Hello from a newbie and tips please

[bigjim]

Hey Debbie


I know you've a bunch of reading ahead of you, and it's not normally good form to pimp your own threads, but I thought I'd post a couple of links for you - it's all light, non-technical reading I assure you.
Basically I've *just* gone through the same process as you, doing the reading, bookmarking a sh**tonne of vendor's pages, comparing this kit vs that kit, etc.. and felt none the wiser, it was all making my head spin.

I then came on here as a day-1 beginner, put my assumptions forwards and asked questions based on them, and the answers came back pretty much as expected.
Then once I'd got my kit through the post, I put together a day-by-day diary of what I found, how it went, etc.. (this is still on-going though I've taken the weekend off so that I have a bit of progress to report! )

>> Initial Post

>> Diary/Blog


In the end, I went with a cheap £20 kit (although you can start significantly cheaper) and within an hour or two of using it I knew I'd found my answer.
Vaping is one of those things that you sort of need to jump in & try to before your deepest-darkest inner mind admits that it works, but unless you've got some seriously strange circumstances in your life, you'll be able to stop smoking or at least *seriously* cut down with no trouble at all, it's an amazingly easy switch which for me was the biggest surprise.

Before I tried it, always at the back of my mind was the nagging worry that I'd spend a bunch of money on something only for it to languish in a drawer & I'd just have wasted the cash, however after about 11 days of vaping I tried a real fag & it tasted horrible - I quickly chucked it!

Trust me, you've found your answer to get off the roll-ups. I liked smoking, I knew it was bad for me but hell, I enjoyed it. This is nicer. It's cheaper. It's easier, believe it or not.
Great technical, geek-like knowledge is not required, but will be attained in no time without trying.
If you can work the computer or laptop you're using to read this, you're already way ahead of the level of technical knowledge you'd need to be an ecig pro.

Best of luck - You won't need it.

[Debbie13]

Hello BigJim, thank you so much for an evenings worth of entertainment for both me and the hubby, we read every word of it and yes VERY informative but pleasant to read and easy to take in......

I am looking and liking the Ego CE4, now its just trying to find a tobacco flavored juice to try first, plenty of flavours I think I want to try and will be getting a few taster bottles from JooseJuice too. I shall be also buying an extra battery and some extra clearomizers, its all very exciting and I just hope that it helps/works, I have looked at tons of ecigs, just makes my head go spinny lol, but tonight have settled on the Ego CE4. Before I actually commit and buy it has anyone got any help/tips with it. It seems an easy option for a newbie like me

[fred]

Debbie13 if my sieve-like memory serves, the CE4 is not rebuildble/replaceble?
If I'm right, you'd be much better off with evods/protanks/iclears. I can vouch for evods & protanks.

Even if you don't want to rubuild just yet, these are much easier to clean.

From your old smoking I would recommend 18 & 24 mg juice to start (possibly higher). I smoked 75g DRUM a week for 25 years, started with these strengths last day of March, and now I mix my own juice @ 15mg (it's easy to cut down the nic )

& bigjim - shamelessly plug your blog - if it helps just 1 person start vaping, then that's a good thing - I think it will help a lot more

[bigjim]

Sept 2, 2013 5:01:36 GMT fred said:

Thanks mate - As I think I said in my own intro, I'm normally very suspicious of anyone who looks like an evangelist, no matter what they're promoting - But in this case it's such a massive deal going from vaping to smoking that it's worth promoting to folk.

[Debbie13]

Sept 2, 2013 5:01:36 GMT fred said:

Debbie13 if my sieve-like memory serves, the CE4 is not rebuildble/replaceble?
If I'm right, you'd be much better off with evods/protanks/iclears. I can vouch for evods & protanks.

Even if you don't want to rubuild just yet, these are much easier to clean.

