ecigs

Hi I was researching these out of curiosity and noticed all the tastey looking flavour eliquids and strengths you can buy. It looks like fun. Is it?

I last had a real cigarette nearly 11 years ago. About a year ago I came across a stand in a shopping centre that was letting people try e-cigs, and I had a try. Inhaling the vapour felt just as I remembered inhaling a cigarette felt, and the hit was instant. I handed it back after that first puff and I won’t be picking another one up again - it was too good a facsimile. If you are currently smoking cigarettes I reckon it would get you off them pretty painlessly and then be easier to cut down - two puffs does not mean the rest of the cigarette too. However, if you don’t smoke cigarettes at the moment, and in particular if you are an ex-smoker, I would strongly advise you not to go there! Too fun, I would say…

Hmm. Thanks. Food for thought. I’ve not had a cig in over 3 years thanks to snuff and they don’t tempt me. Find them repulsive now. But if ecigs are safe(ish?) and the flavours are as enjoyable as their descriptions suggest, I am tempted to investigate…

It’s another addiction but definitely not as poluting to the lungs as smoking. I wouldn’t really compare it to smoking. It’s pretty different to smoking and I actually prefer it now but initially I was still in the grip of smoking burnt tobacco. Yes it is fun. Very much like snuff as far as flavours and blending. I’ve got about 4 e-cigs scattered around the house now alongside tins of snuff and a pile of different juice flavours. Currently I’m vapng a really nice tobacco juice (hard to put down) I blended which goes great with my Toast or Black Coffee snuff blends and then I’ve got a fruit filled ecig sitting here which goes with my Firedrac/G&T/FOJ blend really well. You need to get nice juice of the right strength and a good ecig to vape it out of. I have started making my own fresh coils to suit my mostly Kanger tanks so I can get them all working pretty well and change the wick and coil whenever I need to pretty easily. a small Evod tank on a 650mah Ego battery is a great starter cig. It’s what I’m using right now. In fact it’s great for long term also but you need to choose the ohm coil resistance to best suit your preference. Low ohm is higher heating and more throat hit and bigger ohm is smoother. I still occasionally smoke a small cigar but nothing like before. You can get zero nictine juice if you only want something in the hands to play with and enjoy the flavours. I think I am now as addicted to vaping as to snuff and there are occasional times when I wish I were free of any addiction. I will soldier on.

I’ve been vaping for about three months, but I realised that my lungs hurt after that.

I cycle quite a lot and my lungs seems to be well up to the job and I vape a lot more than in the beginning some months ago. It’s muscles were I really get the lactic acid pain. I do get a little dry throat but I don’t vape constantly so I just put it down for a while and have a drink and snuff. It’s allowed in the pub which was a bit strange. My local pub used to have a yellow ceiling from years of smoke. When out I generally take a bullet only as vaping does not seem to work as well outdoors and I actually feel a bit silly with it in public but I do bring one occasionally. Definitely not like smoking in that regard I think because the vapour is not as concentrated as smoke unless you are vaping on some huge mod and I’m happy enough with the basic ego’s but I do have some variable voltage Spinner and Twist ego’s. If I felt any serious bad effects I would pack it in but so far nothing of any note. It’s growing all over the world so there must be something that it’s doing right.

After not smoking cigarettes for three years I pulled the trigger on an e-cig about 6 months ago. The odd thing about e-cigs is that because the vapor particulates are much larger than smoke particulates, the nicotine absorption in your lungs is very minimal. In fact, most of the nicotine is absorbed through the mucous membranes of your mouth/nostrils. The concept is similar to cigar/pipe smoking. Technically, you are “wasting” e-juice if you are just inhaling and not holding the vapor in your mouth. Now, if throat-hit is what you are trying to replicate with e-cigs, then they are a good replacement. My issue with them is that nicotine-only juice has the effect of getting you wired and slightly anxious since it lacks the other alkaloids present in tobacco. On this forum, it is well established that snuff works better than patches or gums to quit smoking because you are getting the entire range of tobacco alkaloids, not just nicotine. A common complaint of e-cigs is that you can vape and vape and vape and still feel like something is missing - leading people to go back to analogs. I have been unable to achieve a “buzz” from vaping, as hard as I’ve tried. Luckily, there is an emerging product on the e-juice market called WTA, or Whole Tobacco Alkaloid juice. This juice contains the missing alkaloids and gives the calming effect that is lacking in standard e-juice. It is slightly more expensive than the e-juice you will find in the brick-and-mortar shops, but IMO it is worth it. Google “whole tobacco alkaloid ejuice” and you will find some vendors and reviews. E-cigs have their place in the rotation of non-cigarette tobacco products, but so far my experience has been that alone they are not an adequate replacement.

