So, cotton is cotton, right?

[MyMagicMist]

The name of the course and the qualification sound more glamorous than they actually are, rescue diver is basically one or two steps from junior instructor and doesn't mean I'm specifically trained for underwater rescue, just that 7nderwater rescue is a big part of the course as its something that's (extremely) good to know if you want to be an instructor.

Called you guys "sharks" in the Navy. You'd pull us out if we got "choked" up in the water. Had roughly 2 weeks with a crash course of combat diver. No, didn't commit to it. Walked away telling the "chief", "sorry just not for me." He chuckled, "be here any time diver."

That was over thirty years or so ago. And no, I never did B.U.D.S. If I had stayed in service would have as part of my advanced training due to going to USNUWC, would have got the Wings & Trident being a s.e.a.l or not.

Again though, years and years ago, would not want to go just run and jump in now. *chuckles* I'd need a good six to nine moths re-training. Not sure I'd be fit even then.

 

[ajvapes]

Hey, I'm not sayin a DAMN thing. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

Just wickin .....

 

[John-W]

Called you guys "sharks" in the Navy. You'd pull us out if we got "choked" up in the water. Had roughly 2 weeks with a crash course of combat diver. No, didn't commit to it. Walked away telling the "chief", "sorry just not for me." He chuckled, "be here any time diver."

That was over thirty years or so ago. And no, I never did B.U.D.S. If I had stayed in service would have as part of my advanced training due to going to USNUWC, would have got the Wings & Trident being a s.e.a.l or not.

Again though, years and years ago, would not want to go just run and jump in now. *chuckles* I'd need a good six to nine moths re-training. Not sure I'd be fit even then.

Never did anything as interesting as military diving, 'Rescue diver' is really just a name. You get taught underwater rescue, navigation, how to perform rescue breaths in water as you can't compress the chest cavity enough to pump a heart, shore/boat CPR, wound tending (how to tend broken bones and how to distinguish between capillary, venous and arterial bleeding and treat acordingly) and how to use an AED (though if the patient has seawater on them you can't do that until you dry them out) and the usual talk of "If somebody isn't breathing or is asystole they're already in the worst possible condition so anything you do can't make it worse" and so on. I've not dived for a while due to a bad injury I got a while back as I don't want to be a liability to others, or the guy who complains on the boat, I couod do recreational diving without much of an issue but making it a career wouldnt work out as an instructor has to be as agile as possible in case there's an emergency underwater.
Hope that doesn't sound too preachy, but it's why I decided to go with a more acedemic (though still practical) career instead. Dream job would be to operate unmanned submersibles. Previously it was saturation diving (you know, where you spend a week in a pressurised tube after doing a few dives) but that's definitely off the table now. If I can't get into the water physically I'll do it via a long cable and screen.

 

[MyMagicMist]

'Rescue diver' is really just a name. You get taught underwater rescue, navigation, how to perform rescue breaths in water as you can't compress the chest cavity enough to pump a heart, shore/boat CPR, wound tending (how to tend broken bones and how to distinguish between capillary, venous and arterial bleeding and treat acordingly) and how to use an AED (though if the patient has seawater on them you can't do that until you dry them out) and the usual talk of "If somebody isn't breathing or is asystole they're already in the worst possible condition so anything you do can't make it worse" and so on.

Yep, all sounds like what our "sharks" did. In simple terms "they got folks out of the water, saved lives". Combat diver course was fun, what I had of it, merely the practical. Other divers tried ripping your gear off you. You had to focus on mission, stay calm. They kept adding stressors, anxieties ... "stay calm".

So yep, walked away. I joke and say those in that field are nuts. In fact they get psych evals regularly and are some "stable" folks. I couldn't have done it then and for sure wouldn't now. Nope, I'm not Superman thanks.

 

[nadalama]

The ocean at Virginia Beach tried to eat me once, and I would hate to have been the person who tried to save me from that. By the time I popped my head out of the water, I was as hysterical as I've ever been. Was a strong swimmer back then, but my god, you think the sea has you, you will freak the f out.

Basic swimming class I had back in the 60s, even then they taught us that if you don't go about it right, one drowning person will become two drowning people, or more.

On a very slightly similar note, I had a group of coworkers once who were all members of a local rescue squad. From hearing them tell about their experiences with people, I learned to really admire and respect anyone who goes into a field that is dedicated to saving the lives of others. What would happen if there were not people who could do those things? I'm sure they all deserve more gratitude and more compensation than they get.

 

[SteveS45]

The ocean at Virginia Beach tried to eat me once, and I would hate to have been the person who tried to save me from that.

One time out in Montauk I decided to buy a Boogie Board because the waves were Crazy due to a Hurricane that had passed. I had the ride of my life but got slammed head first into the sand, rolled around and bounced in the surf caught in a rip tide. Long story short I had sand in every orifice for a week~!

 

[Carambrda]

As for Mooch, I feel like I've insulted a sacred cow. He definitely seems experienced I just shy away from people who ask for subs. Suggesting that they donate through patreon is a better way to go about it, or at least I find it less of an on your face way to ask for donos, the whole "like comment subscribe" overlay tends to be less in my face but that's because it's used so regularly I kind of tune it out. I don't think that he is wrong on what he's talking about, he seems well experienced, although I wish he went into even more detail, even if I only understand half of it or need to do a few days of reading to understand most of it. The bundle of notes on the livestream was also something a bit alien to me as I'm used to people like Louis Rossman and other technical you tubers being able to recite stuff immediately off the top of their though even when it comes to stuff I know really well I occasionally forget important details when put on the spot, like in the middle of doing a livestream and reading through comments as well as talking about something I know well. What does/did he do other than or before reviewing cells/batteries anyway? Electrochemist? Electrical engineer? I'm genuinely curious.

He lives in a small apartment in Manhattan. There are no cows in Manhattan I don't believe... or if there ever was one and it was a sacred one, then prolly it must've been killed during the attack.

Him asking people to subscribe on YouTube is understandable for the fact that he really needs that extra $$ for getting more different batteries so that he can test them and for getting enough plywood to hold all his test equipment in such a tiny room that also happens to be the only room that he can use for this stuff. He already is on Patreon.

He went into quite a lot of detail about many different battery related questions actually, when he was still answering them during his "Power Hour" live streams. In the comments section of his last live stream you can read the reply he wrote when people started asking why he hasn't been back on there yet. On Reddit he is still actively replying to members there it seems: https://www.reddit.com/user/Mooch315

Originally he got interested in battery technology a very long time ago when he got himself involved with the RC community. He mainly designs battery test setups and battery test procedures for clients in the tech industry, and he has worked for Hewlett Packard and for the US Army. I guess it's fair to say that his knowledge of and experience with batteries and battery related tech is unfathomable because he's been being a battery FREAK for a quarter of a century or thereabout, and he is also a vaper. He deserves all the credit for calling out "rewrap companies" like Efest who were (and a lot of them still are) printing hugely exaggerated ratings on the battery wraps of batteries that they rewrap. In the particular example of Efest, they were putting a 60A rating on the LG HG2, which is only a 20A cell.

