Almost Forgot My Vaporversery! 6 Yrs!!!

I started vaping and smoked my last cigarette Oct 12th 2013. I started with this..

This was my first setup and I loved it when I first got it. Then I got sick of dealing with the ego-c atomizers and upgraded to an Evod and boy I thought that was awesome! Lol.
December 6th 2013 I got my MVP2. (I remember the date because I got it the day before my friends wedding that I was in). Then came other clearos like an I smoke bcc mega, protank, etc.
Christmas 2013 I got an iTaste vv3 along with an iclear30s. I used that setup for quite a while until the Nautilus came out. I got one of those and used it up until last Christmas when I got an Atlantis along with an aspire sub ohm battery. After using that setup for a few months I really missed having a regulated device. I missed all the features and the adjustability of the MVP but wanted something more powerful that could power my Atlantis as well. So a few weeks back I ordered a 50w istick and that's where I'm at now.
I have yet to get into rebuilding but would like to try it out with something like a sub tank mini.
So when did you start vaping and how have you progressed?

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk  

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've been vaping with v4l and v2 e-cigs for a couple years mostly the ego style ones. I love messing with all the technology I have and I'm very hands on so I figured I'd stop limiting myself. I bought a Sigelei 100w Plus, Kanger Sub Tank Mini, and a Mutation X V3 RDA.

WOW

I feel stupid for not doing this earlier. I've been vaping 12mg for a couple months now, but bought 6mg for the Sub Tank and RDA and that is even too strong! I diluted it with 100% PG to make it 3mg and it is much better. I couldn't be happier. No dry hits.. no leaking... all the problems I've dealt with over the past couple years are gone and I'm experiencing vaping like never before.

Success!!

Plus I finally convinced my GF to start vaping on New Years Eve and she hasn't looked back. She's using the V2 Pro Series 3 which she loves and we even found some really good house made flavors at a local vaping shop that we really liked. She got cotton candy and I got cigar. I didn't think a vape shop would have juice that good and they even made it fresh right in front of us. To my surprise no steeping required!

Alright I'm rambling. I will leave you with this pic.. and to all you musicians out there that is a ART Pro MPA II preamp with genuine Telefunken tubes from the 60's.

20150316_191947 by joshfiricano, on Flickr  

Greetings, while looking through my photo archive I found images that help show my beginning steps in vaping. I need to point out that during the work day I use losenges that I get from Costco so only smoked in the mornings before work and the afternoons after work.

Here's the first one taken July 6th 2015:


In March/April of 2015 the other half started complaining about my cigarette smoke. She had a eye issue that she found was sensitive to the smoke when returning from visiting her daughter. (she would get used to it but would complain when he first got back)

Looking to solve the problem possibly with Vaping, I picked up a Blue kit and some extra cartridges from (of all places Costco). It was not all that expensive and the batteries (or cartridges) did not last very long or put out much vapor. They did have a "coffee" flavor I did like. I continued smoking.

Next time she left for a few days with her daughter I dropped by a local vape shop and for ~$75-100 (I forget) they set me up with a iTaste CLK!, Aspire K1 (and Maxi) and 15ml of 18mg Strawberry juice. While it took 3 days to get used to the charging/refilling/exc of the setup I quit smoking with this setup. The 1.5ml tank and mere 800mah battery were the main limitations as well as "glassomizers" really did not put out much vapor.

With in a few days I'd upgrade the tank to a Nautilus mini and shortly afterwards I'd get Full sized Nautilus tanks and the Blue tube mod shown in the center. While this mod was a good match to the Nautilus tank, I grew tired of swapping 18350's so bought the other two tube mods to the right. One could take ether 2x18350's stacked or a 18650 and the Vamo v10 on the right could take a stacked set of 18350's.

By July of that year I had given up on "drop in coil" tanks (the store bought juice I was using was killing them in as little as a few days) and had decided to take the plunge into RTA's and into temperature controlled vaping.


At the time the two leaders in TC vaping was DNA and Yihi. I bought a SXMini ($200) and three different popular (at the time) tanks: Atlantis, SubtankMini and Lemo2. Two of the three could be used with factory coils or a RBA head, the Lemo2 had the unique feature of top fill. (I still use a Lemo2 today!)

Back in those days if you wanted to TC, you were going to do it with Ni200 wire. I decided I liked the 28AWG. A few weeks later I had added two more mods:


By this point in my vaping journey I was developing a few habits: I was 'marrying' a flavor with a tank, a tank with a mod and all battery charging was being done via USB port. I just cycled complete setups on two USB charge cords I had. Others liked complaining about the SXMini's battery door but I had no issue with it as I'd only used it once.

Sometime that summer (or was it fall?) I got tired of paying the outlandish juice prices and decided to make my own. Granted for YEARS I simply made 7mg or 18mg unflavored 100% VG juice but the cost savings allowed me to get dozens of different tanks and mods to play with and try out.

By April 2016 I took this image:


TC vaping had evolved from from Ni200 wire to Ti to NiFe48 and SS. Early TC mods only supported Ni200 (and some Ti) and newer ones supported SS. Mods I've bought had to have a user programmable TCR value. I've been exclusively using NiFe48 for years.