I have been unable to achieve a “buzz” from vaping, as hard as I’ve tried.

I have the same! I’d rather say, that ecigs do not provide us nic hits, buzz, or anything like that. You just don’t feel nicotine craving, and you don’t feel nicotine in your veins. No satisfaction, except “smoke” going through your throat. You just feel… normal. Like nothing ever happened.

Thanks @LincolnSnuff. I just ordered some WTA, first I’ve heard of it.

Just getting started with an e-cig myself, pretty cool so far. There are quite a few businesses selling a wide variety of “hardware” and a multitude of options for e-liquids. It seems you wont be so likely to enjoy it unless you do get a decent hardware kit and some good liquids to try. If anyone wants to learn about it I suggest you visit e-cigarette-forum.com the nice folks there have given me lots of good info and advice. I want to try the WTA stuff from Wholecigs, it sounds good.

Its quite a bit more of an expensive hobby compared to snuffing. If money isn’t a concern, then maybe you should invest in a nice Mod and RBA. Stay away from convenient store brands. If all you can afford is something like an ego, I would just leave them alone unless I were trying to quit smoking cigs.

An ego is a battery. A mod is a bigger battery maybe with a fancy lcd display. They both use the same tanks eg Kanger Pro-Tanks, Evods. Vivi Nova’s etc etc and I rewick them all depending on how I like the vapour to be. A mod can output more power for more vapour but to be honest you get enough with a basic ego and a good coil. Variable voltage ego’s can also output more power but there isn’t a dramatic difference in the vaping experience although it can be a little better but won’t matter to a beginner. I’ve seen “experts”, waffle on about volts and watts and watts being “the latest thing”, which is BS but as one famous reviewer put it “the less you people think the better”. Indoor Smoker. From my electronics background. Whether Watts or Volts is meaningless. Differnt way of saying the same thing. Increase in either eqauls an increase in current which ultimately heats up the coil. A mod will save you charging the smaller ego battery so often but they don’t take long to charge. So nothing wrong with Ego’s at all. Plus you can buy more of them as cheaper and have spares already charged and they are small if you want to put in a pocket. Still there is a question of whether you should start this if you are satisfied already with snuff alone. For me I use the high strength 24mg juices as the lower strenghts just don’t do much for me. With the higher strengths I tend to vape less and I definitely do get the nicotine although it’s more subtle than smoking so not as hard hitting but it’s the flavours that are 50% of the enjoyment although if I wasn’t getting the nicotine I wouldn’t bother. Snuff goes along well with it I think and gives the real tobacco that vaping is missing but which it may gain with WTA ? I have yet to try WTA and look forward to it some time but I’m happy enough with vaping as it is. Snuff can actually get me more wired than vaping. It isn’t something incredibly wonderful and doesn’t have to be very expensive (certainly much cheaper than smoking or premium snuffs) but it’s good enough for me to enjoy currently with snuff (I snuff just a little less now and my nose gets a break) and I’m sure it will only become further refined and more enjoyable in future and maybe taxed to the hilt which would put me off. Already the equipment has improved a lot recently. It’s still only in it’s infancy. Maybe something else will replace it completely. It’s definitely going to take a big bite out of the cigarette manufacturers in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if cigarettes died out completely fairly soon. I wish I would have had an ecig like today’s models about 30 years ago. I wish my parents would have had them also, both smokers, mother lung fibrosis, father lung cancer. I don’t get any incredible buzz from vaping but I do get relaxed enjoyment. I can get an immediate buzz if I haven’t vaped for an hour or so but that is only an initial thing. A few vapes later and it’s not doing as much but I’m still enjoying the flavour. When I very first started I only took about 3 puffs each time and then went back to snuff. Now I tend to take a lot more before deciding it’s time for a break. Takes time to get a feel for it and appreciate it’s mildness. Just vaping a Tirimasu and tobacco blend. Again wonderful taste but after about 30 vapes not noticing any nicotine and that’s the high strenght but I’ve had a blast of Willie Pete so that’s sorted.