None of the so-called "reviewers" can hold a candle against him when they start to talk about batteries. Look at that guy called HKJ on budgetlightforum.com, for example, who reviews batteries and battery chargers on his own personal website lygte-info.dk and who often is thought to be experienced especially when it comes to battery chargers. Specifically, look at his pics that show temperature recordings of all the battery chargers he has "tested". Next, look at "Minding Your Mechs" video episodes by Mooch on YouTube and learn what factually happens if you point a heat detection camera at a reflective surface. That's right... the reflections skew measurements so heavily that you really need to use matte black tape in order to prevent that from happening. HKJ's heat detection pics show some parts of surfaces on various different battery chargers getting way hotter than 60 degrees Celsius. It doesn't take to be a rocket scientist to know that these measurements by HKJ are too severely flawed to still be called useful in any way whatsoever. Because, as a matter of fact, 60 degrees Celsius is hot enough to start burning a person's skin, which everyone already knows just never happens when you touch such a charger, even by a long shot. That's the difference between a true professional like Mooch and a newbie whose level of "credibility" is merely the result of more newbies on the internet persistently propelling newbie nonsense like that. Sorry for long response, but it needed to be said...

 

[MyMagicMist]

Was a strong swimmer back then, but my god, you think the sea has you, you will freak the f out.

Yes indeed.

 

[John-W]

Yep, all sounds like what our "sharks" did. In simple terms "they got folks out of the water, saved lives". Combat diver course was fun, what I had of it, merely the practical. Other divers tried ripping your gear off you. You had to focus on mission, stay calm. They kept adding stressors, anxieties ... "stay calm".

So yep, walked away. I joke and say those in that field are nuts. In fact they get psych evals regularly and are some "stable" folks. I couldn't have done it then and for sure wouldn't now. Nope, I'm not Superman thanks.

Kind of reminds me of the underwater fights we had and the pranks we played (such as circling back around someone on a shore dive and as soon as they got up we grabbed their legs and pulled them back under) but we always did it in a safe manner. Mainly just knocking the masks off of people who we knew wouldn't take it a bad way as being able to clear the water from a mask which has been knocked off underwater is pretty important and it happens more often than you'd expect, especially if you get too close to the fins of someone in front of you, that usually results in you losing both your mask and regulator at the same time. Stuff like that kept us sharp. Though we weren't military divers, or technical divers, just recreational divers. Only 'rescue' I ever had to do (other than the mock rescues) was for two divers who got caught in a current and were getting pulled into the middle of a peninsula, that was just a half mile run/jog in a semi-dry suit with someone else then the other guy (more senior than me) swam in and pulled on their (relatively) fast moving divers buoy to get their attention. They'd have probably needed a boat rescue if we didn't get to them but it was in a small peninsula so the boat rescue would have probably just been one of our guys in a RIB (Zodiac) rather than the coast guard, so not a 'serious' rescue.

One time out in Montauk I decided to buy a Boogie Board because the waves were Crazy due to a Hurricane that had passed. I had the ride of my life but got slammed head first into the sand, rolled around and bounced in the surf caught in a rip tide. Long story short I had sand in every orifice for a week~!

I got caught in a rip-tide myself. I was warned "there's a rip-tide there" but fifteen year old me thought that would be fine.
I had to swim harder and faster diagonally until I got to shore. One of the only times I've really panicked, feeling like you're being carried out to sea is a really scary thing.

Just wickin .....

Yep. On that note my package of Kevin Bacon arrived today.
Firstly Kevin Bacon is easier to work with than cotton ball and comes nicely sized too. You can pull it apart easily too, cotton balls feel so delicate that I used scissors.
There was an odd taste at first. Similar to the cotton ball but definitely not as pronounced. Maybe the cotton ball wick did taste awful to begin with and I've forgotten it as it went away quickly (kind of the same as taking something illicit, throwing up everywhere then having a great night out) and tasted fine after. I'll have to do at least one more cotton ball test and then back to cotton bacon to give a conclusive answer though. I will say that cotton bacon seems to have more flavour than cotton ball though maybe this is just placebo.

 

[SteveS45]

I got caught in a rip-tide myself. I was warned "there's a rip-tide there" but fifteen year old me thought that would be fine.
I had to swim harder and faster diagonally until I got to shore. One of the only times I've really panicked, feeling like you're being carried out to sea is a really scary thing.

I didn't have time to get scared because I was battered and bruised big time~! No Lifeguards at the resort on the beach either so no one knew I was in trouble. Like you said swim sideways and my GF and her Mom never knew anything until they saw how much I was bleeding from the sand rash~! I had to walk so far back to where I entered the water after I was dragged out enough to actually try swimming again.

Oh I was in my 40's when this happened also. LMFAO

 

[VapeOn1960]

I have used a variety of cotton that came with RTAs but not sure what they are. I have also used regular store bought cotton balls (only for quick flavor tests in a RDA... test one, rewick, test another... quick and dirty) I did boil and dry them first. I wanted to try "rayon" and got the cotton version by mistake (they are both sold as "cellu-cotton" on amazon) It does seem to work fine. Then I got "rayon" I use both (depending on the RDA/RTA) Both are really cheap and you get tons of it. One specific RTA likes rayon (it has small juice flow holes) but my other RTA tends to leak so cotton works better. Just keep in mind (like was mentioned) that you have to stuff rayon tighter in the coil than you would with cotton.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned the "cellu-cotton" so I wanted it bring this up.
Here's the cotton version:
https://www.amazon.com/Graham-Cellu...=1&keywords=cellucotton&qid=1632095243&sr=8-6
Here's the rayon version:
https://www.amazon.com/Graham-Cellu...=1&keywords=cellucotton&qid=1632095243&sr=8-3
I am in no way an expert about this... still learning myself.

 

[John-W]

I have used a variety of cotton that came with RTAs but not sure what they are. I have also used regular store bought cotton balls (only for quick flavor tests in a RDA... test one, rewick, test another... quick and dirty) I did boil and dry them first. I wanted to try "rayon" and got the cotton version by mistake (they are both sold as "cellu-cotton" on amazon) It does seem to work fine. Then I got "rayon" I use both (depending on the RDA/RTA) Both are really cheap and you get tons of it. One specific RTA likes rayon (it has small juice flow holes) but my other RTA tends to leak so cotton works better. Just keep in mind (like was mentioned) that you have to stuff rayon tighter in the coil than you would with cotton.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned the "cellu-cotton" so I wanted it bring this up.
Here's the cotton version:
https://www.amazon.com/Graham-Cellu...=1&keywords=cellucotton&qid=1632095243&sr=8-6
Here's the rayon version:
https://www.amazon.com/Graham-Cellu...=1&keywords=cellucotton&qid=1632095243&sr=8-3
I am in no way an expert about this... still learning myself.

Thanks. I'd seen cellucotton referred to as rayon in a few videos (I always thought rayon was a synthetic cotton substitute) and apparently it works well.
With the Zeus X RTA it has top airflow directed down a reverse chimney which blasts the coils and cotton with air. I bought it just to match up geekvape products and because it was reasonably priced (not so much if I want to buy 3.5ml glass due to a completely stupid law that limits vapes to 2ml and nicotine containing juice containers to 10ml (they just sell them in packs of 4 now or sell larger 0mg bottles along with nicotine in PG:VG that you add after) as for vapes you just buy the bubble glass separately. Granted the straight glass seems to work well for me as it means that the mod hits the ground first if it tips over rather than the glass, unless you get really unlucky.

