The journey so far

[pipeman01]

Today I celebrate 1 month without stinkies.

I thought I'd try and put into words not only what I've done, but also try and describe the thinking behind it.

I was a 20+ a day smoker for over 40 years and also smoked a pipe, maybe 3-4 bowls a day. I admit I liked smoking, of course there was addiction but like all of us, a lot was habit. A fag (or 2) with the morning coffee. I bowl of Ennerdale while catching up on the morning's emails etc. 

I'd stopped smoking before, perhaps twice I'd managed more than 12 months but then started again... I'd done the patches, gum, little white cigarette thing from the Dr's, even the original ecigs a few years ago... nothing worked. 

In January my first grandchild was born and the rule was that we wouldn't smoke near the baby, so when he was coming round to visit I closed the study door (I work from home 99% of the time), opened the window and smoked... bloody cold, but I understood why. I guess this laid the seed. Then in March I bought a new car, black SLK with red leather interior and chose not to smoke in it. As I work from home mainly, any regular driving is local, so going for 10 mins without a fag to the shops isn't a bind, but on the 2nd April I had a site visit which was a 2 hour drive away and realized I wouldn't be able to abstain that long. So, a couple of days in advance I dug out the old ecig and found some juice. I visited the JAC site (it was their ecig I had bought previously) for refill instructions and saw tank based systems for the first time. I thought that would be ideal to leave in the car and I could toot while driving, so bought the Series-E kit after watching a few reviews on youtube.

It didn't arrive by the time I left on the 2nd, so I was left with the 1st gen ecig for the journey.

When I got home the JAC delivery had arrived. I filled a pipe with Full Virginia Flake and opened the box and assembled / filled my first tank. I've raced radio controlled cars for over 30 years and quality engineering is something I appreciate. Things need to fit together cleanly and I was blown away by the quality (this isn't an advert for JAC, but I think it's a well engineered bit of lit).

I'd seen on the reviews that you need to leave a new wick for about 20 mins to soak the juice before firing, so I sat back and finished my pipe.

Then I fired it up.... 

Over the rest of the evening I had one stinky as I waited for the battery to recharge, and haven't had one since.

Since then, I've sort of been bitten by the shinyitis bug and have increased by collection to a Vamo V5 courtesy of this generosity of AAEC members, an Aspire VV kit with a mini Nautilus (which I've given to my son as he's moved over to vaping.. result!  ), an istick 50w, an iTaste MVP 3.0, a Kanger Subtank, Kayfun Light, another 2 mini Nautilus and a Tobh RDA... and a protank which should arrive today. I've also bought a couple of clearo's for my wife but she's not moved over yet as she seems to cough every time she inhales... we don't know why but I'n going to make up a 80+% VG mix for her to try in case it's a reaction to PG. Any suggestions to help her would be appreciated.


I've always got at least 4 tanks on the go, one or 2 with fruit, one with custard, one with "experimental" juices that I've made (with varying degrees of success) and I'm getting the hand of recoiling although my eyesight makes that tougher than the mechanical ability to actually make the coils.

I've kept records of my expenditure and excluding juice (which is a consumable) and providing I don't spend any more money in the next few days I will break even cost wise on 7th May. And the resale value of my gear is more than a months worth of fag ends.... 



TL:DR - As a replacement for regular smoking, vaping is better than anything else on the market and the start up costs are recovered in time.

[Phoenixflame (Julie)]

  well done on.your first month without ciggies.

[dinks]

Congratulations on your smoke free month!! another victory for vaping and for you.

[igual]

Well done on your journey so far bud.
Regarding the Mrs coughing it might be pg sensitivity as you said.
Also what nic level are you vaping on?.

[pipeman01]

igual, we've tried nic ranging from 18 down to 3... same effect... I reckon it's "mental" rather than physical

[chykensa]

AFAIK, the coughing is normal when you start vaping; it could be the body needing to get used to the new inhalants. Suggest that she holds the vapour in her mouth for a few seconds before inhaling - she will still get the nicotine as the mucous membranes in your mouth strip out the nic anyway. Smaller puffs will also help.
She should find that in a couple of days her lungs have acclimatised and will be able to inhale 'normally' without triggering the cough reflex.
Hope this helps, and well done on your success story - I love reading about how people's vaping journeys begin

[Ripshod]

May 2, 2015 7:54:21 GMT pipeman01 said:

As a replacement for regular smoking, vaping is better than anything else on the market and the start up costs are recovered in time.

Brilliant. Well said pipeman01

[tonyarosey]

What does PG mean please?

[sydsut]

May 2, 2015 11:19:55 GMT tonyarosey said:

What does PG mean please?

Propylene Glycol an ingredient in e-liquids

[sydsut]

Congratulations pipeman01 and on your anniversary

[poochops]

A black SLK with red leather! You jammy sod:)



Oh well done on the first month too!

[glen]

Great post, really well done, good luck with your vaping future

[MrDJ]

Congratulations Pipeman.
like you its 10 weeks for me now after a 20 a day for 35 years smoking. i started off on capstan full strength back in the day which were like burning coils we get now

youve sure got the hardware bug mate and a nice growing collection going on there.
im more collecting the software now (juice). mid week i had was around the 60 mark bottles but just added another 15 to that from cornish liquids & joose juice. received my el diablo voodoo today as well as my long overdue mothers milk from suicide bunny and its lush. i can now see me spending a lot more on the high end liquids. maybe five pawns next.

[MrDJ]

May 2, 2015 11:19:55 GMT tonyarosey said:

What does PG mean please?

have a read www.learn.eversmoke.com/pg-vs-vg-based-e-liquid.html

[Clivia]

well done - congratulations