Getting my first vape, assistance please.

Keanan23

Keanan23

New Vaper
LV
22
 
Joined
16/1/17
Posts
41
Awards
14
Age
33
Location
Cape Town
Howsit guys,

Now some of you might think, "not another what vape should I get thread?" You might not be wrong haha but I cannot make a choice from others needs/ wants.

As this will be my first mod I do not want to get one, just to want to upgrade a week later. I also dont want to go all out with my first mod.

Budget is around 1k for the kit. I know there are not much to be had for that amount, thats why I need assistance from the community.
Looking for starter kit or more a beginner kit. Not looking at building my own coils for now, probably would at a later stage.

I see many recommend the iStick pico.
I was looking at getting the Smok Osub Plus, really loved the look and reviews are great. My mind was set at getting this until the Smok AL85 came out and that is now at the top of the list.

Anyone have the AL85 that can share their views?
Are there anything else you would recommend?
I will only be getting it next month(hopefully) or the month after.

Also what's so good about the minikin v2 that everyone raves about them?

Sorry for the long post.

Reagrds

Keanan
 
The minikin v2 might be out of your budget but for what i know its a great device but not the most pocket friendly. I own a minikin 1.5 boost and im loving it. The battery usage is awesome so you can't go wrong with a minikin if you can get on in your price range

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
 
I'd say get yourself a "decent" kit from the get go , that way you won't want to (or have to) upgrade a few weeks later.

Seeing as though you have time , go and have a look around on what suits you best and what is more comfortable in your hand , be it heavier , lighter , bigger or smaller devices. Look at getting a tank that uses cheap coils (eleaf is the cheapest I think) if you know you on a budget.

Maybe get a mod that will not give you overhang on bigger tanks (like my tarot pro) . That's currently my issue, anything bigger than 22mm has slight overhang, thought it wouldnt bother me but it has , now I need to upgrade to a different mod 2 months later. Urgh.

I'm getting a v2 soon simply because of the way it feels in the hand, its heavier and most tanks look good on it as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Commercial coils should be where you start. Look for an atlantis coil compatible Sub Ohm Tank that has an Rebuildable deck option. This provides the most flexibility in choice of coils from Kanthal, Claptons, Stainless, Ceramic etc etc. Mouth to lung and direct inhale. And the option to grow into building your own coils. New is the Geekvape Illusion, haven't found it locally though.

Copied from Reddit
"
These are the fully compatible tanks I know of so far:

  • Aspire Atlantis
  • Aspire Atlantis v2
  • Aspire Atlantis Mega
  • Aspire Triton
  • Aspire Triton 2
  • Eleaf Melo
  • Eleaf Melo 2
  • Eleaf iJust 2
  • Vaporesso TARGET
  • Vaporesso Gemini
  • Beyond Vape Silo Beast
  • Tobeco Super Tank
  • Tobeco Super Tank Mini
  • Playboy Vixen
  • Playboy Vixen mini
  • Amigo Donner 22
  • Amigo Riptide
  • Project Sub-Ohm SAUCECODE
  • Anyvape Segatank
  • Anyvape Furytank
  • SOV Eclipse
  • Smokme Subverter Mini
  • Vaportech Morpheus
  • Vaportech Morpheus 2
  • Ovancl Espole
  • Thunderhead creations Thunderstorm
Unconfirmed

  • "The Morph Tank" - really have no idea what's going on with this tank
  • Gigue Dolphin - super unconfirmed
  • EHPRO Epoch S1 - super unconfirmed
  • ???
List of tanks with partial compatibility

  • Freemax Starre
  • Freemax Starre Pro
  • Vapeston Maganus
  • Sense Herakles
  • Eycotech Equator
  • Eycotech Equator Lite
  • Vapmod X-TANK 3.0
  • Vapmod X-TANK 4.0
  • Sense Herakles Hydra - maybe?
  • Horizon Tech Arctic - maybe?
  • Gigue Aeolus Tank - maybe?
  • Gigue Aeolus Mini - maybe?
  • Sunone Sking Square - maybe?
  • Tsunami Quake - maybe?
  • ???"
As for the Mod, get the best you can afford... You can use this for the foreseeable future. Anything from Asmodus (Minikin V2), Maybe something from Smok. Another rock solid device is the Hohm Slice, it peels paint but its a bare knuckles work horse with fast charging and pass through which I'm guessing you'll need in a primary device at first.
 
