What put you off vaping when you first encountered it?

[Hooked]

I've recently had a few people coming to me with the best intentions of switching from stinkies to vaping. However, there's always something about vaping which puts them off and they use this as a reason/excuse (I suspect the latter ) to continue smoking.

I can't really speak from personal experience, as I had already given up smoking about 2 years or so prior to vaping. I used vaping to get me off Nicorette - and it worked too, I'm happy to say!

Some of the reasons/excuses which I've heard so far are:
> It's too expensive - much more than the prices of cigarettes
> The juice is too sweet (and a subsequent refusal to try another juice)
> The nic strength is too weak / strong (and a subsequent refusal to try another strength)
> The mod is heavy or uncomfortable to hold
> It's too fiddly
> You can't just walk into a shop at a garage and buy juice
> There's too much stuff to carry with you when you go out.
> I'm scared my child will find the juice and drink it. Where do you keep the juice, I ask. On the top shelf of a cupboard, she replies. And how old is the child, I ask. Nearly 2, she replies.


What did you find difficult or unpleasant when you first encountered vaping and how did you overcome those difficulties?

I'd love to hear your stories, because they might help me to help others.

 

[Silver]

Great thread @Hooked

When I started vaping in Oct 2013, there wasnt as much choice as there is today. And there were very few vape shops.

I started with a Green Smoke cig-a-like which I bought at a tobacconist and then a few weeks later got a Twisp Clearo 1 at a Twisp kiosk.

For me the most difficult part was trying to get enough satisfaction from the Clearo 1 compared to a stinkie.

I vaped and smoked at the same time for about 9 days. During that time my smoking came down from its usual 20 or so a day to about 2 smokes the day before I stopped altogether. So the vaping was working but it always felt like it wasn't enough. Not enough kick. I would puff on the Clearo 1 till it got hot to the touch. Was using their 18mg Twisp juice. The kick I got from having a puff on my Rothmans blue cigarette at the time was more intense and satisfying. The little Clearo did okay but just wasn't as satisfying. I got 3 more Clearo1 devices thinking that if I had 4 I could fill them all and take turns puffing on them so they could have a break and not get so hot. That helped a bit and it was nice to have different flavours running - i discovered that early on.

So for me it was mainly the frustration of it not being strong enough and not giving enough satisfaction.

I used willpower to pull through and then found this forum - and it was like looking into a whole new world. I never knew about all the devices that people were talking about (still was far, far less than we see today) but at the time it was an eye opener of note. Got onto some stronger kit and experimented with a few other juices and it was plain sailing from there.

 

[zadiac]

Everything about vaping put me off, but I pushed through because I had the best motivatioin: To quit smoking. Also started with a Green Smoke and then got my first tube mod from Vape King about a month later. Started with a rebuildable tank and started building coils immediately. Still pushed through and off stinkies almost 5 years now.

 

[Silver]

Everything about vaping put me off, but I pushed through because I had the best motivatioin: To quit smoking. Also started with a Green Smoke and then got my first tube mod from Vape King about a month later. Started with a rebuildable tank and started building coils immediately. Still pushed through and off stinkies almost 5 years now.

Lol, you and me @zadiac - on the Green Smoke. I think that little device didnt know what hit it when I chugged on it endlessly.

 

[Asterix]

A couple of things deterred me to start off with:

Firstly, the coughing! Not the usual morning “hack” but the annoying cough every time I took in some vape.

Secondly, the taste. I enjoyed the taste of my cigarettes but my tired taste buds ( from 32 odd years of smoking!) couldn’t pick up all the so called wonderful flavors that Vapers were raving about.

And thirdly, no satisfaction. I was not getting the immediate nicotine fix that cigarettes were providing me.

I tried to do the duel smoke/vape thing for a year without much progress. My saving grace was going into hospital for a neck op, and being bed bound for two days. When I was finally mobile, I picked up my Pico nano, with ry4 in the little melo tank, instead of my box of smokes! The two day enforced smoke break gave my taste buds enough time to actually taste the juice this time around, and had also reduced my nicotine dependence somewhat!

