# I wish I knew this when I started vaping



## Silver

i'm sure many experienced vapers have learned so much in their journeys. But there are bound to be several gems that one thinks "*I wish I knew this when I started vaping*".

What are the things you learned that you wish you knew when you started out on your vaping journey?

Lets try put together some great tips and advice here that can help newer vapers...

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## Silver

I will start off with this:

I wish I knew how easy it was to add menthol concentrate to an "average" juice and tranform it into a really nice one for me!

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## vicTor

wish I knew that squonking was so awesome !

Reactions: Like 6 | Agree 5


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## RenaldoRheeder

I wish I knew the importance of backup gear when I started vaping. I would have been able to give up smoking a lot earlier. 


Sent by iDad's iPhone

Reactions: Like 4 | Agree 9 | Winner 3


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## Silver

RenaldoRheeder said:


> I wish I knew the importance of backup gear when I started vaping. I would have been able to give up smoking a lot earlier.
> 
> 
> Sent by iDad's iPhone



Agreed!!

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## RainstormZA

I wish I knew everything lol

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## Rob Fisher

I must say I racked my brains trying to think of something to wish for but my vape journey has been such a marvellous trip that I probably wouldn't wish to change anything. 

Mind you I wish I had realised that menthol fruit juices are the only juices that I really like and I should have stopped trying other juice profiles a long time ago and it would have saved me a lot of dough. Mind you I know I will keep trying juices just in case I find another ADV.

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## Huffapuff

I wish I'd known which atties weren't going to work for me - would've saved a lot of money! 

The same goes for all those recipes and concentrates that just turned out awful.

Reactions: Like 7 | Agree 11


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## jm10

I wish i knew that i didn’t have to buy a ticket for every hype train


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## RichJB

At the risk of trumpet blowing, I wish I'd been able to watch MixHax then instead of appearing in it now. But new folks are still coming into vaping and DIY continually. If we can help them to avoid wasting money and making common mistakes, it's all good.

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

I wish that I had realised that the mod is the least important part of your setup. If you prefer dual battery mods then you really only need two (one backup). The same applies for single and triple. Squonk mods have improved over the past year and are a bit of an exception, although I think that the improvements are close to their peak.

Today I would far rather buy "improved" RDAs than waste money on mods which have hardly changed in any meaningful way for a long time in vaping terms.

If you are into fashion or bling then the next mod is a fashion choice not a vaping choice. There is nothing wrong with this approach if you can afford it. Sometimes I think that we try to rationalise purchases on the basis of X or Y new features. These new features are often of little to no real value.

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## MrGSmokeFree

I wish I knew that there was a ecigssa forum when I started vaping.

I could have saved a "ship" load of money. 

The info you get here regarding anything and everything vaping is priceless. 

And the best part are the awesome people that I have met here on my vaping journey.

To anyone out there that is lurking in the the shadows and need help regarding vaping join this group.Help is just a message away.

Reactions: Agree 3 | Winner 9


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## Room Fogger

I wish that I had known about how easy ”vaping” was, would have started a long time earlier.
Also how supportive everyone, including the vape shops and their staff were. That was the dealbreaker.
I wish I had known which profiles I liked when I started DIY’ing, I’m never going to invent that mango juice, it all tastes like vrot mango to me. So quite a couple of flavour choices wasted.
I wish I had found the ECIGSSA family earlier, the knowledge and willingness to share it is absolutely amazing. As well as the new friendships that are/have formed.
I wish I had spent more time asking and listening to reviews before I bought stuff, I have been reasonably lucky that most stuff I like, but I have also gotten rid of some stuff.

I hope that we are all willing to stand together against the new legislation been contemplated. I’m going to be an outlaw in this regard, hope everyone will join so that we can cover our backs.

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## lesvaches

MrGSmokeFree said:


> I wish I knew that there was a ecigssa forum when I started vaping.
> 
> I could have saved a "ship" load of money.
> 
> The info you get here regarding anything and everything vaping is priceless.
> 
> And the best part are the awesome people that I have met here on my vaping journey.
> 
> To anyone out there that is lurking in the the shadows and need help regarding vaping join this group.Help is just a message away.


amen

Reactions: Like 3 | Agree 2 | Thanks 1


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## MartinDC

Advise to all potential, new and experienced Vapers
**NB** Before you buy ...  _Do a lot of research_ .... firstly you need to educate yourself, also use the ECIGSSA forum there is a wealth of information available here.

