What are your Vaping Pet Hates ;)

[Underwhelmed]

My pet peeve: how much I want a Provari, despite the fact that after handling one, I'm sold on the performance but not on the asethetics or weight.

I bought a Mini a couple weeks ago. I think both models are .... ugly, but they do a great job, and when I'm holding and using them I'm not really looking at them anyway.

A mini with 18490's is a pretty good chunk of weight though, you are right there.

 

[peraspera]

My pet is someone telling me my v2 cig-a-like is inferior to their eGo Twist. I KNOW that!

That's just not entirely true although no argument from me about the difference between the quality of the vaping experience.

The cig-alike form factor probably eases the psychological transition to vaping for many. I know I hung onto mine like a life raft for the first week even though I never suffered cigarette cravings.

The physical hand-to-mouth action for a cig-alike is the same as it is for cigarettes. Not having to change anything in that regard is one less potential stressor.

Try holding a Twist in your mouth with no hands. That is another familiar habit that some smokers would have to give up to make the vaping switch.

People do not want to give the impression of using anything resembling drug paraphernalia in public. Also, winning people over to vaping will be a much harder sell if their first gut impressions is "drugs."

People are likely to feel less frightened and/or threatened by making the vaping change to something that basically looks and works like a cigarette.

I was one of the lucky ones who quit a 2+ pack a day cigarette habit from my first vape. I've been thinking hard about what made things easy for me when they seem to be difficult for others. There are some other factors to consider but I can't help but think that starting with the totally non-scary cig-alikes but getting a Twist within a week, before any sense of deprivation had a chance to set in, had a whole lot to do with my success.

All of my rambling brings me to the point of my pet peeve. Why in hades is there not a starter kit that includes both cig-alikes and variable voltage Twists, Spinners or KGOs? I strongly believe that if someone is tackling something so hideously difficult as giving up smoking that the dice should be loaded and the thumb weighing heavily on the scales in their favor. No one should have to spend a week on ECS to even have the first clue as to what to put into their shopping basket to make the the most painless change from cigarettes to vaping.

 

[John D in CT]

"All of my rambling brings me to the point of my pet peeve. Why in hades is there not a starter kit that includes both cig-alikes and variable voltage Twists, Spinners or KGOs? I strongly believe that if someone is tackling something so hideously difficult as giving up smoking that the dice should be loaded and the thumb weighing heavily on the scales in their favor. No one should have to spend a week on ECS to even have the first clue as to what to put into their shopping basket to make the the most painless change from cigarettes to vaping".

Nicely said. That brings up one of my biggest pet peeves of all; the fact that people who are spending two, three, four, or five thousand dollars a year on cigarettes or all of a sudden on a great big budget when it comes to getting vaping equipment that will very likely get them off of cigarettes once and for all. The fact that the cost of starting vaping often seems like a more important consideration than the health benefits alone is another.

I just spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Steve from Philly, and he told me he was smoking 2 1/2 packs a day at the bargain price of $5.50 a pack (they're $9.50 a pack in CT) for a total of just over $5,000 a year. He has no vape going on right now (leaking clearo, no luck at vaping 100% VG in a DCT w/prepunched carto) , but is going to step up and immediately get three Vivi Novas to go with his 1000mah Joyetech Twist and "Hello" 1100mah Twist clone.

Another pet peeve is people who are so reluctant to spend money on vaping gear for fear that it might not be perfect for them, seemingly oblivious to the fact that any gear that ends up going unused might just help save someone's life when "PIF"ed.

For that reason alone, and when coupled with the fact that A) there seems to be an inordinate of time spent on this site wrangling about the relative merits of beginners starting with a ciggie-look-alike versus something like a VV eGo-class battery with a couple of VV Novas, and B) a lot of beginners who start with look-alikes seem to spent a certain amount of time with them and then grow disenchanted with them and begin casting about for superior alternatives, that it would be a very good move indeed to bite the bullet and spend a small fraction of one's previous year of cigarette expenditures on a Volt kit or equivalent, a couple of VV eGo-class batteries, a couple of Vivi Novas, two chargers, and a whole lot of juice. (Lanyard and trim ring optional).

I don't really expect a vendor to put together such a kit, but it would be nice if someone at least put together a decent VV eGo kit, since I've never seen one. (Sweetvapes came close, but no cigar). In any case, buying those things "a la carte" isn't a big budget-buster, especially since cigarette expenditures will very likely cease immediately.

 

[peraspera]

I don't really expect a vendor to put together such a kit, but it would be nice if someone at least put together a decent VV eGo kit, since I've never seen one. (Sweetvapes came close, but no cigar). In any case, buying those things "a la carte" isn't a big budget-buster, especially since cigarette expenditures will very likely cease immediately.

