Thinking of buying an ecig soon - a few newbie questions

[Nexus555]

Well, I've been smoking cigarettes for about 8-9 years now. I got ripped off one time in the mall and bought the "Smoking Everywhere" electronic cigarette, and I thought it was horrible. The batteries wouldn't last, you couldn't refill them, their flavors were horrible, and overall, it was a gimmick targeting the new industry. I think I'm leaning towards the Ego Twist or some variation that can:

a). Hold a fair amount of liquid.
b). Have a long battery life.
c). Not look too ridiculously big.

I do construction work at the moment, and am typically seen working at banks. So, I guess I don't want something that looks like some drug paraphernalia. Anyways, my father has been smoking for 40ish years, and he keeps expressing his interest in ecigs as well. We're both roughly pack a day smokers I'd say. It seems the duty to find a safer alternative is up to me, and I'm ready to buy a decent product and give it a serious go this second time. So, before I take the plunge, I do have a few questions.

#1). Would the Ego Twist satisfy my three concerns? I'm sure about the battery life, but unsure about how much liquid it can hold. Also, roughly how large are these (a rough comparison is sufficient.) In honesty, I might break rule "c," yet I don't want something too much bigger than a black-n-mild, I suppose.

#2). Who is the best vendor in your opinion? I want someone fairly priced, good shipment, and completely trustworthy. Also, I would be interested in knowing the best vendor for the electronic cigarette and the liquids if they differ.

#3). My father is pretty dead-set on getting a flavor/vapor consistency similar to Marlboro Lights. In reality, I wouldn't mind starting with liquid that is similar in taste myself, although I believe I am more open to try others. What product/vendor do you suggest to achieve this?

#4). If I go the Ego Twist route, should I buy additional batteries or other accessories that I will most likely need anyways?

If you guys have any alternate suggestions, I am completely open. I'm going to buy my ecig and nicotine first, and try to do extra research for my father. He wants one that is similar size to a cigarette, but once he sees me changing batteries or refilling, he may understand the futility of using electronic cigarettes to completely replace an analog. I thank everyone for reading and I hope to participate in the community more.

 

[Myrany]

At a bare minimum for each vaper you will need
2 battery devices (the twists or spinners)
2 juice delivery devices ( +extra heads or cartomizers if the device uses them)
1-2 charger (I strongly suggest 2

ALWAYS have a backup. Like anything in life things will break or get lost in the middle of a nic fit.

I have not used the twists though I have seen many many people on the forums that just LOVE them. When you look at the add for a battery device you will see a number like 600 MaH or 900 Mah that is an estimate of how long the battery should last while being used. So a 600 Mah should give you about 6 hours of vaping time. A 900 MaH should give you about 9 hours. If it is important that one battery gets you through the workday you need to pay attention to thee numbers.

Juice delivery devices. there are a TON of them out there. I personally use the Kanger Protank (big and glass so maybe not so good on the worksite) and the CE5 smaller more discrete. One CE5 filled will last me about 6-8 hours. You could fill 2 and bring them with you. These have changeable atomizer heads so when one coil wears out you just take it apart and screw on a new one.

For juices there are many many many reliable juice makers out there. My best advice to a new vaper is to get sampler packs from many places. The will get you tiny bottles of many flavors to taste. When you find something you like you can buy a larger bottle. ALso branch out in the flavors. I really thought that I wanted a tobacco flavor as close to what I used to smoke. Boy was I wrong. I ended up loving fruit flavor juices. Remember the longer you are off the cigs the more your senses of taste and smell are going to come back. What you like day 1 you may not like day 61. Finding the right juice is an evolving process for all of us.

One place with nice deals on samplers is Best Electronic Cigarettes and E-Liquid - MyFreedomSmokes.com. I used to smoke marlboro menthols and found their Slims menthol juice to be a real close match.

Hopefully this novel of hints helps some

 

[djsvapour]

I started on "rip off" e-cigs and then bought a 2 x Riva battery kit. It might be called KGo in US.
Twists and Spinners are excellent, but they are bigger than some of the nice regular eGo batteries.

 

[mare ze dotes]

Many on us have started with and still use a twist or a spinner. I would say dont get above 1000 mAh or they do get long. As for the head peice, what ever you choose vivi nova, kanger, CE/Stardusts. Make sure the capacity is 1.8ml or less or you will end up with a big peice of hardware that is not so pocket freindly if that is your concern.

 

[serge6110]

Hi. I've been getting my supplies from electronic cigarettes organic e-liquid. very good service and many options and even organic juices.