Grest feedback. Thanks guys. Will definitely have to check the WTA juices out. Seems little point to it if there’s no buzz.

I have tried SkyCig in the past, but I did get fed up with it rather quickly. Mainly this was due to the charging routine being a major PITA. I alson seemed to have a few dud cartridges which were delivering liquid instead of vapour. Yesterday though, I picked up an Eros Kit from Mirage Cigarettes (1.8% liquid) and am finding this much better. As mentioned by others I don’t get much of a buzz from it, but it does alleviate the craving and of course there are many flavours to explore. For me it’s a welcome part of my arsenal of nicotine delivery options, and found myself this evening nipping outside after a meal in the local pub and having the option of roll ups, three snuffs, mini cigars and the ecig to choose from in my jacket pockets :smiley: It’s not sumething I get a “hit” from (although it’s certainly possible to vape too much), it’s just very … normalising … with a range of flavours to choose from. In that respect it’s like many snuffs. OK some snuffs can give you a nic hit, but others are just very pleasant and give a subtle infusion of nic rather than a size 9 boot in the face :wink: One major benefit to snuff is the ease of taking different flavours - once you’ve filled the cartomiser on an ecig, you’ve got that flavour till it’s empty, a blend on the next filling if you use something else, and you won’t get the true “new” flavour until the second filling. Unless you’ve got an assortment of different cartomisers lined up in fron of you, it’s hard to sample many different flavours of an evening like you can with snuff I’d certainly recomend it for someone looking for alternatives to their existing smoking habit, but not for non-smokers.

Nice sum up 50ft_trad in fact a lot of good comments on this thread to give pause for thought and that should be useful to people curious about e-cigs and I’m always re-evaluating what I think about these things myself. I am finding that vaping in this small spare bedroom (7x9ft) I use for this computer that I can all to easily fill it with vapor and I think it dries out my eye’s. Might just be computer eyestrain or something but it’s only really happened recently which coincides with my new vape gear which puts out a lot more vapor. Currently I am trying to cut back vaping here (plus it can set off the smoke alarm outside the room) but I don’t have any problems in larger rooms of the house so will have to nip out of here for a vape which is a bummer. I suppose that makes it a bit like smoking! Also my chest is feeling a bit raw at the moment but I think that could be because of the season change to winter but its not making vaping as pleasant at the moment and I’m getting more dry throat. Ultimately though I do find that vaping suppliments snuff very well and gives me that extra boost that completely irradicates my desire to smoke tobacco although as i said I do occasionally feel like a change and allow myself some small cigars maybe once a week or fortnight or I can just leave them. I’m really impressed with these flue cured tobacco flavours also at the moment. At first try I thought how discusting but now I’m finding they are going to be my priority reorder. Like nothing I’ve ever come accross before. A sort of very pungent and bit sweet nutty caramel tobacco flavour. I’ve tried a lot of other tobacco flavours but really they are bland in comparison to the above mentioned. One of these great tobacco juices is Liqua French Pipe. I just smelt the open bottle and thought ok but I accidentally got a little on my finger and my hand took on this really wonderful aroma that I just couldn;t stop wanting to sniff almost immediatly addictive. Another I got possibly even stronger was Hangsen Virginia Flu Cured. A leaving thought on buzz. Cigarettes never gave me a buzz in all the years I smoked them. They just satisfied a craving and they certainly didn’t help my chest much and stank and etc etc. They do give a stronger immediate nic hit, probably to do with all the chemicals as much as anything. …and finally (honest, crossed fingers behind back). Agree with 50ft. If you don’t need to vape and aren’t trying to quit smoking and don’t want another addiction, then don’t start. As with cigarettes or anything else I’m sure this won’t stop people and at least it is much less damaging. I see my local e-cig shop (that always has a cue inside and now they opened another store in the next town) has a new range of “premium liquids”? so I’m off out to get some of the tobacco flavour to try.

