Happy 5th Anniversary, Tibs!

Check out the PIF forum!
Many members have accumulated vaping gear over time and generously trade or donate their outgrown stuff. Bookmark the Pif forum. Check it often. Then, when your time comes - Pay it Forward.

There are PIF forums for the UK and Canada, as well.

When I was new I found navigating this forum overwhelming. I thought it might help some of the new folks to point out a good place for them to go.

Happy Vaping!  

Today is the 8th anniversary of the day I had my last cigarette and started vaping. Saved my life! Thank you to the supportive people on this forum and everyone who keeps it going.  

I don't know where my common sense went, but I had two mods charging on the same outlet today. I smelled something burning and the plug to one of the mods was smoking, turned black and melted. I was using an extension cord. I'm happy that both mods seem fine, but mostly happy I was here in the same room and avoided a possible disaster.

Just a little reminder for you guys.  

Congratulations FastTech!

FastTech 8 Years Anniversary Giveaway  

Yesterday Lightning Vapes sent out an email informing customers of their impending business and website name change to - WIREOPTIM. Excerpt -
"We will continue to carry many of the products you have come to know and love, however e-liquid will soon be a thing of the past, and batteries are likely to be absent as well."

I'm going to call them and hope to chat about this tomorrow - the owner is quite up on battery tech. I don't recall the details or exactly when, but I do remember some condemnation and warnings and label changes concerning 18650 bat use in mods. A year or two, three... ago? Not sure.
As I DIY most of my lquids my largest concern in the past weeks has been nicotine availability and I'm adjusting my budget for a bulk purchase for frozen storage. I think/hope wire, cotton and PG/VG and flavorings will be somewhat safer from the insane one-sided ban happy wildfire sweeping the US.
The battery comment caught me a bit off-guard, and I'm not quite flush enough atm to stock up on those at the same time. Even less flush to find and buy some lost vape duos or other LI-PO pack mods if anyone still makes them. LI-Po's are used in RC hobbies and are available on ebay and from battery supliers - might be the way to go forward if I need to break out my soldering iron and relearn to mod hardware. I hope I'm overthinking this but if this is more about money and not the "Save the Children" BS I've been listening to for a decade, they won't stop at flavors.
I'll report back if I get any thoughts from LV.
Until then any thoughts here? Is Mooch still participating on this forum? Guess I'll be re-researching longevity and storage of those cells in the coming days.
I began vaping 10 years ago this month - after smoking for 30 years - I'm 57 - haven't had a smoke since and I'm seriously f***ing pissed off. But that's for another thread.
Cheers
Mike  

Just realized that I have been smoke free for 6 years. Wow. Best thing I have ever done. I went from smoking 2+ pad to quitting instantly. Started with 24 mg (yes, it was necessary with the inefficient systems that were around in 2009 lol) to now using 0 - 3 mg depending on what I feel like.

Happy anniversary to me !  

Hey folks,

Have been getting into vaping on temp control (DNA40) devices with Nickel Wire builds in RDAs. Does anyone have experience with cleaning these builds to extend life? You can't dry-burn Nickel Wire the way you can Kanthal so I haven't figured out a way to clean these builds other than rinsing as well as possible and rewicking.

Hate the idea of having to rebuild every time but if that is what needs to happen I'll do it.  

So why don't some of us old-timers reminisce a little bit about how it used to be....

--I remember when new members would be struggling constantly trying to find the path to a satisfying vape
--I remember when the 510 came on the scene, with a somewhat lower resistance atomizer, and new vapers started having increased success
--I remember when 510 cartridge mods were all the rage, as folks kept trying to find a good way to continue getting those consistently good vapes
--I remember when the KR808D came on the scene, and cartomizers started pushing new vaper success rates even higher
--I remember the ensuing 510 vs KR808D wars
--I remember the Boge Cartomizers for the 510 models that may well have turned the tide towards 510 models
--I remember when low-resistance (LR) atomizers came on the scene and the ability to vary your "power" became a reality
--I remember the FDA court case, and the formation of CASAA from members on this very forum
--I remember when CASAA started working closely with long-time harm-reduction advocates, thus giving long-time THR advocates new life and consumer backing
--I remember when the Chuck came out with custom graphics
--I remember the Chuck vs Silver Bullet wars
--I remember when the Reo Mods came out, and took dripping to a whole new level
--I remember when Egos came out and new vaper success started to skyrocket
--I remember the Buzz, which if I remember correctly, started the variable voltage revolution
--I remember when the Provari came out and started the variable voltage wars
--I remember when the Nhaler came out with the Darwin and started the variable wattage vs variable voltage wars

And I look at that the New Members sub-forum these days, and find very few struggling at first vape anymore.
Success, now, is nearly guaranteed.

That's progress.



What do you all remember?  

I joined ECF back in August of 2017. I was sixty-five years old and had been smoking 25-30 cigarettes a day for 40+ years. I began vaping at the same time win the hope I could at least cut down. I dual used for months, continually cutting back on cigarettes. I smoked my last cigarette on May 11, 2018 - I am coming up on my three year anniversary. When I began, I vaped 24mg nicotine. Now I alternate between 3mg and zero nic.

Given how incredibly positive vaping has been for me, I am in shock at recent events. I was down to two working mods. I have ordered four mods, some tanks and a bunch of coils. I am still able to buy some eliquids where I live - but many of my favorites from Halo have been discontinued. I still have some outstanding hardware orders that I hope get delivered.

The treatment of vaping in the media has been a one sided disgrace, and propaganda works. Over the years when I have mentioned to people that I quit by vaping, they respond, ‘so you quit smoking by picking up a habit that is even more dangerous’.

I am set for at least a year. Fortunately I have kicked my addiction to nicotine - I recently vaped zero nic for a month. If I was just starting out, it would truly be panic time, and I would go back to cigarettes for sure. I suspect that many will do just that. Happy I started when I did.  

So I've been vaping for 2-3 years now. Mainly on a Big Baby Beast and Baby Beast. When the X Baby came out I got one but stayed with the big baby. X Baby motivated me that vaping wasn't gonna get much better than what we already had. Now after 6-9 months out of the loop, I see mesh is in. My local supply doesn't even carry X Baby coils anymore. So since I've been using the same 2 tanks for over 2 years, well it's time. I just want something better than what 2017 had to offer. I have rebuilt coils in the RTA for the Big baby. I can build basic coils. I want easy. I'm too busy to do anything past a simple mesh RTA or a new mesh sub ohm replaceable cool setup.

I like DL Vapes in the 30-50 watt range. With the Smoke stuff I've never went over 50 watts and I'm happy with that or I would need a new mod.

It would be nice to get a recommendations that the typical local supply would carry coils for