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Hello and welcome Debbie. You made the right decision.

A word of advice from a heavy ex-smoker (almost 2 years since my last cigarette, and that was bad, black, cigarlike stuff - 30-40 of them) - don't deny yourself the cigarettes, feel free to smoke if you want. It is different to the patches and gums, vaping does not mean that you lost the fight if you smoke a cigarette now and then. Every cigarette that you did not smoke counts.

I have not stopped smoking, I took up smoking 2.0!

You will find that vaping will naturally replace smoking more and more, because it _is_better_ than smoking. It tastes better, it creates more "smoke", it is more fun. And then, if you want, some time in the future, throw away your tobacco, not because of pressure, but because you found something better.

I still have multiple cartons of Gitanes here, maybe some time I can hand them down as antiques to a smoker. I just don't have a reason to smoke them myself.

I wouldn't use a USB for a true pass through, but a lab power supply or a modified PC power supply.

You appear to be a tinkerer - repairing electronic stuff for others.

If you want a more cloudy vape, you could look into rebuildable drippers, micro coils with cotton and a cheap mechanical mod with good batteries.

Should you choose to go that way, I beg you to never skimp on batteries (Use AW IMR 18650/1600 or Samsung INR 18650-20R) or on the charger (Xtar for a budget). And stay away from the super low ohm coils lower than, say 0,8. At least until you know what you are doing. Going low on resistance stresses the batteries a good deal and in the extreme, they could gas out and fail.

Your shopping list could look like this:
1x Xtar Wp2-II charger (best to shop around in your country)
3x AW IMR 18650-1600 (use the 2000 version if the 1600s are out of stock) (best to shop around in your country)
1x Fasttech K100 or other cheap mech mod: www.fasttech.com/products/1411/10004602/1391901
1x RBA dripper (various on fasttech, this is one: www.fasttech.com/products/1411/10004437/1391309)
a couple feet of AWG 29, 28, 27 Kanthal A or Kanthal A1 wire until you find out which size you prefer. (best to shop around in your country)
some rolled cotton - use untreated cotton Q-Tips if you have to. One Q-Tip makes 4 wicks.

You might find most of the stuff in the UK, too, you'd have to pay a bit more, but helping the local vendors is important, you'll have a guarantee and delivery is faster (Fasttech takes weeks)

Here's the mother of all micro coil threads: (on another forum unfortunately) www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/rebuildable-atomizer-systems/416271-micro-coils-increase-vapor-flavor-th.html

Happy cloud chasing =)

Avoid Ultrafire and Trustfire at all cost in a mech mod. They often appear to be rebranded and even reused cells, so there is no way of telling when they break down. If you go sub ohm, you NEED a battery that can take it. "But it works" does unfortunately not tell anything about the safety.

Batteries to use include AW IMR 1600 (the 2000 variety works, too, but isn't as good for a mech), some Panasonics (CGR 18650 CH, NCR 18650 PD), Some Efest "IMR" types, Sony US18650V, V2, V3 and my favourite: Samsung INR18650-20R.

There are other, more exotic or rebranded types like MNKE and Surefire (The only trustworthy ...fire brand) that are ok to use.

In a battery for a mech mod you want to look at two main aspects: chemical safety and maximum amperage.

Chemical safety means that the battery might fail under certain conditions, but if it does, it will release hot and noxious, but not flammable gases. That rules out the LiPo type of battery and the ICR type of batteries - which are the most used ones. They can be made somewhat safe by adding an external circuit, like the Trustfire and Ultrafire brands do, but IF the battery fails, it will burn really quickly (thermal runaway).

Batteries that are safer because of the chemistry used are often called "safe chemistry" - well, let's call them "safer chemistry". Those do not necessarily need external protection, because if they fail, they will do a lot less harm when gassing out - but not burn as violently as ICR and LiPo.

There are several types of "safer chemistry" batteries today, the main and classic one being IMR. There are other proprietary chemistries, like the Panasonics that are rumored to use a complex Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Dioxide chemistry. Unfortunately many vendors don't really know a lot about the batteries they sell and just use "IMR" as a label for "safe chemistry".

Maximum amperage means that you want to be able to draw a lot of power from a cell - and it has to be build to deliver that. Battery manufacturers need to strike a design balance between maximum draw current (amperage) and power holding ability (mAh) - basically any battery that can hold a lot of power will not be able to sustain high discharge loads.

The cells we usually use are either designed for Powertools (Ultra High Drain) or for mobility (e-cars, e-bikes etc), those are usually high drain.

Sorry for the wall of text, but micro coils really can try a battery and everyone who goes below 1.4 Ohms on a coil needs to know about batteries.

The bamboo is Aunt Lydias bamboo crochet thread #10, natural - I bought it via ebay US. Our customs completely unrolled the ball of thread, obviously looking for smuggled drugs. I am guessing they couldn't believe someone would import a single ball of thread into Germany =) They stuffed the unrolled thread back into the package. If I had wanted to crochet with it, I would have been quite angry =)

I didn't find anything similar in Germany, maybe you have more luck in the UK.

The bamboo is great for wicking micro coils because it has a defined size. I know I need 6 strands of the stuff inside a 1,5mm ID coil, and 8 strands in a 2mm ID coil. I use some Kanthal wire, fold it over, thread the loop through the coil, put the bamboo through the loop and pull the wire with the bamboo through the coil. Works like a needle threader my granny used to have.

This is the right stuff: www.ebay.com/itm/Aunt-Lydias-Bamboo-Crochet-Thread-Size-10-Natural-/300919921538

Let me add the "instant gratification" flavouring to that list: Capella Vanilla Custard, mixed at 15-20%.