I've also noticed the dearth of VV starter kits. My inner cynic says it is because there is a lot more profit on the the cig-alikes which probably cost a dollar or less to manufacture as opposed to the VV models. Also the VV models are probably selling quite nicely without having to package them in a kit.

For me, the struggle wasn't budgetary. I can do the math. However, just trying to figure out what items I needed to put in my shopping cart was a challenge and this was after I had already gotten the overpriced Green Smokes. As I recall, I finally figured out everything except what charger and wall adapter I needed but that took about a week of reading ECF.

 

[mostapha]

I've also noticed the dearth of VV starter kits. My inner cynic says it is because there is a lot more profit on the the cig-alikes which probably cost a dollar or less to manufacture as opposed to the VV models. Also the VV models are probably selling quite nicely without having to package them in a kit.

There are lavatube kits a-plenty. Unfortunately, for as much as I read/post and as much research I've done, I basically discounted the LT for 2 reasons: 1, it doesn't seem like the right step up from a twist; 2, I still don't know which ones have which features and amp limits. I really wish I could trust vendors websites about that kind of thing, but I've read stories of other people buying the wrong one before.

Honestly, the reason I didn't start with a lava tube was that after my experience with a Smoking Everywhere kit for like $160 a few years ago, I didn't trust any of them not to suck……and about the price of a carton was easier to justify to figure out if things had gotten better.

Honestly, I consider cig-a-likes existing a pet peeve. They're not at all the same experience as a cigarette, and I honestly believe that the sooner you make that jump, the more likely you are to succeed. They'd be better if they used 10440 batteries, but that would still be limiting. I guess they're a necessary evil. And they do get people off cigarettes……but I really can't think of a reason.

 

[Bronze]

There are lavatube kits a-plenty. Unfortunately, for as much as I read/post and as much research I've done, I basically discounted the LT for 2 reasons: 1, it doesn't seem like the right step up from a twist; 2, I still don't know which ones have which features and amp limits. I really wish I could trust vendors websites about that kind of thing, but I've read stories of other people buying the wrong one before.

Honestly, the reason I didn't start with a lava tube was that after my experience with a Smoking Everywhere kit for like $160 a few years ago, I didn't trust any of them not to suck……and about the price of a carton was easier to justify to figure out if things had gotten better.

Honestly, I consider cig-a-likes existing a pet peeve. They're not at all the same experience as a cigarette, and I honestly believe that the sooner you make that jump, the more likely you are to succeed. They'd be better if they used 10440 batteries, but that would still be limiting. I guess they're a necessary evil. And they do get people off cigarettes……but I really can't think of a reason.

I purchased a Young June Lavatube from Heather's Heavenly Vape's and it has been working like a champ. And I have dropped this thing more than I can count. I've had it more than two weeks now and it is definitely a step up from my Twists. Just my experience and not speaking for anyone else. As for the cig-a-likes, there are many smokers who wouldn't begin vaping if that option were not available. I can't agree that there is nothing the same about them. It is small and smokers can handle it close to the same way they can a cig (not to mention the image factor). And that's their appeal. I agree though, they're total crap for the most part. But it seems it is a necessary bridge for many between smoking analogs and vaping good gear. And yes, the sooner the better.

 

[John D in CT]

Long-standing Pet Peeve: Willful ignorance and abject stupidity among so-called "health experts". Read this only if you can withstand a 30-point rise in your blood pressure. I'd say "ask your doctor if you're healthy enough to read it", but I'm losing confidence in doctors lately, along with the majority of human beings regardless of occupation.

***

From "ABC Action News" - The news dept. of an American Broadcasting Company affiliate in Tampa, Florida:

"Some say vaping e-cigarettes is worse than smoking the real thing" by Linda Hurtado Thursday, October 18, 2012

(Some say the moon is made of cheddar cheese, and that the landings on it were a hoax, but let's just go with this asinine, useless headline anyway).

Read more: Some say vaping e-cigarettes is worse than smoking the real thing

TAMPA - Touted as a safer alternative to traditional smoking, electronic cigarettes are supposed to give smokers their nicotine fix without the cancer-causing side effects of tobacco. But some have serious concerns that the battery-operated vaping devices may actually pose more dangers to users.

Dr. Mike Feinstein, a spokesman for the American Lung Association said, “People are inhaling some type of chemical vaporized compound into their lungs without really knowing what's in it."

Last year, The American Lung Association issued its own warning about e-cigarettes. “This is a buyer stay away, a buyer health hazard, potentially."

(That's right, "stay away, keep smoking, you'll be fine".)

Doctor Robert Greene treats lung cancer patients at the Palm Beach Cancer Institute and said the product is potentially a health hazard. “There really is no information about whether they're safe or not, and that's part of the problem."

(YOU'RE part of the problem , Doc. How about cigarettes? Are they a potential health hazard? No. They are a 100% honest-to-god health disaster. Idiot.)