Next ... Check on-line stores and shop around for the best price and when you are comfortable and find a preferred, reputable and convenient VapeStore" 

don't be scared to ask questions to ensure you get value for your money .....
check with the sales person and get them to verify that the device, consumables and/or e-liquid is not a clone ......
"try to support local," there are a lot of excellent local VapE-Liquids available and remember that "_imported e-liquids are all local where they come from"_ ......)

The majority of new Vapers shop on a strict budget and need to remember that:
_"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of the lower price is forgotten"_

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 8 | Winner 1


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## ARYANTO

I wish some one told me to get a proper battery operated mod , I had 5 Smok , Ijust and Kanger recharge ''sticks'' and the charging ports all gave trouble , and because they were round , rolled to the floor , glass replacement was a frequent operation ...

Reactions: Like 7 | Agree 3


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## RichJB

Yeah, I was put off by the bulky appearance of the open system mods. For me, an "electronic cigarette" was a slim, pen-shaped device with an LED that glowed at the tip.  When I first saw a Kanger mod with its rectangular bulky profile, it didn't make any sense to me at all. So I held off on buying one. What a noob, heh.

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

I wish that I had known that I could make my own ejuice for R35-R45 per 100ml.

I also wish that I had known how easy it is to copy an ejuice recipe. 10 X easier than making a cake from a cake recipe and no danger of burning the house down.

Reactions: Like 4 | Agree 6 | Funny 4


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## Silver

I wish I knew then how easy it was to "nic up" a juice thats not strong enough. 
I just wasnt aware and quite a bit of juice got pushed aside because it was too weak

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## Jean claude Vaaldamme

I wish I saw the classifieds section before I bought anything

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## RainstormZA

Aaaah I got a good one.

I wish I knew about these plastic rings that protect your atty from scratching the mod's 510.

@Rob Fisher

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## Jean claude Vaaldamme

RainstormZA said:


> Aaaah I got a good one.
> 
> I wish I knew about these plastic rings that protect your atty from scratching the mod's 510.
> 
> @Rob Fisher


Well that does not help much, if I google plastic ring I get a toilet seat

Reactions: Funny 11


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## CeeJay

I wish I knew the hype was real only 2% of the time.

Reactions: Agree 8 | Winner 1


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## Christos

CeeJay said:


> I wish I knew the hype was real only 2% of the time.


I disagree. With a lot of HE, the hype is real 70% of the time. That's pretty good odds IMHO.
End of the day I wish I knew "use what works for you and not want works for everyone else".

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## RichJB

CeeJay said:


> I wish I knew the hype was real only 2% of the time.



Although we can all agree that the struggle is real the other 98% of the time.

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## CeeJay

Christos said:


> I disagree. With a lot of HE, the hype is real 70% of the time. That's pretty good odds IMHO.
> End of the day I wish I knew "use what works for you and not want works for everyone else".


Did you start out with HE? I started out with an Ijust S and a week later a Smok Alien and a week later had some or other RDTA. Now after 2 years I've settled down and I enjoy certain vape gear that's had no hype whatsoever. I own some more expensive gear as well but not exactly what the sheep are vaping on. This was my experience so far and what I wished I knew back then. Would've saved me quite a penny, who am I kidding? This is vaping. It wouldn't have saved me anything but I would definitely have had more gear that didn't get sold shortly after purchasing.

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## jm10

Christos said:


> I disagree. With a lot of HE, the hype is real 70% of the time. That's pretty good odds IMHO.
> End of the day I wish I knew "use what works for you and not want works for everyone else".



But we were referring to run of the mill gear that you start of with and upgrade while learning the the game,I doubt any new RSA vaper would even know what Nar/Esg is. This thread is also called i wish i knew when i Started vaping so we all commenting as noobs. 

