What I decided on to get me started. & - Thank You.

[stilljd]

I wanted to post to the whole newb forum and say thank you for your advice. It was all spot on and I was able to get started in vaping.

60 yr. old, 46 yr. 1-1/2 to 2 PAD smoker. Very addicted to nicotine and the ritual. Gum & patches didn't help me quit. Couldn't take the pill. Asked for PV reco's on the forum.

I ended up getting KGO and E-power 18650 starter kits with extra batteries for each.

I ordered the E-power first. The Echo-e dual coil cartridges worked well enough to let me experience vaping. The first tobacco flavored juices were digusting. I had also decided the E-power was a little too big to carry around.

When I ordered the KGO for out and about, I also ordered some unflavored juices and Vision clearomizers (2.1-2.4ohm) as some had recommended. The KGO kit comes with unrefillable, small, tobacco flavored cartridges, and they are digusting too.

The Vision clearomizers with unflavored, 60/40, 24mg juice works very well for me. I like the Vision clearo's better than the Echo-e's. That combination works equally as well on the E-power or KGO battery/switch platform.

Trying to replace the analog ritual with the vaping ritual is not as easy as I had hoped. Several times, I have been sitting downstairs watching TV with the PV in one hand and semi-conciously grabbing an analog to light with the other. Very strange things, habits.

Anyway - wanted to share my choices and my thanks.

Jim S.

 

[Krispers]

Great choices there! You'll do great in the vaping world just dont hesitate to ask questions

 

[Caffusss]

Get rid of the analogs if you truly want to just vape otherwise you will be smoking still...most likey. Vaping is a learning experiance.

 

[Krispers]

Yeha im with Caff, get rid of the analogs, you may want to try a flavored juice instead of unflavored, give more 'substance' to it

 

[Dana A]

So I have to ask because I am helping a friend get started. If you could only keep one of the kits you have??????? Which one would it be??? And why??? I will probably tell her about both and let her decide but ant input will be helpful.

 

[Hoosier]

Been there. Driving down the road vaping away and discovered a freshly lit cigarette in my other hand with no idea how it got there. Took me quite awhile to make a full switch. (Notice I say switch, because I didn't quit one thing to start another, I simply switched. Quitting never worked for me. Maybe I'm just not that kind of guy?)

The key I found was finding a juice flavor that gave me real satisfaction. That satisfaction that one gets with a good smoke, but in a vape. Here is my trick to finding a flavor that really satisfies, it never seems to be what I thought it would be. In fact the flavor that allowed me to forget to smoke was ordered as a joke. It was something that seemed completely alien to my mind as a "good" or "right" flavor, but the first vape gave me satisfaction. After a couple of weeks with this discovery, I discovered I had forgotten to smoke the day before and haven't since.

So, juice is the key. The right strength and the right flavor, even if it doesn't seem right at first thoughts, and the switch is amazingly easy.

(And, yes, I completely disagree with the "get rid of cigs first" crowd.)

 

[PittBoss]

I have to say that I am glad to hear that you have found a couple of great kits to get you going in the right direction! I can't agree or disagree with any of the above statements as each person is going to find a way, that best suits them, to fully switch. Myself being an "out of sight, out of mind" kinda guy, found it easier to switch with no ciggies laying around. My SO is the opposite with that and needed to make that decision and connection (or lack there of) on her own. But I will agree with finding a liquid that is going to make you not think about anything else at first to help over any bumps in the road.

 

[YoureFired]

Haha, three weeks in and I still catch myself reaching for the lighter on occasion, only to find nothing there.

As a smoker, I often found a lit cigarette betwixt my fingers and not remembering lighting it.. and yes, even when I was completely sober. Funny how it just becomes so natural.. like breathing.

I couldn't quit if I still had cigarettes around.. It's like deciding to go on a diet when there's still half a cake in the fridge. I couldn't do it. Vaping made it easy to cut back on the smokes significantly, though, until I was down to my last cigarette. That last cigarette is still in my desk here at work.

I say find a good juice that you enjoy, finish what you have left in smokes, then make that leap of faith. You'll thank yourself for doing the right thing soon enough.