He says with no real data on e-cigarettes, the three-year-old tobacco alternative may actually be more harmful that traditional cigarettes. "The doses of nicotine that you get could conceivably be higher than what you would get in a typical cigarette."

(Oh .... my .... god. That's right, it's the nicotine that's the big problem, not carbon monoxide, tar, forty known carcinogens, benzene, formaldehyde, radioactivity ......... "The stupid .... it buuuurrrrrnnnnnnns us")

Read more: Some say vaping e-cigarettes is worse than smoking the real thing

Un-freaking-believable. These people should be ashamed of themselves; their ignorance and illogic kills people. Disgraceful.

 

[mostapha]

These people should be ashamed of themselves; their ignorance and illogic kills people.

Do yourself a favor and don't follow politics.

I'm really not kidding. Once you get to the point that you ignore press releases, debates, and campaigns and actually start looking at actions………politicians are terrifying.

 

[John D in CT]

"These people should be ashamed of themselves; their ignorance and illogic kills people".

Do yourself a favor and don't follow politics.

I'm really not kidding. Once you get to the point that you ignore press releases, debates, and campaigns and actually start looking at actions………politicians are terrifying.

Too late. I've been following politics extremely closely for at least the last 40 years. It is terrifying, and that's a non-partisan view.

I intent to do something about it. This ties in nicely with a legitimate Pet Vaping Peeve:

That monied interests have undue influence over policy decisions, like how Big Tobacco is currently using its money to quash e-cigarettes through unfavorable legislation.

PM coming your way.

 

[awsum140]

Politics is too serious a subject to be left to politicians.

 

[mostapha]

That monied interests have undue influence over policy decisions, like how Big Tobacco is currently using its money to quash e-cigarettes through unfavorable legislation.

You should look into how drug scheduling works. There's a specific test for whether or not a drug is addictive…it's based on how well you can use the drug to train a mouse/rat/vole/etc. to press a lever (or poke his nose through a hole) using the drug as a reinforcer compared to food. There's really only 2 ways that test can come out: either it looks like a very addictive stimulant or it looks like a non-addictive hallucinogen.

I've talked to at least one person who testified before the committee who decides these things and their knowledge of science was so backwards that they thought a negative result meant the drug should be scheduled (prohibited) because the results looked like the non-addictive hallucinogen.

I believe the researcher's response was, "Why did I kill mice for this?".

I'd like to say that's the only place where science can absolutely–within our current understanding–answer a question as either "yes" or "no" and both answers lead the people who make decisions to interpret them as "yes" or "yes"……but I know that's not the case. Both viable US Presidential candidates have made decisions to that effect.

Upcoming pet peeve: if any legit legislation to restrict vaping comes up, it's going to pass. Fortunately, there's a huge saving grace: the glassware in the cases at gas stations has no legitimate purpose when it comes to tobacco. And that trick still works. And USPS/UPS/etc. don't actually inspect packages. If it became illegal, vaping would just go underground. Legislation wouldn't even be able to stop things like ECF. ###chan exists. Not ideal. But livable.

(If you don't know the numbers that go there, it's probably for the best)

(p.s., if mods want to infract/ban me for that, fine. It needs to be said.)

 

[sl74]

Pet hates..let me see

Bad vendor websites:
So you've gone through the trouble of opening a small business, and putting up a website. Why stop short of providing decent descriptions for the stuff you're selling ? Particularly bad with juice vendors.

Video reviews:
Don't have the patience for it, average reviews are like 5-10 minutes long. Ponder the amount of info you could absorb from reading for 5-10 min. (poor readers justifiably excused on this one). Some reviewers offer really good and informative opinions, but sabotage themselves by not preparing in any way, like having a rudimentary script, or some cue cards to structure what they're saying. Also, bad lighting and out of focus cameras are things that can be remedied with a minimum of effort.

Mods:
Take a ProVari, screw on a Vivi Nova, an you have something that looks like it was made for delivering horse tranquilizer....anally I realize these contraptions are limited in design by technical restraints, I just ....wish it wasn't so

 

[JTman]

Pet hates..let me see
Video reviews:
Don't have the patience for it, average reviews are like 5-10 minutes long. Ponder the amount of info you could absorb from reading for 5-10 min. (poor readers justifiably excused on this one). Some reviewers offer really good and informative opinions, but sabotage themselves by not preparing in any way, like having a rudimentary script, or some cue cards to structure what they're saying. Also, bad lighting and out of focus cameras are things that can be remedied with a minimum of effort.

This! So much this! I go to look up some reviews and they are like 17 minutes long. Like really? I just want to know some pros/cons, not hear you ramble in terrible lighting for minutes on end when I have monthly data limits! Thanks for the efforts but I'll stick to the more well known reviewers!