I've had some issues wicking (cotton bacon prime) as I tried the whole Scottish roll thing and it usually led to the cotton not feeding through the coil correctly, bunching up on one end and then the cotton in the coil burning up so badly that you could practically touch the cotton and it would break into two pieces after 300 or so draws. Pulling the cotton through the regular way seems to work fine up to (and above) 1000.
I have some muji pads ordered from ebay. Getting a seller that didn't use the dumb AF automated age verification which doesn't work for non-English drivers licences took a few checks. It's cotton. [Tangent warning] I can literally buy a crack pipe set in a presentation box (even labelled and sold as "crack pipe set") with no age verification needed, not from ebay but still from a reputable supplier. Not that I would want one, it's just a comparison as ebay won't allow you to buy anything 'vape related' even if there is no nicotine or even vape juice in the product you buy. For example, cotton bacon or spare glass. The issue for me is that I end up using amazon which I don't really like as they treat their workers pretty badly. Amazon also mention age verification requiring ID on delivery but that hasn't happened yet and isn't an issue as I'm in my late 20s and can remember being able to buy cigarettes at 14 because the legal age to buy was 16, though not many places cared even when I was 18 and I remember 13-17 year old people buying cigs without a problem.

 

[MyMagicMist]

I can literally buy a crack pipe set in a presentation box (even labelled and sold as "crack pipe set") with no age verification needed, not from ebay but still from a reputable supplier. Not that I would want one, it's just a comparison as ebay won't allow you to buy anything 'vape related' even if there is no nicotine or even vape juice in the product you buy. For example, cotton bacon or spare glass. The issue for me is that I end up using amazon which I don't really like as they treat their workers pretty badly. Amazon also mention age verification requiring ID on delivery but that hasn't happened yet and isn't an issue as I'm in my late 20s and can remember being able to buy cigarettes at 14 because the legal age to buy was 16, though not many places cared even when I was 18 and I remember 13-17 year old people buying cigs without a problem.

In a similar vein, ...

Work as substitute custodian for county schools. Know two full time custodians, possibly four what rub snuff kids present or not.
Am told I'm not to vape, even if no kids present & in an adult restricted area.

No one says a thing to those rubbing snuff and it's patently obvious they do. So, yes, I do vape. Yes, I'm discrete with it but if I'm on a lunch and in said adult area, no kids, I enjoy.

AFAIK, this is a policy only. No tobacco use in schools. Well, I'm not using tobacco technically. As to letting kids have or use my gear, big NO, full stop. Buy them vape stuff? NO. Tell them vaping is good? NO. Glorify it? NO.

Life is so absurd to fill itself with stupid double standards.

 

[VapeOn1960]

Like I said, I use both cotton and rayon (really depends on the specific RTA/RDA) Most of them you can use either... a few prefer one over the other (it's hard to call... still playing around with that) The real trick to wicking is to use the right amount for the coil (and then how to deal with the "tail ends"... that's the real art) Always "prime" the coil/wick with juice first. With RTAs, even after priming and assembling the tank, fill and wait awhile before vaping. Maybe even do a few "primer puffs" (draw air without firing the mod) Start lower wattage than expected at first and then wok your way up.
Peace out. Vape on! (oh no... the people on that "other forum" will know who I am now... no worries, never had issues with anyone except a few select snobs that tricked me into hanging myself)

 

[VapeOn1960]

Forgot to mention... Jai Haze (YT video reviewer) uses Egyptian cotton from some old rug he has... what a nut!

 

[John-W]

Forgot to mention... Jai Haze (YT video reviewer) uses Egyptian cotton from some old rug he has... what a nut!

That sounds interesting.
Personally I've always been interested with the wicking characteristics of asbestos. I mean you simply can't burn it. If it wicked well it would make for the perfect wick.
So long as you ignore the lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Glass fibre loft insulation might work but apparently it's also a pretty good irritant of skin and your mucous membranes. Can attest to this as I got covered in the stuff when the kitten climbed up the ladder into the loft and I had to go after her on my belly so I didn't go through the cieling below.

 

[SteveS45]

Jai Haze is an asshole who stopped dealing with Vaping when he couldn't make anymore money off it. Even started showing his employees tits off trying to get likes when NJ Shut him down. So much for advocating huh?

 

[John-W]

Even started showing his employees tits off

Pics?

 

[John-W]

Update
Got some muji pads. 30 of them.
Been trying the Scottish roll with them but I might be using too little cotton. However overall these seem to be better (and a lot cheaper) than cotton bacon prime. Cotton bacon prime lasted about 300-1000 draws at 75W average.
My first muji lasted 1200 before I started noticing a loss of flavour. When I pulled the cotton out of the coils there was very mild scorching, some of the cotton bacon had burned through. Excellent wicking too. With cotton bacon I had to flick the tank and wait for some bubbles to rise after about 3-5 draws. The muji pads seem to have a slight dry taste but no burning cotton taste after 6+ quick inhales.
It could be that I'm using less cotton with the mujis and that the RTA (zeus x) I'm using is a 'less is more' type.
Cost wise they're a big win too. I got 30 of the new larger ones, (30 seemed to be the optimal amount to price on ebay due to shipping being factored in to each quantity) for the same price (maybe less) as one pack of cotton bacon prime.
It's a subjective opinion but these seem to work the best so far with unwashed cotton balls ranking lowest (but still completely useful) cotton bacon in the middle and mujis ranking best.

One thing to note is that I have switched juices for now as the supermarket is out of stock for the ones I like which seem to be sweetener heavy (and also really cheap) but I ran some 9mg cherry liquid through the mujis that I also ran through the cotton bacon and not only could I just about taste the cherry it didn't turn my teeth black (which it did with cotton bacon) so they seem to be the best so far but further testing is needed and all testing is subjective and for one RTA only.

 

[VapeOn1960]

I didn't realize you are full blown DL (cloud chaser?) I mostly do restricted DL but... very soon trying a dual coil RDA (that should be interesting) I never count (or set puff counter) but 1000 draws at 75 watts on the same wick(s) is great.

 

[John-W]

I didn't realize you are full blown DL (cloud chaser?) I mostly do restricted DL but... very soon trying a dual coil RDA (that should be interesting) I never count (or set puff counter) but 1000 draws at 75 watts on the same wick(s) is great.

I usually vape between 70 and 90 Watts. I suppose it would be considered DL vaping, mouth to lung isn't something I'm used to and it doesn't feel natural to me. I smoked cigarettes for about a year when I was about 19 and just stopped one day, I bought maybe two packs in that year and the rest I just rolled by rolling a cigarette for a friend and one for myself. That would be my only experience with MTL smoking. More often I would use a hookah and since the smoke is cooled and its constantly heated it is really a DTL way of smoking and when I did that (a few years ago) I usually added vape juice to the tobacco mixture for more flavour. So from mainly consuming tobacco from a hookah I would be more used to DTL with large quantities of smoke/vapour (a hookah really does generate more of a vapour than a smoke as it uses tobacco soaked in what I think is glycol, glycerine and flavouring then heated but not burned with charcoal) and when I started vaping I would just inhale until the vape itself cut out. I started with a 'single use' vape pen that was on sale for next to nothing and they're far from being single use as you can recharge the LiFePo cell with a power supply and refill the tank by drilling a small hole in the tank with a press drill/hand drill and covering the hole with tape after refilling. It lasted for a out 2 weeks before the coil burned out. After that I got a Smok vape pen V2 and found that the coils burned out in about 2 days and at about £2.75 a coil it was way too expensive to use compared to something I could wick myself. Both the 'disposable' vape and smok pen usually did the 8 second cutout whereas I only inhale for about 3-4 seconds with this at 75W.