Remember that the Minikin V2 does not have passthrough where you can vape and charge simultaneously. It does have balance charging at 1A which takes about 8 hours to charge your batteries to full capacity.
 
Monkey.D.Luffy said:
The minikin v2 might be out of your budget but for what i know its a great device but not the most pocket friendly. I own a minikin 1.5 boost and im loving it. The battery usage is awesome so you can't go wrong with a minikin if you can get on in your price range

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah the minikin is well above my budget but read lots of guys raving about them.

Gersh said:
I'd say get yourself a "decent" kit from the get go , that way you won't want to (or have to) upgrade a few weeks later.

Seeing as though you have time , go and have a look around on what suits you best and what is more comfortable in your hand , be it heavier , lighter , bigger or smaller devices. Look at getting a tank that uses cheap coils (eleaf is the cheapest I think) if you know you on a budget.

Maybe get a mod that will not give you overhang on bigger tanks (like my tarot pro) . That's currently my issue, anything bigger than 22mm has slight overhang, thought it wouldnt bother me but it has , now I need to upgrade to a different mod 2 months later. Urgh.

I'm getting a v2 soon simply because of the way it feels in the hand, its heavier and most tanks look good on it as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

What is a decent kit and can it be had for +- 1K? Looking for something on the small side.

I used to smoke hookah so wont use it as much as a smoker would, well not in the beginning though. One of the reason I like the Smok, is because it comes with the tank and would just need a battery for the AL85. The AL85 also takes a 25mm tank.
What does these coils go for?

Polar said:
Commercial coils should be where you start. Look for an atlantis coil compatible Sub Ohm Tank that has an Rebuildable deck option. This provides the most flexibility in choice of coils from Kanthal, Claptons, Stainless, Ceramic etc etc. Mouth to lung and direct inhale. And the option to grow into building your own coils. New is the Geekvape Illusion, haven't found it locally though.

Copied from Reddit
"
These are the fully compatible tanks I know of so far:




    • Aspire Atlantis
    • Aspire Atlantis v2
    • Aspire Atlantis Mega
    • Aspire Triton
    • Aspire Triton 2
    • Eleaf Melo
    • Eleaf Melo 2
    • Eleaf iJust 2
    • Vaporesso TARGET
    • Vaporesso Gemini
    • Beyond Vape Silo Beast
    • Tobeco Super Tank
    • Tobeco Super Tank Mini
    • Playboy Vixen
    • Playboy Vixen mini
    • Amigo Donner 22
    • Amigo Riptide
    • Project Sub-Ohm SAUCECODE
    • Anyvape Segatank
    • Anyvape Furytank
    • SOV Eclipse
    • Smokme Subverter Mini
    • Vaportech Morpheus
    • Vaportech Morpheus 2
    • Ovancl Espole
    • Thunderhead creations Thunderstorm
Unconfirmed




    • "The Morph Tank" - really have no idea what's going on with this tank
    • Gigue Dolphin - super unconfirmed
    • EHPRO Epoch S1 - super unconfirmed
    • ???
List of tanks with partial compatibility




    • Freemax Starre
    • Freemax Starre Pro
    • Vapeston Maganus
    • Sense Herakles
    • Eycotech Equator
    • Eycotech Equator Lite
    • Vapmod X-TANK 3.0
    • Vapmod X-TANK 4.0
    • Sense Herakles Hydra - maybe?
    • Horizon Tech Arctic - maybe?
    • Gigue Aeolus Tank - maybe?
    • Gigue Aeolus Mini - maybe?
    • Sunone Sking Square - maybe?
    • Tsunami Quake - maybe?
    • ???"
As for the Mod, get the best you can afford... You can use this for the foreseeable future. Anything from Asmodus (Minikin V2), Maybe something from Smok. Another rock solid device is the Hohm Slice, it peels paint but its a bare knuckles work horse with fast charging and pass through which I'm guessing you'll need in a primary device at first.
Click to expand...