 

[Room Fogger]

• I stopped with a Pico and 6 mg Menthol juice.
• I think the thing that I found the hardest was remembering to charge the batteries, I got 2 from the word go and even then it was touch and go.
• Remembering to grab juice in the morning, forgot once and since then there is allways a 30 ml one in my desk drawer.
• The mess of juice when the coil gave out. Sometimes 2 days, sometimes a week or so.
• Then it started getting a bit more expensive to buy more and better gear, but if you hang on to it and don’t get too much fomo, It need not break the bank. Got a bag to carry everything around in.
• Then international juices which soon cost more than smokes ever cost me, ever, and I smoked 40 to 60 Marlboro Lights a day.
• Decided to DIY and very affordable to do, once you get started and build up a concentrate bank.
• I WANTED AND NEEDED TO STOP SMOKING!, and I think that this is most people’s problem, they haven’t fully decided it yet.

When you really don’t want to give up something for another, you will allways find an excuse. Most ones I have converted has been on either plain tobacco at 6mg, or Menthol at 6 mg. The nic seems to be strong enough to give them satisfaction, and the flavours are not overpowering or too sweet, and it seems to work. Maybe give it a try @Hooked on one of these when you next want someone to taste test. I can recommend Vape Kings in-house range which is affordable and not overly strong taste wise, making it perfect imho for someone to start with, but I’m sure you can find more budget friendly juices as well.

Once they get into it they can start experimenting with other juices and tastes and strengths.

 

[RichJB]

What put me off initially (2009) was the poor quality of the vape I got from a very early Twisp I bought. It produced hardly any vapour, had little flavour, was finicky to use (I had to drip juice onto a pad of cotton in the mouthpiece), the batteries didn't last very long and then wouldn't hold a charge anymore after about three months of daily recharging. Considering I paid R1400 for the kit, I wasn't happy with the results.

What put me off the second time (2016) is that there was so much to find out and I had no guidance. I didn't know anybody who vaped, the devices looked weird, I wasn't sure what would work best, I was put off by 'smoke' that tasted of fruit rather than tobacco, the gear cost quite a lot relative to a carton of cigs. Luckily I found the forum and was able to avoid a lot of wasteful expenditure. If I'd had to find that out myself, it would have taken much longer and cost much more.

But not everybody can find a forum and most of the videos available on YouTube are aimed at intermediate or advanced users. What the industry needs desperately is an A-Z of vaping, a series of videos or a book where the new vaper can sit down, absorb what needs to be learned and make the right decisions from the get-go. I seriously think a Vaping for Dummies would be good.

I have met quite a number of new vapers recently and they just don't know. My niece's husband showed me his new vape, a dual cell mod with an RTA. He doesn't know what a coil is or how to change it. The shop coiled and wicked it for him and he's been using it ever since. I suppose he will just continue until he's getting no flavour anymore, then take it back to the shop for them to re-coil and rewick for him. I met a woman at a party who has a starter kit. She too has no idea how to change a coil, and was most surprised to find out she could change the wattage on her mod. Then she didn't believe me when I told her that I mix my own juice.

This is why I wouldn't even bother advising people to get RTAs, mods, drippers, etc. For someone wanting to quit smoking, I'd advise them to get a pod. Done and dusted. Being able to plug in a USB cable and charge the device, and to put in a new cartridge when the old one is finished, is about as complicated as a consumer item can be for the masses. If they then graduate from the pod to a rebuildable setup, DIY juice and coils, that is fine, they obviously have the aptitude. But for most in the public, I still think vaping devices are far too complicated and it's the biggest thing holding people back. People are afraid of the unknown. It has to be as noob-friendly as possible and vaping currently isn't. When a device is noob-friendly, like the JUUL, it sells like hot cakes.

 

[Rob Fisher]

Also tried the Green Smoke and that didn't do it for me... next up was the Twisp Clearo and this was a big step up from the Cigalikes... I hated the buildup of juice in the Clearo mouthpiece that would get into my mouth... but there is only one way to give up smoking and that is massive willpower and the genuine attempt to stop! I persevered with the Clearo and stopped smoking within 2 days and never touched a cigarette again... but to be honest it was only when the Kangethech tanks arrived that I knew I was never going to smoke again... the first 5 months was really tough.

