Usually I’m content to just lurk and read interesting posts, but here there’s finally something well enough into my area of expertise that it worth making an account to contribute to!
The e-cig linked as a suggestion is a (low end, generously speaking) clearomizer system. There’s nothing wrong with that, they will work as advertised and be less harmful than tobacco and all that good stuff. And if you’re buying e-cigs en masse to hand out to smoker friends you can’t beat the price. But it’s a bit misleading to say one of these alone will add an arbitrary number of years to a persons life. The heating coils in any kind of ecig don’t last forever, and low end devices like the one in the OP tend not to be disassemble-able/customizable. At $5, tossing it out and getting a new one is no big deal, really. But still.
A former smoker with disposable income (read: anyone who could afford to sustain their own tobacco habit in the first place) that’s just a bit pickier would get more mileage out of a rebuildable atomizer based mechanical mod system, even a lowerish end one. It’ll cost more since you’ll have to buy parts individually (think building your own computer), but the increased quality of the experience is well worth it. For example, you’ll be able to tweak how much power you’re getting (based both on what you buy and how you set things up), instead of being stuck with the woeful 650 mAh battery and criminally high 1.8 ohm resistance in the OP’s recommendation. I’ve spoken with many people who didn’t fully give up on cigarettes until they found their way to “advanced user” products like these that give them the exact experience they’re looking for.
Of course the exact product that’s right for any given person will vary, but I’ll link a decent midrange atomizer and mod (or battery tube). You’ll need A1 kanthal resistance wire for building coils, available in huge quantities for dirt cheap on eBay and such. You’ll also need cotton for your wicks, for beginners it’s perfectly fine to buy a bag of organic cotton balls at your local drug store (maybe boil them if you don’t trust how “organic” they are). The choice of e-liquid (the stuff you’ll be smoking, see OP’s second link) is highly subjective and up to personal taste, but I find higher VG juices to be more to my liking. Always buy the best, safest batteries you can Sony VTC4s and VTC5s are the current gold standard for 18650 sized batteries. Most battery chargers should be fine, but I’d recommend something like this
Caveat, especially since this is a post about increasing longevity: There have been a few reported cases of people successfully blowing up their e-cigs with systems like these, but this risk is basically nonexistent if the user practices any kind of battery safety. I trust the members of the LW community know enough about ohm’s law to not accidentally build a pipe bomb and then stick it in their mouths. If this remote possibility is a dealbreaker for anybody, there exist “regulated mods” which tend to come in the form of a box. These have electronic chips in them which regulate the flow of energy from your battery and guarantee consistency, but come with some limitations as to how you can build your coils, and the electronics take some power for themselves lowering the overall potential output (think manual vs automatic transmission in cars)
It should be noted that the vape industry is an incredibly fast moving space. A lot of the info and forum posts on e-cigs (especially from more than a year or two ago) is already outdated. Back then a system like the one I linked wouldn’t have existed, in part because battery technology wasn’t in a place to make it cost effective. If some 2016 future-dweller stumbles upon this comment, don’t take it at face value. Research the current equivalents and best practices. They’re almost guaranteed to be different. If in any doubt, the vaping community is rapidly growing (chances are they’re a dedicated vape shop near you if you’re in a remotely large city. There are currently three in Monterey, CA and that town is tiny) and generally very helpful (if somewhat “bro”-y, culturally). If there isn’t a shop near you to help you out, there are many impartial product reviews that you could find on YouTube.
Vaping is much more complex and personal than someone completely new to it might at first realize, and your individual needs and experience will vary. In any case, I hope this was helpful, and not just incoherent rambling.
You appear to be very knowledgeable about vaping. Can I ask you for some personal advice?
My husband tried to switch to e-cigs on several occasions. Every time he was back to smoking within a couple of days. He has been using cheap clearomiser e-cigs, and he says the vape liquid leaks into his mouth and leaves a nasty taste, and I suspect that the nicotine content of his vape liquid is too low.
I have been trying to persuade him to try buproprion or more expensive e-cigs or vape liquid with a higher nicotine content.
These are the replies that I usually get:
‘I can quit without bupropion. I am smoking at the moment because of stressful event X, and I will quit on date Y when my life will be less stressful’
‘I will have the same problems with the expensive e-cigs’
‘I’m not really addicted to nicotine. I am just a puffer and I don’t draw the smoke deep into my lungs. I only smoke to keep my hands busy/deal with stress/keep me awake at work.’
