Hello...
I love to write and paint a picture with words so if there are too many here in my first post for any of you I won't be offended if you want to skip all that follows as I am very excited about this new journey I am on and when that happens the words tend to flow.
To those that want to do that I will just say hey...happy to be part of the forum.
Here is my story...
After smoking cigarettes for decades and repeated attempts to quit over the years I recently started my journey into vaping and ya know...this time I think it is gonna stick.
I tried those over the counter rechargeable e-cig looking things a couple of years ago but it just didn't work out for me, not quite the "cigarette experience" I needed to get over the hump.
Plus it was a hassle charging the thing and the cartridges weren't exactly cheap if you do the math.
Recently I have been seeing the Cue tv ads all over late night/early morning tv and noticed how much more vapor it seemed to generate and it peaked my interest but you still had to buy cartridges and after being in retail for almost 30 years I suspected this product was probably better than the cheaper e-cig kind I tried before but it was a trap...
They spend way too much on those ads they run continuously and it was obvious this company was designed to sell to the masses...an ok product but there had to be better options out there that had more features and I could fill myself so they were probably going to be cheaper than buying those cartridges all the time.
Just this past Sunday my life changed when I met a new friend that set me on this new path.
He used to smoke also but for the last 4 years he has been vaping instead and he said he hasn't smoked a real cigarette since.
He carried his mod with him, an Aspire unit I believe and he showed me that he could change the wattage and a few other things and I was intrigued.
He said I had to get into this, the money saving was substantial and the health benefits were beyond what he could describe.
He sold me.
After I got home I got online and started to research as much as I could, looked at starter units and compared prices and watched a lot of vids on YouTube.
The next day on Monday of this week armed with just enough newly acquired knowledge to be dangerous I went into a store that is right near my house looking for information.
Turns out this has been a head shop for many years and it is still mainly a head shop but now they sell some vaping products along with their regular line.
Not a ton of vaping products either from what I could see.
I didn't get a lot of information from the guy there, I asked about a decent starting rig and he said they started at $49 and went up from there.
He said the other guy that works there was the actual "vaping guy" and he would be in the store in a few hours to answer more of my questions if I wanted to come back.
I thanked him and left there and drove about 3 miles to another store in the area to see if I could get more information.
The second I walked into that store I knew this is where I needed to spend my time.
They had a store filled with products and liquids and a couple of salespeople that were nice and seemed knowledgeable and well informed.
I started talking to one guy and said I was here to quit smoking and I wanted to start out with a decent mod, tank and everything that imitated smoking a cigarette and do it right but I won't get paid till the end of this week so I was just here to look for some information.
I was planning to spend some money there but that day I wasn't carrying much.
He did what a good salesman should do, what I always did when I worked in retail stores and actually listened to what I said and then figured out an even better more logical path that he suggested to me that made more sense.
He said I should probably start out with a decent but cheap starter unit just to make sure this was going to be a path I would want to continue on.
I had plenty of time to get into more advanced units if I decided this was right for me.
If I started with the right one quitting smoking could start right away, I wouldn't have to wait till the end of the week.
He asked how much I would consider spending that day and I told him I had about $30 on me, he said I could easily get into something good and his starting units were all on sale for the entire month anyway.
Timing is everything in this world.
He said let's go look at the Joytech ego AIO line.
A few other customers walked in and I said go wait on them, I was in no hurry, then I eventually talked to another lady when she became free that I believe owns the store with her husband.
Just as nice and sweet as could be.
She showed me the units they had and said they were all similar and I picked out a D16 model because it was the cheapest out of all of them and under $20 on sale.
I wanted to make sure I had enough money to get a good amount if juice to start out.
It was a nice stainless steel one, she opened the box and it felt good in my hand...this was far above and beyond those e-cigs I tried before.
We went to pick out my first liquid and she asked what I was thinking of.
I said I smoked menthols and probably something that would simulate that as close as possible would probably give me the best shot at success.
It just so happens they made their own line of juices there too in a lab they had set up in the back and they were also on sale...and they had one that supposedly replicated Newport cigarettes.
Fitting...Newport was the very first pack of cigarettes I ever bought so long ago.
I did the math, Cue cartridges are about $7 for 5 mils, I bought a 30 mil bottle of this stuff for under $10 ...I was saving a lot of money over that Cue system already and way more over analog cigarette packs.
The nice sales lady, Rene, primed the coil and put everything together for me and I took my first puff.
Impressive, I coughed because I inhaled too deep but I knew instantly this is what I should have done a long time ago.
I got out of there after spending a little over $30 with taxes and everything.
I had a few cigarettes left in my current pack when I left the store and over the next few hours for the rest of the day I practiced trying to get the best cigarette experience using my new acquisition and finished smoking the last of those analogs.
That night I didn't go out and buy another pack when I ran out because my Joytech AIO was doing a pretty good job of satisfying my urges and I then vowed never to buy another pack of real cigarettes again.
