Quit smoking, started vaping, feel a lot better.

[Buckster]

Years ago when vaping was still relatively new, I thought it might allow me to smoke without having to go outside, so I bought a highly recommended unit. I didn't really care for it though, so I didn't use it long. Eventually, I gave it to my daughter, who wanted it to cut back on her smoking. It didn't work for her either.

After about 40 years of smoking, things got pretty bad for my lungs. By then I'd spent years waking up every morning and hacking and coughing up all kinds of vile things, and it would take as long as a half an hour spewing junk into the sink before I could breathe again. On the morning of February 17, 2012, I looked up into the mirror after another daily morning ritual of hacking up goobers session and saw the horrible sight of an old man, beet-red-faced, gasping for air, sweating, haggard. At that moment, I said, "I'm done". I never smoked again.

I gave away several packs of cigarettes still in the carton, along with the half a pack that was open to someone else who smoked my brand.

Turns out I have emphysema. To breathe, I use a couple of medicated inhalers a few times per day, as needed.

Enjoy your smoking, while you still can, but quit as soon as possible.

 

[weepete]

Would you mind posting a photo of your setup? I'm always interested in other peoples rigs!

Sure mate, here's one I took just now of my current rig. If I remember I'll post a shot of my coils when I recoil it.

 

[weepete]

I've thought about picking up an e-cig. I tried them when they first came out and they tasted foul and chemically to me (oh the irony, I complain they taste "chemmy" and I smoke literal cancer sticks). I smoke about a pack a day now, sometimes more if I'm driving and shooting all day/night. I've smoked for about 10 years and I just feel like garbage pretty often, obviously after a night photographing the milky way and I smoke like a pack, and doing more hiking and stuff I really notice how bad I feel.

Not only do I smell like gross cigs from smoking already, but also if I'm out shooting I "field-strip" the cigs and put the butts in my pocket as not to litter....so my clothes end up smelling heinous. I got sober a little over 2 years ago now, so quitting smoking was NOT an option for a while, but lately I've been thinking more about it. My buddy bought one of the e-cigs a few weeks ago in an attempt to eventually quit completely, and I tried it out and it wasn't too bad...didn't taste weird or anything. I don't really want to get into one of the crazy vape set-ups as honestly I feel like it looks douche-y (maybe that's just all the hipsters in my area I see blowing giant cumulonimbus clouds of vapor everywhere).

Every time I think about quitting smoking I get all anxious, so maybe the e-cig will help. Since getting sober it's definitely coffee+cigs all day...tough to quit

Kangertech Starter kit KangerTech

You may want to try out something fairly simple like this if it interests you. Not a major investment as far as price point is concerned. I'm sure if Pete knows of a better route to take with a starter kit he will chime in. I just have used Kanger and know they make a good product.

I had the same feelings about Cigs. I hated smelling like them especially when I went back into work and had to facilitate training for new hires. Felt like I was imposing due to the cigarette smell. Now I don't have to worry about that at all.

That kit looks pretty good and Evods are the best non rebuildables I've tried. Normaly I say get a couple of Evods and a couple of batteries to try it out. Battery life is the big thing to consider when making the switch. Its fine if you can get to a charging point you can just get 2 and have one on charge. I work away a bit so I needed to go for 1800mah which did me about 6 hrs. Only use the charger that came with your batteries to charge them though, don't charge them overnight. There's been a few issues with people charging e-gos with a 510 charger.

 

[weepete]

Is the vape thing just for enjoyment, or used as a means to quitting smoking? Or both? Forgive my ignorance, this stuff came out long after I quit smoking 13 years ago. Which, of course, was the hardest thing I've "ever" had to do in my entire life! I smoked 2 packs a day for 30 years, and used the patches, M&M's and toothpicks to quit.

Can be any of the above. Personally I'm using it as an alternitive to tobbaco but some people use them sucessfully as NRT to cut down on nicotene and quit.

 

[shefjr]

Congrats on working towards quiting Tyler! My parents both used similar contraptions to what you are using to quit. It seems to have worked for them although, they both say they still get cravings once in a while. I hope you can keep it up! Good luck my friend.