From your old smoking I would recommend 18 & 24 mg juice to start (possibly higher). I smoked 75g DRUM a week for 25 years, started with these strengths last day of March, and now I mix my own juice @ 15mg (it's easy to cut down the nic )

Thank you for the advice Fred, after looking at so many they just confuse me, my idea of it and what makes me comfortable is the ease of use, all the parts and modding re building part of it just confuse me no end
I have read so many people saying its a lifestyle change etc....I am hoping it will be too but I am hoping I wont get addicted to the ecig and then spend money on all these mods etc, to me its a tool to wean off the stinkies.......I shall be getting the 24mg juice to start with, I have been on a diet for months so the sweet juices do not appeal to me, I dont think tasting the likes of chocolate etc are going to help me
The fruit flavours are much more appealing and if that leads to me feeling hungry for them thats a good thing.

[Roscopecotrain]

Sept 2, 2013 13:21:06 GMT Debbie13 said:

Sept 2, 2013 5:01:36 GMT fred said:

Debbie13 if my sieve-like memory serves, the CE4 is not rebuildble/replaceble?
If I'm right, you'd be much better off with evods/protanks/iclears. I can vouch for evods & protanks.

Even if you don't want to rubuild just yet, these are much easier to clean.

From your old smoking I would recommend 18 & 24 mg juice to start (possibly higher). I smoked 75g DRUM a week for 25 years, started with these strengths last day of March, and now I mix my own juice @ 15mg (it's easy to cut down the nic )

Thank you for the advice Fred, after looking at so many they just confuse me, my idea of it and what makes me comfortable is the ease of use, all the parts and modding re building part of it just confuse me no end
I have read so many people saying its a lifestyle change etc....I am hoping it will be too but I am hoping I wont get addicted to the ecig and then spend money on all these mods etc, to me its a tool to wean off the stinkies.......I shall be getting the 24mg juice to start with, I have been on a diet for months so the sweet juices do not appeal to me, I dont think tasting the likes of chocolate etc are going to help me
The fruit flavours are much more appealing and if that leads to me feeling hungry for them thats a good thing.

The good thing with vaping debbie is you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you want. Say you bought a kit. A few spares for it and then all you would need to buy is juice which could be as little as a few £ a week depending on how much you vape and just stick with the kit. Or you could upgrade as and when things need replacing keeping things managable on the money front or you go crazy and spend lots.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

[Debbie13]

Sept 2, 2013 13:59:06 GMT Roscopecotrain said:

The good thing with vaping debbie is you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you want. Say you bought a kit. A few spares for it and then all you would need to buy is juice which could be as little as a few £ a week depending on how much you vape and just stick with the kit. Or you could upgrade as and when things need replacing keeping things managable on the money front or you go crazy and spend lots.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2

Thank you for that, I think I over think things and run before I can walk, trying to understand all the parts and mods before even plumping for a kit really is not the way to go it seems lol.  I will be happy with a basic easy to understand, easy to maintain kit.  The only thing I am sure of is that I need at least 2 batteries, although I am at home for the most part so charging isnt an issue.  I think I will take that advice onboard tho about upgrading as things need replacing, seems the obvious choice for a clueless newbie such as myself, and all the while I am hovering before the plunge of a purchase I am still smoking the stinkies  ( not a good thing ) 
I do not care what it looks like ( meaning it does not need to resemble a cig ) as long as its not pink or some silly girly colour...not my style, it certainly does not need to be an all singing all dancing kind of thing. The easier the better for me, just a basic piece of kit that I can fill with my favoured juice and away we go....  

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2013 14:25:47 GMT Debbie13 said:

Thank you for that, I think I over think things and run before I can walk, trying to understand all the parts and mods before even plumping for a kit really is not the way to go it seems lol.  I will be happy with a basic easy to understand, easy to maintain kit.  The only thing I am sure of is that I need at least 2 batteries, although I am at home for the most part so charging isnt an issue.  I think I will take that advice onboard tho about upgrading as things need replacing, seems the obvious choice for a clueless newbie such as myself, and all the while I am hovering before the plunge of a purchase I am still smoking the stinkies  ( not a good thing ) 
I do not care what it looks like ( meaning it does not need to resemble a cig ) as long as its not pink or some silly girly colour...not my style, it certainly does not need to be an all singing all dancing kind of thing. The easier the better for me, just a basic piece of kit that I can fill with my favoured juice and away we go....  