 

[John D in CT]

Pet hates..let me see

Bad vendor websites:

So you've gone through the trouble of opening a small business, and putting up a website. Why stop short of providing decent descriptions for the stuff you're selling ? Particularly bad with juice vendors.

Agreed.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...on/277777-what-your-vaping-pet-hates-117.html (Post #1165)

Oh well, it's not a party until the cops show up.

*****

I really do have a serious Pet Peeve, though. Serious, because lives are involved.

Vendor websites that are INCREDIBLY uninformative, and just seem to assume that the visitor understands ALL of the lingo, and what all of the items listed are used for and go with, how they work, how to use them, and why anyone would want to buy them.

These people are not - or should not be IMO - just in the business of selling things. They are also - like it or not - in the business of saving lives, and IMO they're not doing a very good job of it. And they'd succeed better at both - selling things, and saving lives - if they went to the relatively small trouble of putting a hell of a lot more content on their sites about each and every item they sell.

When I go to a site and I'm confused after researching this stuff for a year, I can only imagine how a total novice must feel. It's a universal failing among sellers of anything, or of people in general, to tend to assume that everyone knows what they know, when that is not at all the case.

Every vendor should take a very hard look at the catalog of the industrial supplier "Grainger's", where on just about every other page is an extensive tutorial on the items in any particular category; what it does, what it's made of, why one material is better than another for a particular application, the physics involved, how to use it, the works.

And the hell of it is, they'd sell more stuff. Lots more. Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Thorbear]

Not a pet hate because of vaping, but i strongly dislike having received about 30 samples of juice, and some dripping attys to try them all - and now I have a cold and can't taste a thing
All i get from the juice in my tank now is the cooling effect of the mint.
Or am I infact experiencing this "losing of the taste-buds" that i keep reading about...idk

 

[Bronze]

Not a pet hate because of vaping, but i strongly dislike having received about 30 samples of juice, and some dripping attys to try them all - and now I have a cold and can't taste a thing
All i get from the juice in my tank now is the cooling effect of the mint.
Or am I infact experiencing this "losing of the taste-buds" that i keep reading about...idk

It's all in your head.


How's that for a non-answer!

 

[kiwivap]

Honestly, I consider cig-a-likes existing a pet peeve. They're not at all the same experience as a cigarette, and I honestly believe that the sooner you make that jump, the more likely you are to succeed.

If the cig a likes didn't exist I wouldn't have started vaping. By cig a like I mean it looked like one as well as being about the same size. That was totally where my psychology was at. I quit 50 a day cigs. I would never have started with a mod - just no way I would have.

 

[kiwivap]

People do not want to give the impression of using anything resembling drug paraphernalia in public. Also, winning people over to vaping will be a much harder sell if their first gut impressions is "drugs."

That's a big one for me, especially at work.

Edit: oops, I put the wrong quote. I meant to quote the above.

 

[John D in CT]

If the cig a likes didn't exist I wouldn't have started vaping. By cig a like I mean it looked like one as well as being about the same size. That was totally where my psychology was at. I quit 50 a day cigs. I would never have started with a mod - just no way I would have.

I do have to strongly come to the defense of well-designed look-alikes, and am even planning on owning a few, just for their coolness, especially the Volt and its insanely slick and well-designed PCC.

That said, I just want to add that the jump from a look-alike need not be to a "mod" like a ProVari, VMax, ZMax, Apollo SS VTube, or anything else that is that far removed from the size of a cigarette. A VV eGo-class battery (especially a 650mah) fitted with Vivi Nova Mini is about the length and diameter of a Panatela cigar (6" x 15mm). Get a white Twist and paint the bottom of it orange, and Bob's your uncle. Hold it horizontally and you can pretty much vape it like you'd smoke a cigarette.

Is it exactly like a look-alike? Absolutely not. (For one thing, it's VV, has better battery life, and more juice capacity). I just wish that more beginners who are adamant about having a look-alike would - especially in light of the fact that they've been spending thousands of dollars a year on cigarettes - consider also getting a couple of VV eGos, a couple of Vivi Novas, and a couple of chargers as well, so they could experience what are IMO the clear advantages of that setup, and maybe vape on it when they can bring themselves to use something that less closely resembles the thing that has been slowly killing them for years. And if for some reason they prefer to stay with the look-alike for the rest of their vaping careers, they can always Pay the VV eGo setup Forward, and help save a life.

 

[kiwivap]

I do have to strongly come to the defense of well-designed look-alikes, and am even planning on owning a few, just for their coolness, especially the Volt and its insanely slick and well-designed PCC.

That said, I just want to add that the jump from a look-alike need not be to a "mod" like a ProVari, VMax, ZMax, Apollo SS VTube, or anything else that is that far removed from the size of a cigarette.

Yeah, I know that. You're just preaching John. It's getting old. I didn't even reply to you on that post.