Four Years

I keep posting the same old thing, every year. Adjust to suit!

It has been 10 years recently, since my last cigarette. I haven't been posting in recent months/years, I have been keeping up on the treadmill of life. For the last couple of years, I have been pasting this exact same thing on my anniversary. I think it still works.

Thanks to ECF for being here, to the mods for keeping it sane, CASAA for working so that we can have a future, and all of you for helping each other and yourselves!

Like most of you, I spent too large a percentage of my life killing myself slowly, and eventually spending a lot of money to do so. In my particular case, I still loved smoking, but grew disgruntled over the health realities, Big Tobacco, and the taxation of cigs. I have quit many times, in many ways, but never for more than a few months. During those few months, I was never pleasant to be around.

It's easy to make excuses to keep smoking, I made them all.

I am *not* an expert, and nobody asked me, but since I am waxing eloquent I will make suggestions about how it worked for me. YMMV

1. To quit smoking, you really only need two things. A device that works for you (charging, form factor, blahblah) and juice that you like. Three things. The desire to quit.

2. Don't feel obligated to stop smoking immediately. I was an accidental quitter. Initially I wanted to smoke some and vape some. I could save some money, and not have to stand outside in the rain. It's OK to smoke while you are learning what works for you. You can do that for the rest of your life, if you want to.

2b. Keep an idea of where you are on supplies. You need backups of everything (home, work, car). After I decided to actually quit smoking, two weeks in I had two battery deaths in two days. I only had two batteries. After 12 hours of crazy, I had to smoke.

3. Learn your device well, before you start collecting more and more! It can be convenient to wind up with a couple of different styles that work for different life situations. If you buy one every week, you will spend a lot of money and could still be deep down unhappy that "it's not working like I thought it would". Many of us as smokers can be a wee bit OCD anyway. Don't let collecting get in the way of Not Smoking (tm)

4. Don't buy a gallon of the first juice that you like. It will take a month or more before your damaged sense of taste/smell start regenerating. What you loved initially you may hate in a month. Buy lots of small samplers, to discover what you like.

5. Yes, you will save money, lots of it. See #3 and #4 above.

6. At the end of the day, all these devices are just batteries and heaters. How long they last, charging, the form factor, the ability to adjust them during use are all just variations on a theme. Some of the cig-a-likes have a lifetime of 30 charge cycles. Some larger ones can be charged 500 times. Find the balance that works for you. What *does* matter, is the actual vaping end of it. Explore attys, cartos, tanks, RBA. Try them all, this is what determines the taste and vapor production.

7. Support your local vape shop. I know you can get this stuff from China for cheap. Your local brick and mortar shop is spending a lot of money for rent and employees, and the ability to sample juice is not possible on AliBaba. They are also providing a valuable service in being a first exposure to vaping for many. Go in and hang out. If nothing else, buy some drip tips, juice, attys or doo-dads. Check out the new PVs.

8. With few exceptions, the kiosk at the mall is not a good deal, nor a good idea. Free trials online or from radio ads are always a ripoff. You will spend a lot more on much inferior equipment and then have a hard time getting it off of your credit card.

9. Don't be arrogant about vaping in public. They don't know that you are not smoking from 10 feet away. My area has illegalized vaping. With low VG juice, I can discreetly vape after a meal. It beats standing outside in the rain.

10. Don't get in flamewars on ECF about your favorite device. Yes, there are idiots here, don't be one. If it works for you, that is the best one for you.

11. Once you get comfortable with vaping, consider DIY. Juice is what costs the most in the long run. Start small, measure with precision, keep detailed notes, be safe. You know what you like better than any description on a web page.

12. Join CASAA, and do things.

13. ECF is great for support. Don't be afraid to bare your soul to kindred spirits here in a hard time, you can find a lot of strength.

#14 for 2017. Consider a banner. I forgot about mine here. For several years, I kept one going on my phone. It was a good motivator for me. I would await milestones. When I had a hard time quitting, my banner helped me. "Only two more days until <whatever exciting increment is coming up>".