On Tuesday I didn't go out and buy another pack.
On Wednesday I didn't either, now here it is on Thursday and I don't plan on buying any this day, either.
Surprisingly I found that at the critical parts of the day, in the morning with my cup of coffee and after meals, when the cravings are the worst this little silver miracle kept me satisfied and the cravings away way more than I though possible.
And the juice I bought was only 6mg nicotine strength which is surprising.
Since then I have been back to that store because I am ever curious and looking to experiment and improve my experiences.
I bought some more of that store's homemade juice also on sale at a great price that had a nice little fruity flavor to enhance my enjoyment, I found that adding a few drops of my menthol mix with it gives me that throat hit I still need to have and I changed my tip with a spiral insert one that was originally installed to the more open extra tip that came in the box which got even closer to that cigarette experience I still need to have right now.
I even bought another coil that was 1.5 ohms after reading that that might get me even closer but I found out that the .6 ohm coils supplied still work best on this sub ohm little wonder.
Picking out that fruity juice was fun and eye opening.
They had large selection of tanks on a display behind the counter of the many flavors and brands of juice they sell and a bigger more powerful mod they mounted them on and she gave me my own tip so I could try as many of the flavors I wanted.
She was very patient as I tried probably 30 different kinds.
I got the fruity one but there were a couple that I liked even more but they were very high VG and I wasn't sure it would work real well in mine.
One was fantastic, Chrome Breakfast Strudel...I had no idea you could get more pleasure from these things than you ever could smoking even flavored combustible types.
Using that more powerful loaner mod I got a taste of what it felt like to move up the line from my little starter unit to one with more power and vapor and now I want that experience again.
Knowing me I might just be visiting that store again this weekend.
I love tech and I already have a few ideas in mind for my next upgraded mod and tank.
Once I get that I will get that strudel flavor to christen it right...can't wait.
So the heading said to put down our vaping voyage and this was mine.
For those that took the time to read it all thanks for the interest.
I know it is always going to be a fight to stay off the cancer sticks but now I realize that using this wonderful invention that fight will not be so hard.
I thank you all for the helpful information I have gleaned reading posts from many of you while I was lurking here the last few days, I hope I can contribute some helpful information to others as I continue my journey.
I think my life has changed for the better...and life is good.
I love to write and paint a picture with words so if there are too many here in my first post for any of you I won't be offended if you want to skip all that follows as I am very excited about this new journey I am on and when that happens the words tend to flow.
To those that want to do that I will just say hey...happy to be part of the forum.
Here is my story...
After smoking cigarettes for decades and repeated attempts to quit over the years I recently started my journey into vaping and ya know...this time I think it is gonna stick.
I tried those over the counter rechargeable e-cig looking things a couple of years ago but it just didn't work out for me, not quite the "cigarette experience" I needed to get over the hump.
Plus it was a hassle charging the thing and the cartridges weren't exactly cheap if you do the math.
Recently I have been seeing the Cue tv ads all over late night/early morning tv and noticed how much more vapor it seemed to generate and it peaked my interest but you still had to buy cartridges and after being in retail for almost 30 years I suspected this product was probably better than the cheaper e-cig kind I tried before but it was a trap...
They spend way too much on those ads they run continuously and it was obvious this company was designed to sell to the masses...an ok product but there had to be better options out there that had more features and I could fill myself so they were probably going to be cheaper than buying those cartridges all the time.
Just this past Sunday my life changed when I met a new friend that set me on this new path.
He used to smoke also but for the last 4 years he has been vaping instead and he said he hasn't smoked a real cigarette since.
He carried his mod with him, an Aspire unit I believe and he showed me that he could change the wattage and a few other things and I was intrigued.
He said I had to get into this, the money saving was substantial and the health benefits were beyond what he could describe.
He sold me.
After I got home I got online and started to research as much as I could, looked at starter units and compared prices and watched a lot of vids on YouTube.
The next day on Monday of this week armed with just enough newly acquired knowledge to be dangerous I went into a store that is right near my house looking for information.
Turns out this has been a head shop for many years and it is still mainly a head shop but now they sell some vaping products along with their regular line.
Not a ton of vaping products either from what I could see.
I didn't get a lot of information from the guy there, I asked about a decent starting rig and he said they started at $49 and went up from there.
He said the other guy that works there was the actual "vaping guy" and he would be in the store in a few hours to answer more of my questions if I wanted to come back.
I thanked him and left there and drove about 3 miles to another store in the area to see if I could get more information.
The second I walked into that store I knew this is where I needed to spend my time.
They had a store filled with products and liquids and a couple of salespeople that were nice and seemed knowledgeable and well informed.
I started talking to one guy and said I was here to quit smoking and I wanted to start out with a decent mod, tank and everything that imitated smoking a cigarette and do it right but I won't get paid till the end of this week so I was just here to look for some information.