I dont want to splash out cash and then find out its not for me, hence the budget of 1k. I also dont want to start with a pen style and have to upgrade if it does stick.
My cousin has a kangertech(not sure which one) and after a few puffs on 40w my lips were on fire. Is this normal?
Hope this isnt the case when I get one.

I do like the way the Smok mods looks tbh and the fact that its nice and small. Is the tfv8 baby tank rebuildable?
 
Yup, most all Smok tanks these days have rebuildable options. It's certainly not a bad choice and I hear most owners are happy with theirs.
http://www.sirvape.co.za/products/new-smok-osub-baby-tfv8-baby-rba-head

The lips on fire could be a couple things. But rest assured we do all find our happy spot. Once you get yours you'll be able to play around with resistance options of coils, wattage applied, air flow and juice to tune it to your liking. Drip Tips also matter, meatal caries heat which might irritate your lips, there's delrin options available.

Its important that you consider charging options for your mod. Either get an external charger and 2 set of batteries or get something that has internal and hopefully passthrough charging (this is not usually recommended but for a single first device probably a must). The only thing worse than flat batteries is frozen beer.
 
This will be my first mod so don't want to go small or big. I can always upgrade or get another at a later stage, which I'm sure I will.
I just need something to take away the graving of hookah (used to get headaches).

If the Smok AL85 is a good choice for me then I will go for that. I see that Vape Cartel has it for R800 and the batteries are R150 - R175. I will definitely get a second battery and charger later on as well as the RBA. They also have the Alien 220w for 1K.

Not sure what other decent shops there are in Cape Town. Would always stop at the Vape Shope in canal walk and every time they would try and sell me a Smok alien kit at 2k.
 
The AL85 is nice and because it comes with the baby beast which is very good with flavour and vapour , this would have definitely been my 1st setup as well ,,, the coils are a bit on the pricey side , R320 for pack of 5 or R320 for a pack of 3 depending on what type you get.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I also think the Al85 is a good option. It's basically SMOK's answer to the Pico. You can start by buying stock coils and then later buy an RBA and make your own coils for the Baby Beast. The Baby Beast is a very underrated atie IMO. Good flavour with decent clouds and relatively forgiving RBA deck. It will handle most popular aties up to 25mm. Just get 2 batteries cause one definitely won't last a day. I would say 3 batteries is best. It does allow pass through charging as far as I can see its the same software as the Alien. Nice small mod with decent power.
 
Welcome @Keanan23 - great to see you doing research before you buy.

I agree that the pico is a great entry point but it does have some limitations in that it has a single battery and cant take atomisers bigger than 22mm in diameter.

The question is how much do you value portability? The Pico is very small and easily pocketable. It also works very well and is easy to use.

If you can get to a vape retailer near you and see and feel these devices or even try them, i think you will be doing yoirself a great favour.

Also remember to budget for good juices. Finding a few juices you absolutely love can make all the difference.

Let us know how it goes
 
I would suggest you take a look at that Hohm Slice. This mod charges at 2A on board and is powered by a single 26650. The features on this mod is excellent. You can TC any metal including Kanthal. Personally, I didn't get any peeling on mine at all but I did see some of the other guys who had the issue.

At R1100 from @KieranD (Vape Cartel) including a 26650 battery, This mod is an excellent purchase and definitely my favourite carry around mod.

Sent from my SM-N930F using Tapatalk
 
I would go for the Smok Alien ..... it is one of my mods i have no plan selling. Reliable, powerful and looks great.
Paint will peel at a later stage but i actually prefer the look on mine now after i removed the black paint totally. )

DSC_0074.JPG
 
KZOR said:
I would go for the Smok Alien ..... it is one of my mods i have no plan selling. Reliable, powerful and looks great.
Paint will peel at a later stage but i actually prefer the look on mine now after i removed the black paint totally. )

View attachment 85334
Click to expand...