#15 for 2017. Reward yourself with the money you save. I am not wealthy, but after a few months of not smoking, I realized I was not as broke before payday. Buy something fun. Take your significant other out. Buy those tires you have been needing. If you are not inclined to buy 'things', invest in something risky. Or in something conservative.

#16 for 2019. Now? I find myself mixing juice with zero flavor, a few mg/ml of nic. It's mostly ritual now. But I like it!

#17 for 2021. I missed posting last year, Covid-Crazy. My devices have all died. My beat-to-sheeit Vaporshark 40 has finally quit functioning completely a few weeks after my 10th anniversary. It has been disassembled *many* times, cleaned the switches/contact points with rubbing alcohol, that always brought it back. I never got into the high-wattage 'cloud machine' aspect. The Vaporshark/DNA/Evolv devices run at about 12-20 watts was fine. I'm 66, just retired, don't think I will replace the vaping devices. I find I miss vaping, I don't miss smoking. Attached is the old 'About' screen of my Vaporshark. It lights up, but the + button for wattage had died (and I've re-soldered the connections). At least it was 'Genuine' and not a fake..

 

A quick back story to start. I was a 1-2 PAD smoker for about 5 years. I found vapes and quit smoking. I was able to stop vaping and smoking for 18 months until I picked up smoking again for a few years. I have once again been able to stop smoking and started vaping again. Simple transition, some willpower for sure, but I have kicked the habit completely. When I started vaping again I purchased an Istick 50w and a troll. Have been using 3mg liquid only. It's been about six weeks smoke free again and I want to, not only upgrade, but reward myself. I read and read and watch reviews non stop, my head hurts from all of the stuff out now. I use my mod consistently at 45 to 50 watts. I have a 0.4 dual coil build and a chuff top. The heat from the vape is less than perfect, but I like the vapor production. I am interested in temperature control as well. If I need to buy two mods to have everything I want, so be it. Not that money isn't an issue, but right now it isn't a factor. I have been looking at IPV3, Sigeli 150, IPV4, Mech Mods, you name it I have looked and can probably tell you the specs off the top of my head. I just can't decide! I need your help ECF! I know I want at least dual 18650, as my Istick lasts maybe half a day until I need to charge. Good flavor and large vapor production atty, temp control, and good ergonomics. Thanks in advance for all input and help.  

i quit smoking for about 3 months back in the carto tank days.

then they stopped making cartomizers. then all my juice vendors went out.

I've been struggling to find a replacement since. I've easily spent too much money on vaping. I"m getting tired of trying.

are these new pods similar to carto tanks?
I'm so lost.

I have lost interest in the clouds. I just want to stop my 30 year long smoking addiction. I miss my carto tanks. they worked for me. I'm frustrated. I'm tired. I'm lost.  

Hey guys,

I’m new to vaping. I have been a heavy 2 pack a day Marlboro light smoker for 20 years. I recently got into vaping and so far it has been an amazing journey!

I started with a small pod device (Caliburn) with 16MG nic salt. I found that I was still not able to quit smoking. I went back to my local Vape shop and got some 20mg nic salt juice, and that was too strong! It made me dizzy and confused and I just felt unwell. Even though @20mg I was getting a lot of nicotine I still wanted to smoke a cigarette.

On a whim I decided to give sub ohm vaping a try. I got myself a Lost Vape Thelema DNA 250c + a Freemax Mesh Pro 2 tank. I opted with 6MG freebase juice at 70/30. And sure enough it worked! I was able to quit smoking and have been smoke free for a week now!

My question though, is 6MG freebase nic @0.2 ohms (dual mesh), 70-80 watts too much? I feel fine for the most part and my cravings for cigarettes are under control. However from what I’ve read (and what the guy at my local Vape shop says) is that for sub ohm vaping you generally should stick to about 3mg of nicotine.

I know everyone is different, and you should do what works for you. But I’m just worried that with the large amount of Vapor I’m producing 6MG might just be a little risky.

I Vape quite a lot (200-250 puffs a day) and probably somewhere around 15-20ml of juice a day (at 0.2 ohms @ 70w the juice burns pretty quick). As mentioned above I generally feel fine. However sometimes I do feel a bit out of breath and like my chest is heavy. This could be gas (perhaps from inhaling so much air?). Or it could just be me adjusting from cigarettes to vaping. I don’t feel nauseous or have headaches.

