I first heard of e-cigs from a friend at work using one. During break he'd puff on his Njoy cig-a-like, but he'd bum smokes 2 or 3 times per week. I thought I could be stronger than this guy, and bought the same thing on his recommendation.
I cut down quite a bit, but it was not enough to break the chains. I convinced myself that I couldn't afford two habits, and kept the more expensive of the two. Monumentally dumb decision looking back now as it cost me an extra 5 years of smoking.
Back in December, I run across the old Njoy in a junk drawer and thought I should look into the e-cig thing again. After all, it had been 5 years and surely there would be some data now on the dangers and benefits. I was honestly shocked at how little there still is out there, but some work has been done. Regardless, the consensus is that it cannot be worse and it's definitely cheaper, so I decided to go for round 2.
My decision was based primarily on the side effects of smoking and the effects it could be having on my children. Like other stories you've read here, I struggled being active as it hurt my chest and left me gasping for air. I've had way too many sinus infections and colds. I've been noticeably declining in health over the last few years because it was becoming harder to breath while being involved in physical activities. The biggest driver was every cold, ear infection, sinus infection, or just cough my kids had, I knew I could be partly responsible for that. With the studies that have been performed in the past few years re-assuring me that it couldn't be as bad as smoking, I'm all in for a better life.
The first thing I wanted to do was find a local supplier. Ya right... not down here. The guy at the tobacco shop sold me blu because you can get them anywhere along with refills. Great, but they worked about as well as the last one I used, and I was not going to charge twice per day when they didn't kill the craving anyway. Not to mention that by the time you buy a new pack of carts, your not really saving all that much. It would be similar to switching to an offbrand cig which would be much easier.
Instead of quitting, I did some homework this time. I decided on the Ego C kit because it didn't look too strange and it gets great reviews from newbies.
I was not disappointed. It performed well and was a fraction of the cost to maintain. No more cartos for me.
I still wanted something stronger, though. It seemed like I could never put my ego down or I'd be looking for an analog. So I got a twist clone with a vivi so I could change atty heads and voltage to see what all the talk was about.
Now I'm confident that I can switch to vaping, and for the last couple of months have only had 2 analogs per day. I feel sooo much better. Particularly at work or playing with the kids. My chest doesn't hurt anymore, and I'm only winded when normal people would be, such as running or climbing really steep hills.
I'm still on the hunt for my PV, but I have the proof of concept now that I lacked back in 08. I just ordered the ego v v2. If I understand right, this one has a passthrough, puff counter, atty reader (ohm), and goes up to 6 volts. If it can handle a day in the pants pocket without coming out in pieces, I will have found my PV. The next step will be to find a tank that can survive in the pocket.
I haven't saved a dime so far. Testing PV's, Tanks, Juices, etc., but once I know what it is right for me, the savings will come. The cool thing is after all these purchases, I haven't spent a dime extra. Just substituted cig money.
. If I had known back in 08 that I could spend the exact same money to experiment, it wouldn't have taken me so long to be all in.
Great thread!!
