Chiroptera, do you get better prices or quality from those guys than Ebay?
Interesting - if I recall correctly, e-cigs were prohibited from sale on eBay when I started vaping. I just checked - lots of off brands and lots of Chinese sellers with higher shipping charges, but I did see some pretty good deals on known brands. The only e-juice I saw for sale was zero-nicotine, so I guess that’s in line with eBay’s policy on not selling any sort of nicotine products.
Still, not cheap enough for me to shop there for batteries and accessories. I have a couple of small vendors (one brick and mortar) that I shop from and get good deals.
However, thanks for the heads up! Always good to have another shopping option. 
I wish the manufacturers of those cheap-ass things would go out of business. I’m talking about ALL of the brands you can buy at the gas station, not just NJoy. I can’t help but wonder how many people have had an experience like yours, immediately deciding all e-cigs are worthless, and never giving them a good try.
My first foray into vaping was like yours, more than three years ago, with some piece of crap I bought at 7-11. No throat hit, hardly any vapor, the rechargeable battery would die after about five minutes then need an hour to recharge. It was ridiculous. But I decided there must be more to the whole thing, so I started researching online. Then I discovered the real way to go about it, and left cigarettes behind. With the proper equipment, vaping is just as satisfying as smoking, even more so.
I had a bad experience about a year ago. I was down to one battery charger, I’d kept meaning to order a couple more, but hadn’t gotten around to it. Then my one charger broke, so I had to live with those worthless NJoy things for a couple of days while I waited for new chargers to arrive.
Gawd. No throat hit, I couldn’t even be sure they were working properly. They advertise that one Njoy is equivalent to two packs of cigarettes - bullshit. There might be enough juice in one, but the battery died after a few hours, and the whole thing had to be tossed. IIRC I went through eight of those things over those three days. It would’ve been cheaper(!) to just buy cigarettes, but I was determined not to go back.
GESancMan:
When I tried the NJoy, I thought I had a defective one because it sucked so bad! Or I was doing it wrong or something. I think I am going to try a “real” kit though. I need something for certain situations. I really don’t want to smoke real cigarettes ever again.
I didn’t intend to quit smoking when I first got into vaping. I had a weekend function where I needed to impress people, so I didn’t want to smell like cigarettes. I thought I’d give e-cigs a try to get me through it. That didn’t work out, due to the shitty 7-11 device, but it did lead me to researching the real thing. Once I got going with it, I thought “I can do this!” The transition period was about two weeks, where I’d go back and forth between vaping and smoking, then I cut out the cigarettes altogether and I’ve never looked back.
I started off with a Kanger EVOD kit, and a general tip not offered anywhere is that you cannot smoke it like a cigarette! Well you can but it won’t work very well at all.
You need to smoke it more like a hookah, which I learned through trial and error. Exhale, hit the atomizer button and take a soft slow inhale and then slowly exhale. Exhaling through your nostrils is best for nicotine absorption apparently, seems to be true since you’re hitting the mucus membranes in your sinuses.
Seriously I think this is the major problem with these things, they don’t tell you not to try puffing away like a cigarette.
A very, very good point! Trying to take a mouthful of vapor and then inhaling doesn’t work well at all. You’ve got to inhale through the devce, as you’re hitting it. Long and slow, not a quick “puff” like on a cigarette.
I had to figure this out on my own, too. Nobody told me!
I never told ya, cause that’s how I smoked, too. Sorry!
QFT!
Those, and the stupidly expensive, poor quality e-cigs and juices sold at mall kiosks or stores. I never would have kept vaping had I not gone online and started researching other options - but a surprising number of people don’t use the internet to its full potential.
As to how to inhale and vape - you’ll hack up a lung if you take a hit off a decent device the same as a cigarette. :eek:
I’ll go against the party line and admit I have actually increased my nicotine intake, I know we’re supposed to keep up the charade but hey we’re adults here. I love it, I can take as much nicotine as I want without lung pain! It has actually made me a lot more motivated and productive, with little seeming harm. It is just amazing to be able to “smoke” and not be winded after climbing stairs or feel like my lungs are hurting!
Also if you are strapped for cash and want to give it a whirl I’ve seen EVOD kits online some with a vial of juice even for ten bucks or so, you can’t beat that!
Nothing wrong with that, really. I only reduced mine because I also take caffeine daily, and my blood pressure is starting to get worrisome. Since I didn’t want to cut out vaping entirely, or worry about if I’d vaped too much in the last hour (and because cutting out caffeine is just Not Going To Happen), going no nic was the best choice for me.
But yeah, if my pressure wasn’t getting high, I dont see any particular reason I’d have gone no nic. Although it is nice to be able to shrug at the sanctimonious screechers and point out that there’s none o’ that Devil’s Tobaccey derivatives in my juice, if that’s what’s bothering them so much. 
My BP went to normal after I began using e-cigarettes. I believe it is all the crap in real cigarettes that cause problems. I went from 24 mg to 18 mg in e cigarettes, though.
The push-back has begun.
Top scientists warn WHO not to stub out e-cigarettes
It’s almost a year for me. After smoking for 43 years and trying every conceivable way to quit and failing each time, I had my last cigarette on June 8, 2013.
I didn’t just quit and go to ecigs though. I bought some Infiniti ecigs at Walgreens, finished the last pack in the most recent carton I’d bought, and declared myself smoke-free. I lasted 3 days before buying another pack. The Infiniti utterly failed for me*. I have a history of depression and anxiety. Trying to quit always brought those back, raging and strong. I’ve been perfectly fine for several years, but when I started to get cravings I freaked out, not wanting to be ill again. It’s not just that I have no willpower to withstand cravings, which I don’t, it’s also that those old feelings would start coming back. That first cigarette in that last pack calmed me down immediately. I still wanted to quit though.