Please let me know your opinions. Would really appreciate some advice from more experienced vapers!

Thanks!  

This past week marks 5 years since I smoked a cigarette. It honestly doesn't seem that long, it seems like yesterday I was huddled out in the cold at work with the smokers. I had been a smoker for 28 years.

Unlike many I see posting here, I cannot say vaping helped me quit. I quit cold turkey, and never tried an ecig until about a year after I quit smoking. At that point I was still doing well as a non-smoker, I didn't physically crave smoking, but I missed the 28 year habit of lighting up, having something to fiddle with, and just the relaxing feeling of the inhale/exhale. I had been eating a lot more to make up for the void, and having been underweight all my life I started packing on pounds (too many!). I sorely needed a non-food substitute for the comfort I was missing, but wasn't about to go back to smoking.

I tried a junky convenience store ecig after that first year, and thought "if this was what they were like than forget it". I continued on not smoking, but still missing the habit. About two years after that I began seeing the new advanced products coming out, and did a lot of research. I bought my first starter kit in 2013, and slowly advanced up to bigger and better gear.

People ask why would start vaping after I had already kicked the cigarette habit, and I say, "Why not?". Other than nicotine I'm not getting any of the negative things I got with cigarettes. And in my opinion, there's really nothing wrong with a little nicotine. Nicotine is not what was killing me, it was the smoke that was delivering the nicotine that was killing me.

So I'm 5 years smoke free, I no longer hack in the mornings, my chest never hurts and my clothes, car and hair don't stink anymore.
I have no intentions on giving up vaping, as it has no negative impact on my life, and i enjoy it, so why stop?

I have since gotten my son, my step-son, and his wife to all trade vaping for smoking, so bonus points for saving all their lives too!  

I "successfully" quit vaping for 2 month. It actually wasn't that bad, I was able to fill the void with music/gum/walks. Right now I have 0 physical temptation to vape.

But there has been many stressful situations and I feel without the vape it made everything harder. To me, it's not that I had to have it, but it was something enjoyed. And taking it away made life a little less fun. It's like saying you can never eat candy or drink coffee again.

The only reason I quit was for the health benefits. I heard vaping can cause COPD but then I also hear it's a lot less harmful than smoking. But here's the thing that really demotivates one from quitting vaping:

We are not sure how harmful is it (if at all)

There are many other things bad for us in life, like air pollution, asbestos, etc. Is it worth giving up something that you enjoy for a marginal health benefit? I vape at a low wattage so I don't think I'm getting lots of formaldehydes.
I'm really thinking about going back to vaping. I think I'll vape a few more years and if news comes out by then that vaping is truly really bad, then I'll quit...

I don't know... it's not like we are going to live forever even if we don't vape/smoke/do anything unhealthy...  

I've been trying to get my dad to quit smoking for two years now. He wanted to quit using an e-cig. However, he just can't seem to stick with it. He has been smoking for 30+ years. He smokes almost two packs a day.

I think the problem really is that he hasn't -tried-. As soon as he wants a real smoke, he lights one up. He only uses his e-cig is places he can't smoke.

He says he wants something that taste like tobacco. I've tried buying him numerous tobacco e-liquids. The closest was one from Ahlusion, but he still says it isn't like tobacco. He keeps saying he'll quit, but then he doesn't.

He has an ego with a mini protank, he seems fine with that. He isn't very amused by my mech mods and RTAs. lol.

I'm just lost as to what to do. A lot of people say to just stop telling him to do so and let him do it on his own. It is hard to just sit and watch him smoke though, esp when my mom had lung cancer just over a year ago (luckily, she did quit smoking with an e-cig and went into remission after radiation treatment). When I switched, I had only just started to smoke again (I smoked 3 years, quit, then started smoking again for about 4 months, then to an e-cig). I didn't like tobacco flavors when I started and almost immediately went to fruit flavors. He's tried those too, doesn't have much interest in them.

