A bloggish thing

[AstroT]

So I am not going to retype my history or any of that here, I am hoping to just add new or unread content in my newbie role as a vaper.

I'll do a tldr though: Smoker for 30 years, patches and pills made it worse, from chainsmoker to vaper within days of buying decent mod and pod.
Vaping a Voopoo PNP pod tank on a GeekVape Obelisk 200.

Anyway, please advise, comment, correct or condemn my blurb at any point, I would appreciate it.

The reason I am writing this is so that I have a personal record and so that if I do anything silly I can get corrected or get better information or multiple opinions.

Please, I beg of you, give me your opinions. I am absolutely loving my vape and want to learn absolutely everything I can to improve my experience. If it has been this good so far I can only imagine how amazing it could get.

 

[AstroT]

Current setup:

Geekvape Obelisk 200 mod.

Voopoo pnp pod tank kit with 5x pods (6 pods total) all running on SMRTcoil rebuildable coil kits with nexMESH Extreme 0.20Ω coils between 30 to 45 W depending on the juice, time of day, nic content and what angle the butterfly flapped it's wings.

2x Golisi IMR 18650 G25 batteries
2x Golisi IMR 18650 G30 batteries

As of today Only charging the batteries with Nitecore Intellicharger New i4. It has buttons I do not understand, I do not care at this point.

 

[Spunk3yMunk3y]

I would say this, someone once told me to keep the rituals you had as a smoker for a few weeks at least. If you used to smoke on the bog in the morning, then vape there. If you used to exclusively only smoke outside, then go outside to vape. Just for a while to keep that ritual going until you ease out of it. I also found that once the smell of other people smoking didn't tempt me anymore then I knew I could potentially start breaking the ritual myself and for e.g. vape inside. I used to exclusively smoke outside only and still take a step outside when I feel like I need that "reminder".

I like the idea of accountability posts and I wanted to recommend a thread in conjunction to the introduce yourself thread. Not to be authoritarian but I find sometimes it helps to keep yourself accountable. I went back to smoking many times over the years from vaping but it's also down to money unfortunately and I hate that... Because smokes cost more than just money. Anyway I feel like I lost my point somewhere here. Anyways just keep strong and happy vaping! Just know you're not alone, I recently quit smoking again and Inam trying my best this time around. Hopefully things will be different for us and we can keep going ahead with this.

 

[AstroT]

Wish List:

At this point I have decided I want a new tank, strongly leaning towards dead rabbit.
I also want a new mod for the tank.

I am petrified that I lose, have stolen, lost or break my current mod and end up on smokes because mid month I have no cash or for some reason can not get another Mod or tank/pod system and end up buying a pack of stinkies.

I want this to be my primary kit, with the other for morning use, trying new vapes or getting rid of vape mouth.

I am just really really scared That something goes wrong (probably won't) and I end up back on combustible tobacco.

 

[Grand Guru]

That’s a great idea @AstroT. Even though we all have different experiences, backgrounds and habits, your story may and will certainly inspire many people! Will keep a close eye on this thread

 

[AstroT]

I would say this, someone once told me to keep the rituals you had as a smoker for a few weeks at least. If you used to smoke on the bog in the morning, then vape there. If you used to exclusively only smoke outside, then go outside to vape. Just for a while to keep that ritual going until you ease out of it. I also found that once the smell of other people smoking didn't tempt me anymore then I knew I could potentially start breaking the ritual myself and for e.g. vape inside. I used to exclusively smoke outside only and still take a step outside when I feel like I need that "reminder".

I like the idea of accountability posts and I wanted to recommend a thread in conjunction to the introduce yourself thread. Not to be authoritarian but I find sometimes it helps to keep yourself accountable. I went back to smoking many times over the years from vaping but it's also down to money unfortunately and I hate that... Because smokes cost more than just money. Anyway I feel like I lost my point somewhere here. Anyways just keep strong and happy vaping! Just know you're not alone, I recently quit smoking again and Inam trying my best this time around. Hopefully things will be different for us and we can keep going ahead with this.

My Human!

Seriously, everything you said above is very much how I have felt and am feeling at this point.
Keep the rituals: At this moment I am sitting outside on my back stoep vaping, it's where I always smoked and as I am a father of two I do not want to get my kids addicted to nicotine.
Basically I can see the tv from here and pulled some power for my laptop and other accessories while I was a smoker.
I also "ritualistically" leave my office at work during tea and lunch time to go "chain vape"? because that was the ritual I performed and my body expects that nicotine boost at that time.