I may not have real HE gear but i you are right from my experience with lower end HE gear 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## MartinDC

"Vaping 101: Everything you need to know about vaping before you start"

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## MartinDC

Posted by MartinDC, 19/2/18. in ECIGSSA - Discussion in 'Reaver's VapE-Liquids'
*Reaver' Vape Blog #6 - "Top 15 Things to Avoid When Vaping"*

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## Viper_SA

I wish I'd stuck to the Nautilus Mini and quit while my bank account was still healthy and that like all other hobbies, I'd take vaping too far

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## Hooked

I wish that I had known about vaping looooong before I started!!

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## Viper_SA

Hooked said:


> I wish that I had known about vaping looooong before I started!!



Trust me, I tried in 2008 on the first Twisps, was crap as hell. Started again in 2015, and have fell off the wagon several times

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

I wish that I had known how much I had to learn and how much time I had to devote to become comfortable with everything vape related.

I started vaping just over four years ago. I am really grateful that vaping was just getting off the ground at that time. Mostly pen style with high ohm coils and low wattage. When sub ohm builds started (subtank mini era) it was something amazing. I was really shocked that it was "safe" to vape at .5 ohms. Look at how the boundaries are being pressed today.

Then RDTAs came out and dripping became popular and now squonking has been revived.

I am grateful for the background that the journey provided. Started making RBA coils for the subtank and started DIY juice making about 3.5 years ago. Both coils and juice are different nowadays.

Even although I have devoted crazy amounts of time, over the past four plus years, to vaping"research" I still do not consider myself to be an expert in anything vape related. 

There is something new to be learned almost every day. Apart from keeping off the stinkies (35 years of heavy smoking) I find that the ever changing world of vaping is a great attraction.

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## Christos

CeeJay said:


> Did you start out with HE? I started out with an Ijust S and a week later a Smok Alien and a week later had some or other RDTA. Now after 2 years I've settled down and I enjoy certain vape gear that's had no hype whatsoever. I own some more expensive gear as well but not exactly what the sheep are vaping on. This was my experience so far and what I wished I knew back then. Would've saved me quite a penny, who am I kidding? This is vaping. It wouldn't have saved me anything but I would definitely have had more gear that didn't get sold shortly after purchasing.


I started vaping about 7 years ago and even though the initial devices were "rubbish" I moved over to "indestructible" mods because of this forum and stayed there for a long time.
I have owned a whole lot of mods and have had only 2 mods break/die on me. One was my SVD, the fire button became funny and then the hana mods DNA 30 which had a 510 issue after 6 months of use.
From an RTA perspective I had a lemo 1 post screw stripped ( but I used the tank daily for over a year) and the griffin which I had issues when the centre positive connection broke. Also had some clone atties that rusted on me but the price paid for them i didnt even consider this an issue.
Other than that i have enjoyed everything I purchased.

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## Silver

Great feedback - very interesting to see the commentary from everyone

*I wish I knew just how easy it would be to stop smoking with vaping.* I had major doubts and tried with a Twisp Clearo. 9 days later and I was off stinkies completely. Could not believe how manageable and doable it would be. 

Had I known this I probably would have given up the stinkies much sooner. Then again, there wasn't much good gear in those days and it was not easy to find. Today by comparison its like a playground!

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## Hooked

Viper_SA said:


> Trust me, I tried in 2008 on the first Twisps, was crap as hell. Started again in 2015, and have fell off the wagon several times




And what's your position now @Viper_SA ? Still hanging on to the wagon or did you let go and slide down the slippery slope?

EDIT
My asking you what's your position reminded me of one day at work when someone asked me what my position is. I replied that I'm usually vertical. I thought my reply was rather funny - and fortunately so did they!

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## Viper_SA

Hooked said:


> And what's your position now @Viper_SA ? Still hanging on to the wagon or did you let go and slide down the slippery slope?
> 
> EDIT
> My asking you what's your position reminded me of one day at work when someone asked me what my position is. I replied that I'm usually vertical. I thought my reply was rather funny - and fortunately so did they!



I'm just quitting stinkies again. So at the moment I have between 1 and 10 each day. Much less during the week, more during weekends, but the gaol is to be stinky free before Xmas.

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## Hooked

Viper_SA said:


> I'm just quitting stinkies again. So at the moment I have between 1 and 10 each day. Much less during the week, more during weekends, but the gaol is to be stinky free before Xmas.

