Update: 9/27/2018 – please see Brantley’s post: After 2-3 years of Vaping not being enough… for more updated info! Also you can check out our vaping blog category.
4-12-13 Update – please see the revised page:How I quit cigarettes for more updated information! (No, see above.)
I’ve had a few people ask me about the device I was smoking on the Podnutz show the other day, so let me tell you a story.
One day about 1.5 years ago, I decided I was too lazy to go to the store to buy cigarettes. I hated going to the store every day, standing in line, waiting to spend my hard earned money on something that was killing me. I decided I would try “e-cigs” or personal vaporizers, which aren’t for everyone, but they work well for me.
Don’t get me wrong, every vaporizer has it’s issues, none are perfect.
I started on the “Blu” “e-cig” and after a week or two I ended up giving it away. I had also been smoking cigs while I had the device. It never produced great hits, when it produced them at all! Sometimes it’s automatic battery went off by itself in my pocket or behind my ear. It was a pain in the ass. You also had to buy expensive nicotine cartridges for it.
Next I did a lot of research, and purchased a Joye Ego MEGA starter kit. Finally, I was able to put the cigs down. With this baby, you buy cheaper nicotine juice in a bottle and refill it, instead of buying expensive cartridges. It also produced massive hits (at least for a time) and it’s manual battery never went off when you didn’t want it to. By manual battery I mean you hold in a button while you inhale, in order to activate the device. Unfortunately the atomizer doesn’t last very long, and is expensive.
Since I’ve tried a few various systems based on the Ego like the MEGA T-Tank, which produced insane and flavorful hits but after a few days it would start leaking out all of your juice!
So here’s what I’ve come up with and currently use. I’m using the original Ego battery and a dual core atomizer that costs a fraction of what the Ego atomizers cost.
Want some links?
Here is a good starter kit, the Joye Ego MEGA mentioned above, which comes with everything you need EXCEPT JUICE. It is great if you are confused or unsure about the rest of the links I will provide below. The problem with this kit is the atomizers grow pretty week after a few days to a week of usage, and exact part replacements are more expensive than other brands. For replacement atomizers I highly recommend the slightly larger SmokTech Dual Core Atomizers referenced below. I also prefer larger batteries than what comes with this kit, though some people like the smaller batteries included.
I do recommend with the starter kit or anything described below, to get the STAINLESS STEEL models. Black and other colored models you will find after time the paint wil chip away and look bad. You’re going to look silly enough smoking one of these things already, so don’t get a painted model.
So what to get if not the starter kit?
SmokTech Dual Core Atomizers You’ll need plenty of these. One will last you anywhere from a week to 3 weeks (sometimes they just die sooner than other times.) But they are $3 bucks each, so go ahead and get 3-5 to start with.
They need a battery, so you’ll have to get a few of those. Why more than one? So one can be charging while you’re using the other one. You never want to run out of battery power. Get at least two. Battery power does last about a day on a full charge, but I personally have 4 batteries. I use one, keep one on the charger and carry it with me as a spare, keep a spare at work, and a spare at home. I personally use this 900mah battery.
Of course you need a charger for the batteries. First you need the USB charging unit, next you probably want to get the AC adapter as you don’t really want to charge these things in your USB ports.
Last, you’ll need some nicotine juice to smoke. I personally love the RY3 from this link, but you can also visit here, here, here, and many other places to find juice.
Oh yes, and you’ll want a needle drip tip on your bottle of juice to inject the liquid into the atomizer instead of dripping it from the bottle by itself. The type of tip you need depends on the place where you order liquid because there doesn’t seem to be a “standard” in bottle types. If you order your liquid from litecigusa.com, then you’ll want this bottle needle, but wherever you order juice from probably sells a bottle needle compatible with their juice bottles, or at least a syringe.
How has it worked for me?
This routine has worked for me for the last year and a half, and I can honestly say that within a week or two of starting this device, I never wanted a cig again, and still don’t. Unlike the patch, gum, or pills, you satisfy the habit of holding something, putting to your mouth, and inhaling in addition to getting the nicotine you crave. I can watch people smoking in movies, or be around other people smoking, and not want one. I just puff away when I feel the need.
Have I ever “cheated”?? Not really, but I have lit 3 cigarettes in the last year and a half. Once I was drunk at a friend’s house and had left my vaporizer at home. Twice I was just curious to see what it would be like to smoke again. With every occasion, even the time I was drunk, I put it out after a few puffs. Of the two times I was just curious and I had my vaporizer with me, I put the cigs out and immediately started inhaling vapor again because it was just better. I use the strong juice, sometimes 24mg sometimes 36mg depending on what flavor I buy and if the 36mg is available in that flavor or not… but point being you get WAY more nicotine per inhale than you do from a cig. So it literally isn’t nearly as satisfying to smoke a real cig!
Now my lungs don’t feel heavy after a day of smoking. Soon after starting on these, I quit coughing all the time… I’m sure my lungs don’t miss all that tar and hundreds of chemicals. I also don’t stink… The vapor produced is mostly odorless so I can “smoke” indoors now without stinking up the place. I also enjoy smoking it in public places such as bars (my state finally outlawed smoking cigs in public places, but the “e-cig” is not outlawed in public, so I puff away when out drinking in bars, when in restaurants, even shopping in stores, or while in movie theaters!)
That isn’t to say it will work for you.
I’ve had a few other friends start these methods then go back to cigs, so your mileage may vary. Both of my friends who went back to cigs at least made it 6 months to a year though, so they gave it a good try, but some people are initially put off and won’t switch just because they don’t like the experience. The hits don’t have any tar in them, it IS vapor not smoke, so you don’t get the satisfying “weight” of the tar in the smoke like you would from a full bodied cig. You have to inhale much longer than you would taking a drag off of a cig to get a good hit. Also it takes a few days to get used to the tickle (some smokers think it is harsh, I don’t) in the back of your throat when you inhale; (you had to get used to that to smoke cigs too, if you remember that long ago!)
If you have a question about something I didn’t cover here, or didn’t cover well enough, feel free to contact me via the usual methods.
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