Saturday, January 24, 2015

3 months no smoking

I broke down and got an RDA. I wasn't kicking and screaming like I thought I was going to. Basically I got to the point where I'm tired of the crap shoot of buying coil heads. so I figured I'm going to save some money and build my own.

so first up I picked up a Kayfun clone (I wanted an authentic, but one of the shops here in town only carried the clone) bought some kanthal, brought it home and started building. first coil was ok. not the greatest, didn't short out, produced medium vapor and ended up being a 1.4-1.5 ohm.

I get it now. The flavor is better, the vapor was better, overall it was better. but now I wanted more. So the family was on a trip and I ended up picking up a cigreen-x (again another clone, didn't know it this time until I got home, this is where research comes in handy and why you shouldn't buy on impulse.) I also picked up my first mech mod. Now this I don't know if it's a clone but I have my suspicions. All in all it works I have had zero problems with it, so I'm happy, and when it comes down to it, for me, if it works and I'm happy it is serving it purpose.

I also got a Aspire Atlantis. The reason I really wanted this is because of all the hype, but it actually is a great tank. on my mech, it's .8 ohm BVC performs  just as good as my cigreen-x with a .5 dual coils set up. Dense vapor, wonderful taste, everything is there. Now, I love Aspire products, so I may be a little biased, but it is a great product and very inexpensive as far as this is definitely in my daily vaping rotation.


maybe in the future I will end up getting better set ups, but right now this is working for me. Also I'm not saying that everyone should run out and buy a RDA or RTA or even a Mech mod. if you are still rockin' a evod starter kit and love it and have no plans of moving to anything different, as long as you are happy with it stick with it.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

2 months

2 months now, I'm beginning to think I may now want to reduce my nicotine strength I normally get. Maybe dropping it from 12mg to 6mg. I'm still vaping at 12mg, currently, but still get satisfaction from vaping 6mg (but I vape it more often)

Now that I have recently purchased a Innokin MVP 2.0, I am getting a lot more satisfaction from vaping.While I'm still learning the whole Variable Voltage/Wattage deal, after a few days of vaping on this using my Aspire Nautilus or Aspire Vivi Nova-S (I'm a huge fan of Aspire's products.), The MVP 2.0 has become my main battery. I just wish it didn't take so long to charge. I will talk more about this and the Nautilus later after some use.

As for the VV/VW learning, I've found a few sites that have helped me out.

theecigstop.com has a nice little calculator here

and this chart helps out a lot


I'm also using the Vapemate app on my ios devices to track money spent on vaping, how much I saved quitting smoking and time since I quit smoking.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

HAUS Personal Vaporizer from Mistic (Review)

I pick one of these starter kits up from 7-Eleven. It's a nice looking little kit. Comes with a 650 mah battery, 1 tank, a lanyard and charger. On their site you can get one for $24.99. For the first few days it worked great. So much so, my wife went and bought one for herself. She had more problems with hers than I did at first. Right out of the box I was vaping within 10 minutes (letting the juice soak in). It produced a decent amount of vapor and the taste was pretty good.

For me, the battery life lasted about half a day, at the most, after a full charge. Compared to my Volcano 650 mah battery, it was usable for half the time. The tank also got gurgley and the atomizer would flood sucking up juice into the center post. After about a week the atomizer stopped firing and then the battery went out. Even after that I ended up buying a second tank, hoping that the flooding was just a defect with the first tank. The second had the same problems. Gurgle, flooding, then wouldn't fire.


Pros:

  • It's not too expensive, but if your going to buy something inexpensive go with an ego blister pack starter kit.
  • Worked decently when it did work.


Cons:

  • The site says it has "Longer battery life" compared to what I don't know, but everything I've used it actually pales in comparison.
  • When you're atomizer does go out you have to buy a whole new tank ($7.99 each)  rather than just the coils like other tanks (i.e. Kanger Evod or Aspire ET BDC clearomizers, which are both less expensive).


Mistic also sells ejuice but I have not tried any since it only comes in one nicotine strength - 24mg - and I really don't know what's in it. They say the 10 ml bottle is "enough product to outlast 2 cartons of cigarettes" which I doubt. My personal recommendation is to pass on this device. There are better devices for less money out there.



*I did contact Mistic's customer service number and they said that if I sent them the battery they would replace it, but by that time I moved on to a different device.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Almost 2 months

After a month in I feel way better than I did when I was a smoker. Right now, my main device has been my Volcano Inferno. For me the draw is great and the 900 mah is lasts me all day. my ADV is from a local vape shop which is a crazy vanilla blend. So far I have been liking a 50/50 blend 12mg nic level. I have my spare tank filled with Gwar's Spew 6mg nic level, mainly for a quick flavor change.

While vaping has definitely taken away my need to smoke cigarettes, it's not exactly like smoking. I used to love a cigarette with coffee and vaping isn't the same feeling or taste. My wife loves that I don't smoke anymore, my clothes don't smell like cigarettes, or my hands and hair. 


Also, after all this time I realized that there was a lot to learn about vaping. When I first went to buy juice, I didn't know about tank crackers, what nicotine strength to use, or what devices would be good for me. (Mt. Baker Vaper has a nice list of flavors that can crack plastic tanks HERE)

As I said before I bought a Haus Personal Vaper. For $25 I thought I was getting a great deal. After a week of use the battery stopped working and the atomizer was fried. Since I'm still new to all this I'm not sure if it was the juice that may have broke/clogged the atomizer or not. The battery was able to charge about 6 times fully before crapping out. Now I feel really what I spent my money on was the most expensive lanyard I have ever bought. 

I also have a few juices that I can't vape, because of the high nicotine level. I've found that anything above 12 mg I can't handle. 

If you are like me and are an impulse buyer then try your hardest to not buy the first thing you see when it comes to vaping. Do the research, it's worth it in the long run.

Also when going to local shops, don't let them talk you into buying something either you don't need or really want. Again, this is where research into products will help. With youtube and google, you'll be able to find pretty much anything you want about different devices.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

First post



I stopped smoking on October 17th, 2014. Honestly, I don't even miss it. I wanted to keep somewhat of a journal to keep record of my journey.

In the past I have tried the electronic cigarettes that you can find in most convenience stores. They never seemed to help. Plus, you don't really know whats in them.

Then about a year ago my wife's aunt had bought a Volcano Inferno (she was just as heavy a smoker as I was). She had told us that it was great and that once she started using it she didn't want to smoke cigarettes anymore. So, after some thought and saving money we put down the cash for one. While Volcano is a bit spendy, it was a pretty big gamble as to whether or not it would help me quit smoking cigarettes.

While waiting for my Inferno to show up (I will say that Volcano's shipping is really fast), my wife picked up a Haus by mistic personal vaporizer from 7-11. It worked well for the few days until I got my Inferno (more on that in a later post).

The first few days were not without at least a little trouble. Day 2, I did want a cigarette, but I stuck with it. I think that you still have to have to want to quit (whether it's with an ecig or just want to not smoke at all). I do have to say that vaping did help with the mood swings that accompany quitting, at least for me.


There is no real guarantee that vaping will help you quit smoking cigarettes, but there is a pretty good chance, if you stick with it, that you can.