Quit smoking - mg help

[Mikker]

I'm new to this (about a month in) and attemtping to break a 35 year pack a day smoking habit. I'm an MTL'r running a Smok Alien 220w with an Aspire Nautilus, Nautilus mini and Nautilus 2 tanks. All on 1.8ohm BVC coils.

I first tried 3 different highly rated tabacco flavors that were supposed to be similar to Marlboro reds. Ea. @ 24mg of 50/50. What a bomb. None of them taste a thing like Marlboro reds and evidently the 24mg were too much for me. The throat hit burned, they had a sickly sweet taste and I wasn't able to vape enough to keep my cig cravings at bay. I certainly didn't enjoy a single puff. I had also ordered 1 apple cinnamon in 24mg. I actually did enjoy that a bit, but the throat hit was too much. I ordered another 10ml's of the same flavors I already had in 6mg to blend with the 24mg's, but aside from the apple cinnamon it didn't really help the tabacco flavors in the slightest.

From there I moved on to a selection of 20 or so flavors (non tabacco 50/50), but the company I ordered from only do up to 12mg. The company was supposed to have really high ratings within the vape world, and not really even knowing how much nicotine would be appropriate for me (internet research certainly didn't help the first time around), I took a chance. Some of the flavors are really great, but I'm finding them a bit too sweet and not much of a throat hit. To some extent... it's working. I've been able to cut my cig intake down to just under half a pack, but I practically have to chain vape and don't think that is going to be a long term solution for me. Sometimes the sweetness just gets to be too much and I find myself in the dilema of trying to decide if I can handle any more of that juice or just go grab a dang cigarette. I've tried to combat the sweetness with drinking more black coffee when I vape, but that's not a long term solution either. I love my coffee, but I also hate the caffeine jitters and morning headaches.

To counteract some of the sweetness I've been adding in a bit of the apple cinnamon for just a little "sharpness" spike, but apple cinnamon just doesn't go well with some of the flavors and I'm getting a little burned out on cinnamon. Again.. not a long term solution.

I feel fairly confident with the wattage and air intake settings to help manage the flavors and throat hit, but they can only do so much. If it makes any difference to know for anyone gracious enough to offer any advice... I typically run my mod @ 13.5 watts (1.8ohm) and on the smallest or 2nd smallest air hole.

It may be flawed, but my current thought is to buy some 100mg nicotine base (so as not to dilute the original flavors too much) and try to spike the throat hit, cut down on the sweetness and help with the nicotine cravings a bit more.

If that's workable, I'm not sure what percentage of 100mg base I should add to bring a 12mg juice up to an 18mg~ish.

Did I not give the tobacco flavors enough of a shot? I'm sure I'm not in the top 500k folks that have been in the same situation.

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. TIA

 

[pulsevape]

I'm new to this (about a month in) and attemtping to break a 35 year pack a day smoking habit. I'm an MTL'r running a Smok Alien 220w with an Aspire Nautilus, Nautilus mini and Nautilus 2 tanks. All on 1.8ohm BVC coils.

I first tried 3 different highly rated tabacco flavors that were supposed to be similar to Marlboro reds. Ea. @ 24mg of 50/50. What a bomb. None of them taste a thing like Marlboro reds and evidently the 24mg were too much for me. The throat hit burned, they had a sickly sweet taste and I wasn't able to vape enough to keep my cig cravings at bay. I certainly didn't enjoy a single puff. I had also ordered 1 apple cinnamon in 24mg. I actually did enjoy that a bit, but the throat hit was too much. I ordered another 10ml's of the same flavors I already had in 6mg to blend with the 24mg's, but aside from the apple cinnamon it didn't really help the tabacco flavors in the slightest.

From there I moved on to a selection of 20 or so flavors (non tabacco 50/50), but the company I ordered from only do up to 12mg. The company was supposed to have really high ratings within the vape world, and not really even knowing how much nicotine would be appropriate for me (internet research certainly didn't help the first time around), I took a chance. Some of the flavors are really great, but I'm finding them a bit too sweet and not much of a throat hit. To some extent... it's working. I've been able to cut my cig intake down to just under half a pack, but I practically have to chain vape and don't think that is going to be a long term solution for me. Sometimes the sweetness just gets to be too much and I find myself in the dilema of trying to decide if I can handle any more of that juice or just go grab a dang cigarette. I've tried to combat the sweetness with drinking more black coffee when I vape, but that's not a long term solution either. I love my coffee, but I also hate the caffeine jitters and morning headaches.

To counteract some of the sweetness I've been adding in a bit of the apple cinnamon for just a little "sharpness" spike, but apple cinnamon just doesn't go well with some of the flavors and I'm getting a little burned out on cinnamon. Again.. not a long term solution.

I feel fairly confident with the wattage and air intake settings to help manage the flavors and throat hit, but they can only do so much. If it makes any difference to know for anyone gracious enough to offer any advice... I typically run my mod @ 13.5 watts (1.8ohm) and on the smallest or 2nd smallest air hole.

It may be flawed, but my current thought is to buy some 100mg nicotine base (so as not to dilute the original flavors too much) and try to spike the throat hit, cut down on the sweetness and help with the nicotine cravings a bit more.

If that's workable, I'm not sure what percentage of 100mg base I should add to bring a 12mg juice up to an 18mg~ish.

Did I not give the tobacco flavors enough of a shot? I'm sure I'm not in the top 500k folks that have been in the same situation.