I am still a little tempted by the smell of cigarettes burning but the thing that blows my mind right now is when I first got the vape I finished all my cigarettes while vaping in-between, and the taste, smell, process of actually finishing the cigarette etc just turned me off. Back in the ego-t days it was completely the opposite. Current pnp pod vs those cigar shaped wannabes. truly amazing difference in satisfaction.

I started vaping at 57 to 75watts.

Still doing the high nicotine but right now my mod is sitting at 40w, most of the day it's at 30 to 32.5w

As to the money, I was smoking cigarettes that cost R75 a carton. I would spend on average R400 to R600pm on cigarettes...

They say vaping is cheaper? Not so in South Africa...

At a guess I would say I hit R3500 to R4000 in two months. But I feel this is worth it.
I feel freaking amazing...

 

[AstroT]

My experience with juice:

Bit of background here, I have never enjoyed menthol or anything that resembles it.

I got my first mod and pod after being really confused by friends trying to help me out on this journey.
I walked into a vape store, asked what they had and bought the best looking device available.
it happened to be the Obelisk 200. The only pod tanks they had happened to be the voopoo pnp pod tanks. Anyway, seriously glad it worked out this way,,,

The guy was seriously helpful as in I applaud him for his assistance, he turned my vape on for the first time, primered my pnp coil and told me not to use it for at least 45 minutes. Legend dude!

Only issue was something I did not understand at the time, mg/ml...Their max was 6mg/ml.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

told me not to use it for at least 45 minutes.

There is no need to leave it for that long. If it has been wicked OK and primed, ten minutes or less is enough. Just start off at a low wattage. If you have started too early you will notice a hint of a dry hit and can wait a bit longer.

After a while, you gain a bit of experience. I wait less than 5 minutes. I guess that your shop guy was erring on the side of caution by suggesting a 45-minute wait. There is nothing wrong with that. He has probably learned from experience that if he tells a customer to wait for five minutes they will probably wait for two and then blame him for the dry hits.

I think that your idea of writing about your experience is great. It will remind you of your achievement and will probably help others.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Another thought.

If you are in a financial bind and have to return to smoking I'm sure that the JHB Vape Meet guys will help you out. This is particularly likely because you seem to be fast becoming an active forum member.

A backup device is a good idea. My suggestion is to buy a second-hand single battery mod (you vape at 40W max) from the classifieds on the forum.

https://www.ecigssa.co.za/forums/for-sale/

Ask for advice before you buy if you want to.

 

[DavyH]

Another thought.

If you are in a financial bind and have to return to smoking I'm sure that the JHB Vape Meet guys will help you out. This is particularly likely because you seem to be fast becoming an active forum member.

A backup device is a good idea. My suggestion is to buy a second-hand single battery mod (you vape at 40W max) from the classifieds on the forum.

https://www.ecigssa.co.za/forums/for-sale/

Ask for advice before you buy if you want to.

This!

The vape meets are largely about fun, but for a reformed smoker there’s definitely an ‘AA’ element to them, plus a chance to sample new flavour profiles, see a wide range of vaping styles and devices in use and draw on years of experience.

 

[DarthBranMuffin]

You are well on your way down the rabbit hole @AstroT with major vaping success by leaving the stinkies in your vape clouds...

You have already mastered the skill of asking for advise over here, just keep doing what you are doing. It is going to take a bit of time with a hit and miss as you go along, but you'll find your sweet spot.

 

[Stranger]

Yeah, and we take the piss out of you.

 

[Stranger]

Aaand on a serious note, I ventured down the DIY road and have found huge savings doing DIY and one shots. I can now literally put a one shot together in a few minutes. Again that is a learning curve. I started with syringes and measuring magefta's and then discovered how to use a scale. Now it is second nature.

Finding one or two juices that you can use all day keeps the costs down. I also have bought quite a few items from the classifieds here way below shop prices for mint items.

 

[AstroT]

Aaand on a serious note, I ventured down the DIY road and have found huge savings doing DIY and one shots. I can now literally put a one shot together in a few minutes. Again that is a learning curve. I started with syringes and measuring magefta's and then discovered how to use a scale. Now it is second nature.

Finding one or two juices that you can use all day keeps the costs down. I also have bought quite a few items from the classifieds here way below shop prices for mint items.