 

[pgriz]

One of the reasons that addictions can be so difficult to kick is that the brain's neuroplasticity can enhance certain neural connections that tie the addictive substance or behaviour to the reward system (ref: Pharmacology of Nicotine Addiction Smoking-Induced Disease and Therapeutics). That is in addition to other physiological effects caused by the addiction. Once the connections are made (and reinforced through use) they persist for a long time. Therefore even if the physiological effects have long worn off, the neural pathways remain. How they get deactivated isn't very clear. But it does explain why the cravings persist.

Anyway, vaping still allows the delivery of the nicotine while effectively eliminating the combustion by-products of smoking. However, according to some reports, vape smoke is not completely innocuous (ref: Vaping may not be as safe as smokers think research suggests Society The Guardian), with production of free radicals (while 100x less than what is found in cigarette smoke, they are still present), and some concerns about the ability of the very tiny particles that make up the "smoke" to penetrate cell tissues and potentially cause inflammation (ref: Research on vaping starts to clear smoke on possible health effects - York Dispatch.

The other components of the vaping liquid also need scrutiny. The presence of metals in the liquid results in them being carried into the body through the microparticles of the vapour. What will their effects be on the body? No-one knows. And given that anything that is in the vaping liquid effectively get carried deep into the lungs, it becomes really important (at least in my mind) that the specific ingredients of the liquid are known, quantified and are as pure as drug delivery systems.

So it seems that this new type of product "should" be much better for the body than is tobacco smoke, it still is not risk free. This is an intriguing subject. I'm going to continue doing reading on some of the issues raised in the reports, if only to satisfy my own curiosity.

 

[Allenkerky]

I think it will turn out to be as unhealthy as smoking just glad I never smoked

That is my guess as well. Probably just different sickness and maybe more acute?

 

[gsgary]

I think it will turn out to be as unhealthy as smoking just glad I never smoked

That is my guess as well. Probably just different sickness and maybe more acute?

A friend of mine got really bad chest pains about a week after he started and they stopped as soon ss he gave up, lots of kids are starting that have never smoked I think they think it's cool

 

[weepete]

I think it will turn out to be as unhealthy as smoking just glad I never smoked

That is my guess as well. Probably just different sickness and maybe more acute?

A friend of mine got really bad chest pains about a week after he started and they stopped as soon ss he gave up, lots of kids are starting that have never smoked I think they think it's cool

Not true Gary. According to the research done never smokers who are regular vapers are less than 1%. Over 99% of vapers are people who have smoked tobbaco cigarettes.

 

[mmaria]

I live under a rock.
I've never heard about the vaping before.

 

[weepete]

At the moment there is a lot of BS and misinformation around vaping, from both the pro and the anti vaping camp. It's perpetuated by extremely poor science reporting in the media. There's also polical camps with people in public health circles who are so against vaping that they are are being disengenuous and playing fast and loose with the statistics.

Methodology of a lot of research papers are still in question with reseachers using previous generation of e-cigs to get their data. One of the major issues is the use of machines to produce the vapour for the experiments and concern over if they are firing too long and burning the e-liquid and the wick as just one example.

There's also a battle being fought in the background for control over who is going to end up as the big players in the e-cig market with both Big Pharma and Big Tobbacco trying to get as big a slice of the pie as possible where most vapers want neither and would prefer to use smaler independant companies. These two groups are lobbying behind the scenes and both are pusing for legislastion that will tip the market in their favour.

Many vapers are concerned about regulation and rightly so. The EU TPD (for us in europe) will lump e-cigs in with tobbaco control measures and the big fear is that they will be regulated to the point of ineffectiveness which will push a lot of vapers back on to the stinkies.

It also needs to be born in mind that vaping offers massive benefits in a harm reduction context for those who are unable or unwilling to stop using nicotene completely and paralells are being drawn with nicotene inhalators which were approved for long term use last year by the FDA.

When talking about the health effects of vaping it's important to frame it in context and have a comparison to smoking and while more reasearch is needed and more good quality reseach is also needed initial finding place vaping somwhere between 100-400 times safer than tobbaco cigarettes. Of course where we will really find the result is going to be in death rates in 25-30 years time when we can study smoking related diseases in long term vapers. Until then it's pretty much all speculation.

