Is Vaping really an alternative to Smoking?

[lobeydosser]

Well, when I think about it, No.

If it was just a case of switching from Smoking to Vaping, then in my smoking days I would have had a 20 pack of Mayfair in my pocket at all times, but I would also have say a pack of B&H on the table next to my chair in the lounge.
I would have had a pack of Capstan full strength on the study desk and a pack each of Richmond and Mayfair Menthol on the bedside table.

 
I didn’t.

I just smoked the same old boring ciggies no matter where I was.

But now that I’m Vaping the all-day everyday alternative to Mayfair is Royal Tobacco on a Vamo on a lanyard.
On the side table in the lounge stands the Billet Box with Apple Flavour. So much more satisfying than B&H.
The desk holds the Provari with the Spheroid that takes my Royal tobacco to heights of “blow my ears off”. Something Capstan full strength never could achieve.
On the bedside table sits the Zmax with Lemon & Lime and the Ego with my Minth.

B&H, Capstan, Richmond and Mayfair plain & menthol, all now confined to my nightmares.

So to answer the question - Is Vaping really an alternative to Smoking?
NO. Not even close.

Vaping is way more than an alternative to smoking.

Vaping kicks smoking into the bin.

[Greg]

I'd say it's definitely an alternative to smoking, or rather a replacement. I'm confident if I hadn't started vaping I'd still be smoking

We might vape lots of flavours which differs to when we smoked but then when caught short who hasn't cadged an unfamiliar tab of a friend just to get that fix.

If you'd never smoked then you be unlikely to start vaping so it's clearly an alternative of choice. Definitely more flavoursome and pleasurable though

[Jerri]

What I find funny about vaping is how we tire of flavours or they start to taste strange if we vape then for any leg th of time.

When I smoked I smoked lambert and butler light. All day. Every day.

Now I vape I can have 5 different flavours on the go all the time and am still looking for more.

[Spiritdancer]

It was never an alternative for me, it was a means to an end, an aid to stop smoking, which it did more successfully than I ever hoped for.

I agree about the different flavours .... in recent years I smoked Old Holborn rollies exclusively, never even considered buying anything else and couldn't afford tailor mades anyway. I thought I might still smoke the odd cigarette after I switched to vaping but it hasn't happened, I've had no cravings for cigarettes at all, even now I'm right down to 6mg or zero mg nicotine.

To be honest I believe the messing about with various batteries etc and all the different flavour combinations has kept me distracted enough to not even think of missing the ciggies. After 42 years of smoking, it's all I can put it down to.

[davetherayon]

Smoking is buying cigs, sparking one up, and smoking it.

Vaping is a hobby. Nearest analogues come to it is pipe smokers, with the ritual of cleaning a pipe, and lighting it. But very much less a hobby.

[Greg]

Jul 31, 2014 14:23:26 GMT davetherayon said:

Smoking is buying cigs, sparking one up, and smoking it.

Vaping is a hobby. Nearest analogues come to it is pipe smokers, with the ritual of cleaning a pipe, and lighting it. But very much less a hobby.

Vaping isn't a hobby for everyone though, some just ego and that's it which is fine but I can't see how it can't be an alternative to smoking.

you choice to smoke or vape or some do both. How one isn't an alternative for the other goes over my head  

To say its it's a means to an end is fine but it's still an alternative to smoking 

[Ripshod]

My view is it's gonna be a hobby once I get to zero nic. Until then it's my alternative choice for obtaining my nicotine.

[robby]

It is a replacement and also a "weaner off tobacco" for some. It is also nicotine replacement therapy, I wouldnt be doing it if there was no nic involved. It is also a hobby for some and a shocking drain on my bank balance (though less than I was spending on ciggies). As long as it keeps peeps off the carcinogens, that`s all that matters

[Cousin Itt]

For me its 100% an alternative to smoking . Gone from 50 plus ciggs a day to zero . Had a few cravings for ciggs for maybe 2 days which I resisted and now I will never have another fag unless vaping gets banned and they force me back.
If I can get down to zero nic I will bin vaping altogether as I only do it for the nicotine . Bonus that it tastes nice.