I have done a bit of mycelium (oyster mushrooms and such) and brewing in the past so have some pretty decent scales and the odd measuring flasks, pipettes etc at home, for now though I will just buy juice made by the more experienced.

As to diy, I spent R770 on rebuild-able coils (6x coil kits and a SMRT PnP Meshed Cotton Set 10 pack) and I think this will likely last me at least a year before I need to buy anything else for my 6 pods, well we will see.


Side note, if you ever want to find all your "lost" lighters, just quit smoking, I have easily got 8 working lighters and counting, last month I had 1

 

[Stranger]

My average cost for my DIY or one shot per 100ML is around R75. I use 600 ml plus per month

 

[AstroT]

Guess the nitecore i4 was a bad buy, used it twice now the batteries are not charging, it smells like melting plastic and getting hotter and hotter.

 

[DarthBranMuffin]

Guess the nitecore i4 was a bad buy, used it twice now the batteries are not charging, it smells like melting plastic and getting hotter and hotter.

Very strange, been running mine for almost 2 years now, no issues... check if your cable is plugged in properly, maybe it is a loose connection. If it persists, bin it ASAP and get a new one.

 

[AstroT]

Very strange, been running mine for almost 2 years now, no issues... check if your cable is plugged in properly, maybe it is a loose connection. If it persists, bin it ASAP and get a new one.

Yea is a day old, I think they will replace it?

 

[AstroT]

so sitting here watching tv with 6 pnp pods, 4 of them from @ivc_mixer trying to see what I like most.

Some of them are fresh, it's part of the personal experience/experiment/learning curve but mostly due to my blunder of not letting them stand a little longer.

Anyway, quick notes so that I can compare them when the juices have matured a little.
Idea of my palate: I prefer my coffee strong and white without sugar but with milk. I would rather eat chips or biltong any day over chocolate, I do not have a sweet tooth. the only sweets I enjoy are Cavendish & Harvey Sour Cherry Drops, a can can last me 6 months to a year if my children don't get into it.

I am no vape guru or wine expert so please do not expect to find words like "notes" in this post...

Anyway IVC Mixes:
Coffee is good, would prefer a bit more flavor and less sweet but think it's just not matured yet, very smooth
Sweet Strawberry is mature (It was a sampler bottle). A little sweet for me but I will finish this bottle as a vape mouth reset and do enjoy the flavor, just not an all day thing.
Rum & Raisin ice-cream sampler: I really like this and will likely get more. Not too sweet and also has some interesting flavor and after flavor.
Soda Float, I really enjoy this one, I started with a sampler that is now nearly done but got another 60ml very refreshing, very cream soda and reminds me of hot days in the sun as a child drinking endless bottles of soda stream by the pool.

Last 2 pods:
Firstly, lets go to cherry. in my smoking years I always loved a good cherry cigarillo or cherry pipe tobacco as a sundowner or special occasion thing (like the first day of holidays). I bought a 35ml bottle of Vape King Cherry cigar @ 18mg/ml and that has been my evening dl till yesterday. I bought a bottle of cherry tobacco from IVC and topped my around 50% empty vape king pod up with it yesterday. before it was good if a little harsh, now it's the same cherry tobacco flavor but less of the towards the end of the cigar taste. Really nice and will eventually try IVC's in a clean pod but this is good as it is. I will likely keep mixing the two till the vape king is done (only around 15ml left).

Lastly, my all day juice.
When I started vaping I got a 6mg/ml Rebel Revolution Apache Leaf (pipe tobacco and vanilla) 120ml bottle.
I was then gifted several bottle by an ex vaper. one of them was Vapour Mountain VM4 MTL 12mg/ml sealed 60ml bottle. It's a standard tobacco with vanilla and caramel so I dropped some in my pod to increase the nicotine and really liked the flavor. When I had around about more or less 40ml of the apache and 50ml of the VM4 left I just emptied the one bottle into the other.
I really hope I can find an approximation when this runs out. It's subtle enough with just the right throat hit and flavor to keep me happy most of the day

TLDR Version:
By Preference:
1. vapeking/vm4 mix
2. coffee
3. cherry
4. soda float/R&R
5. Sweet Strawberry

Just another edit, I dedicated pods to flavors so that I can judge and decide over time, not just with a single hit.

 

[Rivera]

My Human!