As for cloud chasing, I wouldn't say that's really an activity I'm interested in. I enjoy blowing smoke/vape rings but I'm not on a mission to create the largest clouds possible. However I do tend to chain vape when I don't have anything else to do with my hands and focus on. I usually use 6mg vape juice or 12mg as I find that nicotine is a handy stimulant when I'm doing college work (nicotine isolate isn't as addictive as tobacco as tobacco also contains naturally produced MAOIs which prolong the effect and increase withdrawal symptoms) and stuff though it's almost always diluted with CBD e liquid (completely legal here, not sure what the laws are like in the states) as I suffer from chronic pain (I was supposed to be getting surgery but then the pandemic happened) and it helps a bit but at this point I'll take anything that helps.

The only thing I don't like with such a high wattage is the tongue and throat splashback I get if the tank is completely full. I assume this is caused by pressure but with a 3/4 full tank this doesn't happen. Hot splashback worries me a bit as hot liquids hitting your mouth and throat can cause cancer later in life, at least this is something I've heard about very hot coffee causing mouth and throat cancer. As such I try to avoid it.

Sorry for the long post but that covers pretty much everything.

 

[MyMagicMist]

Think on average I do a meager 24 watts or so. Use mostly mechanical mods so I don't pay any mind to watts, least not too much so. I do DL & RDL. Kind of walk a middle line of flavor/cloud chaser. Like using single coil RDA most often. Got away from tanks & rolled into squonking. "A squonker's life for me t'is, argh!"

This RDA she be a tricky one. Youse might t'ink she only be an MTL one. Nah, youse get fooled she be a all around any style youse wanna use 'er for. It take a little time being used to her, but once you do, you see. If you want a tip for her.

 

[VapeOn1960]

Sorry for the long post but that covers pretty much everything.

Don't apologize... very helpful knowing these things. So you liked doing the "shisha" hookah thing (I have younger friends from "the bay area" in CA that love that) It's still tobacco but at least it burns cooler (and flavored... I can see the appeal)
P.S. I never fill tanks/pods all the way. Seems to help leaving some air in there to minimize pressure/vacuum issues (don't want to get to techno, but there is no such thing as a vacuum... just different pressures unless you are in outer space) Kinda like there is no such thing as cold... just different amounts of heat
I wasn't implying you want to "chase clouds" like in competitions, it's just what I call DL vaping in general. Sort of like how some people that vape low wattage MTL are called "tootle puffers". I'm in the middle somewhere between those.

 

[Carambrda]

I usually vape between 70 and 90 Watts. I suppose it would be considered DL vaping, mouth to lung isn't something I'm used to and it doesn't feel natural to me. I smoked cigarettes for about a year when I was about 19 and just stopped one day, I bought maybe two packs in that year and the rest I just rolled by rolling a cigarette for a friend and one for myself. That would be my only experience with MTL smoking. More often I would use a hookah and since the smoke is cooled and its constantly heated it is really a DTL way of smoking and when I did that (a few years ago) I usually added vape juice to the tobacco mixture for more flavour. So from mainly consuming tobacco from a hookah I would be more used to DTL with large quantities of smoke/vapour (a hookah really does generate more of a vapour than a smoke as it uses tobacco soaked in what I think is glycol, glycerine and flavouring then heated but not burned with charcoal) and when I started vaping I would just inhale until the vape itself cut out. I started with a 'single use' vape pen that was on sale for next to nothing and they're far from being single use as you can recharge the LiFePo cell with a power supply and refill the tank by drilling a small hole in the tank with a press drill/hand drill and covering the hole with tape after refilling. It lasted for a out 2 weeks before the coil burned out. After that I got a Smok vape pen V2 and found that the coils burned out in about 2 days and at about £2.75 a coil it was way too expensive to use compared to something I could wick myself. Both the 'disposable' vape and smok pen usually did the 8 second cutout whereas I only inhale for about 3-4 seconds with this at 75W.

As for cloud chasing, I wouldn't say that's really an activity I'm interested in. I enjoy blowing smoke/vape rings but I'm not on a mission to create the largest clouds possible. However I do tend to chain vape when I don't have anything else to do with my hands and focus on. I usually use 6mg vape juice or 12mg as I find that nicotine is a handy stimulant when I'm doing college work (nicotine isolate isn't as addictive as tobacco as tobacco also contains naturally produced MAOIs which prolong the effect and increase withdrawal symptoms) and stuff though it's almost always diluted with CBD e liquid (completely legal here, not sure what the laws are like in the states) as I suffer from chronic pain (I was supposed to be getting surgery but then the pandemic happened) and it helps a bit but at this point I'll take anything that helps.

The only thing I don't like with such a high wattage is the tongue and throat splashback I get if the tank is completely full. I assume this is caused by pressure but with a 3/4 full tank this doesn't happen. Hot splashback worries me a bit as hot liquids hitting your mouth and throat can cause cancer later in life, at least this is something I've heard about very hot coffee causing mouth and throat cancer. As such I try to avoid it.

Sorry for the long post but that covers pretty much everything.

If you dilute e-liquid that contains nicotine with CBD e-liquid, then to be on the safer side of things you should avoid vaping it too long after you mix the two together. AFAIK a slow chemical reaction tends to occur after adding nicotine to cannabinoids like CBD and terpenes commonly found in CBD e-liquid. Especially when it comes to the wide variety of terpenes that are typifying of "broad spectrum" and "full spectrum" CBD products, this could cause side effects that may potentially become harmful with prolonged use. In fact, a lot of terpenes haven't been well studied, their long term effects on health still remain largely unknown to date, and, a typical (legal) "broad spectrum" CBD product can contain more than 100 different terpenes so, there's always more than several terpenes in there that do not belong in the "generally recognized as safe" category. (Maybe one day they might all wind up in that category, or they might not... at least for now, it's mainly about speculation, no matter the fact it's legal, as the process of lawmaking isn't synonymous to the scientific method of course.)

Manufacturers of CBD products are very often trying to mislead with marketing descriptions like "whole plant" or "natural". The reality is that the purest (and safest) type of CBD is called "pure CBD isolate", which is both 1/ expensive and 2/ not exactly very potent due to lacking what is known as the "entourage effect" from all the various terpenes that, although they vastly help to improve the potency of CBD as a result from this effect, might not be equally as harmless as pure CBD isolate. Needless to say you also need to 3/ factor in how pure is "pure", as there exists no linear relationship between, e.g., "99.6% pure" or "99.7% pure" and the level of harm that may be caused by each different type of impurity.

I've used CBD products myself, regularly for more than a year, in the form of sublingual tincture and in the form of vaping CBD e-liquid, also including fairly high strength (600mg CBD in a 10ml bottle of e-liquid) diluted with regular e-liquid at 3mg of nicotine strength in an RDA, that I vaped on a single battery mech mod at 0.11 ohms dual coil, and that, with the battery fully charged, translates to ~129 watts after the voltage sag of the battery. To be more specific, I was using loudly crackling 27/36 Ni80 alien coils at 5 wraps 2.5mm─same specs as the ones that Mike (m.terk) also sells on his website BTW─in the 25mm Kennedy RDA, a typical flavor chasing setup the flavor quality of which IME is nothing short of exquisite. Using Cotton Bacon 2.0 the way I have described in my 2nd reply to this thread and getting no burned taste of any kind, abeit I am well aware that can still happen if I try to wick it up too impatiently, in which case it'll only get MORE time consuming because, THEN, I just end up having to redo it yet again thinking that smoking normal cigarettes was so much less of a PITA...