 

[sailorman]

I guess I had an advantage. I was RYO when I switched so it wasn't a matter of just grabbing an analog.
I did try to light the end of my Joye 510 a couple times and jammed the tip into the ashtray once or twice.
Had to hide the lighter from myself.

For Dana A: Keep in mind that stilljd chose the larger 18650 e-Power. If he says he prefers the kGo only for the more convenient size, there is also a 14650 model available that is only slightly bigger around than the kGo, with the same capacity battery.
That 18650 model has 2 or 3 times the battery capacity of the kGo or the 14650. It's a beast.

 

[yiddleboge6]

I guess maybe I had the best advantage of all. Living on a small fixed income I spent my money to start vaping and didn't have any choice but to keep on vaping. Just plain didn't have the money to buy a pack of analogs But it ended a 50 year habit for me

 

[bodrell]

Good choices, and I agree about the nasty pre-filled cartridges!

I also agree about the importance of making a committment (once you're well-stocked with juice you love) to quit cigarettes completely, if that's what you want. I haven't quite made that leap yet and for now I'm OK with smoking the occasional one or three per day...but on days I don't smoke a single one (like today) I feel like I've really achieved something.

The ritual part is hard to let go...I hand-rolled my own smokes for 37 years. I'm finding that topping off and generaqly faffing around with my PV and juices helps.

 

[Pappy]

I'm glad your finding some success with vaping. Nobody can say what's right for you as to keeping cigarettes around or not. Some people get their PV and never have another analog. Others seem to taper off quickly. And others seem to taper off more slowly. Everybody is different - whatever works for you is what you should do.

 

[Mata]

The main disappointment when you try to quit smoking and start vaping is that NO juice tastes like the analogs...no one, i've tried dozens from different producers, tried to mix them and nothing...yes, someone tasted like tobacco more than others but no one came even close to the real thing. My suggestion is to try different flavors, maybe fruity ones, vanilla, hazelnut or whatsoever, and i assure you that a Gorilla Juice taste so much better than any analog in the market

 

[sailorman]

Yep. The sooner you give up the hopeless hunt to find a juice that tastes like your analog and branch out into other flavors, the better off you'll be. It took me about a month to lose my taste for tobacco completely, after 40 years of smoking. I might try something like Bobas or Gorilla juice, but there are too many alternatives.

 

[sailorman]

Good choices, and I agree about the nasty pre-filled cartridges!....

Those pre-filled cartridges are important!! They're there to show noobs what people had to put up with just a few years ago when there was no such thing as a cartomizer or a clearomizer and everyone had to vape what they could get.

 

[Caridwen]

I guess maybe I had the best advantage of all. Living on a small fixed income I spent my money to start vaping and didn't have any choice but to keep on vaping. Just plain didn't have the money to buy a pack of analogs But it ended a 50 year habit for me

Congratulations!

 

[jersey girl]

Very good choice in e-cigs. Just hang in there one day you will desire the vape over the cigs.
I never say I quit smoking. I think of it as I switched to ecigs. Mainly because I never had the disire to quit. I vape because I feel so much better. Lots of energy, I breath better, stopped snoring, coughing, ect.
I allow people to smoke in my house and I just don't desire it at all. I love my vapor.

 

[Boudreaux]

Not sure if it is helpful info... I crushed my smokes and tossed my lighters the day I started vaping. The first juice I bought were tobacco flavors. I couldn't take them for but a couple days. It seemed that I was just lacking my smokes. I went back to the vape store and got a couple different flavors (non-tobacco) and was oh-so happy! No smokes to reach for and tasty stuff that had no reminder of what I left behind.

 

[Pappy]

Yep. The sooner you give up the hopeless hunt to find a juice that tastes like your analog and branch out into other flavors, the better off you'll be.

Good advice. I'm only 5 days into vaping, and I'm figuring out exactly that. Tried a couple of 'bacco flavors and hated them. I've found several other flavors (cappuccino, french vanilla, kiwi, banana pudding, etc.) that I really like, and already don't miss the tobacco taste.

I do have some "Turkish Hills" from DCV that I've enjoyed vaping without inhaling. It tastes like pipe tobacco to me, so I figured vaping it like I'd smoke a pipe was the thing to do, and it was good that way.

 

[blkhwk07]

Congrats on finding a good PV.
I tossed the cartridges that cam with my Kgo, but kept the attys.