I wrote this to my cousin, I am told it is worth sharing.
If you are serious about getting your brother off cigarettes, and he is as hardcore a smoker as I was, forget anything you can find in the kiosks, or the "free" promotions. I tried several of these, and took advantage of the money back guarantee every time.
They don't work worth a damn, and almost every one of these things uses proprietary threading for the cartridges, so you have to go back to them for the refills. In theory, you can refill these proprietary cartridges, but only in theory. So these are a lot like ink jet printers, they give away the printer, so they can sell you the ink.
I know the batteries I use look huge to a smoker, but an e-cigarette is unwieldy no matter how small it is, even the smallest (the size of a king size cigarette), weigh 100 times more than a cigarette. So the cigarette dangling from your lip is no longer an option, you have to hold it.
The good thing about the "bad" e-cigarettes, is there is little or no chance of OD'ing on nicotine. Not true with the better ones, you can (and I have) OD'd on nicotine. With cigarettes, I think carbon monoxide provides a safety device of sorts, you have to stop smoking to breath. And part of the satisfaction of smoking is that lack of oxygen buzz. You do not get that buzz with e-cigs, so I think you lose a warning device. The only warning you get, is when your heart is beating out of your chest.
Here are the major buying points:
I buy all my liquid from smokelessimage.com. They make claims about making liquid that tastes like your current smoke, ignore those claims, try a few and find one you like. They make "Cowboy" for Marlboro smokers, but it sucked (and I only smoked Marlboros). They make "Desert Joe" for Camel smokers, it sucked, but it was better than the "Cowboy". "Freedom" tasted good at first, but was later disgustingly sweet. But they have cherry, and Dr. Pepper, and coffee . . .I would recommend the "555", it is the only one I buy any more.
SmokelessImage.com also sells the first e-cig I did not return, the Volt. These are really good starter kits, and they look more like a cigarette than the ECHO. It mattered to me when I switched to e-cigs, that it look like a cigarette, I don't know why, but it might matter to your brother as well. These do not even compare to what you can buy in a kiosk, the Volt actually works. I used the Volts exclusively for about 4 months, but I had to take so many batteries and cartridges with me everywhere I went, I moved up to the larger batteries and the larger cartridges.
I know this is a lot of information, but the switch was hard for me. Even after lung surgery, I still wanted my smokes. And I assume, it will be hard for your brother as well.
If you are serious about getting your brother off cigarettes, and he is as hardcore a smoker as I was, forget anything you can find in the kiosks, or the "free" promotions. I tried several of these, and took advantage of the money back guarantee every time.
They don't work worth a damn, and almost every one of these things uses proprietary threading for the cartridges, so you have to go back to them for the refills. In theory, you can refill these proprietary cartridges, but only in theory. So these are a lot like ink jet printers, they give away the printer, so they can sell you the ink.
I know the batteries I use look huge to a smoker, but an e-cigarette is unwieldy no matter how small it is, even the smallest (the size of a king size cigarette), weigh 100 times more than a cigarette. So the cigarette dangling from your lip is no longer an option, you have to hold it.
The good thing about the "bad" e-cigarettes, is there is little or no chance of OD'ing on nicotine. Not true with the better ones, you can (and I have) OD'd on nicotine. With cigarettes, I think carbon monoxide provides a safety device of sorts, you have to stop smoking to breath. And part of the satisfaction of smoking is that lack of oxygen buzz. You do not get that buzz with e-cigs, so I think you lose a warning device. The only warning you get, is when your heart is beating out of your chest.
Here are the major buying points:
- you want to buy a fairly large battery, at least 650 mah (milliamp hours), and I prefer a 1300 mah.
- Automatic vs. manual battery, personal choice, but I would start with an automatic. I just recently bought my first manuals, and I like them, but I would have hated them starting out.
- Going with a standard, like the Echo or the Echo-E/Ego/Riva, gives you a lot of options when shopping for cartridges.
- The pre-filled cartridges are fine when starting out, but they don't last long, and they are expensive. A hard core smoker could easily spend $10/day on cartridges, I don't care what they say about "equivalent to one pack of cigarettes".
- The refillable cartridges come in two basic styles, cotton wadding you have to soak slowly to fill, and a hollow tube with a wick. I prefer the hollow tubes because they are quicker to fill, but both work well.
- Batteries last a year at most, so plan on spending $60 per year or so on the up front stuff.
- The refillable cartridges last maybe a few months (depending on how many you have in rotation), so another $30 per year.
- Liquid a 30ml bottle should last about 10 days, at $14 each.
- Annual total for ecigs, about $650. Total for a pack a day smoker, assuming $6/pack, about $2,190.
I buy all my liquid from smokelessimage.com. They make claims about making liquid that tastes like your current smoke, ignore those claims, try a few and find one you like. They make "Cowboy" for Marlboro smokers, but it sucked (and I only smoked Marlboros). They make "Desert Joe" for Camel smokers, it sucked, but it was better than the "Cowboy". "Freedom" tasted good at first, but was later disgustingly sweet. But they have cherry, and Dr. Pepper, and coffee . . .I would recommend the "555", it is the only one I buy any more.
SmokelessImage.com also sells the first e-cig I did not return, the Volt. These are really good starter kits, and they look more like a cigarette than the ECHO. It mattered to me when I switched to e-cigs, that it look like a cigarette, I don't know why, but it might matter to your brother as well. These do not even compare to what you can buy in a kiosk, the Volt actually works. I used the Volts exclusively for about 4 months, but I had to take so many batteries and cartridges with me everywhere I went, I moved up to the larger batteries and the larger cartridges.
I know this is a lot of information, but the switch was hard for me. Even after lung surgery, I still wanted my smokes. And I assume, it will be hard for your brother as well.
