Confused

[gsijan]

Hi to all - been directed here from the ebay boards.

I'm completely confused by all the 'tech' talk in e-cig adverts. Some say about liquid, some say cartridges - so can anyone give me a simple answer as to what I need and should get if I give you my 'history'. Also a recommendation maybe of what makes to go for.

Now well into my 50's and been smoking since 15 years old and am now up to around 40/50 a day!!

I've been thru the whole smoking clinic thing the past 12 months trying patches, gums, lozenges, champix, zyban and the replacement 'pretend' ciggies. At some points doing a mixture of more than one thing. I thought the fake cigs would be a good idea as they were like the real thing but found I didn't like the shape of the mouthpiece and missed the 'smoke'.

I need summat that looks, feels and tastes like the real thing!!!!

[merly28]

I am holding onto gsijan's tails.............

Me also! I need serious advice on what to buy and where to get it from. (My cease smoking date is 19th August)

I am also well into my 50's and have been smoking since I was 23 years old.

I smoke 15-20 cigs a day (the ashtray gets loads .... I tend to light a cig and then type or sew)

I gave up for 3 years with only 1 week's aid of patches (1998 - 2001) and foolishly thought I could smoke an occasional ciggie when my hubby became critically ill and I felt stressed. Of course, I was back to smoking full time ! Sadly, hubbie was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and I lost him in a matter of weeks. I have never stopped smoking since.

It will be late-hubby's 9th anniversary on 19th August and that is the day I have chosen to be my cease smoking day.

So what do I buy and where do I get it from?

[lisaf01]

Hiya Ladies,

Totally understand about not being able to stop the cigarettes, I was there too - now I haven't touched one for over a year.

Vaping is a HUGE topic but I will try to break it down helpfully so that you might have more of an idea of where to start with it all.

Most new vapers start out wanting something that closely resembles a cigarette, and whilst some stay on those types of devices, many soon find that they need something a little more "heavy-duty"as time goes on.

The two most popular "standard"e-cig types are the 901 and the 510. Many people feel the 901 provides the best flavour, whilst the 510 seems to provide a better throat-hit for a lot of folk.
My personal favourite is the 901 and that's what I started on and I still use to this day mostly (although I now use the 901 atomiser with larger battery devices).

There are a newer set of products on the market that are still relatively small although nothing near as small as a cigarette. There are several variants such as the Riva, eGo and Tornado which are all essentially the same thing. They have a much better battery life than standard e-cigs and a lot of people have switched to these devices now.

Most people start with pre-filled cartridges, then move onto refilling cartridges with e-liquid, and then many progress onto direct-dripping the e-liquid in tiny quantities directly onto the atomiser. refilling carts or direct-dripping works out a lot cheaper than relying on pre-filled carts which don't last very long. Plus, there's a HUGE range of flavours out there which is one of the best things about vaping.

I do the 901, 510 and Riva in my shop, they are all suitable for starters, but as I say, the Riva is a larger device so you might feel more comfy with one of the other two to start.

Most important advice to remember is that atomisers and batteries do both have a limited life-span, so once you've settled on the right device for you, be sure to stock up on spares so that you are never without full working parts for your e-cig.

I am sure people will come along with more recommendations soon.

[inn]

Hello and welcome to you both. I'm quite new to this myself, and before long there will be lots of great advice and encouragement from people who know much more than me, I've never known such a friendly and helpful place! But my history is similar to yours so I'll give you my little help while you wait.
After reading advice here I started off with a 901 because it was the closest thing in looks to a real ciggie and I was happy with it right from the start. I decided to try a 510 as well, and I like that too but I still prefer my 901. My 510 is manual (you press a button) and lots of people prefer that, but I seem to like the automatic 901. It's just a matter of choice.
My only other useful advice is to buy from a good seller like those they recommend here. Cloud9 and Liberty Flights are both brilliant for example. Months ago I tried an e-cig from a mail order catalogue and it was so useless it put me off the whole idea until I stumbled across the advice here. Then recently I bought some spare batteries etc from a different company because they were going cheap, and they didn't work. The frustration put me back on cigarettes for a day or two (but a couple of visits here cheered me up and I'm happily puffing on my 901 as I write!)
Good luck to you both and I look forward to seeing you here in future.

[Chrissie]

Hello & welcome Gsijan

Just to add to the brilliant advice & help from Lisa & Inn, check out this thread to give you an idea of what some of the different models look like. It also shows pics of th different parts of an e-cig & what they are called : -

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=4

[nana]

Welcome to you both, Gsijan and Merly.....
I can't be much help to you re. which ecig is best for you, but can say that I've just turned 60 and I smoked for over 40 years.

I found this forum in January this year and haven't smoked at all since I received my first ecig.

I stuck with the dse901, and now very rarely use even that.

It's been worth it's weight in gold for me.

Good luck to you both.....

[Perpetua]

Just like to add my hello's and welcome's to everyone else's to gsijan & merly.

