E-Cigarettes

In My Humble Opinion
1

My smoking stats: I started at age 12, I’m 39 now. I smoke Marlboro Lights (or “Gold” or whatever they’re called now), the regular size, not 100s, about a pack and a quarter a day.

I’ve never given e-cigs much thought before. But last night I was at 7-11 and started talking with the clerk about the ones they sell. (I’ve known this guy for years from my frequent visits, so I know he wasn’t doing a sales pitch on me.)

I’m going to an interview event this weekend, leaving Friday morning and returning Sunday night. I’m trying to get into an alternative teaching certification program. Between spending several hours in the airport/on the plane each way, my hotel room being non-smoking (if I wanted the group rate), and the convention itself, and - most importantly! - not wanting to smell like a smokestack around the people I’m trying to impress, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to hardly being able to smoke during these three days, if at all. And being miserable.

So I’m thinking this would be an opportune time to try out one of these e-cigs. I’m not saying I’d use it openly, I’m sure that would freak people out. But once or twice during the flight I could use it in the bathroom, or a few times a day during the event I could sneak off somewhere to get my fix.

I’ve got a couple of questions for anyone here who might have tried these things out. I’ve looked around a bit online, and the E-Cigarette Forum has a wealth of information, but it’s way to much info to sort through and absorb in too little time.

  1. The one they sell at 7-11 is $20, comes with a USB charger and four cartridges; a pack of 10 cartridges is $15. Is this good enough for trying out the whole “vaping” thing? Or should I go for a better quality e-cig? Where might I physically go buy one (no time to order online)?

  2. There were different strengths of nicotine available in the cartridges, but I don’t remember the numbers. Based on my cigarette intake, what would be a good strength to get?

And one final note: please don’t respond telling me to quit smoking. I know how bad it is. I’m simply looking for a good alternative for this weekend, then we’ll see where it goes from there.

2

I’m a non-smoker, vergng toward the anti side. But I’m tentatively for things like e-cigs. They answer so many of the problems associated with smoking. Given that you’re going to insert nicotine into your body, why not do it in a way that doesn’t cause other problems?

I don’t understand why they’re illegal in my country.

So, thanks for not smoking. :slight_smile:

3

I am a believer in the Volcano Magma E-Cig. This thing is a godsend. I didn’t even mean to stop smoking, and I did. I barely even use the thing anymore.

I was a pack per day smoker, Marlboro Gold. IMHO, the one you see at 7/11 is not a good brand. It is big, and it tastes funky. Go to a cigarette store, and they will have a starter pack or single servings of some cheap brand, (Puresmoke, greensmoke, etc), and can tell you more about the flavors. I can give you some advice as well, if you find various brands. I have tried quite a few at this point

When you first get it, it will not taste or feel exactly like an “analog”. However, if you go three days with only vaping, there is a good chance you may not go back.

4

I guess I should have thought of a smoke shop. :smack:

This is an exciting idea! What dosage of nicotine did you go with in the beginning? I see on that site they offer two dosages, and I think at 7-11 they had four.

My fear is if I choose a level that’s too weak, using the e-cig will make my cravings worse rather than relieve them… kinda like when you’re dying for a smoke, then you get to take one hit and have to put it out, it makes you crazy… if you know what I mean. But I don’t want to just pick the strongest one and find that it’s too much. Obviously I’ve never paid attention to how much nicotine I’m getting on a daily basis. :slight_smile:

5

Get the highest octane they have. I started on 16mg, and thought it a tad weak. 24mg was much better for the first couple of days.

Also, get several. You will burn through 3 average-sized cartridges per day in the beginning. Then as you learn to puff them, and they gradually replace the analog cigs, you will use less. Theoretically, 1 cartridge = 1 pack.

6

Oh, and the other beauty part of getting the highest nicotine level possible, is that you can always puff less for less nicotine, whereas getting too little will have you going nuts. (As you well described- And no matter how many puffs you take, it never feels right)

7

Do your research. A bad e-cig is worse than no e-cig, and is likely to turn you off from the whole idea.

This is a great website with reviews and information: http://www.ecigarettes365.com/buying_guide

8

My girlfriend tried Blue, SmokeTip, and another one. She was not happy with Blu, but liked SmokeTip, apparently because it feels more like a real cigarette in the throat. The link above covers it, although I will not that you can also get a blue LED with it. The red tip is sort of orangeish, too.

9

I’m a casual smoker myself (half pack a day or less), but I have an eye on the e-cigs myself. I tried a couple puffs off my mom’s e-cig which she got from greensmoke.com. I liked it, it tasted like strawberries. There was an LED tip and it felt good in my hand. Pretty authentic to smoking, except the taste and smell are a million times better and you can do it indoors anywhere!

I know you don’t have time to order one now, but looking forward that might be a good one to try. Their site is blocked from work for me so I can’t link you the exact model she has, but it has a pink “filter” area and looks like a regular cig other than that (which I think is just the cartridge and can be changed out for other colors, but don’t quote me on that).

