Ok, so I've had a few members send me a PM me and explain that they are trying to quit smoking. Each asked me for some information on electronic cigarettes so I figured I would post something that everyone could read that might be interested, but too shy to ask.
Many refer to these products as electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes or e-cigs (like I did in the title of this thread). There is a large number of users that prefer to refer to them as a PV or personal vaporizer. This has more to do with the fact that the word cigarette has a very negative connotation. This has also created the term vaping instead of smoking. Since someone using one of these devices isn't really smoking anyway.
The basic way that an e-cig or PV works by heating up a liquid (commonly called e-juice or juice) which is vaporized and inhaled in a similar way that a cigarette would be. The major difference between a PV and a typical cigarette is that the juice someone is vaping doesn't contain the 4000+ chemicals found in a regular cigarette. The juice typically contains vegetable glycerin aka VG(found in many foods) or propylene glycol aka PG(found in asthma inhalers) and sometimes both combined with nicotine and artificial flavoring which are typically of the baking variety. Unlike cigarettes the juice can also be in just about any flavor you want. There are normal cigarette type flavors, but you can also find vanilla, cappuccino, chocolate & watermelon as well as some odd flavors like BBQ, bacon & lasagna.
As I said before I am currently vaping butterscotch or waffle flavor right now. I should add, that finding a flavor that exactly matches the brand of cigarette you currently smoke isn't going to happen. There are flavors that taste really good and some that have a real tobacco flavor, but Marlboro smokers aren't going to find a real replacement for Marlboro Reds. I am told that many of the Menthol flavors do taste like menthol though. When looking at different juices a good rule of thumb is that PG juices offer more flavor and throat hit (that feeling you get in the back of your throat when you inhale) and VG will give off more vapor. These juices can also come in varying levels of nicotine strength. Starting at 36 mgs and going all the way down to 0 mgs. It is really up to the individual to determine what is right. Just keep in mind that like everything else, too much nicotine can make you sick. I smoked Camel Filters and Marlboro Reds so I use 24 mgs and will probably cut down to 18 mgs or 16 mgs in the coming months.
The main components of a personal vaporizer are a battery, atomizer and cartridge (cart). There are also cartomizers (carto) that combine the atomizer and cartridge into a single unit. The batteries are rechargeable and the cartomizers, atomizers and cartridges can all be cleaned and reused multiple times. Batteries are typically listed by there mah rating and just like all batteries the higher the mah the longer they last on a single charge. A good measure is that 100 mah = 1 hour of vaping. The batteries also come in automatic where inhaling like a typical cigarette activates the device and starts the vaping process as well as manual where a button needs to be pressed to activate the process. It is normally personal preference as to which is used.
Since this was a pretty short and sweet version of how everything works I can understand some people wanting to know more. If that is the case then I encourage you to go ahead and ask questions and/or take a look at another forum.
ECF New Members Forum
As far as what to buy, I can only recommend the products I have experience with or know a lot about.
If you want something that looks and feels like a cigarette (most people do int he beginning) then I would suggest looking at
Smokeless Image. The Volt is a very popular brand that works amazingly well. They are also priced within reason. I would avoid the basic starter kit though as you will want more than one battery. The 78 mm batteries, which will be about 19 mm longer than a traditional 100 cigarette with a cartridge on, is 320 mah and should last about 3 hours of vaping. It typically takes about 4 hours to charge a battery of this type.
An accessory to consider is a PCC (personal charging case) that has its own battery and can charge an e-cig 3 to 4 times. It is great if you are/were a pack a day smoker or more and can't be by an electrical outlet all day.
If you aren't interested in something that looks just like a traditional cigarette and are looking for more battery life during the day then you could try something like the Ego. The Ego is available in a 650 mah battery or a 900 mah battery. You can find starter kits from
Liberty Flights - SMOK EGO These kits as well as others from other stores come with completely black cartridges so you will also need to buy some liquid/juice to go in them.
With any of these types/brands extra cartridges and juices are going to be needed later on down the line. A typical 30 Ml bottle of juice will be around $15. Two good sites for juice are
Alien Visions E-Juice and
FreedomSmokeUSA.
Also, while this may look like it is going to be more expensive than smoking, it really isn't. After buying the things I needed to get started my $5 a day habit turned into about a $1 a day habit. I spend about $30 a month on juice and new cartridges. So this year I will probably end up spending $430-450 on vaping where I would have spent over $1800 on cigarettes and God only knows how much on lung cancer later on.
I hope that helps some of you that might be interested in making the switch from smoking. Remember, there is nothing that says you have to make the switch all at one time.
Good luck and let me know how it goes.
