Why upgrade past a starter kit?

[aeonrevolution]

So, like a ton of threads on here (I'm guessing) I am on day 3 of quitting smoking. I tried Blu cigs in the past and was able to quit for a few months, but those things really were junk all around. Terrible battery life, tasted cheap as can be, and were expensive.

I just bought a $30 starter kit at Smoke Smart (local?) and bought one of their cheaper bottles of Watermelon Bubblegum (meh) and Alpha Mr. Miyagi. I can definitely tell a huge difference in the quality of the two juices - as you'd expect from the higher cost.

My question after browsing here and on youtube for a few hours is this. What should I expect and what are the reasons I would want to start modding or buying a new kit altogether? I don't really care what the "clouds" look like that are coming out of my mouth. I never smoked cigarettes to look cool to begin with. I'm more curious if what I'm tasting will be different.

I can already tell that I'll be happy with this battery life as compared to what I was used to with Blu. I think this starter kit has a 1100ma or 1000 I can't remember. I guess thats the norm give or take?

The real reason I think I'll end up quitting cigs for good is because I love tinkering with things and it seems vaporizers will totally allow me to do that

 

[seek2]

There is a good chance you will be happy with what you have forever, and a good chance you may want to eventually upgrade.

The whole cloud thing is weird I know. When I look around my circle of vaping friends, seems to be the ones that grew up ripping 3+ footer ....s that gravitate towards huge clouds. While some of my friends have no care for clouds.

There is something about thick dense globs of vapor coming out of your mouth that is very satisfying. Not sure why. When I smoked cigarettes, I didn't take the biggest drag that I could. Not sure why when vaping I want so much vapor. Has nothing to do with a coolness factor. I blow my biggest clouds usually when I am alone just relaxing in my apartment. When going out in a public setting, usually grab a low powered setup and only vape it when I feel a craving.

But just vape whatever makes you happy, and don't worry about other peoples setups or feel pressure to do anything you don't want to. But do try a powerful setup if you can (go to a vape shop and see if they have a "house dripper"). You may like it.

 

[Vaslovik]

Well for my part I got out of the eGo rig game because it just wasn't cutting it for me in terms of satisfaction or consistency. I had to buy new coils for the attys all the time, and in general they weren't performing all that well. Not even the Kanger Protank was all that good, and having to buy new coils for it got old, so I started rebuilding them, and found that got old fast too. It wasn't long before I ended up with a mech and an RBA. This, however, is not the case for everyone, and many are quite happy with their eGo rigs and starter kits long term. It's a matter of what kind of vaping you do, what satisfies you, and your personal inclinations.

 

[Elizabeth Baldwin]

If you enjoy tinkering then you'd love a regulated mod with a Kayfun, Russian, or Taifun GT. it's fun building coils for these, plus these types of topper give awesome flavor.

 

[jaxgator]

As seek2 said, if what you have keeps you satisfied, off the analogs and you are happy with it, then that's all that really matters.

For me, I upgraded because I wanted better performance. The batteries in my starter kit didn't last long enough for me. There was no control over air flow and I would draw on it too hard sometimes causing flooding. The VV would not stay where I placed it, I seemed to always be moving it with the palm of my hand when I vaped it. Things like this kind of pushed me towards an upgrade. Once I upgraded I was again satisfied.

You said you like to tinker with things. If that's the case, upgrading your tanks to RBA's allows you to rebuild coils and what not. So you might end up upgrading for that reason.

It really depends on the person. Many on this board are happy with a starter kit and haven't upgraded. Then there are others that make vaping their hobby and collect many different types of devices for many different reasons.

 

[Baditude]

Advancing Up the Vaping Ladder to Ego's & Mods


People may begin vaping with cigarette-size devices because they believe they want it to look as much as a cigarette as it can possibly can. The reality is, those batteries are not strong enough to provide the performance or the battery duration to be satisfactory for the majority of people. At some point, performance becomes more important than looks. Result: Ditch the cigalike for an eGo or a mod.

The intermediate step is the so-called eGo battery setups. Longer battery duration, better performance, and more options in juice attachments result in a more satisfactory experience. This often includes "clearomizers" as juice attachments because they are easy to fill with e-liquid and change out coils; yet they often mute flavors and can be inconsistant in performance (dry or hot hits, gurgling, juice in mouth, leaking issues). Cartotanks are a step up in juice attachment, but have a slight learning curve and take a little longer to set up a new tank every couple of weeks than a clearomizer.

You can take this journey/hobby as far as you like. There are always going to be better battery devices or juice attachments. A regulated variable voltage mod will allow changing the voltage output for custom control of the vaping experience. RBA's take vaping to another level as far as flavor and vapor production.

 

[coalyard]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you are satisfied with what you are vaping and it's doing the job then that is fantastic. Your bank account will thank you. I upgraded for a number of reasons, performance being the most important of those. I also wanted to begin rebuilding because I enjoy the hobby aspect of vaping.

If you do go with the upgrade path, I would suggest that you really examine the reasons you want to, and what you are looking for, or not. You have already begun the process by identifying you don't wish to blow clouds and are more interested in flavor. Further questions would be do you want to rebuild or not? Do you switch flavors frequently? How will you be using your device? At home? At work? Driving? All of these questions will help to determine the equipment you might want to upgrade to. Read a lot here at ECF; there is a wealth of information about any device you might be interested in.

Most of all have fun, and welcome to ECF!

 

[Shootist]

It really is a personal thing.

I upgraded from Blu to the Halo G6 when I started vaping because Blu Sucked, and I wanted to quit smoking cigarettes. The Halo is much better. I then upgraded to a eGo style system with separate tank clearomizers. I then upgraded to a VV tube Mod and larger tank clearomizers. I then upgraded to a Provari, not much different than what I was using in a tube mod, and Kayfun rebuildable atomizers.