I also got bad headaches and almost stopped vaping... but then in month 6 they went away and I have only had one or two headaches in the last 5 years that I took pills for... when I was smoking I lived on Myprodol because I got headaches all the time!

We have such effective devices and great juice these days but unless the person is ready in their mind to switch it won't happen.

I no longer tell a smoker they stink and they are going to die. That doesn't work... what works is explaining my journey and how my health and life in general has improved and that no one can force you to switch... you simply have to WANT to switch yourself.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Being able to plug in a USB cable and charge the device, and to put in a new cartridge when the old one is finished, is about as complicated as a consumer item can be for the masses.

You have nailed it @RichJB . I am tempted to go on a lengthy rant but will try to keep it short.

Nearly half of the American adult population don't know how chocolate milk is made. Almost ten per cent believe that it comes from brown cows. I initially thought that this was an urban myth based on very shaky research. When celebrity chef Jamie Oliver spent some time in American schools he found the same thing....and worse.

I have come to the same conclusion. Pods for the masses.

The fact that some vapers don't know that you must change the coil, or that you can alter the wattage, or that you can easily make your own juice is not necessarily indicative of stupidity. I know some very intelligent youngsters who have no idea how the simplest things work.

It would seem that it has become totally unnecessary to know how everyday items work. Ask a young adult what happens when he/she/they press the clutch pedal in their car.

I am amazed that there are so few battery-related deaths and injuries.

Complex vape products are definitely a major hindrance in getting smokers to quit.

Another major problem is telling them that they must pay way more per ml of juice than the cost of scotch single malt whisky.

 

[hyphen]

Yoh ! I'm not going to get into details , and this sounds like a funny thing to say , but compared to when I started , people have it easy now !!!!! The first cig-a-like devices I tried were super non user friendly and super expensive at the time. Also again as mentioned in the other thread , juice was hard to come buy and very limited. The first bunch of devices I used were hard to use , didn't last long , hard to fill , super leaky and very expensive . When I got onto the ones in the pics below , I thought that was the pinnacle ! LOL !

 

[Jean claude Vaaldamme]

A friend of mine vaped. That was the only exposure I had to vaping. He and his wife both had these Twisp pen type thingys. Then when we fish his fake ciggie runs flat and he is inna flat spin till its charged, then he runs out of liquid, then we camp and his coil is burned and he has to go drive to the nearest towns looking for coils. Not to even mention how much the Twisp juice cost them every month.
So by just looking what a struggle and inconveniance this was, I thought I will never vape.
Luckily I found a few youtube videos and this forum

But then again, 4 years later my friend and his wife is still on their same Twisp pens and both still smoke free

 

[Hooked]

• I stopped with a Pico and 6 mg Menthol juice.
• I think the thing that I found the hardest was remembering to charge the batteries, I got 2 from the word go and even then it was touch and go.
• Remembering to grab juice in the morning, forgot once and since then there is allways a 30 ml one in my desk drawer.
• The mess of juice when the coil gave out. Sometimes 2 days, sometimes a week or so.
• Then it started getting a bit more expensive to buy more and better gear, but if you hang on to it and don’t get too much fomo, It need not break the bank. Got a bag to carry everything around in.
• Then international juices which soon cost more than smokes ever cost me, ever, and I smoked 40 to 60 Marlboro Lights a day.
• Decided to DIY and very affordable to do, once you get started and build up a concentrate bank.
• I WANTED AND NEEDED TO STOP SMOKING!, and I think that this is most people’s problem, they haven’t fully decided it yet.

When you really don’t want to give up something for another, you will allways find an excuse. Most ones I have converted has been on either plain tobacco at 6mg, or Menthol at 6 mg. The nic seems to be strong enough to give them satisfaction, and the flavours are not overpowering or too sweet, and it seems to work. Maybe give it a try @Hooked on one of these when you next want someone to taste test. I can recommend Vape Kings in-house range which is affordable and not overly strong taste wise, making it perfect imho for someone to start with, but I’m sure you can find more budget friendly juices as well.

Once they get into it they can start experimenting with other juices and tastes and strengths.

