The Road So Far...

[Henaege]

Hello ECF. After lurking for a couple of months and just absorbing all the great information here, I thought I'd share my experiences with vaping so far.

First, I am a non-smoker. I wanted something that would help me relax and de-stress, and decided nicotine was a good, relatively harmless way to do so. Cigarettes were NOT an option for me so I decided to try an e-cig. I stopped by the local drug store on my way home from work one evening and picked up a Blu disposable.

I liked it right away and immediately decided I needed a longer-term solution. I found a Groupon for an e-cig starter kit. For $25 I got two batteries (I believe they are kr 808 D style, or something like that, still not sure). The flavor wasn't as good and I quickly found myself once again searching for a better option.

I turned to ECF and was immediately overwhelmed. Mods, clearos, attys... "Wow," I thought. "What have I gotten myself into?"

After several weeks of reading, researching, and YouTube videos, I finally figured out that I wanted an ego twist kit, so I ordered one with two batteries, two clearomizers, charger, and a bottle of juice.

I have been pretty happy with this setup, but, again, after many hours of reading ECF decided I wanted a mod and finally ordered a Vamo. I also have a Pro tank on the way plus an Evod and some extra heads.

There is no telling what will come next, but this has been a great journey so far. I spend a large amount of time reading ECF and enjoying every minute of it.

Huge thanks to everyone here and all the youtubers who take the time to make great videos (especially PBusardo & GrimmGreen - big ups!)

Hopefully this little story will help some other newbies like me who have no clue. I'm only at the tip of the iceberg and can't wait to explore further!

Thanks for reading, see you around!

And yes, I took the title from Supernatural. Seemed apt, though. I love that show!

 

[vornado]

Welcome to ECF!

Also welcome from another non-smoker
Be ready to catch some flack about that part, but don't sweat it too much. Some people have a beer to relax, I prefer a calorie free Ecig most of the time...

Going with a VAMO and a protank is nearly the same initial setup I went with! The vamo is a great device to start out learning the ins and outs of VV and VW with. It's also built like a tank and in 18650 mode doubles as a nightstick... It's also pretty hard to go wrong with a protank.

Enjoy the world of vaping

 

[Crash Moses]

Non-smokers aren't encouraged to join the community for the simple reason that most of us know what it's like to be addicted to something and unable to do anything about it (until now). It's not fun.

However, you are obviously an adult who thought the decision through and made that choice without undue influence from third parties.

That said, I personally don't believe that the pure nicotine used in e-juice is nearly as addictive as that found in cigarettes with all of the different tobacco alkaloids and other chemicals that react with nicotine to enhance its effect. My evidence is anecdotal to be sure but it's strong anecdotal evidence.

So welcome!

You certainly picked the right place as a resource.

 

[RosaJ]

Welcome Henaege and Vornado and congratulations for making the better choice!

 

[RelativeBewt]

welcome to ECF to all that it applys to

 

[vornado]

That said, I personally don't believe that the pure nicotine used in e-juice is nearly as addictive as that found in cigarettes with all of the different tobacco alkaloids and other chemicals that react with nicotine to enhance its effect. My evidence is anecdotal to be sure but it's strong anecdotal evidence.

I think more research is needed on that topic, and my anecdotal evidence aren't worth the pixels it's printed on, but that said, the people who I know that smoke can't seem to go more then a few hours without strong cravings and some mood changes. I vape a good bit when I can, but have gone 100% cold turkey for a week more then once when it just wasn't convenient without any cravings or mood swings. The only thing I missed was some of the nice flavors I had. So it seems to me that the nicotine itself isnt the only thing involved in the addiction to actual cigarettes. But this is just speculation on my part and nothing more

 

[Crash Moses]

I think more research is needed on that topic, and my anecdotal evidence aren't worth the pixels it's printed on, but that said, the people who I know that smoke can't seem to go more then a few hours without strong cravings and some mood changes. I vape a good bit when I can, but have gone 100% cold turkey for a week more then once when it just wasn't convenient without any cravings or mood swings. The only thing I missed was some of the nice flavors I had. So it seems to me that the nicotine itself isnt the only thing involved in the addiction to actual cigarettes. But this is just speculation on my part and nothing more

Agreed. And it's possible this is only true with some smokers and not others but I have heard similar stories from enough vapers to suggest there may be a kernel of truth to it. But again, without direct evidence it's not possible to say one way or the other.

For my part I had noticed this personally long before I'd even heard of vaping. I rolled my own cigarettes for years and I used an off brand pipe tobacco because it was so dang cheap. Occasionally I'd have to bum a cigarette off a coworker (usually because I forgot mine at home) and I noticed that I would always get a major nicotine rush...dizzy, light headed, almost like when I first started smoking cigarettes.

Prior to this I noticed on my trips to Mexico that the cigarettes I purchased didn't give me the same satisfaction U.S. cigarettes did. A co-worker there explained that while Mexico got their tobacco from the same distributor the U.S. brands did they didn't add all the chemicals like they do in the U.S. Whether this is true or not I cannot say but that's what I was told.

There have been several threads here discussing this and one that struck me regarded the addition of ammonia to cigarette tobacco and how it reacted with the nicotine to increase the effect.

Again, no hard evidence that I'm aware of but certainly food for thought.

 

[Henaege]

Thanks for the welcomes guys.

I just want to say that in no way do I mean to make light of those who are quitting or who have quit smoking; quite the opposite. I know (albeit from second-hand experience) how hard it is to quit smoking, and have lost good fiends and family members because they were not able to quit. Nothing but love and a ton of respect here.

With respect to the choice Vornado and I made, Crash Moses is right. For my part, it was not a decision made lightly and a great deal of research was done before that first vape was ever taken. Instead of alcohol or other drugs I chose nicotine for it's relaxing yet stimulating effects.

Based on my small (and definitely un-scientific) experience and other research, I fully believe that nicotine in it's more pure vaped form is not nearly as addictive as nicotine from burned tobacco, almost definitely because of all the extra additives in cigarette tobacco. Like Vornado, going days without a vape is no big deal.