That being said, I stopped using CBD altogether after I switched to using dōTERRA Copaiba (Copaifera) Essential Oil, that can not (!) be vaped, but that can be used as a sublingual tincture if using not (!) more than 6 droplets per day. 1-2 drops per day is usually sufficient for me, which means that I use less than one 15ml bottle per year. The main important ingredient is β-caryophyllene, a natural cyclic sesquiterpene that is generally recognized as safe.

 

[John-W]

If you dilute e-liquid that contains nicotine with CBD e-liquid, then to be on the safer side of things you should avoid vaping it too long after you mix the two together. AFAIK a slow chemical reaction tends to occur after adding nicotine to cannabinoids like CBD and terpenes commonly found in CBD e-liquid. Especially when it comes to the wide variety of terpenes that are typifying of "broad spectrum" and "full spectrum" CBD products, this could cause side effects that may potentially become harmful with prolonged use. In fact, a lot of terpenes haven't been well studied, their long term effects on health still remain largely unknown to date, and, a typical (legal) "broad spectrum" CBD product can contain more than 100 different terpenes so, there's always more than several terpenes in there that do not belong in the "generally recognized as safe" category. (Maybe one day they might all wind up in that category, or they might not... at least for now, it's mainly about speculation, no matter the fact it's legal, as the process of lawmaking isn't synonymous to the scientific method of course.)

Manufacturers of CBD products are very often trying to mislead with marketing descriptions like "whole plant" or "natural". The reality is that the purest (and safest) type of CBD is called "pure CBD isolate", which is both 1/ expensive and 2/ not exactly very potent due to lacking what is known as the "entourage effect" from all the various terpenes that, although they vastly help to improve the potency of CBD as a result from this effect, might not be equally as harmless as pure CBD isolate. Needless to say you also need to 3/ factor in how pure is "pure", as there exists no linear relationship between, e.g., "99.6% pure" or "99.7% pure" and the level of harm that may be caused by each different type of impurity.

I've used CBD products myself, regularly for more than a year, in the form of sublingual tincture and in the form of vaping CBD e-liquid, also including fairly high strength (600mg CBD in a 10ml bottle of e-liquid) diluted with regular e-liquid at 3mg of nicotine strength in an RDA, that I vaped on a single battery mech mod at 0.11 ohms dual coil, and that, with the battery fully charged, translates to ~129 watts after the voltage sag of the battery. To be more specific, I was using loudly crackling 27/36 Ni80 alien coils at 5 wraps 2.5mm─same specs as the ones that Mike (m.terk) also sells on his website BTW─in the 25mm Kennedy RDA, a typical flavor chasing setup the flavor quality of which IME is nothing short of exquisite. Using Cotton Bacon 2.0 the way I have described in my 2nd reply to this thread and getting no burned taste of any kind, abeit I am well aware that can still happen if I try to wick it up too impatiently, in which case it'll only get MORE time consuming because, THEN, I just end up having to redo it yet again thinking that smoking normal cigarettes was so much less of a PITA...

That being said, I stopped using CBD altogether after I switched to using dōTERRA Copaiba (Copaifera) Essential Oil, that can not (!) be vaped, but that can be used as a sublingual tincture if using not (!) more than 6 droplets per day. 1-2 drops per day is usually sufficient for me, which means that I use less than one 15ml bottle per year. The main important ingredient is β-caryophyllene, a natural cyclic sesquiterpene that is generally recognized as safe.

Not heard much about β-caryophyllene/copifera. The only thing I've read is that it increases tolerance to cold temperatures. I'll look into it more and see what medical research there is into it. As for the CBD I use, I use isolate as it costs half as much as distillate. I would have thought distilatte would be cheaper but the price is probably due to it being a bit more effective, "weeed bro" and "natural", unless it has double efficacy I wouldn't be willing to pay double the price. As for terpenes reacting with nicotine, maybe. I've wondered whether nicotine base or nicotine salt would be more reactive for one. Nicotine base would potentially bond to acidic compounds in a liquid in while the benzoic acid could be neutralized by basic compounds in a liquid. Or there could be side reactions that nobody knows about yet. I would love for someone to do GCMS, IR spectroscopy and other tests on before and after mixing samples and see if there are any concerning chemical changes (involving terpenes) the only source I have on CBD (alone) reacting with nicotine and being bad is some guy on YouTube. I asked if he had any further information as neither nicotine nor CBD (alone) are particularly reactive and if they could give any further information and got a reply along the lines of "You know this is YouTube, right?" so I assume they were spouting third hand information as gospel in their video. You however have gone into much more detail on the subject.
I'll have to try your method with cotton bacon. I'm getting pretty good results with mujis by stripping off both hard layers, cutting 2cm (3/4") spreading them out a bit then rolling them up. Much better wicking than my experience with cotton bacon prime based on the lack of burnt hits and the really big bubbles rising up into the tank. With cotton bacon prime I had to flick the tank and wait, but I might have been using it wrong or maybe its better suited to dippers rather than tanks. I got about maybe 300-600 drags from cotton bacon whereas I get about 250-1200 from mujis with the large range being due to me using too little/too much and not rolling it up properly so some of the cotton catches and doesn't pull through, making the wick uneven. Both are problems that I can fix with practice.

Don't apologize... very helpful knowing these things. So you liked doing the "shisha" hookah thing (I have younger friends from "the bay area" in CA that love that) It's still tobacco but at least it burns cooler (and flavored... I can see the appeal)
P.S. I never fill tanks/pods all the way. Seems to help leaving some air in there to minimize pressure/vacuum issues (don't want to get to techno, but there is no such thing as a vacuum... just different pressures unless you are in outer space) Kinda like there is no such thing as cold... just different amounts of heat
I wasn't implying you want to "chase clouds" like in competitions, it's just what I call DL vaping in general. Sort of like how some people that vape low wattage MTL are called "tootle puffers". I'm in the middle somewhere between those.

Yeah I get what you mean, filling the tank all the way does seem to cause splashback issues. Not sure whether it's caused due to increased pressure though surely a few cm isn't enough to increase the pressure of the liquid too much or suction increasing when a tank is full. As the airflow is directed down at the wick (zeus X) from top airflow ports I can't see how this would affect things either but something is causing it, possibly a mixture of both things.

 

[Carambrda]

@John-W

CBD acts on the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) of the body in a fundamentally different way than β-caryophyllene does. CBD therapy relies on a cascade of effects (plural) that, in a nutshell, if some certain criteria (the various different impacts of which have not yet been well studied) are met, causes it to bond to both the CB1 and the CB2 receptors, only INDIRECTLY. The "indirectly" here helps to explain why CBD tends to have a relatively low potency for many, or why, for it to be effective, so many people need to consume tons of "high strength CBD", much to the point of being way too costly to be sustainable. Ergo, it is only logical the fact that clever marketing has created a new avalanche in recent years, turning the entourage effect into a cash cow by hyping it up as highly as possible or even higher. Although the entourage effect is very real and therefore it does have great potential deserving of future scientific research, when it comes to the relentless, consumerist, CBD marketing that's been going on, the silence about the particular subject of potentially harmful side effects that may result from long term regular consumption of high doses of the terpenes that either are or may be necessary to achieve this same entourage effect is deafening enough to notice an elephant is standing in the room. In any event, lacing CBD up with as many different terpenes as you can get a hold of is nothing short of quackery, and, the quackery works because people are pitfalling, in bunches no less. Unlike CBD, β-caryophyllene binds to the CB2 receptors DIRECTLY. (β-caryophyllene does NOT bind to the CB1 receptors in any way.)

