My 2 month journey so far (may help new starters)

[FirinBlanks]

With it being Stoptober I thought I'd share my experience of e-cigs from my first go, to now in the hope that it helps any new comers.

I started on e-cigs as I'd had a bad cold that just wouldn't shift and when walking in to the supermarket to get some cigs one morning I found them advertising the 10 Motives rechargable on the counter. I thought that might give my lungs a chance to catch up so I'd give it a go.

I used the rechargeable as well as smoking and my cigarette intake was slightly lower but found that the battery lasted nowhere long enough and actually the claims that a cartomiser (refill) would last around 40 fags were wildly out, so I'd carry on smoking while it charged.

Now I loved smoking and really didn't want to pack it in but I should as I knew it wasn't going to do me any good in the long term. My main reason for the e-cig was to give my lungs a rest & I never expected (or if I'm honest, wanted) to get down below 5-10 a day.

So my next step was to get another battery (oh, and more cigs) and that would get me through the working day. All of a sudden I was down from 25 a day to about 5, and most of that was when I got home. Within about a week I thought as it seemed to be working for me I'd concentrate on seeing if I could cut out the unnecessary ones and leave it to the waking up cigs, the after meal cigs and the before bed cigs. Pretty soon after that, and after my 7 year old niece set me a target of 2 a day, I was down to two and thought actually I could do this without smoking at all. From going from two a day to none was pretty much a next step approach and was actually no great effort, I proved I could get down from 25 to 5 with minimal effort, what was another 3, then 1, then down to none.

It was around this point when I fell upon this lovely forum simply by doing a google search and finding a bit of information with some really helpful responses. I lurked for around a day and then asked about the next step, What should I get next? The 10 Motives didn't last long and the flavour kind of ran off from the refills pretty quickly. if I'm honest I'd already decided on the Riva 1100 deluxe kit from Jason at Vape Escape but thought I'd pose some questions and ask some advise with a few of my own issues.

I was stunned at a) the speed of responses and b) the quality of the information given.

From receiving my Riva kit and trying out the 6 or 7 different tester juices I got with it I knew I'd taken a huge step away from smoking and to be honest the 10 motives. The vapour produced, the flavour, all in a different class. The "this carto will last 40 cigarettes" claims that you read, fall by the wayside when you get a nice fresh juice in a new carto. Yes they can last maybe the equivalent of 10 or 15 tops, but they taste nasty. Top up a carto every 3 or 4 hours and you get some lovely flavours, plenty of vapour and plenty of throat hit. It really is a different class.

I went through the "oh my god this is huge!" stage and still used my 10 Motives at work (I found I preferred the flavour of the Silky tobacco I'd got in those than when I used the Rivas). Fruity and sweet flavours were no problem with the Rivas but my main daily vape I liked mild (Oh and with a touch of 666 and a few drops of Vanilla Tabac).

Bizarrely it took me getting the huge Ego-C Twist to be able to vape away at work that made the smaller Rivas easier to use in public.

With the Variable Voltage (VV) of the twist came the ability to find the sweet spot of all the different juices I'd tried, and some that were disgustingly sweet for my tastes are now actually pretty damn good at a higher voltage.

As of yesterday, I'm now the proud owner of a Provari Mini with the extension and I'm currently stalking my postie for my rebuildable VH Genesis to turn up in the post from Saturday's order fest, that was I found that from what I would have spent on cigarettes to was now £300 "in credit".

Things that I thought were way beyond me are now quite easily within reach.

If you take the first step, things you can look forward to will be...
No more wheezing at night, better teeth, no more yellow fingers, no more coughing up in the mornings (actually you might for a short while when your lungs start to clear out but I thankfully avoided that), better gums. Then we get on to shineys... Rebuildables, Mods, Greek gods, DIY Mixing, Postmen, "New Topics", Counting "Money Saved" & then spending it. A strange woman called Penelope. Becoming evangelical about vaping and trying to introduce other people to it.

One of the best things will be the support from this forum and the ability to ask the stupidest question and have someone to talk you through it step by step. You're almost guaranteed to find someone who's been through the things you've got stuck on and will lead you through the potential pitfalls.

Oh and don't worry if you slip, with e-cigs it's so much easier to get back up again.

[goofy]

Excellent post........ and strangely familiar!

I started off on the E-lites, then onto a Skycig......... then found this forum, made a post about what i should buy next - Riva 1100, had that for a week then bought a Provari Mini (it arrived yesterday) and a Penelope is in transit

We could be identical mate hahaha

[Karma]

What a fabulous post Firin, well done and thanks for sharing #icon_bravo#

[FirinBlanks]

Yeah but Goofy, you managed to get the Penelope.

I'd checked on the GG about an hour before you did and they weren't in stock.

[goofy]

Oct 3, 2012 20:56:23 GMT FirinBlanks said:

Yeah but Goofy, you managed to get the Penelope.

I'd checked on the GG about an hour before you did and they weren't in stock.

I mustve just got extremely lucky with the timing mate, saturday was a very lucky day for me Got an email to say it had been dispatched so fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow!

[Twinklet]

Great post, I find it really interesting reading others experiences.

[FirinBlanks]

saturday was a very lucky day for me Got an email to say it had been dispatched so fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow!

With the luck you had, you should have put a lottery ticket on!

I hope you get on well with Penny. If not spare me a thought!

[Raffles]

Brilliant FirinBlanks,

A great story that I'm sure will help those just starting

I wanted to be the first to reply but my typing is so slow :-[

My story of vaping started with drivers that came to my place of work, there is a guy at the distribution depot that has his own website, selling kits and juice, and has converted many of the drivers. They in turn kept hitting on me, so I started to look into it. After a few months, I realised I was smoking even more, and with the price of fags going up, it was getting ridiculous. So, I thought I'd give it a try, not through his website though (although good prices) but with an established player.

I went for the Vision eGo kit, and from the first vape have not gone near a fag since, even though I've had more stresses recently than for a long time. I don't understand it, I didn't have the intention of giving up but just wanted to see what it was like. It just seems to work for me and I truly hope it does for so many more of those out there that are looking into it.

My only advice... just try it!

[Cambo]

Thanks for sharing, it's good to hear about others journeys into vaping. My story is very similar, except I'm way behind you; started with Skycigs and i'm just into week 3. I'm about to take delivery of my newly ordered Riva, tomorrow hopefully (Jason shipped it this arvo) so I guess my 'real' vaping experience will start from then.

[pinkerbell]

Great post fb!

[Ellen]

Great post FB, thanks for sharing

[Chrissie]

Brilliant post Firin & brilliant replies from everyone

[vapourized]

Blimey, that's virtually identical to me too!! I've yet to get to the VV stage yet but no doubt that will be the next stage although I have to say that I'm quite happy with the kit I've got at the moment with the SD Keyring maxi being my favourite for evening vaping and the various ciggy looky likies for driving etc.

I keep looking at all the lovely shiny, shiny things and must admit that I've been tempted several times but always refrained in the end, but one day though I'm sure I will press that BUY button.

Graham

[OneDay]

Great post FB as others have said. It's nice for those of us who have gone on similar journeys to nod knowingly, and I'm sure these kinds of posts are a massive encouragement for newbies and even lurkers

[captainpugwash]

Cracking post FB, 2 weeks in for me, no ciggies, vision 1000 kit and a twist in the post, i am still hooked but not on fags and yes i have to agree this forum is A1, really helping me get my around the huge pastime that is vaping.
My postman has been busy and i cant wait to see him tomorrow