Oh debbie you will never get into the jess fan club with statements like that! 

[bigjim]

debbie - I know what you mean about the fear of spending silly money when everyone & his dog recommends their own personal favourite starter kit.

Basically, all you need is one or two clearos (the tanks, be they plastic like CE4's, a plastic/metal mix like Evods, or glass, like Protanks).
And a couple of batteries. Even a 650mah & a small 350-400mah will do, just so you can rotate them.


"Rebuildable" seems to sometimes mean subtly different things at different times, but when we're talking about these smaller clearos like Evods, CE4's & such generally it means that the atomiser head (the bit you see me take off & clean in my second link) can be un-screwed and replaced, so that you don't need to throw away the entire clearo (tank), like you have to with the older CE4 designs. (which is why you'll see things like "CE4 v3", version-3 for example has a replaceable atomiser)

Atomiser heads cost about £1-£2.50 depending on the make/model, and mine seem to last ages, I'm easily going on 2+weeks with my first.

Later on, if you choose to, you can even avoid the small cost of replacing them, because you can do your own coil & wick, but for now, while you get used to them, just consider an Atomiser head to be about a quid to two-fifty, and will last you about 3x weeks, give or take.

So considering you're on rollies right now, you'll roughly be looking at the cost of 3 to 4 bags of tobacco for your equipment, which is essentially a one-time purchase. What's that - a week's worth?
Then you're looking at the cost of three-quarters of a bag of tobacco per week for the juice, plus 1x atty head per 3-4 weeks.

When you add it up, it's waaay cheaper than smoking, it's just the hurdle of getting one's head round it that's tricky, and I'll admit it's what took me so long.

[Debbie13]

Sept 2, 2013 14:56:25 GMT @freefromsmoking said:

Sept 2, 2013 14:25:47 GMT Debbie13 said:

Oh debbie you will never get into the jess fan club with statements like that! 

 I am just not a girly kinda girl, not a fan of pink or any other girly colour either...Black/Silver is my kinda colour 

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2013 18:36:49 GMT Debbie13 said:

Sept 2, 2013 14:56:25 GMT @freefromsmoking said:

Oh debbie you will never get into the jess fan club with statements like that! 

 I am just not a girly kinda girl, not a fan of pink or any other girly colour either...Black/Silver is my kinda colour 

Stainless steel / silver every time ----I love my shinys ------ must order some more silver polish on fleabay!  

[Debbie13]

Sept 2, 2013 18:17:34 GMT bigjim said:

debbie - I know what you mean about the fear of spending silly money when everyone & his dog recommends their own personal favourite starter kit.

Basically, all you need is one or two clearos (the tanks, be they plastic like CE4's, a plastic/metal mix like Evods, or glass, like Protanks).
And a couple of batteries. Even a 650mah & a small 350-400mah will do, just so you can rotate them.


"Rebuildable" seems to sometimes mean subtly different things at different times, but when we're talking about these smaller clearos like Evods, CE4's & such generally it means that the atomiser head (the bit you see me take off & clean in my second link) can be un-screwed and replaced, so that you don't need to throw away the entire clearo (tank), like you have to with the older CE4 designs. (which is why you'll see things like "CE4 v3", version-3 for example has a replaceable atomiser)

Atomiser heads cost about £1-£2.50 depending on the make/model, and mine seem to last ages, I'm easily going on 2+weeks with my first.

Later on, if you choose to, you can even avoid the small cost of replacing them, because you can do your own coil & wick, but for now, while you get used to them, just consider an Atomiser head to be about a quid to two-fifty, and will last you about 3x weeks, give or take.

So considering you're on rollies right now, you'll roughly be looking at the cost of 3 to 4 bags of tobacco for your equipment, which is essentially a one-time purchase. What's that - a week's worth?
Then you're looking at the cost of three-quarters of a bag of tobacco per week for the juice, plus 1x atty head per 3-4 weeks.

When you add it up, it's waaay cheaper than smoking, it's just the hurdle of getting one's head round it that's tricky, and I'll admit it's what took me so long.

