# The relevance of a hobby - mine is vaping



## Waine (14/1/18)

I have read that it is important for everyone to have a hobby in this hectic day and age. There are a few other reasons why this is so.

A person suffering from, stress, depression or other mental illness needs to do something that will take their mind off their condition, when they are not working. A hobby helps such people tremendously. Even if you don’t have any of these conditions, we all need a hobby to make life and our hard work at the office worth while. Hard working individuals must also do something for themselves to make their wages more meaningful.

I have engaged in many hobbies during my lifetime. In fact, I have always had some hobby or pastime going on. Vaping is my latest hobby of choice for the past 2 years and by far the most enjoyable.

My vaping hobby gives me the following benefits:

I have been a smoker since age 12, on and off. I tend to give up smoking, but always return to the desire for nicotine and hence a cigarette-relapse. Vaping allows me to enjoy this mild stimulant — nicotine, relatively safely as much as a bunch of Christians enjoy coffee after a church service or a home cell group. I still don’t get how vaping is ridiculed, while coffee (Caffeine) is not. Not to mention that many non smoking folk chew sugarless gum which contains Aspartame, a known poison, as well as other harmful chemicals.
Nicotine strokes the right pleasure receptors in my brain. Call me a dopamine ***** if you like. I really don’t care.

As a pen pusher, I have learned a bit about electronics which I never knew. Engaging in building coils is akin to a child playing with a “Mechano” set. There are so many dimensions to vaping, enough to keep me busy and to take my mind off the monotony of life.

The vaping hobby always offers something to keep myself busy with. There is always something to do; cleaning atomisers, changing wicks, experimenting with different wire, different cotton, different coil builds, the choice of ohm readings, batteries, e-liquid and generally tinkering with my gear. Even adults enjoy “playing with toys”. My vape gear are my adult “toys.”

Then there is the “collector” factor. Most cheap electronic VW devices eventually give problems. Only the expensive “high end” electronic mods will last relatively long. But I cannot afford these. So I collect Tube Mech mods, as they look novel, feel great in my hand, and will last for a life time. When they go out of production, they become rare and valuable.

I don’t sell any gear. I want to keep all my gear, as I see all of it as a “collection”, especially RDA’s which I enjoy more than RTA tanks. I love dripping mainly, and also squonking. One day when some of my equipment goes out of production, I will still have my RDA’s and Mech mods to “show and tell”. I enjoy the engineering and workmanship of some of the quality RDA’s. 

When I have spare time on my hands, I thoroughly clean and polish my mech tube mods, which is very rewarding. I love copper and brass items.

I enjoy participating on a South African vaping forum on the web. “Local is lekker”. On this forum, I learn a lot about the art / hobby of vaping and I review some of the the products I buy. I find this interaction most enjoyable.

There is always the quest to get the best vape possible. It’s like a never ending, unattainable goal, which I ride while vaping gear / products are rapidly evolving. Who does not enjoy a newly released mod or atty?

One of my goals with vaping is to try to encourage a smoker to switch to vaping. I will even give away some of my older gear to a person who wants to make the switch. There is great reward in this as if I can “convert” even one cigarette smoker to vaping, I will have contributed to extending some ones’ life span. My neighbour is one example. He made the switch to vaping but was still smoking cigarettes. After encouraging him and giving him a VW Mod, coils and juice, he is now free of cigarettes and vapes exclusivity.

DIY — making my own e-liquid. I thoroughly enjoy making my own e-liquid, however I am not good at it. It requires a lot of effort and practice to get the flavour combinations right. However, I still enjoy the challenge, sticking to very simple mixes.

The vaping ritual. There is something amazing about that “moment” where I am sitting in a quiet place, vaping, inhaling, exhaling and watching the thick vape twisting into the air. That aha moment when the world feels like a great place again while I relax and vape away.

Part of the ritual is also the feeling of control and completeness while all my gear is neatly kept in place, all organised, all attys built and wicked, all builds recorded on my iPhone, and all batteries kept charged in the order of rotation.

Can you relate to any of this? Is vaping just an addiction filler, or is it a hobby for you?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reactions: Like 8 | Agree 1 | Winner 12


----------



## Friep (14/1/18)

Wow awesome write up. 
I can fully relate to this vaping started as a nicotine replacement for me but changed in to a hobby that shadows all other hobbies I have. 
Might even be a bit of an obsetion but it gives me a lot of joy.

