Having vaped for 2 months, and after reading many of the threads here for new vapers, thought I would give back, after some time vapiing. I know at first, the amount of info was staggering, juice types, vendors, e-cig types, addons, mods, and the list goes on and on. Have only been vaping for 2 months, so obviously I have tried, and know far less than many of the pro vapers here. Here goes.
Having smoked 1.5-2.0 packs a day (for far too long) I knew any kind hassles from weak vapor, battery issues, constant mucking around, would just cause me to toss it in the trash, and go back to analogs. The 510 (as far as I can tell) is the F150 of e-cigs. LR atty's, pass throughs, mods and more made it seem like the way to go. Did even more research, and stumbled across the EGO, which claimed to have solved the shortcomings of the 510 (I'm guessing lower vapor, low battery life, etc), and I'm glad I went with it. For the record I do own a 510, and did try it stock with carts, and it was no slouch. I also purchased (after the EGO standard) a EGO Tank as well. Having used the 510, EGO, and EGO Tank, the standard EGO with drip tip seemed to work the best for me. The tank system has been trouble free (except one bad ?? atty which refused to NOT taste burnt regardless of the cleanings), and it seemed to give a smoother, more flavorful vape than the others did. After going back and forth between the 510, EGO, and EGO Tank, I kept coming back to the EGO with drip tip, for a better vape, stronger TH and overall satisfaction. To me, satisfaction = no going back to analogs.
I did try to get used to the carts, and after about 3-4 refills they just didn't seem to wick the juice in or out like they did when brand new, and a search for all the mods for them, seems to bear that out. Tried blue foam, tea bags, even cutting down the cart material, but every time I had either leakage, or flooding. So out went the carts.
Everyone's expectations, tastes, and previous smoking levels come into play, so it's very subjective.
Onto a crude (general) overall feeling about a few juices/vendors.
Started with DeKang, and it vaped well, no issues, and overall they just seemed average. Read alot about US Vendors, and started testing them out. Couldn't afford to try them all, but the few I did, seemed to bear some similarities from each vendor.
Johnson Creek had very good flavor across every one I tried, but there was a common (peanutty ??) flavor in all of them, which may or may not appeal to you. I found the JC juices somewhat harder to vape, as they seemed watery, and popped and sizzled, and it almost seemed as if I had to pre-vape off excess (water ??) before I could get a good vape. Again, the flavor was good.
Next I tried some juices from MyFreedomSmokes, and I found that the "extra" flavor option was spot on, without being overpowering at all, they vaped well, and had little to no issues with them, with the Capp being my favorite. I did run into an issue using a few of them (thicker ??) in the EGO Tank, where it seemed the Tank didn't like juices that were thicker. I somewhat proved that, when having issues with the Capp flavor, emptied the tank, and switched back to the DeKang Capp (thinner), and had no issues, so I suspect the EGO Tank may be picky about how thick of a juice you can use.
Finally moved onto Don at BackwoodsBrew, and so far (couldn't let them steep, hehe, had to try try try them out when they arrived), and as I have read from other members here, I think I've found those magic juices for me. Flavors are great, not overpowering, juices aren't too thick or thin, and have not tried them in the Tank yet, but that's because I can't put down the EGO w./ drip tip yet. I think I'll be staying with Don's magic juices for some time to come.
This thread will probably get buried after a short while, but hopefully some newer members with some of the same questions I had, might find this thread and maybe it will help. There is a ton of useful information here for new vapers, pro's, modders, and it only works if everyone posts, so thanks out the ECF crew and members, and you can add TWO more people to the NO ANALOG list.
Having smoked 1.5-2.0 packs a day (for far too long) I knew any kind hassles from weak vapor, battery issues, constant mucking around, would just cause me to toss it in the trash, and go back to analogs. The 510 (as far as I can tell) is the F150 of e-cigs. LR atty's, pass throughs, mods and more made it seem like the way to go. Did even more research, and stumbled across the EGO, which claimed to have solved the shortcomings of the 510 (I'm guessing lower vapor, low battery life, etc), and I'm glad I went with it. For the record I do own a 510, and did try it stock with carts, and it was no slouch. I also purchased (after the EGO standard) a EGO Tank as well. Having used the 510, EGO, and EGO Tank, the standard EGO with drip tip seemed to work the best for me. The tank system has been trouble free (except one bad ?? atty which refused to NOT taste burnt regardless of the cleanings), and it seemed to give a smoother, more flavorful vape than the others did. After going back and forth between the 510, EGO, and EGO Tank, I kept coming back to the EGO with drip tip, for a better vape, stronger TH and overall satisfaction. To me, satisfaction = no going back to analogs.
I did try to get used to the carts, and after about 3-4 refills they just didn't seem to wick the juice in or out like they did when brand new, and a search for all the mods for them, seems to bear that out. Tried blue foam, tea bags, even cutting down the cart material, but every time I had either leakage, or flooding. So out went the carts.
Everyone's expectations, tastes, and previous smoking levels come into play, so it's very subjective.
Onto a crude (general) overall feeling about a few juices/vendors.
Started with DeKang, and it vaped well, no issues, and overall they just seemed average. Read alot about US Vendors, and started testing them out. Couldn't afford to try them all, but the few I did, seemed to bear some similarities from each vendor.
Johnson Creek had very good flavor across every one I tried, but there was a common (peanutty ??) flavor in all of them, which may or may not appeal to you. I found the JC juices somewhat harder to vape, as they seemed watery, and popped and sizzled, and it almost seemed as if I had to pre-vape off excess (water ??) before I could get a good vape. Again, the flavor was good.
Next I tried some juices from MyFreedomSmokes, and I found that the "extra" flavor option was spot on, without being overpowering at all, they vaped well, and had little to no issues with them, with the Capp being my favorite. I did run into an issue using a few of them (thicker ??) in the EGO Tank, where it seemed the Tank didn't like juices that were thicker. I somewhat proved that, when having issues with the Capp flavor, emptied the tank, and switched back to the DeKang Capp (thinner), and had no issues, so I suspect the EGO Tank may be picky about how thick of a juice you can use.
Finally moved onto Don at BackwoodsBrew, and so far (couldn't let them steep, hehe, had to try try try them out when they arrived), and as I have read from other members here, I think I've found those magic juices for me. Flavors are great, not overpowering, juices aren't too thick or thin, and have not tried them in the Tank yet, but that's because I can't put down the EGO w./ drip tip yet. I think I'll be staying with Don's magic juices for some time to come.
This thread will probably get buried after a short while, but hopefully some newer members with some of the same questions I had, might find this thread and maybe it will help. There is a ton of useful information here for new vapers, pro's, modders, and it only works if everyone posts, so thanks out the ECF crew and members, and you can add TWO more people to the NO ANALOG list.