Like both you ladies am in my 50's and have been a totally committed smoker for 36years, earlier this year I was smoking 40/50 cigs a day.

Have been a smoke free zone for 5months now and it's all due to these marvellous ecigs, I have zero will power when it comes to quitting - but I can honestly say this has been totally painless.

This is a wonderful, friendly forum, full of great advice - so am looking forward to hearing how you both get on with your ecigs.

The Riva seems to have been a very popular ecig, I can throughly recommend it myself.

[Scylla]

Hello Gsijan and Merly and...




Regarding the "feel" aspect - you do need to forgive e-cigs for not being made of paper and dried leaves and therefore never being able to feel like real fags The combo cartridge/mouthpiece may be round, or thick whistle-tip or thinner whistle-tip. Pretend you're using a cigarette holder or smoking a pipe

The advice I trot out to all newbies is "Just get started!!!". Once you've got your hands on a kit you will know what everyone's talking about and after a couple of days you'll know whether you want to buy more of the same or branch out.

A basic starter kit should contain 2 batteries, 2 atomisers, cartridges, pre-filled or with a bottle of juice, a charger...

Sorry, falling asleep now ???

scylla

[lynwlt]

I was in the same camp as you girls; 57 years old and had been smoking for 37 years. I'd tried Champix, patches, acupuncture, lozenges, gum, hypnosis, herbal cigs, inhalator....
I found e-cigs on Facebook , googled them and ended up buying a Mirage e-cig. Well, it was fairly crappy, mainly because it came with only one battery and one attie, but the concept grabbed me...
I finally got myself kitted out properly once I found this site and, 7 months later, have never looked back.
My first e-cig looked like the real thing but didn't perform as well as my first 901 or 510.
And if I knew then what I know now, I would probably have gone for a Tornado/Riva from the start.
The most important thing is to get started, and to be prepared for the occasional setback.
I was so excited to be able to go 24 hours without a cigarette that I could put up with the occasional problem with equipment, and you will almost certainly have them.
Over the last 7 months I have reduced the strength of my e-liquid down to low nic. I can see a time soon when I might make it to zero nicotine but I might never give up vaping, just because I love the experience.
Smoking is more than just an addiction to nicotine..
Good luck.
Lynda

[hissie]

I also advocate the Riva or Tornado using 510 atomisers (which come with the kit).

They come in nice colours too, although I bought the black one. What ever colour you buy, due to the cone, you can use any colour atomiser as the cone covers it.

When I bought the Riva, it didn't come with any juice, so it's probably advisable to buy some small 5ml samples from James (Paradise Vapes).

There are loads of vids on youtube. Scott Bonner is the best at it in my opinion. I think his ID is igetcha69. Youtube gives loads of good tips on filling the cartridges ect.

However, you can't beat this forum for good advice & support.

[knawes]

Welcome both! As another relative newbie, this forum has been a Godsend!

I'm 58 years old, been smoking since my teens, up to 40/50 a day recently. I didn't want to give up, still don't. The e-cig has been a total revelation.

Like the other newbies, (we all started around the same time in mid June) I started with the Riva, as it had just come out and had good reviews. I was thrilled with the very first drag. I have now got a Tornado, because TECC has a half price sale. I use 36mg liquid and a Low Resistance atomiser as I need the nicotine and the hit. I had one or two hiccups as have others, but I've not given up.

I do still smoke 3/5 "normal" cigs a day, but that's because I choose to.

As Scylla is very fond of saying, don't count the ones you do smoke, count the ones you don't smoke!

Good luck.
Kath

[pixietricks]

hallo to you both. I started on e cigs on Jan 13th and still smoked a bit for a week and then totally gave up. It is frustrating at the beginning if you get rubbish equipment but the advice given here will hopefully stop this from happening. Like others I now use a Tornado because of the longer battery life. You need to budget to replace your equipment because each part has a limited life span. Also think about the strength of juice you need. If you have been a heavy smoker then you will need to start off with a stronger juice to refill your cartridges with. I like the juice from Liberty Flights because you can get small 5 ml bottles to try. James also does small bottles. Lisa's juice from Cloud 9 is very nice and I also like Vapor Station but both these only come in 30 ml bottles, so maybe too much to make a mistake with in the beginning.
I have never had a question on here go unanswered, people are very supportive, so get some equipment and give it a go.

[lisaf01]

It's nice to be able to get 5ml bottles to try things out but there is no way to meet the mandatory CHIP labelling regulations with these bottles unless you use those little fold-out labels which are very expensive.
The good thing about vaping though, is anything you buy that you don't really like or any mistakes in purchasing are easily swapped with other vapers or sold through the forum classifieds. People are always looking in those, so you'll not be stuck with anything you don't need.

[Lilac]

Lisa, i have some 5ml bottles from Liberty Flights which have childproof lids, the raised triangle, and ingredients listed....i'd have to use a magnifying glass to read them tho, lol

[jimmybat]

There are legal ways around it
James