 

[gsgary]

At the moment there is a lot of BS and misinformation around vaping, from both the pro and the anti vaping camp. It's perpetuated by extremely poor science reporting in the media. There's also polical camps with people in public health circles who are so against vaping that they are are being disengenuous and playing fast and loose with the statistics.

Methodology of a lot of research papers are still in question with reseachers using previous generation of e-cigs to get their data. One of the major issues is the use of machines to produce the vapour for the experiments and concern over if they are firing too long and burning the e-liquid and the wick as just one example.

There's also a battle being fought in the background for control over who is going to end up as the big players in the e-cig market with both Big Pharma and Big Tobbacco trying to get as big a slice of the pie as possible where most vapers want neither and would prefer to use smaler independant companies. These two groups are lobbying behind the scenes and both are pusing for legislastion that will tip the market in their favour.

Many vapers are concerned about regulation and rightly so. The EU TPD (for us in europe) will lump e-cigs in with tobbaco control measures and the big fear is that they will be regulated to the point of ineffectiveness which will push a lot of vapers back on to the stinkies.

It also needs to be born in mind that vaping offers massive benefits in a harm reduction context for those who are unable or unwilling to stop using nicotene completely and paralells are being drawn with nicotene inhalators which were approved for long term use last year by the FDA.

When talking about the health effects of vaping it's important to frame it in context and have a comparison to smoking and while more reasearch is needed and more good quality reseach is also needed initial finding place vaping somwhere between 100-400 times safer than tobbaco cigarettes. Of course where we will really find the result is going to be in death rates in 25-30 years time when we can study smoking related diseases in long term vapers. Until then it's pretty much all speculation.

I'm very anti smoking and now vaping, smoking killed my dad at the age of only 45 I won't have anyone vaping near me

 

[waday]

@o hey tyler, I don't meant to hijack your thread, so I hope you don't mind.. Also, I would much appreciate your input. If you'd rather, I can start a new thread, but this one is already pretty active.

What kind of setup should my wife and I get for my father-in-law?

Here's a quick backstory. My FIL smokes 4-5 packs a day. He wakes up, sits at his computer to read the news, and smokes one after another. Then, he goes to his job where he's a truck driver. So, he sits and smokes one after another. Then, he comes home, sits at his computer to read the news and smokes one after another until he goes to bed. Not sure if this matters, but he smokes the Marlboro red packs.

Two years or so ago, he had a health scare, so he went to the doctor. At the time, he was smoking about 3 packs a day. The doc said, quit or you're going to end up in the hospital or worse. This was just after his brother was hospitalized for smoking (all of his brothers smoke). It scared him enough that he went down to 1-1.5 packs a day. Then, he spiraled out of control and is now up to 4 to 5 packs a day. It's getting to the point that he can't even sit through dinner at a restaurant without having to leave halfway through to smoke a cigarette. It's pretty horrible.

My wife and I have discussed getting him one to at least help him cut down. It's unrealistic to think that he's ever going to quit, but if he could at least cut back, we'd be happy. At least cut back so that when he's traveling, he doesn't have to worry about trying to get several cartons through the airport without people thinking he's trying to sell them and/or evading tax. No, they're just for him.

However, we have no idea about anything related to vaping. I guess we could do a quick web search to figure it out, but if anyone on here has any insight for a long-time, really heavy smoker, we would be much obliged. We've discussed it with him, and he seems at least interested, but he is the type of person that will not buy it for himself. Is this the type of system where it needs to be tailored to a specific person's tastes, or can we at least buy him a generic one?

 

[o hey tyler]

@o hey tyler, I don't meant to hijack your thread, so I hope you don't mind.. Also, I would much appreciate your input. If you'd rather, I can start a new thread, but this one is already pretty active.

What kind of setup should my wife and I get for my father-in-law?

Here's a quick backstory. My FIL smokes 4-5 packs a day. He wakes up, sits at his computer to read the news, and smokes one after another. Then, he goes to his job where he's a truck driver. So, he sits and smokes one after another. Then, he comes home, sits at his computer to read the news and smokes one after another until he goes to bed. Not sure if this matters, but he smokes the Marlboro red packs.

Two years or so ago, he had a health scare, so he went to the doctor. At the time, he was smoking about 3 packs a day. The doc said, quit or you're going to end up in the hospital or worse. This was just after his brother was hospitalized for smoking (all of his brothers smoke). It scared him enough that he went down to 1-1.5 packs a day. Then, he spiraled out of control and is now up to 4 to 5 packs a day. It's getting to the point that he can't even sit through dinner at a restaurant without having to leave halfway through to smoke a cigarette. It's pretty horrible.

My wife and I have discussed getting him one to at least help him cut down. It's unrealistic to think that he's ever going to quit, but if he could at least cut back, we'd be happy. At least cut back so that when he's traveling, he doesn't have to worry about trying to get several cartons through the airport without people thinking he's trying to sell them and/or evading tax. No, they're just for him.

However, we have no idea about anything related to vaping. I guess we could do a quick web search to figure it out, but if anyone on here has any insight for a long-time, really heavy smoker, we would be much obliged. We've discussed it with him, and he seems at least interested, but he is the type of person that will not buy it for himself. Is this the type of system where it needs to be tailored to a specific person's tastes, or can we at least buy him a generic one?

Good questions! And how nice of you doing the legwork on someone elses behalf!

Personally, I would say for as heavy of a smoker he sounds to be that a similar mod system to that of WeePete or myself would be more than adequate.

With a word of caution: taking a drag of a vape is very different than that of an actual cigarette. I went from a very simple, non-adjustable wattage battery (commonly referred to as EGO I believe). It produced a nice vapor, as well as decent flavor, and since I started doing that I had no inclination to start smoking cigs again. I eventually got frustrated with the build quality of the ones that I had bought (They weren't Kanger's at the time which I cited as a suggestion earlier in the thread, I'm sure those are good.) So I upgraded.

Going from Cigs to an EGO battery based one was no big deal. Sure it was a different throat hit when I first tried it. Coughed a little bit the first few pulls, and then was totally acclimated with it. With the new rig in the first post, holy moly was I unprepared for that. Even while vaping for 6 months or so. Taking a drag off of that is something that can and will catch you off guard. It would be something you would want to make baby steps towards. A few small pulls to get used to the change in airflow/how fast it heats up (Sub ohm coils will get hot much quicker). However, the mod system is much more similar to smoking actual cigs, and that's what he would probably be in the market for.

The only other words of advice are to buy primarily VG based liquids, as they are the higher quality ones. If you need some specifics as far as a starter setup, I can whip something up for you. You don't need something specific for a persons tastes, you can put any flavor of liquid in any tank more or less.

How much would you be looking to spend as an initial investment for him?

 

[waday]

You are awesome. Thank you for the quick reply!

I eventually got frustrated with the build quality of the ones that I had bought (They weren't Kanger's at the time which I cited as a suggestion earlier in the thread, I'm sure those are good.) So I upgraded.

He needs something of good build quality. He’s the type of person that if it feels cheap, it won’t work for him. So, it sounds silly, but something that is heavier, made of metal, and not made of plastic is pretty much a requirement.

Going from Cigs to an EGO battery based one was no big deal. Sure it was a different throat hit when I first tried it. Coughed a little bit the first few pulls, and then was totally acclimated with it. <snip> However, the mod system is much more similar to smoking actual cigs, and that's what he would probably be in the market for.

Yes, you hit the nail on the head. He needs something that is similar to smoking actual cigs. He tried the electronic cigarettes probably a decade or so ago, and he didn’t like it. Now, that’s pretty much his impression of all e-cigs/vaping. He needs something strong and that will be similar to smoking cigarettes.

The only other words of advice are to buy primarily VG based liquids, as they are the higher quality ones. If you need some specifics as far as a starter setup, I can whip something up for you. You don't need something specific for a persons tastes, you can put any flavor of liquid in any tank more or less.

I know they have all types of flavors, so this might sound silly, but do they have ‘cigarette’ flavored liquids? He’d probably like that the best. Also, what are VG based liquids? If you could whip up a quick setup, that would be awesome.

How much would you be looking to spend as an initial investment for him?

We haven’t really discussed a price, but we realize that it’d be an investment. What is the typical cost of a system? We both kind of agreed that we could see spending $100-$150 to include both the initial investment and lots of liquid refills. Is that a good enough budget?