BigJim......it is not the amount of money as such, I just dont want to spend loads on a kit that wont suit my needs, then I go ahead and buy another and another until I have the right set up...better to buy the one that suits me straight away.  I actually do not spend that much money on smoking  ..........its more the health issue that has given me the push.  My concerns and worries are that I seriously do not understand all the different types and what you need to buy to continue using it, I know I am not a balloons and whistles kinda girl, more practical, easy to use and easy to maintain suits me just fine.  Once I have a certain type to concentrate on I will find it easier to understand what I will need .......anything I have purchased before...i.e mobile phone, laptop, new tv etc....it turns into a trial and error way of learning, the book is never picked up but find it much easier to learn through the practical side of using it.  Can I also add that I own the Galaxy s3 and have done for a year or more now, its capable of far more than I use it for, some say a waste on me...but it was an upgrade on my contract, I can text, call, set the wake up alarm, change the tones and take pictures with it...that will do me    Hubby updates it and sets anything up I may need.
I hope that gives you a clearer idea of not needing a kit that does more than I will use it for lol....
Its not that I am thick, but I know some things in my life just require an easy simple item that does its job 

[Chrissie]

Sept 2, 2013 18:36:49 GMT Debbie13 said:

Sept 2, 2013 14:56:25 GMT @freefromsmoking said:

Oh debbie you will never get into the jess fan club with statements like that! 

 I am just not a girly kinda girl, not a fan of pink or any other girly colour either...Black/Silver is my kinda colour 

I'm also not a girly kinda girl, I don't like pink, but do like purple

I'm going to suggest 2 kits for you - the evod one that @freefromsmoking recommended -

myepack.co.uk/kits/e-vod-kit.html

And the good old Riva kit that I've recommended to several of my neighbours (use discount code allabout for 10% off -

www.vapeescape.co.uk/Deluxe-Vaping-Kits/VE-Riva-1100-Deluxe-Kit/Vape-Escape-Riva-1100-Deluxe-Kit.html

And here is Super-Shiny guide to using the Riva -

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/19393/riva-1100-step-guide?page=1

Plus some 10ml tasters from Joose-juice -

www.joosejuice.co.uk/shop/category_TTR/10ml-Tasters.html?sessid=A96OWtX2x2XpuMP5yOVUH41xUWyYqwWJTu7Xu5hxiX2S6WsjgVS0NKR0WAysLsEL&shop_param=cid%3D%26

Or if you would prefer a better selection of tobacco flavours check out the Grizwald 5ml samples in my Vape escape link or Paradise Vapes -

paradisevapeuk.vstore.ca/ejuice-tobacco-flavour-c-1_6.html

[stellar24]

Hello and *welcome*from a newbie I've been cig free for 30 days thanks to vaping.I can't give advice on all the equipment or array of e liquids as I'm still working it out.My two pennies worth is just find an ego kit at a price you feel is comfortable and just try it.I've been smoking over 20 years and my partner over 30 and we were on about 30 cigs a day.We were sceptical but from the moment the e cigs arrived we haven't had a real ciggie!I tried patches,gum,cold turkey,nic inhalor nothing worked vaping does work.My partner has the will power of an gnat he's got high bp and had 1 heart attack already and still smoked.Liquid wise don't buy a large amount of one flavour I bought tobacco and hated it.The weird thing is vaping replaced smoking but the whole smell/taste of tobacco wasn't good and I'm not sure what you will need but 18 mg worked fine for me.I'm now smoking flippin bananas through a strange electronic device and enjoying it!!!!Take a leap Debbie don't spend to much,you can upgrade with the cash you save if its for you.I've got a pretty jar full of notes that keeps on building up and an app to tell me how many days I've been cig free and how much money I've saved(which is in the jar!).Anyway I'm certainly not an expert but just try it as like me you only have a couple of ££s to lose if it isn't for you but if it is you can go mad and buy all sorts of batteries and tanks .Good luck on your journey xx

[Deleted]

That's very sound advice stellar24 . Sometimes a relatively new vaper can offer more suitable advice to those about to take the first step than we longer term vapers who often forget how bewildering it all seems. Well done to you and your hubby and keep up the good work.