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated. TIA

well if you want to buy juice I'd recommend "Blacknote" juice...they are pricey but they are a Natrually Extracted Tobacco e juice...or any other NET juice they won't be as sweet...but you will be replacing coils more frequently....they come in 12 mg and may even come in 18 mg.
the other alternative is to mix your own juice...this way you can avoid sweetners, and adjust the nic levels to whatever you want.I'd recommend Hangsen's tobacco flavorings they are pretty decent tasting....as for throat hit alot of thing can cause that ...too much PG...to much bad nic...if you really want to boost your nic levels really high and at the same time get a real smooth vape with very little throat hit you can mix your own juice and use a smooth nicotine salt......I have to say one of the biggest reasons I started making my own juice was the fact all the juice I tried was just overly sweet...
I guess what I'm saying is if you can afford to buy 1.00 a ml juice there is stuff out there,but if you want to really tailor your juice to your tastes you may want to consider DIY..

 

[gbalkam]

So now you know the main thing... tobacco flavor does not taste like smoking. Never will. It tastes more like smelling canned tobacco for DIY rollies. That said.. pick a flavor you like, tobacco be damned. I figured I wanted to get off tobacco completely so I totally avoided tobacco flavors after my first 15ml trial bottle when I first started.

A pack a day should be around the 18 to 12mg nic level on a mouth to lung atomizer. (you puff it like a cigarette). This simulates the action of smoking which is very helpful when quitting. You can even sit and take a 5 minute vape break after coffee, meals, break time, etc. Also very handy for being on the computer when you would chain smoke (and cheaper than lighting a smoke and putting out the butt because you forgot you lit it..lol)

Your throat hit doesn't actually come from the nicotine, it actually comes from the PG% of your juice. 30pg 70 vg is usually a good start and adjust from there. Worst case I suppose you could buy some PG at the local pharmacy (where I get mine) and add a few drops. (50ml juice would add 2%pg per 1ml added *20 drops*). Approximated to keep the math simple.

Now as to increasing the nicotine in the 12mg juice... 100ml ejuice at 100mg nic per ml nicotine base = 1mg per ml of nic base added. IE.. 100ml of 20pg+80vg requires 3ml nicotine base per 3mg/ml. So.. add 6ml to bring 12 to 18mg. I would do less to start. You can always add to but you cant take it out.

if you find your juice to sweet, you can also open the airflow a bit. That will thin the vapor and mute the flavor a bit.

 

[jambi]

Couple things to keep in mind...Vapor can't get you to cigarette smoke, and artificial can't get you to real. There is no tobacco-oriented flavoring, device, vaping style that replicates smoking, because it's not smoking. Some of the flavors can imply tobacco, but the whole experience of vaping vs. smoking makes it seem different. The easy remedy for this is all related to your expectations. Don't think "Marlboro Flavor", just think "flavored Eliquid". Judge it on its own merits (or deficiencies) and you'll probably end up more satisfied.

Most commercial juices are heavily sweetened, that's just the way it is. It's what got me into DIY, actually. But there are some decent store boughts, tell the guy to recommend you a juice less sweet, if he's hip, he'll know what to reach for.

Quick way to increase the nicotine effect from vaping is to upgrade your kit. Nautilus with 1.8 coils is a good tank, but if you switch to say, a TFV8 and run the 0.15 ohm quad coils (or better yet build your own, but not necessary at this point), you might quickly decide that even 12 mg is too strong. You'll also be getting a ton more vapor and (hopefully) flavor, which for me anyway offsets the nic craving. I started at 18 mg on EGO pen style batteries and EVOD tanks, moved to Kayfuns and dropped to 12, then 8, then moved on to subohm tanks and drippers where I had to drop down to 3. Now, I vape for flavor, the nic is barely an afterthought, but I sure was worried about it in the early days of vaping.

It'll get better. You'll find your groove. DIY is awesome if you're interested and willing to face the learning curve.

 

[Mikker]

I appreciate all the input and advice. I don't know how I missed Blacknote when I was researching, but sounds like it might be a best bet. I ordered a "notebook" to try 4 of their flavors. All things considered their prices don't really seem all that outrageous. Still cheaper than analogs and saving money isn't really a major consideration about my choic to quit cancer sticks.

gbalkam - Thanks for the math tutorial. Makes perfect sense if I would have sat and thought about it more than a minute.

I know vaping will never fully replicate smoking. I'm just looking for something to satisfy my nicotine cravings that I can vape on a regular basis. I have no "sweet tooth" whatsoever. I've found that vaping DOES satisfy my nicotine cravings and I've been able to put a serious dent in my analog consumption. I'm confident I "could" be successful dumping them all together. Hitting an analog these days is more about just not being able to handle any more of that sweet stuff. I have 4 tanks now so I can change up the flavors on the fly throughout the day. That helps a little.

DIY may need to be the way I end up having to go, but I would really prefer not to. Analogs are easy. Open, light, puff. No batteries required and the only "setting" you have to worry about is the height of your lighters flame. Vaping is already much more of a complication. Cleaning tanks, filling, charging batteries, assemble this/that, prime, wait for wick saturation, check settings/airflow then puff... oh... crap... my coil died. I'm really not that excited about adding in mixing and steeping my own juice.

I'm pinning my hopes that Blacknote will be a good fit.

 

[Mikker]

well if you want to buy juice I'd recommend "Blacknote" juice...

Now THAT's what I'm talkin about! That's an ADV and I've only been through 2 flavors so far (Sonata & Legato). The second was better than the first but either one, so far, I can easily ADV and be a danged happy camper. Cheers on ya, pulsevape!

I also hate to admit it, a bit, but their juice is almost better than puffing my Marlboro reds. You get that bold smooth tabacco flavor but without the slightly acridic aftertaste in the back of your throat you get from the burning matter and such. It's almost religious.

The past couple of months I've been "very" near giving up on vaping on several occassions, but Blacknote juice is a game changer. After 35 years... walking away from analogs actually seems doable without much sacrifice at all. I'm converted.