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## Armed

Good luck.

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## Armed

Silver said:


> Great feedback - very interesting to see the commentary from everyone
> 
> *I wish I knew just how easy it would be to stop smoking with vaping.* I had major doubts and tried with a Twisp Clearo. 9 days later and I was off stinkies completely. Could not believe how manageable and doable it would be.
> 
> Had I known this I probably would have given up the stinkies much sooner. Then again, there wasn't much good gear in those days and it was not easy to find. Today by comparison its like a playground!


Problem is there are too many to choose from.

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## GSM500

I wish this thread had been started a long time ago.

Almost every post has a chuckle in it for me as it applies to me and my vaping journey, probably to most of us here too. Its an excellent short list of the mistakes one typically makes in the beginning and should be stapled to the bottom of the terms and conditions page as a compulsory read for new members. 

So I have managed to come up with one on the DIY front:
I wish someone had told me earlier how important it is to mix by weight and not by volume or drops. Easy to make a mistake when 300 drops are required and having to clean 10 syringes after a single recipe will turn you back to the juice shop. 

Great thread @Silver, a great trip down Vaping memory lane.

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## Dela Rey Steyn

I wish i knew about how easy rebuildable atomizers were, would have saved a fortune in Commercial Coils alone...

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## Rob Fisher

RainstormZA said:


> Aaaah I got a good one.
> 
> I wish I knew about these plastic rings that protect your atty from scratching the mod's 510.
> 
> @Rob Fisher



Just for the record they are available here - https://www.stealthvape.co.uk/rebuildable-supplies/clear-atty-gaskets

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## ivc_mixer

I wish I knew that the 12mg juice I bought when I tried my second vaping journey 4 years ago, along with a direct lung atomiser and a 120W device, was just stupid and that I did not need such a high nic level juice or such a strong mod to help me quit smoking. Alas that lesson was learnt only 2 years later when I restarted my vaping journey on something more suitable for a noob. 

I also wish I knew that the Twisp pen device I had in 2010 would get better with time and that it would really have helped me quit smoking.

But, third time lucky it seems.

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## Trishan Gounden

Rob Fisher said:


> Just for the record they are available here - https://www.stealthvape.co.uk/rebuildable-supplies/clear-atty-gaskets


Wait what there's such a thing ... wow. You learn something new everyday.

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## RichJB

ivc_mixer said:


> I also wish I knew that the Twisp pen device I had in 2010 would get better with time and that it would really have helped me quit smoking.



Agreed. I bought a Twisp kit in 2009. I dual-used it to cut down on cigs a bit but never managed to quit by using it. In 2016 when I did finally quit, I dug the Twisp kit out of a box in my garage. The batteries would no longer hold a charge so I went to a Twisp kiosk to buy new batteries, only to be told by the staffer that "these aren't Twisp batteries". When I insisted they were, he shrugged and said they must be from a really old kit then.

In hindsight, it was ridiculous of me to expect that a seven year old Twisp model would still be in circulation. But unless you're in vaping, you won't know how much vaping is developing. For the whole of that 2009-2016 period, I based my perception of the advancement of "electronic cigarettes" on that dated and redundant Twisp kit. If I'd known how much better the technology had become, I'd probably have quit earlier.

Although, that said, I think I got in at the ideal time. I entered just when 60W single cell mods were big and dual cell mods were starting to appear in numbers, rebuildables were ousting sub-ohm tanks, and DIY was becoming popular. My first RDTA was the Avo 24, which was streets ahead of its predecessors in terms of building ease and vape quality. My first DIY supplies were nic, VG, PG and TFA concentrates bought from a vaping vendor, I didn't have to scour pharmacies for menthol crystals and VG like the early DIYers did. I was able to buy vape-specific wire and cotton, I didn't have to source wire from wholesale wire dealers or buy organic cotton from pharmacies. So I got in just at the time when vaping established itself as its own legit consumer retail sector with dedicated suppliers.

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

I remember looking for menthol crystals and not managing to find them. I managed to get my pharmacist in Mossel Bay to order me a litre bottle of PG. 