[clairea]

It is both an alternative, and a hobby, and a lifesaver, i used to smoke 40 mayfair superkings day after day, when the money was tight i'd buy roll ups, when it got really bad, i don't even want to think about what i used to do to get a fix, now i've got enough ejuice to last me a few months, and money in the bank, i don't have to worry about not having any money to buy stinkies, or worry about where i'm going to get my next nicotine fix from, i no longer have panic attacks like i did when i was about to run out and couldn't get out of bed to go to the shop because my stupid body wouldn't let me.

but i still need the nicotine, and think i always will, although if i can cut it down to around 6mg and then up during the bad days then i'd be happy, the first day i picked up a ego was the last day I smoked a stinkie, I haven't touched one since, i don't want one, i don't think about them unless mentioning them on here. but i bet if you take away all my vaping gear i'd reach for a smoke. even though I have never vaped tobacco flavoured ejuice, i've tried all sorts of flavours but they have all been sweet i chop and change every few days because i get bored or go off the flavour,

I now have my VTR my MVP my VVV3 my evods, ego's my aero tank my nv tank, protanks 1 and 3 must get 2 make the set, still not spending as much as i did on smokes each month, we have money left in the bank, hence i can go take trips to VF and to 2 other festivals this year, no longer do i panic that i haven't got any cancer sticks in the house, although i was running low on my fav juice and thought i have to order some in, which i did but it wasn't a problem i had other flavours to try and vape and in that time found a couple of others I'd like to buy bigger sizes off.

Its also improved my health no end.

So for me it's more than an alternative it's a lifesaver,

[lobeydosser]

I wrote this topic a bit tongue in cheek.

It was more to do with the amount of vape flavours that take my fancy these days, compared to the one tobacco flavour that I stuck to through 49 years of smoking.

I do vape purely for the nicotine (24mg) and the different flavours are just a bonus.

The fact that like others, I no longer need to count the number of fags I have and then worry about if I have enough for the morning, because I have enough e-juice spare to float a boat if I had one, is another bonus.

But what I am basically saying is that Vaping is so much more than smoking ever was.
It is more than just an alternative.
Oh yes, for the nicotine, it is a better way of getting that, but who would ever think of joining a forum and studying different delivery systems, read about recipes or develop new ways of doing things, if all I needed to do was light a fag?

Never mind my house improvements or my lifestyle improvements, just a casual look around my study desk or in my freezer would tell you that, for me, Vaping is way more than just a way of getting my nicotine fix.

[Greg]

Then maybe a more appropriate title and question would be is vaping better than smoking and why

[johny5times]

Jul 31, 2014 14:29:31 GMT Greg said:

Jul 31, 2014 14:23:26 GMT davetherayon said:

Smoking is buying cigs, sparking one up, and smoking it.

Vaping is a hobby. Nearest analogues come to it is pipe smokers, with the ritual of cleaning a pipe, and lighting it. But very much less a hobby.

Vaping isn't a hobby for everyone though, some just ego and that's it which is fine but I can't see how it can't be an alternative to smoking.

you choice to smoke or vape or some do both. How one isn't an alternative for the other goes over my head  

To say its it's a means to an end is fine but it's still an alternative to smoking 

I'd say the majority of people I know who vape, mostly people in work, just treat it as a direct replacement for smoking.  they use cheap ce4 tanks, ego batteries, and stick to one tobacco or menthol flavour.  a lad in work was given an itaste for his birthday, but just keeps it set to 3.7v and uses the same old plastic tanks on it.  
it's a good thing that vaping is so wide ranging, in terms of flavours, strengths, and how far down the hobbyist rabbit hole you want to go.  giving people the variety to find just what it is they need will keep more people off the ciggies in the long run.

[johny5times]

for me, finding sites like this and realising that the cheap £10 starter kit and horrible ibaccy juices wasn't the be all and end all of vaping has worked wonders. I can't honestly say I wouldn't have gone back to ciggies by now if I hadn't discovered the means to vape lovely, rich, smooth flavoured juices with good quality kit.

[lobeydosser]

Jul 31, 2014 15:55:46 GMT Greg said:

Then maybe a more appropriate title and question would be is vaping better than smoking and why

Perhaps, but smoking was just something I did because I was addicted to nicotine.

Many folks on here have cut down to zero nicotine but still continue to Vape. Why would they do that if Vaping was only "better" than smoking? Or an alternative to smoking?

Vaping is different to smoking in so many ways.

It is more than just an alternative, it is a whole new hobby that encompasses so many different fields that it has attractions to all sorts of Vapers.

The fact that you stick it in your mouth and inhale is about the only similarity between them both.