I was planning to spend some money there but that day I wasn't carrying much.
He did what a good salesman should do, what I always did when I worked in retail stores and actually listened to what I said and then figured out an even better more logical path that he suggested to me that made more sense.
He said I should probably start out with a decent but cheap starter unit just to make sure this was going to be a path I would want to continue on.
I had plenty of time to get into more advanced units if I decided this was right for me.
If I started with the right one quitting smoking could start right away, I wouldn't have to wait till the end of the week.
He asked how much I would consider spending that day and I told him I had about $30 on me, he said I could easily get into something good and his starting units were all on sale for the entire month anyway.
Timing is everything in this world.
He said let's go look at the Joytech ego AIO line.
A few other customers walked in and I said go wait on them, I was in no hurry, then I eventually talked to another lady when she became free that I believe owns the store with her husband.
Just as nice and sweet as could be.
She showed me the units they had and said they were all similar and I picked out a D16 model because it was the cheapest out of all of them and under $20 on sale.
I wanted to make sure I had enough money to get a good amount if juice to start out.
It was a nice stainless steel one, she opened the box and it felt good in my hand...this was far above and beyond those e-cigs I tried before.
We went to pick out my first liquid and she asked what I was thinking of.
I said I smoked menthols and probably something that would simulate that as close as possible would probably give me the best shot at success.
It just so happens they made their own line of juices there too in a lab they had set up in the back and they were also on sale...and they had one that supposedly replicated Newport cigarettes.
Fitting...Newport was the very first pack of cigarettes I ever bought so long ago.
I did the math, Cue cartridges are about $7 for 5 mils, I bought a 30 mil bottle of this stuff for under $10 ...I was saving a lot of money over that Cue system already and way more over analog cigarette packs.
The nice sales lady, Rene, primed the coil and put everything together for me and I took my first puff.
Impressive, I coughed because I inhaled too deep but I knew instantly this is what I should have done a long time ago.
I got out of there after spending a little over $30 with taxes and everything.
I had a few cigarettes left in my current pack when I left the store and over the next few hours for the rest of the day I practiced trying to get the best cigarette experience using my new acquisition and finished smoking the last of those analogs.
That night I didn't go out and buy another pack when I ran out because my Joytech AIO was doing a pretty good job of satisfying my urges and I then vowed never to buy another pack of real cigarettes again.
On Tuesday I didn't go out and buy another pack.
On Wednesday I didn't either, now here it is on Thursday and I don't plan on buying any this day, either.
Surprisingly I found that at the critical parts of the day, in the morning with my cup of coffee and after meals, when the cravings are the worst this little silver miracle kept me satisfied and the cravings away way more than I though possible.
And the juice I bought was only 6mg nicotine strength which is surprising.
Since then I have been back to that store because I am ever curious and looking to experiment and improve my experiences.
I bought some more of that store's homemade juice also on sale at a great price that had a nice little fruity flavor to enhance my enjoyment, I found that adding a few drops of my menthol mix with it gives me that throat hit I still need to have and I changed my tip with a spiral insert one that was originally installed to the more open extra tip that came in the box which got even closer to that cigarette experience I still need to have right now.
I even bought another coil that was 1.5 ohms after reading that that might get me even closer but I found out that the .6 ohm coils supplied still work best on this sub ohm little wonder.
Picking out that fruity juice was fun and eye opening.
They had large selection of tanks on a display behind the counter of the many flavors and brands of juice they sell and a bigger more powerful mod they mounted them on and she gave me my own tip so I could try as many of the flavors I wanted.
She was very patient as I tried probably 30 different kinds.
I got the fruity one but there were a couple that I liked even more but they were very high VG and I wasn't sure it would work real well in mine.
One was fantastic, Chrome Breakfast Strudel...I had no idea you could get more pleasure from these things than you ever could smoking even flavored combustible types.
Using that more powerful loaner mod I got a taste of what it felt like to move up the line from my little starter unit to one with more power and vapor and now I want that experience again.
Knowing me I might just be visiting that store again this weekend.
I love tech and I already have a few ideas in mind for my next upgraded mod and tank.
Once I get that I will get that strudel flavor to christen it right...can't wait.
So the heading said to put down our vaping voyage and this was mine.
For those that took the time to read it all thanks for the interest.
I know it is always going to be a fight to stay off the cancer sticks but now I realize that using this wonderful invention that fight will not be so hard.
I thank you all for the helpful information I have gleaned reading posts from many of you while I was lurking here the last few days, I hope I can contribute some helpful information to others as I continue my journey.
I think my life has changed for the better...and life is good.
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In a couple of weeks you'll wonder how the heck you started and kept smoking analogs in the first place. (for 22 yrs in my case. I was a bit luckier with my vaping experience; it stuck first time round.)