I made my first juice using Moir's Lemon essence. Tasted terrible but I didn't know better. I also bought a lot of fake Liqua juice without realising it was fake. To be honest it tasted a lot better than the Moir's juice.

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## Jean claude Vaaldamme

I wish I knew that blowing the vape through my nose like I do with my smokes, will result in fluid running out my nose

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## Spongebob

Ok one and all...... Chuck me with ideas to quit stinkies tell me what worked for you and maybe i can apply some to me..... 

Sent from my SM-A605F using Tapatalk

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## Rob Fisher

Jean claude Vaaldamme said:


> I wish I knew that blowing the vape through my nose like I do with my smokes, will result in fluid running out my nose



100% It's called Vaper Shnozz!

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## RichJB

@Spongebob, for me it came down to wanting to quit. If you don't want to quit, you won't. I decided enough was enough, quit one day and went cold turkey for a month before the nic cravings wore me down and I started vaping. But I was already over the worst so it was very manageable. I've never even thought about lighting up again.

I would also suggest weaning yourself off nic. Cigarettes remain the most efficient form of nic delivery so there is always the risk that you will go back to the method that works best. I've cut my nic down to vaping around 10-12ml of 1.5mg nic per day now. That is vanishingly little nic. The less nic you accustom your body to getting, the less inclined you will be to turn back to the most efficient delivery method.

Once you have started vaping, the immediate imperative to quit nic entirely is mitigated. Because you're avoiding most of the bad stuff in smoke, you can now take your time to gradually wean your body and mind off nic. But use the opportunity while you can. If you start vaping on 18mg nic, and then go to pods with 60mg salts, you are not reducing your dependence on nic. You are increasing it. So it's only a matter of time before you start yearning for the most efficient delivery method again. Skiddlz suffered this. He hadn't smoked in years. Then he started on nic salts and, within weeks, he was back on smokes again. That was predictable. He re-acclimatised his body to an itch that only cigarettes could scratch.

Don't believe the propaganda that nic is harmless and it's fine to vape mega-huge doses because "it's not combustion". Nic is the true culprit and the reason we all screwed our health up by smoking. We didn't smoke for the tar, we smoked for the nic. That is why nic is demonised even if it's not the thing that kills you. As long as you maintain your dependence on nic, there will always be the risk of going back to smoking. There are no free lunches in life. If you want to beat smoking, you have to beat nic too. The two go hand in hand.

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## Hooked

Spongebob said:


> Ok one and all...... Chuck me with ideas to quit stinkies tell me what worked for you and maybe i can apply some to me.....
> 
> Sent from my SM-A605F using Tapatalk



This is going to derail the thread which @Silver began. Why don't you start a new thread @Spongebob? There'll be no shortage of replies, I'm sure!

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## Jean claude Vaaldamme

Spongebob said:


> Ok one and all...... Chuck me with ideas to quit stinkies tell me what worked for you and maybe i can apply some to me.....
> 
> Sent from my SM-A605F using Tapatalk


Only quit now two week and vaping. So this is my opinion so far. Everyone I ever met that vape, smoked again. Yes I know many have quit, specially pro vapers like on the forum, but I think the vast majority start smoking again sometime.
So here is what I think is the problem or must I say solution. Firtsly and most important you have to want to stop smoking. Then, if you start vaping you should see it as a short term goal, that should also be stopped within a year or two. So I personally will not go and buy ten different mods and tanks and this and that. Im not going to make vaping my new hobby and all my life is surrounded with. Its just a transition fase.
Same with all these juices. Why the strive for the perfect juice? It should actually taste bad and just give you your fix. All these fancy juices just make you vape more. Till you cant stand the craving anymore or cant get enough anymore and start smoking again.
These two week for me was alright. Only vaped 3 or 6mg juice. But everyday or two somewhere I suddenly had that urge for that headrush. So Im going to mix myself an basic tobacco mix that I dont care what it tastes like at 12mg nic. Going to keep that in seperate atty and if I get an urgent craving, will take two hits for the headrush and then continue with the normal juice. Dont know if it will work, just my theory.
But then again, maybe in another 2 week I have a different view/theory

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

Jean claude Vaaldamme said:


> Everyone I ever met that vape, smoked again



This is an interesting point. Maybe someone should start a survey and ask :

Did you ever return to smoking (how long) ?