That's got to be the best paint strip job and it looks super awesome now
 
Last edited:
I'll be kind of close to vape cartel today and will try to pop in and get a feel for the different mods.

Thanks for the assist so far guys.
Will report back later.
 
Stopped at Vape Cartel today, lady wasnt too helpful but felt the Smok Alien, AL85, Tarot nano and pico in my hand. The two aliens felt the best and the tarot didnt feel right. I doubt I'll vape anywhere close to 85w so the alien will be a waist imo and have my mind set on the AL85 when the time comes.

They didnt have the Hohm slice in stock so couldnt get a feel of it but wast told its much bigger than the AL85.
 
Keanan23 said:
Stopped at Vape Cartel today, lady wasnt too helpful but felt the Smok Alien, AL85, Tarot nano and pico in my hand. The two aliens felt the best and the tarot didnt feel right. I doubt I'll vape anywhere close to 85w so the alien will be a waist imo and have my mind set on the AL85 when the time comes.

They didnt have the Hohm slice in stock so couldnt get a feel of it but wast told its much bigger than the AL85.
Click to expand...

Can't go wrong with any Smok mod bud. You will not look back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Keanan23 said:
Howsit guys,

Now some of you might think, "not another what vape should I get thread?" You might not be wrong haha but I cannot make a choice from others needs/ wants.

As this will be my first mod I do not want to get one, just to want to upgrade a week later. I also dont want to go all out with my first mod.

Budget is around 1k for the kit. I know there are not much to be had for that amount, thats why I need assistance from the community.
Looking for starter kit or more a beginner kit. Not looking at building my own coils for now, probably would at a later stage.

I see many recommend the iStick pico.
I was looking at getting the Smok Osub Plus, really loved the look and reviews are great. My mind was set at getting this until the Smok AL85 came out and that is now at the top of the list.

Anyone have the AL85 that can share their views?
Are there anything else you would recommend?
I will only be getting it next month(hopefully) or the month after.

Also what's so good about the minikin v2 that everyone raves about them?

Sorry for the long post.

Reagrds

Keanan
Click to expand...
Since you mentioned Smok products I might suggest the Alien.I have one and it is a fine mod.My advice in general is to go for a multi battery device since you will eventually get there anyhow most likely.longer vape time between charges and power handling are the main bonus off the bat,and the price difference is negligible usually.The Minikin v2 is a very popular mod though it's priced a bit higher than most mods mentioned.What ever choice you make good luck with it.
 
Keanan23 said:
Stopped at Vape Cartel today, lady wasnt too helpful but felt the Smok Alien, AL85, Tarot nano and pico in my hand. The two aliens felt the best and the tarot didnt feel right. I doubt I'll vape anywhere close to 85w so the alien will be a waist imo and have my mind set on the AL85 when the time comes.

They didnt have the Hohm slice in stock so couldnt get a feel of it but wast told its much bigger than the AL85.
Click to expand...
I think the Hohm Slice is also a good choice,after being reminded by Keenan.A single 26650 battery with good life and power (101watts) and it vapes kanthal in temperature control.Also reasonably priced and is ergonomically designed.
 
KZOR said:
I would go for the Smok Alien ..... it is one of my mods i have no plan selling. Reliable, powerful and looks great.
Paint will peel at a later stage but i actually prefer the look on mine now after i removed the black paint totally. )

View attachment 85334
Click to expand...
I agree KZOR the Alien is a good one and the white one I bought is one of the latest versions and the paint is perfect after a month plus of daily use.Word on line is Smok has addressed the issue on later models.That said the strip job looks cool!
 
Can anyone from Cape Town, recommend shops to visit in the Claremont area?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

@
Assistance needed
Replies
1
Views
317
victim
victim
outlaw_cloud
Assistance needed
Replies
12
Views
920
outlaw_cloud
outlaw_cloud
D
Help please
Replies
1
Views
403
victim
victim
K
Ex Smoker Here....
Replies
11
Views
1K
KolonelSopDrol
K
AlienPhaze
Getting Into Boro / AIO devices
Replies
5
Views
966
Rob Fisher
Rob Fisher
Back
Top