 

[MamaTried]

if you're like me (and apparently most newbies here) within no more than a week after your first buy, you will want something different... for that reason, i would hold off buying a backup unit you've played with the first. either that or order a dirt-cheap backup from Fasttech.

My 1000mah twist is 4 3/4" long so even my meaty hands can't palm the battery alone, let alone the 2-3" of the CE4 clearomizer that my kit came with. the 650mah twist is an inch shorter not still not pocket-friendly.

About the Marlboro flavor- good luck with that. Unless maybe if it's menthol you will be lucky to find anything that really resembles cigarettes, much less a particular brand. Like a lot off newbies, I started off looking for tobacco flavors and haven't really found anything. Taste is subjective however, so you may find something you think is a perfect match.

 

[Chadshaw]

Not all "stick" batteries are created equal in my opinion. Some such as Bloog and Smokeless image batteries and cartos are higher quality than the rip off styles you get at a mall kiosk (lower priced as well). You will not get the same battery life as the spinners, or mods but as far as throw it in your pocket, and form factor their tough to beat. I have everything from spinners to box mods to tube mods that I use at home, but when I go to work I carry two said stick batts and 3 loaded cartos in a small case in my pocket (smaller than a pack of analogs). This way I know I don't end up with spilled juice in my pocket, and if I break a battery or something I'm only out about $12.
As for juice, I just don't think you'll ever actually replicate a Marlboro Light, your not burning something so its tough, but there are good tobacco based flavors to be had. I tried all the sweets and whatnot and my everyday all day vapes are pretty much all back to tobacco based flavors.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

If you're working in construction although not cig sized you may want to think about getting a Mini Mechanical Mod. All mechanical with no electronics. eGos, Twists, Spinners, etc...could break the first or the tenth time you drop it...the electronics are very sensitive. Also dust getting into buttons, dials, electronics, etc. I have converts that work in construction and use nothing but Mechs Mods. Once per week they disassemble them and wash clean. They're amazed at the dirt that comes out. Drop it and very likely no damage except for maybe a dent or a ding.

 

[Nexus555]

Wow, thanks for all of the advice. I will definitely keep everything you say into careful consideration before I purchase. I'll try to keep everyone informed.

 

[Jazzi Mike]

Nexus555, good luck on your journey. There are plenty of decent starter kits on the web. For hardware, I like myvaporstore.com. They have a huge selection and if people are talking about it on here, MVS probably has it. Unfortunately, their selection of ejuice leaves something to be desired. That said, I do really enjoy some tobacco blends from there.

Some other good spots:
Welcome litecigusa.com - BlueHost.com
mtbakervapor.com
vaporjoes.com (not a store, but will point to good internet deals)

Another thing is that most ejuice does not taste like a cigarette. While some vendors may say this, I have not found it to be true. However, I vape tobacco ejuice around 99% of the time. It tastes more like tobacco and less like smoke (if that makes sense...). To me, most ejuices taste better than cigs, but taste is subjective. As far as sizes of various egos, I think you will find an ego with 650mah or less, small enough that you won't be holding a bat with battery life that should suit you. Even the mini ego at 400mah will still last longer than a cigalike type battery.

 

[Jazzi Mike]

edit**

i meant
litecigusa.net

 

[Nexus555]

How about tank sizes? How long do the different ml tanks last? Kind of curious, since my kit will most likely come with two, I want enough juice in both to last all day or I'll need to order additional ones

 

[Ragenowski]

I've been vaping for a little over a month now and I can tell you my experience is that an Ego-T battery will be a great battery.....Also, from experience, don't get the single kit....Go for the double kit because you'll probably find yourself needing/wanting it.

It's not a variable voltage battery so you don't have to worry about that, and for me the thing that really made a difference to me was having a clearomizer which allows you to see how much juice you've got left in the tank. I started out using the Vision clearomizers, I think the CE4.....whatever they're called, they are the long wick vision clearomizer and they are great but you will occasionally have to clean them due to carbon or whatever it is depositing itself on the coil which reduces the volume and flavor of your vape. The only issue I've had with those clearos is that I'm a pretty heavy vaper for one reason or the other and they don't last long enough for me. I switched a few days ago to the Kanger MT3 which has been really good. It's got a better flavor and vape than the vision clearos have been for me.

Now the other thing is that you'll eventually want to switch to a rebuildable atomizer because the replacement coil/wicks are only about 3-5 bucks versus 8-15 bucks for a whole new clearomizer or whatever you use.