If you only vape exclusively how long has it lasted ?

Do you intend to give up vaping as soon as you can ?

Maybe someone with better computer skills would like to start a survey. I was unfortunately born BC (before computers).

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## Rob Fisher

I smoked for 40+ years and 5 years ago I wanted to give up and took up vaping... I haven't touched a cigarette again! And never will!

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## Adephi

Jean claude Vaaldamme said:


> So I personally will not go and buy ten different mods and tanks and this and that. Im not going to make vaping my new hobby and all my life is surrounded with.



Was my thoughts as well when I started...

If only I knew then what I know now...

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## Dela Rey Steyn

Puff the Magic Dragon said:


> This is an interesting point. Maybe someone should start a survey and ask :
> 
> Did you ever return to smoking (how long) ?
> 
> If you only vape exclusively how long has it lasted ?
> 
> Do you intend to give up vaping as soon as you can ?
> 
> Maybe someone with better computer skills would like to start a survey. I was unfortunately born BC (before computers).



I could muster up this @Puff the Magic Dragon 

https://www.ecigssa.co.za/your-personal-vaping-journey-survey.t55124/

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## RichJB

One shouldn't feel too bad about still smoking occasionally. The majority of vapers around the world are dual-users who both smoke and vape. For the first time ever this year, the UK recorded more people who only vape now than those who vape and smoke. But it was a very slight edge, something like 50.x% doing vaping only to 49.x% dual-using.

For me, the thing is to have goals that get increased in phases. If you just accept that you both vape and smoke, it's easy to lapse into full-on smoking again. It's a lot easier to light up a cig than to re-coil an atty or mix up some juice. But if you currently smoke 10 a day and vape 10ml, then having a goal of 7 cigs and 13ml juice daily by Christmas gives you something to aim at. Then 5 cigs and 15ml juice daily by March, and so on. You can't drift into quitting, you have to drive yourself into it.

My goal is to cut my DIY juices down to 1mg by New Year, then 0.5mg by June next year. And, of course, to continue not smoking ever. But that shouldn't be tough as I'm nearly three years in now. Once I get down to 0.5mg, I don't know. I can't see myself ever vaping 0mg, there is no point. So either I'll continue at 0.5mg or just quit everything.

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## GSM500

Spongebob said:


> Ok one and all...... Chuck me with ideas to quit stinkies tell me what worked for you and maybe i can apply some to me.....
> 
> Sent from my SM-A605F using Tapatalk


High Nic, Low wattage, Mouth to Lung - Use and expensive mod and tank too, the guilt of spending so much money on it will keep you using it

For my first three days of vaping, I smoked 1 cigarette just before bed each night. The third night was the last smoke I ever had. My biggest challenge was getting over the first morning smoke when my body wanted that rush, but a few extra puffs of my twisp got the better of that craving.

I did not tell my wife (She didn't smoke at the time) that I was vaping to make sure there was no level of expectancy from her. After about a week she asked if she should buy me smokes from the shop and she couldn't believe it when I said I hadn't had a stinky in almost a week.

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## ivc_mixer

RichJB said:


> or just quit everything



NooOoooOooooo... you can't do that! Who's going to give us flavour reviews etc? 

Back on point to the topic, another lesson I wish I had known as I started my vaping journey was that RTA's (or any rebuildable tank for that matter) are not as scary as they seem and will provide much better flavour than any fixed coil tank.

Reactions: Like 4 | Agree 3


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## Hooked

MartinDC said:


> "Vaping 101: Everything you need to know about vaping before you start"



Very helpful @MartinDC - but irrelevant to this retrospective thread.

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## Hooked

MartinDC said:


> Posted by MartinDC, 19/2/18. in ECIGSSA - Discussion in 'Reaver's VapE-Liquids'
> *Reaver' Vape Blog #6 - "Top 15 Things to Avoid When Vaping"*



Very helpful @MartinDC - but irrelevant to this retrospective thread.

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## jm10

Hooked said:


> Very helpful @MartinDC - but irrelevant to this retrospective thread.



Oh give it a break, i found that article perfectly suited to this thread and i wish i knew most of what was in it when i started.