Usually I’m content to just lurk and read interesting posts, but here there’s finally something well enough into my area of expertise that it worth making an account to contribute to!
The e-cig linked as a suggestion is a (low end, generously speaking) clearomizer system. There’s nothing wrong with that, they will work as advertised and be less harmful than tobacco and all that good stuff. And if you’re buying e-cigs en masse to hand out to smoker friends you can’t beat the price. But it’s a bit misleading to say one of these alone will add an arbitrary number of years to a persons life. The heating coils in any kind of ecig don’t last forever, and low end devices like the one in the OP tend not to be disassemble-able/customizable. At $5, tossing it out and getting a new one is no big deal, really. But still.
A former smoker with disposable income (read: anyone who could afford to sustain their own tobacco habit in the first place) that’s just a bit pickier would get more mileage out of a rebuildable atomizer based mechanical mod system, even a lowerish end one. It’ll cost more since you’ll have to buy parts individually (think building your own computer), but the increased quality of the experience is well worth it. For example, you’ll be able to tweak how much power you’re getting (based both on what you buy and how you set things up), instead of being stuck with the woeful 650 mAh battery and criminally high 1.8 ohm resistance in the OP’s recommendation. I’ve spoken with many people who didn’t fully give up on cigarettes until they found their way to “advanced user” products like these that give them the exact experience they’re looking for.
Of course the exact product that’s right for any given person will vary, but I’ll link a decent midrange atomizer and mod (or battery tube). You’ll need A1 kanthal resistance wire for building coils, available in huge quantities for dirt cheap on eBay and such. You’ll also need cotton for your wicks, for beginners it’s perfectly fine to buy a bag of organic cotton balls at your local drug store (maybe boil them if you don’t trust how “organic” they are). The choice of e-liquid (the stuff you’ll be smoking, see OP’s second link) is highly subjective and up to personal taste, but I find higher VG juices to be more to my liking. Always buy the best, safest batteries you can Sony VTC4s and VTC5s are the current gold standard for 18650 sized batteries. Most battery chargers should be fine, but I’d recommend something like this
Caveat, especially since this is a post about increasing longevity: There have been a few reported cases of people successfully blowing up their e-cigs with systems like these, but this risk is basically nonexistent if the user practices any kind of battery safety. I trust the members of the LW community know enough about ohm’s law to not accidentally build a pipe bomb and then stick it in their mouths. If this remote possibility is a dealbreaker for anybody, there exist “regulated mods” which tend to come in the form of a box. These have electronic chips in them which regulate the flow of energy from your battery and guarantee consistency, but come with some limitations as to how you can build your coils, and the electronics take some power for themselves lowering the overall potential output (think manual vs automatic transmission in cars)
It should be noted that the vape industry is an incredibly fast moving space. A lot of the info and forum posts on e-cigs (especially from more than a year or two ago) is already outdated. Back then a system like the one I linked wouldn’t have existed, in part because battery technology wasn’t in a place to make it cost effective. If some 2016 future-dweller stumbles upon this comment, don’t take it at face value. Research the current equivalents and best practices. They’re almost guaranteed to be different. If in any doubt, the vaping community is rapidly growing (chances are they’re a dedicated vape shop near you if you’re in a remotely large city. There are currently three in Monterey, CA and that town is tiny) and generally very helpful (if somewhat “bro”-y, culturally). If there isn’t a shop near you to help you out, there are many impartial product reviews that you could find on YouTube.
Vaping is much more complex and personal than someone completely new to it might at first realize, and your individual needs and experience will vary. In any case, I hope this was helpful, and not just incoherent rambling.
You appear to be very knowledgeable about vaping. Can I ask you for some personal advice?
My husband tried to switch to e-cigs on several occasions. Every time he was back to smoking within a couple of days. He has been using cheap clearomiser e-cigs, and he says the vape liquid leaks into his mouth and leaves a nasty taste, and I suspect that the nicotine content of his vape liquid is too low.
I have been trying to persuade him to try buproprion or more expensive e-cigs or vape liquid with a higher nicotine content.
These are the replies that I usually get: ‘I can quit without bupropion. I am smoking at the moment because of stressful event X, and I will quit on date Y when my life will be less stressful’ ‘I will have the same problems with the expensive e-cigs’ ‘I’m not really addicted to nicotine. I am just a puffer and I don’t draw the smoke deep into my lungs. I only smoke to keep my hands busy/deal with stress/keep me awake at work.’
Thanks for giving people detailed options! I am liking the mini protank myself. Glass and steel instead of plastic.