on my Vision Spinner II running at 3.8V, using a juice mixture that is 80% 50PG/50VG 18 mg Vanilla Caramel Tobacco and 20% straight no nicotine VG.
I use this for vaping in the car. The most flavor of any of my setups, and despite the higher PG and nicotine than all but one of the others, one of the lowest throat hits. (Not a good idea to choke and cough during driving)

-

My Out & About - I have 2 smaller mod/tank combos sitting in the sides of an old Blackberry case, inside are:

1.)Nic Fix - A Kanger Protank 3 Mini, sitting on an Itaste 3 VV running at 4.5 V, using a juice mixture that is 60% 50PG/50VG 18 mg Casino 21 Tobacco, 30% 100VG 12mg Cowboy Red Tobacco, and 10% straight no nicotine VG.
I use this for getting my throat hit and nicotine fix needs. It most resembles the taste and feel of a cigarette and quells the urge to smoke best.

2.) Habit Handler - A Kanger Aerotank Mini, sitting on an Itaste 3 VV running at 4.5 V, using a juice mixture that is 50% 50PG/50VG 6mg Casino 21 Tobacco, 30% 100VG 0mg Cowboy Red Tobacco, and 20% straight no nicotine VG.
I use this for defeating the need to want to smoke, habit wise. I can puff and puff away on this and not get hardly any nicotine, but satisfy my old habitual behaviours.

But I also like Clouds, so I have :

My Lil Cloud Machine - A Plume Veil Clone, 0.7 Ohm dual Coil, 18 wraps of 26ga Kanthal each, sitting on my IPV 2.0 50W running at 30 Watts and 4.6 V, using a juice mixture that is 60% 50/50 6mg Vanilla Caramel Tobacco, and 40% staraight no nicotine VG.
I use this for sitting on my back porch, watching the pretty little clouds blow by. I have ZERO interest in any competitions.

So while I do enjoy blowing clouds, 90% of the time, I'm doing it for my sole enjoyment, and not any participation in any social peer approval fad.

I used the vaprizers to quit smoking and stay quit, but it's fun to chuck a cloud now and then.