Finally by about 2019 I decided to get into vaping flavors. Knowing that RDA's or Squankers give the best flavor, I outfitted myself (Bullcity flavors) with a bunch of squankers and now have the option of vaping flavors. (many of my squankers are in my profile image)

NOTE: only one mod in the images I've shown is dead and no longer able to be in service.

These days I have mods scattered all over the house but in/for 5 main areas: morning coffee, home office, watching tv, night stand and to take with me in the car/truck.

Thats my story and journey - happy vaping!


g.  

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.  

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!"  

So I dug out 3 of my old Provari 2.5s with the extension caps ,I ordered 6 18650 button top batteries from 18650 batteries web site I have about 6 Berserkers a coupe of Geekvape Ammits and 3 2019 Kayfun minis tons of 28 gauge wire been building 1.5 ohm coils and wow it feels like 5 years ago lol , Anyway I just hope this whole thing with the FDA Pmtas just goes away if not I really hope a couple of my juice suppliers makes it thru I vape Heathers H vapes Dark Horse ,Black Note , Real tobacco Extracts ,Naturally Extracted Tobacco and rocket fuels reaper blend most all on a daily basis ,I do want to say this whole thing that's going on in this country is almost to the point of prejudice against people who vape I smoked for almost 35 years and finally quit in 2013 when I started with a Halo Triton and a Lavatube , I know I should be making my own juice just don't have the time ,and maybe buying a mech mod or 2 But I have about 10 VW/VV mods plus my 3 Provaris which are built like a tank ( I miss provape), well good luck to all  

I smoked my last cigarette at 8:05am on May 5, 2014 . I didn't know then if it would really be the day I finally quit, but I told myself to really try to go 24 hours without smoking, a goal I had never achieved. And I made it! So then I told myself, if I could go a day, I could truly make it.

I started smoking at a very young age, and smoked 35 years. I made numerous attempts to quit going back to my college years. I tried cold turkey, cutting back, the patch, gum, a nicotine inhaler, Wellbutrin and Chantix. No matter what, I couldn't break that 24 hour goal. I would go through ashtrays and light up every disgusting butt for 1 or 2 nasty drags.

My last few years of smoking I was under a PAD, but only due to financial reasons. I just wouldn't let myself have more than 1 cigarette per hour, but I certainly smoked the heck out of each one. The filter would be collapsed by the time I was finished.

Thank you, ECF. I was so clueless when I started vaping. I didn't know which was 510 and which was ego threading on my batteries. I didn't know an atomizer from a clearomizer. I didn't know what rebuildables were, or that the ones I saw online were clones. I kept googling different things, and kept ending up here to read. Finally after 3 months of lurking, I joined.

The journey has been amazing! The technology changes alone in the 14 months I've been vaping are mind boggling. And I've met some truly kind and generous folks here, from those who give their time all day to help others, to those who give hardware and juice to those in a financial crunch. Thank you, all  

Today is my 3rd day since I last vaped and while the cravings are not as strong as trying to quit cigs, I definitely feel something is missing from my life. You know what I'm talking about.

I'm sure I can last weeks with will power but it's not so much the withdrawal symptoms or any adverse effect, but more of "gee a vape would be nice about now" that really makes this psychologically challenging.

I'm kind of debating whether I should continue. Does it get easier as time goes on? At least with cigs you know it's bad for you but with vape being "safer" the motivation to quit drops dramatically. If it's not going to get any easier than I'm not sure if it's worth the tradeoff...  

History. I'm 66, smoked for more than 30 years, quit when I had a small heart attack at about 47-49 years old. BP issues requiring meds and other health issues.

About last August 2019 I had a bunch of stress come up and handled it badly. I started on mild cigars and moved to medium strong. Got in a situation where I couldn't smoke a stogie, so bummed a cigarette. That morphed into smoking more than a carton and stogies.

I knew they'd kill me so I picked up a Juul 3%, not enough moved to 5%.
Moved on to a Vinci x and 50 salt.

Have been mixing and dropping the salt and was to 25ish. Was getting a lot of choking white phlegm every morn. Vaping mostly tobacco with very little flavor. 70-30 was better than 50-50 for muscus/phlegm problem.

The purpose of vaping was to avoid analogs and eventually quit all nicotine.

I'm into the second day today. Piece of nicorette gum in one cheek and a nicorette lozenge in the other. Both 2mg. Consult your doctor on doubling up patches, gum etc.

Withdrawal wasn't bad so far at all. Don't know if vape nic absorbs different or not. It's different than quitting analogs somehow for me anyway.

Anyhow, passing it on for anyone thinking of going down the path of being nic free again. I was off everything for 15+ years and for my heart and health am going there again.

I do have to say though that vaping definitely kept me 100% off analogs once I switched. And didn't palpitate or sense any issues from it, other than a 20 count BP rise.

I vaped lightly, 100-150 2-3 second puffs per day. I still have the equipment and juice if I fail, but so far it's going well.

Dave