About Cotton Bacon Prime. Try Cotton Bacon 2.0 instead, and try prepping it like shown in the video that I linked to earlier, but also try to avoid grating it with your fingernails... gently peel off the knots instead of trying to keep scratching. So avoid scratching and roughing it up, try to just rub in one direction on all sides of the stick of cotton. You may also have to loosen up (slightly!) those specific parts of the stick of cotton where the fibers are too densely packed. Get a "cotton hook" (pic below) and use it to, after you pulled the wicks through the coils and also after you bent the trimmed tails of the wicks down into the (topmost part of the) juice holes of the build deck, stab vertically down though the tails of the wicks in multiple different spots to loosen the fibers up even further still. Nudge it to get it to comply. Learn to empathize with the cotton.

 

[VapeOn1960]

Yeah I get what you mean, filling the tank all the way does seem to cause splashback issues. Not sure whether it's caused due to increased pressure though surely a few cm isn't enough to increase the pressure of the liquid too much or suction increasing when a tank is full. As the airflow is directed down at the wick (zeus X) from top airflow ports I can't see how this would affect things either but something is causing it, possibly a mixture of both things.

It's not about juice... it's about air. Air easily compresses/expands but liquids don't. Having some air (headroom) allows pressure/"vacuum" to equalize easier (OK, now I've even confused myself) It just works and helps.

 

[John-W]

It's not about juice... it's about air. Air easily compresses/expands but liquids don't. Having some air (headroom) allows pressure/"vacuum" to equalize easier (OK, now I've even confused myself) It just works and helps.

I understand what you mean and was thinking about it the other night. As the drip tip is locked into place it moves down 1-2mm which might be enough to engage with the silicone gasket and push some liquid up into the wicks/wicking chamber. There must be a very delicate balance going on for this RTA to function. I've seen some reviews complaining about serious splashback and it makes me wonder if they got one where the tolerances were slightly out and liquid went up through the wicking well and into the chamber.
When I think about it more R&D probably went into the RTA than the mod, yet the mod costs more. Airflow has to enter from the top yet still pull up vapour, the liquid in the tank can't leak out from anywhere (it hasn't leaked on me once) and it also has to be compact.
An interesting top airflow rta would probably be one that brings the air right under the wicks and then up, essentially working like a bottom airflow RTA but with the air coming in the top. It would probably be really bulky however.

Speaking of top and bottom airflow, is bottom airflow really that big of an advantage in terms of flavour? The ones I've seen pretty much use metal pipes directed at the wicks from below. Though maybe this was for an older RDA.
The only thing I've used with bottom airflow was a Smog vape pen V2. Not something I would recommend. Coils need changing about every 2 days and the taste is almost nonexistent. I used only liquorice flavoured juice in it and when I switched to this RTA the difference was so large that the really, really strong liquorice flavour nearly made me throw up.
I really feel bad for people who know RTAs don't exist. I was in a vape shop because I happened to pass by and bought some of their bargain bucket liquids (almost all were awful) as I was waiting on a delivery. They were selling pod vapes to some people and I felt really bad for them as he was selling them a pod vape for about £30 and they'll be paying about £3 per refillable pod after it burns out after I day. Prebuilt coils and shoelace cotton would be cheaper than that in the long term. Took a fair bit of self control to not cut the guy off and say they should consider buying something rebuildable, which I doubt that place sells as their prices are sky high and its good business to get people coming back for coils/pods.

 

[Foggy Trails]

I use to use cotton bacon, but then heard of this '13 feet' Japanese cotton on amazon, it's cheap and works just as well as cotton bacon, been using it for a few years and works great for me

Thanks for the tip, Nailz. I have been using Cotton Bacon Prime for ~5 yrs. Just ordered an 8 pack of the Japanese organic cotton 13 feet. Kina funny ... The label says 13 feets in the Amazon pic. You'd think after years of selling this stuff they would get the English wording right. Just so it performs, right?

 

[Nailz]

Thanks for the tip, Nailz. I have been using Cotton Bacon Prime for ~5 yrs. Just ordered an 8 pack of the Japanese organic cotton 13 feet. Kina funny ... The label says 13 feets in the Amazon pic. You'd think after years of selling this stuff they would get the English wording right. Just so it performs, right?

A lot cheaper than Cotton Bacon right? and I do prefer it, but still use Cotton Bacon occasionally, because I still have like 30 pouches of the stuff

 

[~Don~]

13 feets is all I’ve been using for a while now.

Bought an 8 pack nearly a year ago and still have 5

Goes a long way when you’re only using 1.25inches of it for 2 BilletBox RBAs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[John-W]

I've been using muji pads. I've been changing the cotton much more often than needed (I should probably just heat and cycle) as even after 750 draws at 75 watts the muji cotton only has tiny scorch marks on it.
I get 4-5 sets of two wicks from one muji pad so they're really economical too.
My experience with cotton bacon 'prime' was cotton that looked fine from the sides but tasted like ash even after 200 draws at the same (or a similar +/-10W. When I removed the wicks most of the cotton inside at least 1 wick had been turned to carbon, it looked just like charcotton if it was damp charcotton.
Of course coil choices (I got one of the cheap amazon tubs of 80 (they claim, it's closer to 50) complex coils of 8 different types so the different coil and different cotton means that I can't say it was definitely the cotton bacon. I think this happened with some fused 'tank track' clapton which had one extra twist than the normal fused clapton. This probably led to the cotton being pushed against the sides of the wicking chamber and the extra twist led to more thermal mass that would cook a dry cotton.
I also think it happened with 'ribbon twist' wire (the most basic in the kit, just two wires twisted together) and when my muji pads arrived they outlasted the cotton bacon using the exact same coils.
I've been using two fused clapton coils since the start of this month. They don't seem to need changed. A simple wiping and brushing gets them looking good after a few re-wicks.

It might be something specific to cotton bacon and my RTA but with cotton bacon I would need to wait 15 or so seconds for it to wick, going by the bubbles rising up the tank. I had to flick it and wait. With muji the liquid uptake is much greater. I'll have to test one against the other but when wetting muji wicks I usually put a few drops in the wicking well and they vanish and get wicked up. I then drip some liquid on top of the coils and the rest of the cotton until it's soaked. Then in use I'll either see lots of little bubbles or one or two big bubbles pop up into the tank.

I'm using 88Vape 50:50 liquid (nicotine) as well as Vapoholic's 50:50 CBD liquid. The 88Vape stuff is £1 per 10ml (unless it's 18mg/ml nic salt, at £1.20) and the vapoholic CBD is £10/1g CBD or £13 if you want 1g CBD in 50ml

Not that I'm shilling brands. Most people here are US based anyway, though if a mod needs to snip out brand names I understand. Compared to other brands and vape shops their prices are the lowest I've seen anywhere. 88Vape has a nicer flavour profile but they use Nic base in their online products and nic salt products at a 6-12mg dose is only available from retailers. Retailers I've seen selling it stick to their low price model but usually only have a few (terrible) flavours. They used to sell nicer ones but either 88Vape stopped providing them or the retailers didn't want to sell 4x10ml for £4 when they can sell 1x10ml for £4 as it won't taste of liquorice (which is okay in my Smok pen, but disgusting in my RTA as you taste it to a sickening extent) or tobacco, which I just don't like the taste of.