I have also eyed the ones at 7-11 near me. But I haven’t taken the plunge yet because I don’t know how many of the cartridges I would need to use. The biggest reason I want to quit cigs is the cost, and if the e-cig is more costly than smokes, then I probably wouldn’t switch. Considering I can only smoke cigs outdoors, but could smoke an e-cig indoors, I can see intaking way more nicotine on a regular basis if I made the switch.

10

Hey again, double post but I wanted to post back with some of the knowledge I’ve gained. I browsed the e-cig forum you linked for several hours today (that place is fracking huge) and did a lot of shopping around online. It turns out that greensmoke is insanely overpriced (mostly marketing costs afaict), their e-cigs don’t hold up well over time, and I believe their model is proprietary so you can’t get replacement parts from anywhere else. I wouldn’t recommend them. And I’ll be letting my mom know that she should look elsewhere.

A really good site I found was madvapes.com. They’re based out of New York, as opposed to a lot of other sites which appear to be based in China (the site’s in native English, and every review I’ve seen puts their domestic shipping at exactly 2 days). Their shopping layout was daunting at first because it’s tough to just browse. You have to pick a category. But I browsed all the e-cig categories and I think I put together a really good starter package.

I ended up ordering this very decent kit (with a manual battery, which I hear is preferable to the automatics for controlling the amount you inhale), and a 50ml bottle of liquid for under $50… including shipping. And shipping was only 3 bucks! Compare this to greensmoke where you’d pay $139 for their starter package, and where a battery alone costs $50… yikes. Total sticker shock, unless you don’t know what to look for (which I think greensmoke is counting on, since their marketing campaign looks pretty aggressive).

And if you’re still not sure whether you want one or not, they have disposable e-cigs that have a few battery recharges in them, if you want to try before buying. The disposables are only ten bucks, so even if you hate it you’re not out a huge amount of cash. (I have already tried my mom’s though, and I am already sure I want one)

Thanks, OP, for making this post. It nudged me into doing the research needed to convince myself that I wanted to finally make the swap!

P.S. I think you also want to make sure that you get an e-cig that says it’s “dripper friendly” if you want to buy your own liquid.

11

The only problem I see with that one is that if you are away from a charger for too long, you have no way to vape. That is one of the benefits of Blu or Volcano, in that the pack is itself a charger.

I use drip tips, simply because I am constantly switching flavors. There are blank cartridges you can get (or reuse an old one) to fill with juice.

One big piece of advice I can give is to clean your atomizer every night. A cup with some rubbing alcohol, and let them soak overnight. in the morning rinse. I have 4 atomizers so that I can alternate nights between sets, and I always have a dry one. After a while, the juice builds up inside of the atty, and degrades performance (Hard draw, low smoke volume). Also, it seems to make them last much longer. My first one was dead in a month. After going with a strict cleaning regimen, I have 4 that have been going strong for 3 months, with no signs of slowing down.

Oh, and definitely try the different flavors. I use eliquidplanet.com (Cotton Candy, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Coffee, Butterscotch, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Apple as well as some of the Volcano liquids (Mmmmm…Bluewater Punch!).

12

Geez…this is getting complicated. :slight_smile:

Since I’m leaving tomorrow morning, I don’t have time to get into this whole thing now (gotta prepare for my trip), so I’m just gonna go to a smoke shop later today and buy a decent package and enough cartridges to last a week (per Spit’s advice).

I have looked at some of the links posted here, though. The Volcano one looks good, but the only thing I’m wondering about is, on the comparison chart WhyNot posted, it says one cartridge equals 4 to 5 cigarettes, at 60 cents a pop; other brands list one cartridge equaling a pack (give or take a few), at ~$2 a pop, which is cheaper. I don’t see a number per cartridge for the Madvapes one. A lot of the words and terms being used are new to me, though, and I’m unclear on the idea of buying cartridges vs. refilling them.

Next week I plan to really get into this and learn all about it, then select a better package. Thank you all for your feedback!

13

Am I the only one who is looking at this and thinking “this would be an ideal THC delivery system”?

14

That has been a topic of conversation among some people I know when they see an e-cig being used.

Seems like it would be theoretically possible, although certain legal hurdles exist.

15

GESancMan, sounds like you’ve got the right idea – just grab whatever you can for your trip, then do more research to find what you like personally. That forum is great.

You’ll find prices all over the map and price is most definitely not necessarily an indicator of quality with these things; the best ones are not the cheapest, but a high price doesn’t for sure mean it’s good.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been buying from http://www.heaven-gifts.com in China for the past couple of years. Prices are fair and shipping is fast … had one order go astray (ended up in Japan according to the tracking site) and he reshipped very quickly with no problems and profuse apologies even though it was in no way his fault.

The disposable cigar in the link is my favorite for convenience. It doesn’t taste cigar-like but it does taste good, and it does seem to last about the same as six packs of cigarettes. I do have lots of other types, too; rechargeables, refillables, pipes, non-cigarette looking, etc. I like 'em.