Well, this has been my first day at work with the Mirage/Eros set and I have got to lunchtime fairly comfortably with just this and snuff (I did start the day with a roll up though). I didn’t set off this morning with a full cartomiser, so unsure if I have enough left in there to see me through the afternoon :-/ … might have to sneak off and “run an errand” :wink: >:) I have not been “trying” to go cig free today, and will no doubt have a few rollies later - but it’s been interesting to see how easily today has gone without a cig. I still have some adjustments/acclimatising to make with the vaping though - for example, my throat feels coated despite having copious amounts of tea this morning, and there was a moment around 10:15 where I felt a little “unsettled” with both the vape and the snuff …

Oooohhh Interesting … nose a little dry and snuff not bedding in? Exhale ecig vapour down the nose once, then pinch nose … sorted!

I just odered another 4 bottles of Liqua French Pipe + some other tobacco flavours. I went to the e-cig shop to see about their premium juices and there happened to be a guy there who let me try the premium tobacco in his e-cig but I didn’t like it as being to sweet and they didn’t have anything else like the French Pipe blend I brought along so I came home and ordered online. They have a french pipe named juice but it’s more like the Turkish tobacco flavour from liqua. In the shop they didn’t like my French Pipe juice. The guy thought it was just a burnt taste. Actually most people hate it but one smoker I let sniff the e-cig tip, his eyes actually lit up. So the flavours preferences are again very personal but I just had to have more of this French Pipe and going to get some more Hangsen virgina cure next order or else just more Liqua French pipe. Found a place online does the 10ml bottles for £3.33 and next day free delivery over £20 order and I’ve used them a few times with no problem. I imagine it would be hard to come off roll-ups. I used to smoke them a lot and now I find them really horrible. This Liqua French Pipe is possibly better than anything I have ever smoked or vaped. I am really addicted to the flavour. Been on it constantly from I got back home. I got all 24mg strength again. @50ft_trad I expect this is the strength you will need to be using but it will fill you up with nictine with you hardly noticing and will kill your smoking cravings especially if you use snuff as well.

I got all 24mg strength again. @50ft_trad I expect this is the strength you will need to be using but it will fill you up with nictine with you hardly noticing and will kill your smoking cravings especially if you use snuff as well.

Thanks for the input, but I think I’ll stick with the 18mg for the time being. It seems to have the right throat hit, and I’d rather start off having to top up than being overwhelmed by it (especially as I’m using snuff too). I’m still trying to get the feel of the levels (the PV’s and my own), to know what feels right. I may need to up the strength at the next purchase, but I’d rather try to find my feet with the 18mg first :slight_smile: I’ve just nipped home to top up the carts, and filling up both has left me with just over half a 10ml bottle. I reckon these should easily last today and tomorrow, which will roughly put me at 10ml over maybe 8-10 days … which I think is fair considering the other tobacco usage. In fact I might even stretch them a little further than that, as the tongue is starting to feel odd … (coated? numbed? not quite sure :-/ )

To stay off of real cigarettes it is another tool in the box. I find it works better while driving than snuff, that is for sure. I use it with snuff, works well. Just do your research before you buy. E-cigarettes-forum is out there, good info there. Be careful of getting wrapped up in the mod arms race. Flavors, once you get away from tobacco flavors there is some interesting stuff out there. Tips. You can try a disposable, they are ok, swisher has some I was pleasantly surprised with. A good way to just try it out. If you plan to use it a lot, an eGo is probably a good starting place. I like clearomizers on an eGo. That is what my wife uses now and what I started on. Now a day’s though I like Cig-A-Likes. For the little bit I use it I just like having the similar feel with an auto battery. So I use V2 long batteries, they are a sealed automatic. I use 2.0 ohm cartomizers which I order where I order my liquid (madvapes.com). I also use the mega PCC from smokelessimage.com to charge my batteries on the go. Ken