So my question to you ex long term smokers, what helped you make the switch? I feel like I just can't relate to smoking 30 something years.  

I am enjoying vaping soooooooooooooooo much..

I know most of people here are veterans and won't be Soo excited ofc anymore

But man....my first attempt on vaping was in 2014 and for many reasons didn't go well and I was back to cigs...ew

Anyways... now it's being 4.5 months vaping
I started with a drop in coils atomizer and now I use rebuildable also and make my my own e juice ofc and blah blah.blah....

Vaping is soooooo good.....never going back to cigs eeeeeever....actually cigs seem sooo bad now and I hat a hit to remind me what a nasty thing I was smoking all those years....ew

The benefits of vaping are more that u think and u only realise when u start it...

Besides health benefits...that ok some may say vaping is now sooo risk free but I don't care even if was same bad as cigs...even tho I am sure it's not

My sense of taste and smell is much better now....

I can adjust my nicontine levels and lower it and now I have less cravings...(I was crazy smoker)

My hands or facial hair don't smell and they don't get a yellow colour from cig smoke that I had to pull off my skin to remove ...(I was always with a cig on my hand)

Clothes don't smell and I don't feel bad to hug my niece now

My car don't smell cigs....my kitchen don't smell cigs...(I used to smoke to kitchen)

My mouth hygiene and gums is better now confirmed by dentist also...already only 4.5months vaping!!!

I sleep better and wake up better no cough or hard breathing...

In my case I used to skip brushing my teeth sometimes cause in my opinion it would ruin my smoking experience but with vaping I tend to want to brush my teeth after every meal if I can cause I enjoy vaping taste more

I still drink coffee but water is a great match with vaping for me cause it reset the flavour in mouth so I drink less coffees and beverages...
with cigs I was always drinking loooot of coffee or some kind of beverage usually unhealthy cause it used to match with horrible taste of burned paper and tobacco lol

If I needed my nicotine I used to roll a cig and then I was smoking it all ofc...even tho I wanted just a few puffs...with vaping I can take my puff aaaanytime I want as much as I want...

The cost is less even tho some may spend a looooooooooot money hhahaha but if u are a casual vaper is cheaper ....but even if was the same or more still worth it....



P.s I know I don't say anything people here don't already know but just happy excited about vaping and sharing it  

I've tried to quit smoking using vape stuff many times over the last two years or so. I've made it two weeks twice and otherwise have not made it long enough to remember. I had a dream last night that I was vaping. When I woke up I got excited about that (that I wasn't smoking in the dream). I went back to bed and woke up this morning in the middle of a dream that I was smoking. Ahk!

I know that I cannot ever have another puff if I want this to work. There is a thread about how gross smoking tastes after vaping. It's true that for me, smoking is sort of gross and leaves a nasty taste in my mouth, but clearly I like it no matter how disgusting it is.

Around February, my boyfriend said he wanted to quit smoking in the spring. We quit on the same day (last Monday). He uses nicotine gum and I have my vaping. He enjoys taking a puff off my equipment. But a "puff" has turned into about as much as I use it. Last Saturday he said he only had one piece of nicotine gum because he vaped most of the time. I'm trying not to be annoyed, but it kind of irritates me a little. Mostly because I chain-vape and don't want him to take it from me. A few days ago, I noticed he kept adjusting the voltage and handing it back to me without changing it back to where I had it! I made sure he stopped doing that.

Last night he asked me what stuff I buy (the battery, clearomizers and liquid- sorry, I don't know the correct terminology for everything). He was reading up on vaping. I am hoping he's considering buying his own stuff.

I'm thrilled that he quit smoking and want to be supportive of him regardless of how he does it but I sort of want to say, "get your own!"  

I have been vaping for a month with a pod kit (voopoo argus air) using pnp coil .8 ohm for MTL. I was smoking for more than 10 years and I want to quit but everytime I vape I feel a tightness on my chest and it induces me to cough. When I am smoking an analog it is so smooth I don't even cough. I really want to quit smoking but with this unpleasant experience on vaping it is hard to leave smoking. My juice is a salt nic with 24mg/ml nicotine strength.