Beginners guide to vaping
I was reading through a forum the other day and came across this post from a guy and thought it was a handy piece of information to share.
I've been through the process of being the experienced vaper offering advice to friends, family, co-workers etc for at least 3 years or so as such, I've witnessed my fair share of success/partial success and failure when it comes to quitting/substituting full time or still needing tobacco. Here is a collection of thoughts and experiences for what it's worth. Some may use these as tips, others may completely disagree and that's ok too. Just my opinions and observations, nothing more.
1: Make sure to the best of your ability that you are ready to quit smoking for good before you start your journey.
A large % of people consider success being cutting down but not stopping smokes. Your goal is to eliminate tobacco completely, as quickly as possible. Nicotine replacement is just that. Replacement. In my experiences, those that finish that last smoke and go straight to vaping have been significantly more successful in quitting for good and never going back. Those that cut down to stop never actually stop. There are exceptions of course, but it's pretty easy to learn to hate tobacco after a week without it.
2: Buy good hardware, but not too powerful too quickly.
We have to remember that most enthusiast vapers started a long time ago on some pretty different hardware. It's a pretty easy/common mistake for beginners to get sub-ohm dual-coil cloud devices 50 watts and 18mg nicotine, cough a lung up for 3 days then get scared and go back to tobacco. These guys are much better off getting some midrange 1.5-1.8 ohm set ups and something with a built in battery and USB charging. Convenient, reliable and low-maintenance for your first car/house/partner and yes indeed, your vaping set up as well. This is more important (USUALLY) in women than men. I've never seen a successful sub-ohm beginner lady, I've seen 2 guys do it successfully and both had my guidance on low nicotine juice to start with, but even then it was harder for them. As you cut down your Nic, you can up your hardware strength, but don't rush it!
3: Learn to be proud of Vape.
You're smarter than smokers. Your switching to something less harmful is a beautiful thing. It's cheaper. It's safer. It tastes better. It smells better. You smell better. You can do it inside your house and your house smells BETTER. That whole smoking is cool shit stopped a long time ago. There are many that will never accept that, so they continue to pump thousands of dollars into ash, tar and death every year. You will get smokers telling you about that 1 article that their friends neighbours cross-fit partners fiancé who shared something on facebook. People will still look at you strange with the deer in headlights look. Of course, remember to be polite about it and vape inappropriate places but always remember that in comparison to tobacco there is no negative to vaping. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.
4. That crap you're coughing up?
That's usually a good thing. Your lungs go through a cleaning phase. It gets scary sometimes. See your doctor if you get worried, but usually, that black crap is the tar coming out the only way it can. Carry around a pack of tissues and clear your throat when appropriate. I've seen a lot of people back out when this starts happening. These people also usually don't drink enough water when vaping. That cough clears up. You go through the same thing quitting most other ways too! Please again, see your doctor if you are worried. They aren't going to tell you to buy another packet of smokes, which is what a lot of people do.
5. Ask questions, no matter how silly it may seem.
Don't assume, do research. Vaping does become a significant part of your life. Learn as much as you can. It helps...I had someone come up to me once, telling me it was great how waterproof his 30watt Istick is, he just rinses it underwater when it gets dirty... Another vaped flavour concentrate straight. Another ordered a sub-ohm tank with an ego battery. Someone else bought an ecig starter kit for $300 worth no more than $30. These mistakes usually end up in the new vaper going straight back to smokes because they are more convenient Better to ask...
6. Flavour is a big key.
Try as many as you can, and pick out 3 or 4 relatively different flavours. Tobacco flavour can sometimes work, but sometimes getting completely rid of that taste is more effective if you are stopping rather than cutting down. Again, there will always be exceptions, but the change of flavour away from tobacco is often very helpful. Try to have a combination of sweet and savoury flavours, because throughout the day you may like the change up.
7. Have more than 1 vaping device.
Grab a few coils. Get plenty of juice. You have to purchase things in advance. If you run out of coils, or you break your tank, or you drop your battery (or give it a bath), you want to have a backup. Even if you buy a new device every other week, it's usually still way cheaper than smoking. Exceptions will always be found (easily in this forum...) but please have a backup because, without one, you might buy another pack. Juice has a long shelf life if kept cool and dark, so learn how much you use over a period of time, and always have enough to spare.