Reactions: Like 5 | Can relate 1


----------



## KZOR (14/1/18)

Waine said:


> I love dripping mainly, and also squonking.


Amen to that m8.
Nice read and i also agree with your sentiments. 
I enjoy every aspect of vaping even viewing high-end mods i cannot afford. 
Nice to hear you find so much gain from vaping.

Reactions: Like 6


----------



## Andre (14/1/18)

Amen.!

Reactions: Like 3


----------



## Rob Fisher (14/1/18)

Waine said:


> Can you relate to any of this? Is vaping just an addiction filler, or is it a hobby for you?



Great post @Waine! I can so completely relate! I guess you could say vaping is a hobby for me... but a very very passionate hobby!

Reactions: Like 4


----------



## Room Fogger (14/1/18)

@Waine Thank you for putting into words something that we are privileged to be able to do, in my case both as a hobby and also as personal therapy to keep us sane in this ride we call life. 

There are very few things that can compete with the personal pride in enjoying something that you had a hand in doing yourself. And that peace that comes with the enjoyment! I salute you. Many happy clouds to you.

Reactions: Like 4


----------



## Hooked (14/1/18)

I agree that it's important to have a hobby ... ah! I think I'll start a Hobby Show 'n Tell thread - that will be interesting! Since I don't make my own coils or DIY, I wouldn't call vaping a hobby of mine, rather a time out from the world, as you said @Waine. My favourite time of day is at about 7.30pm. I sit on the deck of my house, watching the sunset over the sea in the distance (the sun sets late in Cape Town summer), with my dogs on either side of me ... and vaping. The day is done and this is our (my dogs and me) time.

Reactions: Like 6


----------



## Clouds4Days (14/1/18)

Nice write up @Waine and i feel the exact same way as you.
Vaping is actually the hobby that i have participated in the longest and i think its because the rewards are so much greater than any other hobby.

Although i offten have short lived disputes with the wife where she says vaping is not a hobby.
I used to try argue but now i just keep quite and say i enjoy it but its "not a hobby"

Reactions: Like 6 | Funny 2


----------



## Hooked (14/1/18)

I've started another thread where we can show 'n tell https://www.ecigssa.co.za/show-n-tell-your-hobby.t46254/

Thanks for the inspiration @Waine

EDIT: Perhaps I shouldn't have started another thread. We could just as well show 'n tell here. @Waine , if that's what you'd like please go ahead and ask Admins to move the posts from the Show 'n Tell into your thread.

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## Carnival (14/1/18)

Excellent post!

Getting back into vaping was a decision I made, of course, to get off (and stay off) the stinkies. Going into the holiday season last month, I knew I’d end up smoking far too much (what do you do when you’re bored if you’re a smoker? Light up another one! And another, and so on) and I didn’t want to do that. I knew how my chest would feel, I knew how I would feel in general! 

So I made the switch to vaping, and joined the forum. I didn’t have any other goals initially, but not long after joining I found myself drawn to rebuildables (RDAs specifically) and since diving into this rabbit hole I’ve found my “happy place”. I honestly love RDAs. 

Funny thing is I generally don’t have a lot of patience, but with building I think you definitely need it - particularly when first starting out, most of the time flavour is going to disappoint because it takes time to learn how to get your coil placement right (I’m getting there lol), and which type of wire works best in what RDA. Lots of tweaking and experimenting! But the tiniest bit of success goes a long way, few things can compare to the feeling when you build and it works out pretty good!

Anyway, yes, vaping is my hobby and I hope it sticks for a long time!

Reactions: Like 4 | Winner 2


----------



## Hooked (14/1/18)

A few minutes ago I was searching on the Internet for the author of a famous quote and I came across this, on the day that you, @Waine start this thread! Now that's syncronicity for you!

“To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.” Churchill

If anyone can help me with the author and quotation that I'm looking for (nothing to do with hobbies) I'd appreciate it. Have a look at my thread:
https://www.ecigssa.co.za/who-said.t46256/

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## Silver (14/1/18)

@Waine,

Excellent original post. And I can identify with many things you are saying.

Vaping has so many interesting facets to it. The different awesome juices, the gear, the coils, the different vaping styles... and now the DIY.... Its so interesting and its something that one can customise to suit ones taste to a tee.

First it was to stop smoking - and now this! Sometimes I wonder how it got to this point. But it has been and continues to be amazing to be part of it and see on this forum how everyone's journey is going - and learn from it. 

Awesome

Reactions: Like 3


----------

