yet another help a newbie thread

[JTman]

Hello everyone. Since I just dropped most of my expendable cash on a provari I thought I would look into DIY as a way to save some money. So I must say that I am totally overwhelmed! Perhaps some vets can help me out. As far as supplies I plan on starting off bare minimum with just a few syringes (Already have 3 and 5ml) and I already have a bunch of cleaned out bottles sitting around. I know that I will need to get some nic juice but what concentrate? I am vaping 24-30 at the moment so what concentration should I buy?

Next is flavorings. There are tons and tons and I don't even know where to start. What I want are concentrates right? Where I use a calculator and use mostly nic juice cut with some pg/vg and then add a few drops of flavoring. Is that about right? It seems that there are an abundance of fruity flavors, but I seem to prefer tobacco like flavors. I dont like nutty undertones like 555 and my favorite juice is halo freedom. Can someone point me to a place where I can find some tobacco flavor concentrates?

And another note, I dont know what ratio of pg/vg I like. Should I get the nic juice in VG and cut with PG or vice versa? Im sure it doesnt really matter, but is PG or VG more readily available locally?

 

[Switched]

LOL. <--- I couldn't help that. Setting up DIY is as expensive as buying a mod, but once your there easily maintained, not to mention you can tailor your juice to your liking. Liberty Flights has a great selection of Flavourart flavours to include all the tobaccos. FA is all I use. With regards to nic, get the PG base and suplement with VG. A goos starting ration is 80/20 PG/VG. Flavouring between 10-15%, use single flavours in the beginning until you get the hang of it. To tobacco flavours I found that adding Ethyl maltol at 3% rounds out the vape nicely and takes away the dryness so common with backy flavours.

BTW, a couple of drops of flavouring??? It takes 3ml to flavour 30ml of liquid at 10%.

 

[nubee]

I went with Totally Wicked concentrated flavorings and nic base from MyFreedomSmokes.

I use anywhere from 8-10% flavoring to the base and I have a 30ml mix-up of my favorite flavor of the moment.

500ml @ 24mg 50/50 is about $60, 10ml of flavoring about $7 or you can get the 5x5ml PR collection for $25.

PS - I use 50/50 PG/VG and cut with PG down to 18mg

 

[Sdh]

I would get the nicotine with pg if you are not allergic . Pg is easier to work with. VG is thicker. I am no expert and I have been experimenting this past two months.

Places I like to order: Nicvape-they have nicotine and flavorings. Ecigexpress is also great for flavorings. They have a coupon code somewhere.

Gourmet Vapor sells nicotine with pg and or vg. However, I don't see flavorings for sale. Only pre-mix.

I have purchased from Mistaid. However, I am not impressed with the quality of nicotine I purchased. YMMV

I have never tried Halo so it would be hard for me to make any personal recomendations. However, I find the flavorwest tobaccos easy to mix and I add some menthol and it is good to go for me. (I might add some apple, EM or a few drops of sweetener ). I am keeping it simple right now. I use 10-12% flavorings.

For tobaccos I personal favorite is a 80/20 blend. It brings out the tobacco flavors. I really think the blend is up to your taste.

Hopefully, more experienced folks may chime in to help.

Yes, you want to buy flavoring concentrates.

 

[JTman]

It seems i was off on the few drops thing. I just recall from a youtube vid i watched that they just dropped a few drops in, but that was probably for a very small sample. Its the "doublers" that I want to stay away from though right?

Yeah I realize I'm gonna have to put more money down, but I'm eager to find something I really like and be able to vape it on the cheap. I've tried maybe 20 or so flavors and while I dont hate any of them, there's just a few that have really stood out and they have all been tobacco flavors. Though I hear flavors really pop when you get into higher voltage vaping, so all my previous experiences may totally change. I guess, just like with buying pre-mixed, I just have to jump in and figure out what I like.

FSUSA juices that I do tend to like are 50/50, I have no idea what halo is and they dont seem to want to disclose any info about their juices. 100% VG tends to seem very heavy and the few of those I have tried I didnt care for. But with DIY I'll have the opportunity to really find my sweet spot.

Thanks for letting me know about LF, I have done business with them before and never realized they have flavors there. Ill check out the other vendors you guys mentioned as well. I think my first buy will have to be the nic juice. So what concentrate should I start out with? If i get say 48mg in pg I could take 13.5ml of nic, 13.5ml of vg and 3ml of flavoring and be approximately at 20-24mg 50/50. I'm just trying to get this straight in my head. When I actually do this I will use one of the wonderful calculators I see recommended.

 

[keelalagirl55]

One thing to remember with vg vs pg....the more vg you use, the more flavorings you will use. Vg tends to muffle the flavors. If you are a tobacco flavored juicer, you may want to look into tobacco absolute....with that you are only using by few drops. Then you can flavor the tobacco with whatever you want. Not sure if FA has it, but The perfumers Apprentice has it and has it already diluted for the drop by drop additions.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck and have a ball...it really is like the mad scientist kinda fun......

 

[JTman]

I went with Totally Wicked concentrated flavorings and nic base from MyFreedomSmokes.

I use anywhere from 8-10% flavoring to the base and I have a 30ml mix-up of my favorite flavor of the moment.

500ml @ 24mg 50/50 is about $60, 10ml of flavoring about $7 or you can get the 5x5ml PR collection for $25.

PS - I use 50/50 PG/VG and cut with PG down to 18mg

OMG it just clicked in my head. If i just get the 24mg stuff I wont have to cut it. Just portion it out and add the flavor... DOH! Thanks, that sounds like it will be much easier to start out.

 

[JTman]

One thing to remember with vg vs pg....the more vg you use, the more flavorings you will use. Vg tends to muffle the flavors. If you are a tobacco flavored juicer, you may want to look into tobacco absolute....with that you are only using by few drops. Then you can flavor the tobacco with whatever you want. Not sure if FA has it, but The perfumers Apprentice has it and has it already diluted for the drop by drop additions.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck and have a ball...it really is like the mad scientist kinda fun......

Yeah I have heard that. I think I'll do as Switched suggested and start around 80pg/20vg. If I go with MFS ill probably just get 25%vg at 24mg so while I'm just starting out it'll be a little less complicated. I am also hoping to start reducing my nic as well and that will be much easier when I am mixing it myself.

So this Tobacco Absolute, is that like a flavor enhancer thing like the ethel maltol is for adding sweetness or is it a flavor of its own?

 

[antfuzz]

Here is a calculator that should be of help. This one you can download.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AmDimbiZZBAsdGdrcGFPZGN5VnF4QmhndXdFcVAzLXc&hl=en#gid=0

This one is an online version.

eJuice Recipe Calculator

There's a few others out there, do a search in the forum and you should be able to find it.