Seriously, everything you said above is very much how I have felt and am feeling at this point.
Keep the rituals: At this moment I am sitting outside on my back stoep vaping, it's where I always smoked and as I am a father of two I do not want to get my kids addicted to nicotine.
Basically I can see the tv from here and pulled some power for my laptop and other accessories while I was a smoker.
I also "ritualistically" leave my office at work during tea and lunch time to go "chain vape"? because that was the ritual I performed and my body expects that nicotine boost at that time.

I am still a little tempted by the smell of cigarettes burning but the thing that blows my mind right now is when I first got the vape I finished all my cigarettes while vaping in-between, and the taste, smell, process of actually finishing the cigarette etc just turned me off. Back in the ego-t days it was completely the opposite. Current pnp pod vs those cigar shaped wannabes. truly amazing difference in satisfaction.

I started vaping at 57 to 75watts.

Still doing the high nicotine but right now my mod is sitting at 40w, most of the day it's at 30 to 32.5w

As to the money, I was smoking cigarettes that cost R75 a carton. I would spend on average R400 to R600pm on cigarettes...

They say vaping is cheaper? Not so in South Africa...

At a guess I would say I hit R3500 to R4000 in two months. But I feel this is worth it.
I feel freaking amazing...

Biggest cost in my opinion, is the vape equipment. Once you have found a setup you feel happy with and that cost is out of the way, I recommend DIY

My Human!

Seriously, everything you said above is very much how I have felt and am feeling at this point.
Keep the rituals: At this moment I am sitting outside on my back stoep vaping, it's where I always smoked and as I am a father of two I do not want to get my kids addicted to nicotine.
Basically I can see the tv from here and pulled some power for my laptop and other accessories while I was a smoker.
I also "ritualistically" leave my office at work during tea and lunch time to go "chain vape"? because that was the ritual I performed and my body expects that nicotine boost at that time.

I am still a little tempted by the smell of cigarettes burning but the thing that blows my mind right now is when I first got the vape I finished all my cigarettes while vaping in-between, and the taste, smell, process of actually finishing the cigarette etc just turned me off. Back in the ego-t days it was completely the opposite. Current pnp pod vs those cigar shaped wannabes. truly amazing difference in satisfaction.

I started vaping at 57 to 75watts.

Still doing the high nicotine but right now my mod is sitting at 40w, most of the day it's at 30 to 32.5w

As to the money, I was smoking cigarettes that cost R75 a carton. I would spend on average R400 to R600pm on cigarettes...

They say vaping is cheaper? Not so in South Africa...

At a guess I would say I hit R3500 to R4000 in two months. But I feel this is worth it.
I feel freaking amazing...

I was spending about R1600pm on cartons of smokes. I find the most cost is on vape setups, that certainly gets expensive quickly. But now I have my setups sorted, I got back into DIY juice so I will save quite a bit of money there.

 

[AstroT]

Biggest cost in my opinion, is the vape equipment. Once you have found a setup you feel happy with and that cost is out of the way, I recommend DIY


I was spending about R1600pm on cartons of smokes. I find the most cost is on vape setups, that certainly gets expensive quickly. But now I have my setups sorted, I got back into DIY juice so I will save quite a bit of money there.

Yea batteries, coils, pods juices and mod so far easily set me back around R4.4k and next month I want to buy another 200w mod and a dead rabbit (And coil kits etc). Money I could spend elsewhere but right now the lack of cigarettes is great and I know after that purchase I'll be set for at least a year on R500 to R600 juice a month (unless the proposed tax kicks in).

 

[vicTor]

Another thought.

If you are in a financial bind and have to return to smoking I'm sure that the JHB Vape Meet guys will help you out. This is particularly likely because you seem to be fast becoming an active forum member.

A backup device is a good idea. My suggestion is to buy a second-hand single battery mod (you vape at 40W max) from the classifieds on the forum.

https://www.ecigssa.co.za/forums/for-sale/

Ask for advice before you buy if you want to.

how can we help ? will be happy to

 

[Rivera]

Yea batteries, coils, pods juices and mod so far easily set me back around R4.4k and next month I want to buy another 200w mod and a dead rabbit (And coil kits etc). Money I could spend elsewhere but right now the lack of cigarettes is great and I know after that purchase I'll be set for at least a year on R500 to R600 juice a month (unless the proposed tax kicks in).

YESS!!! Absolutely Great choice on the dead rabbit!

 

[vicTor]

what is "vape mouth"

 

[Grand Guru]

Vaper tongue, I guess