So you want to give up
smoking …
This used to be the hardest thing in the world to do. I always
say I smoked for 40 years and spent the last 39 of those years
trying to give up! I was a total addict ending up smoking 60 a
day. Over the years I tried almost everything including patches,
gum, inhalers, sprays, Zyban, Champix, aquapuncture, hypnosis
and none of them worked. Then I discovered e-Cigs and stopped
overnight. Yes really, from 60 a day to 0 a day instantly. I will
never forget the day I bought my first e-Cig (22nd October
2012) and from my first try on an e-Cig, I haven’t had a single
cigarette and, bett er still, I haven’t wanted one. I simply switched
from smoking to vaping. With my e-Cig I get all the good things
like hit at the back of the throat, clouds of vapour, hand to
mouth action and, most of all nicotine; all this without any of
the 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, 60 of which are known
carcinogens.
Enough about me, let’s get back to you guys. When I started
vaping there was very little choice but for you guys it’s like an
Aladdin’s cave …. You’ve made the momentous decision to quit
smoking, you’ve plucked up the courage to go into a vape shop
and the first question the bright eyed salesman asks you is do you
want a single or a dual coil system or some other equally baffling
question to a newcomer. Panic not, I will try and explain things.
An electronic cigarette comprises of three basic parts, a tank to
hold the e-Liquid, an atomiser to vapourize the e=Liquid and a
battery to supply power to the atomiser. The atomiser and tank
are referred to as the ‘Clearomiser’ – a word made up by the
vaping industry.
Let’s look at the battery first. They come in all shapes and sizes
but for the beginner we should consider just 3 sizes from the
cylindrical type. Each battery has a power rating: 650, 900 and
1100 mAh (milli amp hours). The higher the rating the longer you
will go between charges. What you should aim for is a battery
that will last you a whole day between charges. Obviously this
depends on how much you use you e-Cig – so, if you smoke up to
20 cigarettes a day, chose a 650 battery; 20-30 cigarettes a day, a
900 battery; 30-40 cigarettes a day, an 1100 battery; if you smoke
more than 40 a day then you will need 2 batteries, pick a size you
are comfortable with.
OK, that wasn’t too bad, was it? Now for the clearomiser. This
is really quite simple. For your first e-Cig you want a simple
clearomiser – preferably a bottom fill dual coil variety. These
ones can be tipped upside down and don’t leak. Let me explain,
you can get dual and single coil varieties – a single coil version
has just one heating element and, believe it or not, a dual one
has two. The dual coil version will give you much more vapour
than the single. By bottom fill, we mean that you fill them from
the bottom and this is much easier than the ‘top fill’ versions. As
you become a more experienced vaper you may want to upgrade
to a bigger tank, perhaps with airflow control or even sub-ohm
but these are topics for another day. To start with keep things
simple.
That’s all there is to it except for probably the most important
part – what flavour e-Liquid do you choose. There are hundreds
of flavours available – tobacco tasting ones, fruity ones, menthol
and minty ones. Any vape shop worth their salt will allow you to
try samples of their flavours. You should choose one you like and
will be happy with – if you like your flavour, you will use your e-Cig
and succeed. If you don’t you won’t use it and probably end up
back on cigarettes. E-Liquids are not expensive so if after a day
or so you find you don’t like your flavour, go back to the shop and
try others. There will be a flavour out there that will work for you.
A word on nicotine strength – look at the nicotine content on the
cigarettes you smoke and double it. Then choose the strength
available nearest to this figure.
One final point, once you have switched to vaping, the first
upgrade I recommend is a second battery. That way you will
never have to wait for a battery to charge.
… happy vaping
VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE AUGUST 2015 59