Edit:

One other thing I've noticed with flavours is that berry (blue/straw/raspberry) flavours have a soapy taste, sometimes a perfume taste. It was much more noticeable in the Smok Pen V2 than the Zeus X RTA where they taste sweeter and fuller for some brands but taste even soapier and perfumey in the Zeus x RTA. Is this the same in the US?

 

[nadalama]

Using brand names is fine as long as you aren't hiding links in them. We do keep a lookout for spammers, but you don't sound like a spammer and I don't see any links, so imo it's all good.

I have limited recent experience with premixed liquid, and these days I am vaping some that's premixed and some I mixed myself. I try to stay at a PG/VG ratio of about 35/65. I don't use CBD. I have used a lot of different kinds of cotton, including Koh Gen Do, various brands of "bacon-like" cotton, but mostly I use Cotton Bacon V2. Have also successfully used some rayon that one of the members here shared with me a year or two ago. I don't have a problem with any of it. I do know, though, from reading here in the forum, that many people are more sensitive to the taste different cottons have, so perhaps my palate is just not as sensitive as theirs (or yours, for that matter).

It's rare that I'd use a Kanthal coil - I'm much more fond of N80 and SS and I mostly wrap my coils myself, either parallels made of 26ga round wire, or prewrapped fused Claptons of one kind or another made with spools of Wotofo or Vandy Vape wire. I also have some coils from some kick-ass builders here in the forum, and I'll use those mostly in RDAs that I want to run at higher wattage.

It sounds to me like you need to try a few good coils. I think you'll have a better overall experience if you do that. Also, if your "saturated" new wick is pulling in that much juice after you put your tank back together (after a rewicking, for example), that tells me that you aren't putting enough juice on the wick to really get it saturated. Obviously if you put heat to a wick that is not wet all the way through, any place that heat hits dry cotton, it's going to create a charred spot, and the extent to which it gets charred depends on your wattage and the length of heat exposure.

The exception to this is Steam Crave Aromamizers and like-designed RTAs. By their very design, they are going to shoot off bubbles after they're refilled, whether the cotton in your coil is saturated or not. But it sounds like you are not using Aromamizers or the like, so this doesn't apply.

Some berry mixes/flavors are tricky to mix, as for example, a good strawberry might require 2 or more brands and/or flavors of strawberry in the same mix to get the taste you're after. I cannot stand raspberry (blue or red) so it does not surprise me that you find it soapy/perfumy tasting. It tastes like that to me in vape juice, candy, flavored drinks, everything. It's just awful.

The other thing I'd say is that I would not use 50/50 bases at 75 watts with a complex coil in a Zeus RTA. In my mind, 50/50 juice is more for lower-wattage MTL vaping. I would try a higher VG mix, maybe even as high as 20/80, for 75 watts, if you can tolerate that much VG. I personally can't, 35/65 works better for me, but I don't vape at such high wattage, either. It's rare that I'd vape over about 58-60 watts, and that would only be with heavier-mass coils than I normally use. Average for me is probably about 40 to 45 watts.

 

[MyMagicMist]

Some berry mixes/flavors are tricky to mix, as for example, a good strawberry might require 2 or more brands and/or flavors of strawberry in the same mix to get the taste you're after. I cannot stand raspberry (blue or red) so it does not surprise me that you find it soapy/perfumy tasting. It tastes like that to me in vape juice, candy, flavored drinks, everything. It's just awful.

A cousin cannot eat cantaloupe. Swears it tastes like shampoo to them.

In high school a teacher explained chairs to us. The teacher pointed to a radiator & called it a chair. A student walked over and sat on it.

The point the teacher made was perceptions can be taught. If you've no idea a heater isn't a chair, if someone tells you it is then it is. Always figured after that our cousin had been taught cantaloupe tasted like shampoo for whatever reason.

Unfortunately so far, no one can teach me the perception/s of scent/s. Nice to think it might be done but not holding my breath for it either.

 

[John-W]

Using brand names is fine as long as you aren't hiding links in them. We do keep a lookout for spammers, but you don't sound like a spammer and I don't see any links, so imo it's all good.

I have limited recent experience with premixed liquid, and these days I am vaping some that's premixed and some I mixed myself. I try to stay at a PG/VG ratio of about 35/65. I don't use CBD. I have used a lot of different kinds of cotton, including Koh Gen Do, various brands of "bacon-like" cotton, but mostly I use Cotton Bacon V2. Have also successfully used some rayon that one of the members here shared with me a year or two ago. I don't have a problem with any of it. I do know, though, from reading here in the forum, that many people are more sensitive to the taste different cottons have, so perhaps my palate is just not as sensitive as theirs (or yours, for that matter).

It's rare that I'd use a Kanthal coil - I'm much more fond of N80 and SS and I mostly wrap my coils myself, either parallels made of 26ga round wire, or prewrapped fused Claptons of one kind or another made with spools of Wotofo or Vandy Vape wire. I also have some coils from some kick-ass builders here in the forum, and I'll use those mostly in RDAs that I want to run at higher wattage.

It sounds to me like you need to try a few good coils. I think you'll have a better overall experience if you do that. Also, if your "saturated" new wick is pulling in that much juice after you put your tank back together (after a rewicking, for example), that tells me that you aren't putting enough juice on the wick to really get it saturated. Obviously if you put heat to a wick that is not wet all the way through, any place that heat hits dry cotton, it's going to create a charred spot, and the extent to which it gets charred depends on your wattage and the length of heat exposure.

The exception to this is Steam Crave Aromamizers and like-designed RTAs. By their very design, they are going to shoot off bubbles after they're refilled, whether the cotton in your coil is saturated or not. But it sounds like you are not using Aromamizers or the like, so this doesn't apply.

Some berry mixes/flavors are tricky to mix, as for example, a good strawberry might require 2 or more brands and/or flavors of strawberry in the same mix to get the taste you're after. I cannot stand raspberry (blue or red) so it does not surprise me that you find it soapy/perfumy tasting. It tastes like that to me in vape juice, candy, flavored drinks, everything. It's just awful.

The other thing I'd say is that I would not use 50/50 bases at 75 watts with a complex coil in a Zeus RTA. In my mind, 50/50 juice is more for lower-wattage MTL vaping. I would try a higher VG mix, maybe even as high as 20/80, for 75 watts, if you can tolerate that much VG. I personally can't, 35/65 works better for me, but I don't vape at such high wattage, either. It's rare that I'd vape over about 58-60 watts, and that would only be with heavier-mass coils than I normally use. Average for me is probably about 40 to 45 watts.

No problem, knew cotton brand names were fine, wasn't sure about liquid brand names though I assumed it would carry over. You're right, I'm not the type to shill links. I wouldn't make any money out of it unless I was using affiliate links and that would surely get me banned. I can't stand people who spam links either so it would be highly unlikely that I'd link something unless somebody asked for the link I was giving somebody a direct link to a product they needed.

I can taste 'new' cotton for about 25 puffs with Mujis, about 10-15 with CB prime. Haven't tried Rayon, it seems to get mixed reports but it's something I'll probably buy a bit of at some point. The coils I have don't even say the coil material, I assume it's Kanthal. Is there any 'simple' test such as getting the densities of kanthal, Ni80 and SS then weighing a few coils and dropping them in a measuring cylinder? Once I've used the fused clapton ones up (I've 2 coils left so probably a few weeks) I'll get some pre-wound fused clapton, or work out if it's significantly cheaper to buy one of the coil making kits and a reel of fused clapton (if you can get it by the reel) made from SS or Ni80.