I started reading ecig and stop smoking forums, including threads here at the SDMB, and worked out a plan. First, I bought a Vaping starter kit and liquid with the highest level of nicotine I could find (36!). Then I bought some Swedish Snus. Then I bought some nicotine lozenges. I dug out some old patches from the last time I tried to quit. I dug out some Wellbutrin that my doctor had prescribed. I bought mints and gum and candy to suck on. After the last cig in the pack, I threw EVERYTHING at the cravings. It is a wonder I didn’t get a nicotine overdose. After a week I cut out everything but the Vaping, the Snus and, I’m trying to remember, the Wellbutrin I think. After a couple of weeks I cut out the 3rd thing, whatever that was. After the 3rd or 4th week I cut out the Snus (I bought a ton of the stuff and still have a bunch in my fridge. I liked the way it helped with cravings, but they taste nasty and gave me hiccups). I even stopped with the mints & candy.
After a few months I went from 36 to 24. A couple of months ago I went down to 18. I’ll get to 0 eventually but I’m in no hurry. When I get to zero nicotine I’ll quit vaping because I’m not into vaping for vaping’s sake. I only get tobacco-flavored liquid, not that it tastes much like tobacco, and can’t see myself vaping anything else.
I’ve tried many different kits, and have settled on EGO-C/510-type batteries, and Kanger e-smart tanks (Clearomizers). They don’t leak like all the other, bigger, tanks I’ve tried. I just have to be careful about which e-smart clearomizers I buy. Some are male and some are female. Since my batteries are all female, I got a nasty surprise when I realized I had ordered female tanks. I found some adapters that fixed the problem, thank goodness. I don’t use the e-smart and EVOD batteries because I don’t like how the button is flush with the surface. I always have to look to see where the button is, but with the other batteries I can find the button by feel.
Since Cook County, Illinois is one of the most expensive in the nation for smokers I’m saving an amazing amount of money. In fact, the expense is why I quit, not for health reasons. When I had to choose between cigarettes and movies, and cigarettes always won, I knew it was time to quit, since movies are much more rewarding.
- The Infiniti ecigs did work in one way. They helped break that habit of reaching for a cigarette all the time. When I got off the bus. When I got off the train. When I got out of a movie. Any time I would automatically reach into my purse for a cigarette. I put the Infiniti ecigs in the same place I put my pack and would reach for one of them instead. Because they were shaped like cigarettes they helped with that automatic response, even if the draw was unsatisfying. After a couple of weeks I didn’t need them for that anymore. I would just reach for my vaper.
Well done, Equipoise!
I heard an NPR interview yesterday with a couple of players in the WHO v scientists tussle; WHO and the FDA and other governmental entities are having a bizarre knee-jerk reaction over e-cigs and vaping. Regulating, restricting or even banning something that has the potential for major harm reduction and saving millions of lives defies all logic. That short news article you linked to is worth a read.
For anyone interested, The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association has a crap-ton of information.
These laws and rules are being made purely out of ignorance, and it makes me nuts. It’s unfortunate that e-cigarettes are named as such. If they had a different name, without the word “cigarette,” we might not be dealing with this stupidity.
One of the colleges I work for has recently been making a big deal about e-cigs being included in their “tobacco-free campus” policy. But the nice thing about e-cigs is that it’s easy to be stealthy with them. If I do ever get caught, I have some vague plans to take it up with the college government. Making the argument that using the same logic, root beer needs to be banned from the campus as well. Or something like that.
Oh yeah, on my break and lunch I have to go outside with the smokers. It makes me mad. I DON’T SMOKE ANYMORE! Argh. Such ignorance and misinformation. I’m also very good with the stealth vape. I vape in the bathroom. If you double-inhale before exhaling, barely any vapor is exhaled.
Regarding names, I agree, and also wish there were snappy and very different names for the cigarette-looking ones (the useless ones) and the tank styles that do work.
Thanks for the props and that website URL Chiroptera!
While I absolutely agree that lumping personal vaporizers (<—see, they do have a name, we just need to start using it more; we may also want to find one that doesn’t make people think of vaporizing marijuana) with cigarettes is stupid stupid stupid, I try to find the silver lining. When I stand with the smokers and vape, I get at least a few questions about it, and spread the good word. 
I agree that it’s easy to stealth-vape! I have a couple of shortie eGo batteries and will vape discreetly in movie theaters and restaurants and such places*. I’ve yet to be challenged about it, and if a random person asks what my PV** is, I say “oh, that’s my inhaler” and that’s as far as it’s ever gone.
*Since I think individuals and businesses ought to have the right to allow or disallow smoking in their homes and establishments without governmental interference, I will and have respected “No Vaping” (or similar) signs. Or a person’s with that I not vape on their property, which has only happened once so far.
**Personal vaporizer…but somehow that sounds a little ominous out of context plus it still confuses people. “Inhaler” is accurate, anyway.
I know and encounter quite a few smokers…I’ve gotten several people to take up vaping, but none have completely quit smoking. However, a friend’s husband has cut his cigarette consumption roughly in half, and since he has a bad heart, we’re rooting for him to eventually just quit smoking already. His cardiologist has given the thumbs-up to vaping as a replacement for smoking.
Jeez guys! Give chiroptera a break. Can’t you tell she’s tired of answering y’all’s questions?