16

You will definitely want to refill. Pre-filled carts are more expensive, and the draw is not nearly as satisfying as a driptip.

It’s like this- I have purchased 10 different flavors, of which 1 is almost empty, and the rest 1/4-1/2 remaining since roughly mid-Novemebr (my last juice buying spree). If you are worried about cost, the average bottle is $8.50, so $85 for 2 months. A pack of Marlboro’s goes for $4.50 a pack around here, so 2 months is around $275. Furthermore, even if it were $100 more than regular cigs- If you enjoy doing it, and it is far healthier than analogs…Why not?

Again, If you find you enjoy the smoke (which, BTW, you are going to have a generic, not-so-great-tasting vape, where higher end retail juices are going to taste much better.- Kind of like generic chips vs Ruffles), I must pound the Volcano Magma drum once more. While I do get points for referrals hint hint, I speak so highly of this one because of all the different ones I have tried. It is a bit larger than a regular cigarette due to increased battery size, but the throat hit is amazing! There is a ridiculous amount of vapor as well. As a seasoned smoker, if I were to draw too long, I would smoke myself out.

Oh, and another thing about the different flavors. You will rapidly get to where you want an after dinner “smoke” that tastes better than an analog cig, so be sure to get some tasty flavors. My tobacco flavored juice is the most full bottle I own, simply because cotton candy is a much better finish to a meal than Marlboro Gold.

17

Several of the kits on the site have a car charger. I didn’t feel it was necessary for me because I work on a computer, I have a computer at home, and I’m never very far from a wall A/C plug anyway. But yeah that would be a valid point to consider for someone who travels a lot.

18

I had been off analogs for a while, and then went to DC for an all day event. Around 4PM my batteries were both dead, so I grabbed a pack as replacement. I ended up smoking again briefly. Of course, that was when I also realized that I preferred the E-cig to the analog.

If you are like me, another cool doohickey is this USB pass-through, which I am sure comes from other vendors as well. I am puffing on mine as we speak. It was especially nice when I first started, because you tend to continually suck on the e-cig for the 1st couple of days, if not weeks.

Good luck to both of you, I hope you get the same results I have- I’m down to the lowest possible nicotine level, and I think my next purchase will be nicotine-free juices- Like I said, I had no intention of quitting smoking whatsoever, and it happened anyway. I have only puffed on my e-cig 3 times today. I haven’t charged my pack in a while, since I am pretty much only puffing at work, or when I am playing games, so I have been USB only for a week and some change. For non-smokers, I know they wouldn’t think that a big deal, but as smokers, you know that sense of panic you get when your pocket is empty. I don’t get that at all anymore. (In fact I have to be careful that I remember to at least keep some sticks in the car and the office, lest I have a craving and cannot resist temptation)

/Aside

I think this is the first conversation about smoking where someone has asked not to harp about the dangers, etc., and people actually listened. Thanks do-gooders! :smiley:

19

Well, I gotta ask, are there any known risks with the ecigs? Sure, I know nicotine still is nicotine and all that implies. But, if I were vaping vanilla or menthol with no nicotine, are there any known downsides? I am interested as I have cut way down on analogs, but have trouble quitting completely as there are times when I like to have a cig. (I stopped smoking completely for a month but went back to a few a day).

20

Well, this sucks. I went to Yelp and looked up smoke shops within a few miles of me, and went to the highest-rated shop. They don’t even sell e-cigs, despite what one of the customer reviews said. :mad: I don’t have time to go to a bunch of other smoke shops, so it looks like I’m stuck with the 7-11 version for this weekend.

Spit, you’re absolutely right about the cost. A carton goes for $50 here, and I go through about 4 cartons a month. If juice is going to cost me less than half as much, I guess I shouldn’t quibble over a few dollars for a better experience. :slight_smile:

So now, since I’ll be getting the 7-11 version, a couple of questions…

It comes with a USB charger, which I’m hoping will be good enough. I’m not going to be able to use the e-cig all that much, I don’t think: maybe a couple of times at the airport and again on the plane tomorrow. Saturday the event starts at 9:00AM and may go as late as 9:00PM. I’m assuming we’ll get an hour each for lunch and dinner, besides that I’ll maybe be able to sneak off to the bathroom a few times between these breaks. Sunday will only go from 9:00 to 5:00, then I’ll be in the clear. I’m staying with relatives Sunday night and flying home Monday.

So, as far as the battery, Saturday is my only real worry. Due to not being able to use it all that much, will the charge last? (I’ll be charging it overnight via my laptop, which will itself be charging.)

Second question… Spit, you said I should get extra cartridges for the first few days, beyond the four the unit comes with. I’m taking this advice seriously, but… again, due to not being able to use it that much, might that be overkill? Or should I just buy the extras to be safe?

Oh, and next week, if I go with the Volcano Magma, I’ll be sure to contact you so you can get your referral. :slight_smile: