eCigs - a beginners guide

Introduction

Most people who know me, also know I use an eCigarette. As a result I am frequently asked on how to get started and I have frequently put together an email with details of where to buy and what to buy.

In order to avoid re-doing the same email over and over again I am going to put it all here and just keep this updated.

I am not going to go into the rights or wrongs of eCigs. I use them and I have no intention of giving them up. I have not had a real smoke of any kind for nearly two years.

Where To Buy

If you are a bricks and mortar type shopper then I would recommend the Kix shops. There are a growing number of them and I use either the one at the top of Talbot street or the one in Malahide. To find all locations have a look at their website - http://www.getyourkix.com/

If you prefer, or you don't like the pricing there are lots of alternatives. The one I use the most is http://www.thebestshop.eu/shop/. As shops go through stages of business the quality can suffer. I would, at the moment recommend going to Kix to see the products but go to the website for the actual purchase.

Remember I am at this three years and have tried lots of different solutions, some of which were complete rubbish.

What To Buy

Now this is were it gets a bit challenging so I am going to keep it real simple. Get this starter kit.

I know I am pointing at the The Best shop rather than Kix but Kix do not do the Kanger starter kit. They do however do all the individual pieces. For starting out the kit is simplest.

Individual bits.

2 x batteries Link Cost €18.22 ea

1 x Charger (optional with the above battery) Link €4.85

2 x clearomizers Link €9.71ea

1 x pack of spare coils Link 9.71 for a pack of 3.

All that is missing from the above is liquid which I will deal with in the next section.

Now you can see that all of the above comes out at €70.42 compared to the starter pack of €50 from The Best Shop. Kix is better quality for the batteries but starting out the starter kit would be fine.

I would advise a 3rd battery for beginning, so that you have 1 in use, 1 fully charged with you and the 3rd on charge. That way you don't end up out of battery and seeking a real smoke.

Coils wear out. Don't believe all the hype you get from suppliers/shops. I typically get a week to two weeks from a coil. Everyone is different. If you feel it has gone off even a little then change the coil.

Update 25/05/2015: I have over the last few months seen a decrease in the standard of coils in general in a number of ecig shops. They would wear out quicker or simply fall apart. I went back to thebestshop for the first time in a long time to purchase some coils simply out of frustration with what I was getting over the counter.
The coils that arrived from thebestshop were genuine KangerTech coils in the original packing. The difference in quality was/is unbelievable. They are far superior to any I have purchased in shops recently.

How change a coil.

Liquid

I cannot over-state this enough, there are many different types of liquid. Some are very expensive. AND it is a matter of taste. I have tried some and felt physically sick after. I have also tried others that were absolutely fantastic but I simply cannot afford them.

Again for starting out I would recommend Kix. Go to the shop as they will allow you to test different flavours. I also must give a mention to the guys who operate on the Totally Wicked stand in the Buttercrane shopping Centre in Newry. Lovely lads with a very good range of fluids.

I would also recommend that you stick to tobacco flavours at least initially. I have sort of drifted towards using a Watermelon flavour which must be popular because I see it sold out on a couple of different sites. Right now I am using Sarsaparilla that I got as a free sample from the Totally Wicked guys. An acquired taste but I am really tempted to get it again.

When you are truly hardcore on vaping and want to save money the best way is to mix your own flavours. I buy my base fluid from Poland on the Inawera site. I now, also get the flavours from these guys. Mixing can be complicated if you make it so. For me I just have a 30ml bottle I use and put in about 3 to 4ml of flavour and then fill the rest of the bottle with the VPG Smoke Power base. You can purchase this base in different strengths and I have worked down to 12mg of nicotine. I might try to go down to 6mg but I am not in any hurry to do that yet. 

If you want to know more feel free to comment here and I will respond in time.

Advanced

All of the kit I recommended above is still perfectly valid. However as you move on with your vaping you will look at new hardware and gear. You will see people using large batteries and tanks and wonder if they are mad and how do they lug that around everywhere.

I have asked myself the same thing and recently invested in a new setup. I am using a new battery from Eleaf called the iStick TC40W. The 40W stands for 40W. It also comes in a 60 and 100W version. However unless it means a longer battery life the 40W will do just fine.

I also bought the Cubis atomiser from Joytech. I was going to go after an Aspire Nautilis but decided not to on the basis that the Nautilis is two years old and it may be due an update and therefore replacement coils may be harder to source.

Joytech are also a good brand and worth looking at.

Downsides to this setup? I am using a good bit more fluid but the vaping experience is excellent.
Upsides? The battery lasts nearly a full day and you can charge it with a USB lead while in use. It also has a good range to adjust to the point where you find  The atomiser has adjustable air flow which gives you more control over the vape experience. It also has a design that makes it almost impossible to leak.

I would not recommend this to a someone starting out but it is something to consider once you are convinced of the benefits of vaping.

I have now moved on to the aforementioned Nautilus. To see why read my review