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## Hooked

jm10 said:


> Oh give it a break, i found that article perfectly suited to this thread and i wish i knew most of what was in it when i started.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Silver

Another thing I wish I knew when I started vaping is just how subjective taste is and how different our taste buds are.

When it comes to juice, what some of us really dont like, others absolutely LOVE.

And following on from that, the importance of finding a few juices that you really LOVE - early on. It makes the vaping journey a whole lot easier and more enjoyable. But it can be challenging to find those juices

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

I agree about subjective juice tasting. I personally believe this extends, to a greater or lesser degree to cotton and coils. 

Some swear by certain cotton wick and others can taste no difference.

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## Puff the Magic Dragon

I wish that I had known in the beginning that I would end up mostly squonking.

Waste tons of time and money on clearomisers, RTAs andRDTAs. Perhaps not really wasted as it gave experience in coil building and wicking.

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## Gimli

Silver said:


> I wish I knew then how easy it was to "nic up" a juice thats not strong enough.
> I just wasnt aware and quite a bit of juice got pushed aside because it was too weak


 Could you please explain how to accurately nic up some juice, I have a 3mg juice that I want to add nicotine. I have 100mg/ml pg and a 36mg/l pg nics, how much do I add per ml to go up say 3mg?

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## Silver

Hi @Gimli 

Am going to post a picture here and explain it below...

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## Silver

Hi @Gimli 

Referring to the above picture - apologies for the handwriting - hope you can see it.

Let's say you have 10ml of 3mg juice and you want to "nic it up" to 6mg

Firstly, I suggest using the 36mg nic additive for smaller volumes because a mistake won't be too bad. Maybe use the 100mg nic if you can measure accurately or have a scale.

So, in the equation above, you are solving for "x" which is the volume to add of the 36mg nic. 
It turns out that its 1ml. 
I.e. adding 1ml of 36mg nic will turn the 10ml juice into 11ml at 6mg nic.

Just to check - 10/11 at 3mg translates to 2.73mg of nic. And 1/11 at 36mg translates to 3.27mg of nic.
So adding the two you get your 6mg

You can change the equation based on your quantities and what you want the final strength to be.

Hope it helps and makes sense

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## Gimli

Silver said:


> Hi @Gimli
> 
> Referring to the above picture - apologies for the handwriting - hope you can see it.
> 
> Let's say you have 10ml of 3mg juice and you want to "nic it up" to 6mg
> 
> Firstly, I suggest using the 36mg nic additive for smaller volumes because a mistake won't be too bad. Maybe use the 100mg nic if you can measure accurately or have a scale.
> 
> So, in the equation above, you are solving for "x" which is the volume to add of the 36mg nic.
> It turns out that its 1ml.
> I.e. adding 1ml of 36mg nic will turn the 10ml juice into 11ml at 6mg nic.
> 
> Just to check - 10/11 at 3mg translates to 2.73mg of nic. And 1/11 at 36mg translates to 3.27mg of nic.
> So adding the two you get your 6mg
> 
> You can change the equation based on your quantities and what you want the final strength to be.
> 
> Hope it helps and makes sense


Thanks, should manage that

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## Silver

Here's a more generic formula to solve directly for 'x'






You can test it out on the above example. It works. But it's nice to know how one gets there.

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## MartinDC

Silver said:


> Another thing I wish I knew when I started vaping is just how subjective taste is and how different our taste buds are.
> 
> When it comes to juice, what some of us really dont like, others absolutely LOVE.
> 
> And following on from that, the importance of finding a few juices that you really LOVE - early on. It makes the vaping journey a whole lot easier and more enjoyable. But it can be challenging to find those juices



Morning @Silver,
Appreciate your valued input...
Definitely strange but true....
"Taste is definitely King." and is even affected by changes in demographic,different places or even associated stores.

"How boring would the Vaping experience be without being spoilt for choice to meet the variation in each Vapers specific taste?...."

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## lesvaches

i wish i knew how much RY4 would change my life.

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## Silver

I wish I knew the importance of having different juices in different devices

To cater for one's different tastes

Something hardcore (tobacco) when you need a strong throat hit
Something mellow to vape more often
And something icy and refreshing in between to reset and cleanse the palate.