Why? Not sure I just did. I did all of that in the last 2.5+/- months as I'm only 44 days from my last cigarette.

But, here is the kicker, I still used all of them everyday and my favorite flavors are Halo's Tribeca in a Halo G6 cartomizer on a Halo G6 battery and Johnson Creek's Black Cherry in another Halo G6 carto/battery. The Johnson Creek Black Cherry mimics Blu's Cherry Crush flavor which was my top Blu flavor (Johnson Creek makes the e-liquid for Blu).

I do at times, most of the time, like the greater vapor production I get from the other devices but I always carry both Halo cartos/batteries around with me. I am vaping on 1 of the Halo's as I type this.
I recently changed up the wicking material used in the Kayfun rebuildables and it produced To Much Vapor, for me that is. So I switched back to the cotton I started with.

So if the things you are now using are helping you stop smoking cigarettes there is no reason to upgrade unless you feel you want to or you feel you need to so you don't go back to smoking analog cigarettes.

The main thing is use whatever you have to so you don't go back to smoking cigarettes. After that nothing else really matters.

 

[FourWinds]

Like the guy above says, you do it if you feel you need to.

I know that collecting lots of new gear, getting vape mail, learning how to make coils, and all sorts of cool things like that helps a lot of guys leave the nasty analogues far behind them. I've done that stuff for the fun too, but now I'm about to get into V2's because they fit in my pocket, and I don't feel that cloud need.

Do what you need, and want too, just for the joy of it. Just keep moving away from the stinkies bud.

 

[Shootist]

I gave you a LIKE and would give you TEN if I could. Thanks for expanding on what I was trying to say. You HIT the nail right on the head.

Like the guy above says, you do it if you feel you need to.

I know that collecting lots of new gear, getting vape mail, learning how to make coils, and all sorts of cool things like that helps a lot of guys leave the nasty analogues far behind them. I've done that stuff for the fun too, but now I'm about to get into V2's because they fit in my pocket, and I don't feel that cloud need.

Do what you need, and want too, just for the joy of it. Just keep moving away from the stinkies bud.

 

[Cool-breeze]

Some good stuff on here already. I started with an ego and ditched them because the quality was getting debatable but more importantly I was tired of spending so much time charging them and not vaping. I was given a mvp which I loved for its battery life but eventually it too needed to be charged. Got a mod that doesnt have the battery built in so now I can charge and vape. I went to rebuilding for a few reasons: I wanted more flavor, its cheaper, and simpler to change flavors (in regards to a dripper). Those reasons where hard to ignore. I still use my first tanks at times for convenience and the same with my mvp.

 

[CMD-Ky]

I like all of these responses. I like to fool around with stuff, I have spent a bunch. I moved from Green Smoke to rebuildables, mech mods and multiple bottles of juice; all with many stops inbetween. My daughter hates fooling with stuff. She has stayed the an ego VW and one juice flavor, spending almost nothing. I work on my car, she goes to Toyota. We both like vaping as opposed to cigarettes.

 

[Vermonster13]

Satisfaction. Five years of doing this and my needs have changed as I've traveled this road. Each of us is different and what keeps us "happy" changes over time for some, others not so much and there are those who quit vaping eventually too. Risk reduction is what it is about for me. If cigarettes were safe I'd still be smoking. I enjoy vaping at higher wattages and it's what keeps me from exposing my body to the crap in cigs.

 

[Mig01]

I have only been vaping for 10 days, so I do not know yet if I will want to upgrade later on. One thing I know is that with all the money I save from not smoking and vaping instead, I could easily afford to upgrade if/when i want to.

 

[Katmar]

Some folks upgrade for the fun of it. It becomes a hobby. Others are seeking more vape or flavor. And still others find a device that works for them and they stick with it. Whatever floats your boat and keeps you off the stinkies. Have fun!!

 

[DetraMental]

I started out with the cig-a-likes which is what I needed at the time. I moved up to the 1000mAh eGo's for a better battery life and more topper options. I then moved up to the 1300mAh Spinners (vv) and then on to a 2600 mAh MVP2 because it had an even greater battery life with vv/vw (variable voltage/variable wattage). I could have pretty much stopped with the MVP2 but desired a mod that used external batteries so I'd only have to carry one small battery out and about with me instead of 2 eGo's/Spinners. I've dabbled in RBA's/RDA's and mech mods but my fave is the Provari with a cartotank or an RBA and an extra 18650 battery for out and about.

 

[aeonrevolution]

Ahhh neat. So I'm in the same boat as a lot of people in this realm

I really dig the stuff regarding drippers, but I am worried that wouldn't suit my 8 hour binders bar hopping on the weekend, ha!

So much to read into now... Thanks guys!



OOOH ALSO. I didn't realize when I logged in via my Facebook here that it would automatically use my real name for my moniker. Is there a mod someone could point me to so I could see if I can change it? Thanks in advance.

 

[Steam Turbine]

Why upgrade past a starter kit?

You answered your own question:

I love tinkering with things and it seems vaporizers will totally allow me to do that

You'll see in 4 months from now, you will have tons of stuff.

Happy vaping.

 

[ronscave]

Why upgrade past a starter kit?

You answered your own question:



You'll see in 4 months from now, you will have tons of stuff.

Happy vaping.

AND a lot less money At least in my case. Got to stop buying and just stick to window shopping.

 

[ronscave]

I quit the real cigs in a week, but spend hours and hours visiting different sites to see what's new. It's turned into quite the hobby but I still use the first 808's I started with (along with many other formats).