Last thing, be prepared to spend more money than you were expecting to spend in the first few weeks/months of vaping....You've got to find a juice that you like that you can vape on daily and a battery/clearo/carto setup that suits your style...It's different for everyone. After only about a month in I've spend easily as much on e-cig stuff as I ever spent on tobacco but the difference I see after a month is that I no longer have much of a real "urge" for tobacco that I used to have.

Good luck in your vaping!

 

[Ragenowski]

Also, as far as tank life is concerned...like I said I vape pretty heavily and I top off my tank about 2-4 times a day with the vision clearomizers and 1-3 times a day with the kanger mt3. Anything that will hold near 2ml of juice is sufficient.

I recently bought a 6ml DCT (dual coil) and honestly I wasn't the least bit impressed with it.....Hard to re-fill, not a great vape, decent flavor, and it didn't last any longer than the regular clearos that I had before but the plus side is that it was rebuildable and fairly easy to rebuild but not as easy as the kanger is.

 

[AquaJoe]

I was in the same boat as you, but after much research and reading/watching reviews I ordered the Ego twist kit from Myvapestore.

http://www.myvaporstore.com/Vision_Spinner_Joye_Ego_C_Twist_Combo_p/vvs-c.htm I ended up ordering 2 1000mah twists, and 2 evods. (Ive read some good reviews on the Evods)

They have free shipping on over $75 orders, so I ordered the kit and some juice. They sell 50/50 pg/vg which I prefer. They have a 10% coupon K7FOA for selected items. The kit is not covered, but the juice was.

Hope this helps!

 

[Nexus555]

Update:

Ok, so I've pieced together my kit as follows:

1.) Joye eGo-C Twist Variable Voltage 900mAh Black
2.) Joye eGo-C Twist Variable Voltage 900mAh Stainless
3.) Kanger MT3 eGo B/C Clearomizer (Hoping the larger tank lasts a normal workday)
4.) Innokin iClear 16 eGo Claromizer (heard good things about this brand, plus wanted some variation).

The kit also includes the USB to wall converter and rapid charger... All that is left is some eliquids. I'm looking on myvaporstore, and I cannot find any eliquid combination deals. I want to take everyone's advice and get a variety pack to see what I like. Do they offer these, considering it would make it easier (everything shipping simultaneously)? Also, do I need the bottle and needle also, or do some of the eliquids come with needles? If I'm forgetting something to get started, please let me know.


ALMOST THERE!

 

[AquaJoe]

I didnt order any needles/bottles. The bottles the juice comes in works fine for refilling. Although, they might come in handy to remove juice from the tanks?

As far as the juice, just order 3-4 small bottles of different flavors until you find one you like. I dont think they have a variety pack.

You might want to get different pg/vg ratios too.

Im sensitive to a lot of Pg so I ordered the 50/50 blend.

 

[Ragenowski]

It depends on your preference. It's been my experience that a blunt needle tip bottle will assist in getting the juice into the tank without as much mess but honestly if you're careful there won't be much if any mess to begin with. Also, the needle tip bottles I've used have all leaked and the normal bottles haven't leaked a bit.

My personal preference is to get a big 30ml bottle and use the needle tip, but you also have the ability to use blunt tip needle syringes which would work great but add cost to your vaping experience. The normal non needle tip bottle work just fine for me on all the tanks I've used with the lone exception of the DCT I have...The needle tip bottle for that tank really helps to keep from getting juice all over everywhere.

 

[calbff]

Update:
1.) Joye eGo-C Twist Variable Voltage 900mAh Black
2.) Joye eGo-C Twist Variable Voltage 900mAh Stainless
3.) Kanger MT3 eGo B/C Clearomizer (Hoping the larger tank lasts a normal workday)
4.) Innokin iClear 16 eGo Claromizer (heard good things about this brand, plus wanted some variation).

I would have recommended the 600mAh because it's smaller and lasts decently long (just get TWO) - and I've used all of them. Personally 900mAh is my favourite. And the stainless is the nicest.

 

[MamaTried]

i got a twist off ebay for $15 with USB charger and a CE4 clearo. might be a knockoff, but seems to work well. ebay is officially anti-ecig, so they may pull items you bid on, but that one snuck through.

for eliquid, i'm liking ecblend and mtbakervapor for the lowest prices i've seen anywhere outside of china. not sure if they have samplers but ecblend sells 5ml bottles for $2.50, so you can build your own sampler inexpensively.