Having different juices on tap when you need them - in devices that are ready to pick up and vape - has helped me hugely - and I only discovered this and started appreciating it more quite a long way into my vaping.

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## Nitro

I used to sub ohm for many years and thought I would stay with it and was put off by the thought of a shlepp of building an RTA or RDA. Now I really enjoy it you have total control of the way you vape by the way you build the deck and the way you wick it. Another thing to point out is that I learnt that using a single coil RTA with a lower wattage goes easy on your e-liquid you buy at the shop, but if you DIY by all means use 2 coils.

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## Room Fogger

Silver said:


> I wish I knew the importance of having different juices in different devices
> 
> To cater for one's different tastes
> 
> Something hardcore (tobacco) when you need a strong throat hit
> Something mellow to vape more often
> And something icy and refreshing in between to reset and cleanse the palate.
> 
> Having different juices on tap when you need them - in devices that are ready to pick up and vape - has helped me hugely - and I only discovered this and started appreciating it more quite a long way into my vaping.


I only found this out later in my journey as well, what got me of stinkies was good old Menthol 24/7. Now I sometimes have 5 or 6 different flavours ready to go at all times.

Also wish I had discovered tobacco juices earlier. I think the main thing is that you evolve through your journey, and you start to appreciate the different things that each type of juice has to offer. Happy to say that I have 6 setups keeping me company tonight, 2 tobaccos, 2 fruits and 2 bakery. Vape on nation.

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## Rob Fisher

I wish I had known just how important coils and wicking is... the two most important items!

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## Waine

Gimli said:


> Could you please explain how to accurately nic up some juice, I have a 3mg juice that I want to add nicotine. I have 100mg/ml pg and a 36mg/l pg nics, how much do I add per ml to go up say 3mg?


If you use the 36mg nic, to bump it up by 3mg add 8.5ml nic. That's for 100ml of juice that was already 3mg nic.

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## RichJB

@Gimli, it's pretty easy to do in your mixing calculator. Let's do a quick walk-through using DIY Juice Calculator. To start with, I create a New recipe called Nic Up. I can then load this recipe every time I want to increase nic in a juice. The recipe loads my existing template. I usually mix 30ml batches at 1.5mg nic and 60/40 VG/PG. So as we see, these are the parameters that are loaded by the calculator.



Let's say I want to increase the nic in a 60ml bottle of commercial juice where I calculate I've vaped 1/3 of the bottle already. So I have 40ml of juice left. The juice is 3mg and I wish to increase the strength to 5mg. I then enter 40ml as my "amount to make". To calculate the "target nicotine", I subtract the existing juice nic strength from the desired final strength. So 5mg (desired strength) minus 3mg (existing strength) = 2mg (amount I must add) in the "target nicotine" box, thus:




Now I enter what type of nic I will be using to increase the nic strength in the Nicotine box. In this case, I will be adding 48mg Gold PG nic. As soon as I enter that, the calculator will tell me how much of that nic to add:



Et voila, the calc tells me to add 1.73g (rounded) of the Gold 48mg PG nic to my bottle of juice, in order to boost nic strength from 3mg to 5mg. You can then save the "recipe" and just load it then change the parameters the next time you want to increase your nic.

It won't be 100% accurate, though. Because you are adding nic to the juice, you are increasing the volume of the juice. But the calculator is working out the volume as your initial starting volume, not the final volume where you have added nic to your starting volume. As you can see, we're adding 1.67ml of nic to 40ml of juice. So we now have 41.67ml of juice, not the 40ml that the calculator used. Of course, increasing the volume of the juice dilutes the nic level. So your nic level will be slightly lower than you figure. If I calculated for 5mg, it will probably come out at 4.9mg or whatever. If this bothers you, you can then use the calculator to recalibrate. Once the calc has told you how much nic to add, add that nic volume to your "amount to make" volume. So we'll add 1.67ml (nic we're adding) to our 40ml (juice in the bottle) to give 41.67ml final volume. When we recalculate, we get:



So I've now increased from 1.73g to 1.8g. That is literally about two drops of PG nic. It's trivial but it will be that little bit more accurate, if you're a stickler for accuracy.

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