Thanks for your detailed and helpful response @Room Fogger

 

[Hooked]

What put me off initially (2009) was the poor quality of the vape I got from a very early Twisp I bought. It produced hardly any vapour, had little flavour, was finicky to use (I had to drip juice onto a pad of cotton in the mouthpiece), the batteries didn't last very long and then wouldn't hold a charge anymore after about three months of daily recharging. Considering I paid R1400 for the kit, I wasn't happy with the results.

What put me off the second time (2016) is that there was so much to find out and I had no guidance. I didn't know anybody who vaped, the devices looked weird, I wasn't sure what would work best, I was put off by 'smoke' that tasted of fruit rather than tobacco, the gear cost quite a lot relative to a carton of cigs. Luckily I found the forum and was able to avoid a lot of wasteful expenditure. If I'd had to find that out myself, it would have taken much longer and cost much more.

But not everybody can find a forum and most of the videos available on YouTube are aimed at intermediate or advanced users. What the industry needs desperately is an A-Z of vaping, a series of videos or a book where the new vaper can sit down, absorb what needs to be learned and make the right decisions from the get-go. I seriously think a Vaping for Dummies would be good.

I have met quite a number of new vapers recently and they just don't know. My niece's husband showed me his new vape, a dual cell mod with an RTA. He doesn't know what a coil is or how to change it. The shop coiled and wicked it for him and he's been using it ever since. I suppose he will just continue until he's getting no flavour anymore, then take it back to the shop for them to re-coil and rewick for him. I met a woman at a party who has a starter kit. She too has no idea how to change a coil, and was most surprised to find out she could change the wattage on her mod. Then she didn't believe me when I told her that I mix my own juice.

This is why I wouldn't even bother advising people to get RTAs, mods, drippers, etc. For someone wanting to quit smoking, I'd advise them to get a pod. Done and dusted. Being able to plug in a USB cable and charge the device, and to put in a new cartridge when the old one is finished, is about as complicated as a consumer item can be for the masses. If they then graduate from the pod to a rebuildable setup, DIY juice and coils, that is fine, they obviously have the aptitude. But for most in the public, I still think vaping devices are far too complicated and it's the biggest thing holding people back. People are afraid of the unknown. It has to be as noob-friendly as possible and vaping currently isn't. When a device is noob-friendly, like the JUUL, it sells like hot cakes.

@RichJB Thanks so much for all your useful comments. I love your idea of a Vaping for Dummies video.
I absolutely agree about RDAs etc not being suitable for beginners. The bane of my life is when an experienced vaper suggests an RDA/RTA to someone who doesn't even understand the question, "What ohm coil are you using?".

 

[ARYANTO]

I always liked the look of people vaping , it looked so cool and intriguing that I had to try it , first up was a ecig thingy that tasted great but not enough ''smoke''. next came the Kanger Togo mini , nearly there but not IT. Then there was a whole family of Smok AIO's , Sticks etc , their batteries , charging ports and fire buttons all concked out , then the Kanger sub vod , Yes !! we're getting there I'm still smoking as well in between , August 2017 my friend bought me a SMOK S-priv with the baby tank - Yes , taste , cloud, looks -now we talking! Still smoking in between but about 6 a day instead of 20. The 2nd January 2018 I finished my last packet of Winstons [08h00 exactly] . Now its withdrawal symptoms - mood swings , temper and a shxtty little cough - willpower tested to the extreme - all the lighters , pipes , stompies in the dustbin . I knew I will NEVER smoke again , my only regrets is that I did not had a role model to follow and was totally unaware of the Forum. I could have bought a proper set-up from the beginning and saved a lot of money and time wasted with Mickey Mouse set-ups ...

 

[Neal]

Tried vaping in 2011 on a E-Lite cigalike which did not do the job and there was only one tobaconnist in Carlisle who stocked cartridges. Fail. Returned to Swaziland and tried again with Twisp Clearo. Improvement but picked it from my desk one day and it was so hot, even though I had not been vaping, it almost burned my hand. Fail. When I was back in Carlisle again in 2013 there where suddenly Vape stores and one of the vendors sold me a Kangertech sub box and sub tank mini. Win. Subtank mini still in use to this day.

 

[Silver]

Tried vaping in 2011 on a E-Lite cigalike which did not do the job and there was only one tobaconnist in Carlisle who stocked cartridges. Fail. Returned to Swaziland and tried again with Twisp Clearo. Improvement but picked it from my desk one day and it was so hot, even though I had not been vaping, it almost burned my hand. Fail. When I was back in Carlisle again in 2013 there where suddenly Vape stores and one of the vendors sold me a Kangertech sub box and sub tank mini. Win. Subtank mini still in use to this day.

Amazing how that sub box was such a winner and is still in use today! Kudos to you @Neal for looking after it and enjoying it for all the years

 

[Adephi]

I use to be one of those guys. Highly sceptical. I mean, who do you "vapers" think you are. Blowing your clouds all over the place while us smokers have to sit in a cage. And telling me its practically harmless. Look at the smoke! You can see the chemicals in it. I smoke 40 a day and half a puff on those things is like blowing a shotgun down my throat!

Fast forward 2 years later, now I'm the other guy. Hate the smell of smoke. I will not go vape in a smelly cage, they can send their fines. And currently standing at 6 converts, working on the 7th.

 

[Raindance]

Coils cost what! and you need to replace how often! Initially it sounded as if vaping would cost an arm and a leg and back then what you got in return was a sad excuse as a simulation of smoking. A couple of attempts with the completely wrong equipment just sealed the deal.

Had they shoved a Twisp Cue in my hands back then it would have been a completely different story.

Regards

 

[ARYANTO]

Amazing how that sub box was such a winner and is still in use today! Kudos to you @Neal for looking after it and enjoying it for all the years

Still in use , love my Kanger !

 

[kev mac]

I've recently had a few people coming to me with the best intentions of switching from stinkies to vaping. However, there's always something about vaping which puts them off and they use this as a reason/excuse (I suspect the latter ) to continue smoking.

I can't really speak from personal experience, as I had already given up smoking about 2 years or so prior to vaping. I used vaping to get me off Nicorette - and it worked too, I'm happy to say!

Some of the reasons/excuses which I've heard so far are:
> It's too expensive - much more than the prices of cigarettes
> The juice is too sweet (and a subsequent refusal to try another juice)
> The nic strength is too weak / strong (and a subsequent refusal to try another strength)
> The mod is heavy or uncomfortable to hold
> It's too fiddly
> You can't just walk into a shop at a garage and buy juice
> There's too much stuff to carry with you when you go out.
> I'm scared my child will find the juice and drink it. Where do you keep the juice, I ask. On the top shelf of a cupboard, she replies. And how old is the child, I ask. Nearly 2, she replies.


What did you find difficult or unpleasant when you first encountered vaping and how did you overcome those difficulties?

I'd love to hear your stories, because they might help me to help others.

Lucky me I took to vapeing from the get go.I started with the N joy type cigalike and enjoyed those.My complaint was the expense as where I'm from they're about the same as smokes.($10.00 +) Moving on to a vape pen solved that and I've been a happy vaper saving money since.

 

[kev mac]

I use to be one of those guys. Highly sceptical. I mean, who do you "vapers" think you are. Blowing your clouds all over the place while us smokers have to sit in a cage. And telling me its practically harmless. Look at the smoke! You can see the chemicals in it. I smoke 40 a day and half a puff on those things is like blowing a shotgun down my throat!

Fast forward 2 years later, now I'm the other guy. Hate the smell of smoke. I will not go vape in a smelly cage, they can send their fines. And currently standing at 6 converts, working on the 7th.

Sadly I am still looking for my first convert.Ive gone as far as giving full set ups to a couple of smokers but for whatever reason they went back to cigs.My wife won't even consider vapeing and if a whiff of my vape invades her space she puts on like I sprayed acid on her.All while she puffs away at ten bucks a pack.

 

[Dela Rey Steyn]

Another major problem is telling them that they must pay way more per ml of juice than the cost of scotch single malt whisky.

A lot of people complain about the Juice Prices. It doesn't bother the Camel/Stuyvesant guys that much, that are already paying between R350 - R420 for a carton of smokes, but the people smoking these dirt cheap cigarettes, The R8 - R20 variety, are not willing to spend money on juice.

And to be honest, juice prices is quite high for average Joe Vaper, thats the main reason i've now started looking into DIY, rather make my own juice for everyday Vaping and spoil myself every now and then with a store bought juice.