I make sure to get my wick completely saturated. I don't know if you've got things backwards when I say that a new wick practically empties the wicking well, I do this first before adding any other liquid just to make sure the wick is wicking well. Then I coat the entire wick, wait a minute then coat it again until runoff starts to fill up the wicking well. When I put a tank on and fill it no liquid is pulled up. If you're talking about the large bubbles or lots of small ones, cotton bacon would do the same but after every few inhales I would need to wait 10 seconds, flick the tank and so on or I would get a dry hit. This doesn't happen when filling, it might have before but not now. It's also a 2ml tank because that's what the Zeus ships with in the UK (because laws), two 2ml straight glasses (larger sized ones are available to buy online but can't ship with the kit but I find it easier to just carry a 10ml bottle with me. Straight glass seems less likely to get broken too as it doesn't protrude) so bubbles tend to get pressed up against the side of the tank and the tube in the middle making them look large, but very flat. As for the wick charring because I didn't wait long enough, you're probably right. I wasn't that experienced at wicking when using cotton bacon. With mujis I usually get 500-1000 inhales before changing. I'm on 793 right now and it still tastes okay. There's a slight loss of flavour so I'll probably re-wick after this post though the muji wicks only show slight discolouration when removed, the cotton bacon wicks would generally have a charred spot or two but I'll put that down to bad technique. I might move back to cotton bacon to try it again as I've still got almost a full pack of the stuff.

Going to have to ask, but what's the difference between an aromamizer and an RTA? I've noticed that you can control liquid flow, but is there anything else special about them?

I've found that the 88vape 'sweet strawberry' actually tastes like strawberry, other brands such as aquavape and epiq have that soapy taste. I doesn't carry over to drinks or sweets.
As for getting such a high amount of VG I just noticed that 88Vape do actually sell high VG liquid. I got a 'cheap' (it was on sale but not as cheap as an online vendor) shortfill (I'll explain what these are after because they likely don't exist in the US) bottle of sour cherry flavour but found it mostly tasteless and it stained my teeth black, I had to scrub the dark grey colour off them. That might have been why it was on sale however. I still get slight tooth staining (one tooth has a small crack running up it and that gets stained blackish but scrubs out) so it's either carbon from burned cotton or, more worryingly some weird oxidative compound from the coil. Possibly hexavalent chromium as it can be silvery-grey (I just checked) so I should probably get some coils made from a known metal. It could be inert carbon from sweetener but I'd rather not take the chance of it being something worse.

If you're wondering what a shortfill is. It's a larger than 10ml bottle of vape juice (usually 50, 60 or 100ml) with 0mg nicotine that you can pop the top off/unscrew the nozzle and then fill with concentrated nicotine shots and shake it to get even distribution of nicotine to liquid. These tend to have higher VG concentration than the 10ml bottles. It gets around the law here that you can only sell 10ml bottles containing nicotine but with 0mg bottles you can go to whatever quantity you want.

 

[Foggy Trails]

A lot cheaper than Cotton Bacon right? and I do prefer it, but still use Cotton Bacon occasionally, because I still have like 30 pouches of the stuff

Couldn't resist ... calculated the cost diff between Cotton Bacon Prime and Japanese cotton 13 feet(s) on Amazon. Tried the Japanese for the 1st time in a 2.5 mm I.D. dual coil build and works great. The calculations below are for a 3.5 mm I.D. dual coil build which many of my builds are.

JAP COTTON ($2.00 PER PACK AMAZON)
13 FT = 156 IN
156 / 4 IN = 39 STRIPS
39 STRIPS X 2 DUAL COIL BUILDS = 78 DUAL BUILDS
78 BUILDS PER 13 FT PACKAGE
10 BUILDS PER MONTH X 60 MONTHS = 600 PR 5 YR
600 / 78 = 8 PACKS
8 PACKS X 2.00 PER PACK = $16 FOR 5 YRS.

COTTON BACON ($3.50 PER PACK WHOLESALE)
5 IN STRIPS X 4 DUAL COIL BUILDS PER STRIP
10 STRIPS X 4 BUILDS = 40 BUILDS PER PACK
600 BUILDS PER 5 YR / 40 BUILDS PER PACK = 15 PACKS
15 PACKS X 3.50 PER PACK = $53 FOR 5 YRS

Yeah, I know ... a tad extreme

 

[Synphul]

I've been happy with muji or 13feets off amazon. I actually think muji has slightly better flavor. Everyone has their favorite cotton. I tried some cotton bacon v2 and did not get on well with it. Odd break in flavor, doesn't wick for shit. Not for me. Have tried fluffing it, teasing it, wicking it normal, looser, tighter. Just an overall pain in the ass that even if it works for an hour inevitably leads to dry hits on rta's. I'd say it's my wicking, been running rebuildables for 4.5yrs or so now. Don't have those issues with muji or 13feets.

I can't say these companies don't do something different to the cotton with any proof. My best guess, they're resellers. Buying up loads of surgical cotton or similar, slapping it in some snakeoil packaging to pimp it up and mark it up like mad. Find it hard to believe there are self sustaining industries hand primping specialty cotton from fairy pubes and selling to a few hundred people a month and it's worth their effort. By the time you factor how few vapers there really are, then weed out the ones who build and wick their own atomizers, then divide the few that remain among cotton bacon v1, v2, v3.. v36 (starting to become apple and naturally each rendition is the 'bestest'), native wicks, firebolt, cotn threads, sneaker cotton, vandy cotton, wotofo cotton, cotton gods, kendo, pro cotton, fiber n cotton, wick sticks, cotton jack, fuzion, fuzz, and the list goes on and on and on. And they're all speshul. Of course also excluding the people who use rayon, the big bulk boxes of sally beauty supply cotton, muji, 13feets or cotton balls. And then consider how long a package of cotton lasts.

So a big money maker to actually devote it to cotton primping and fight over such a small market? Doubtful. Worth it to buy in bulk and slap a name on it? Sure. Cotton resellers. Just like Coil Master slapping their name on an ultrasonic cleaner and marking it up $10-20, you know CM didn't stop in the middle of everything and hire engineers and a production plant to build specialty ultrasonic cleaners. Especially when you hit Amazon and they've got 13 models of the same identical unit with a different name slapped on. Just the way business works.

These are just my opinions and hunches, nothing more. People may like a particular brand and think it's got great flavor (subjective) or it's easier for them to work with. If so then great, go for it. I wouldn't tell someone stop using what works and you're happy with. I stick to what works for me. And I'm not sold on the cute story on the back. People who taste wine from a cheap bottle and expensive bottle and give their impression. The vast majority find the expensive wine tastes better (of course) - except both bottles are filled with the same wine. So it's impossible either tasted 'better'. The mind can be manipulated and lead people to believe something like what they sense or experience regardless. And that's how cotton bacon sells cotton for $320/lb. The same size pack of cotton bacon sold as sterile surgical cotton is 42 cents vs $7. And it too is packaged in smaller consumer size packages and marked up for profit. Make of it what you will.

 

[John-W]

I've been happy with muji or 13feets off amazon. I actually think muji has slightly better flavor. Everyone has their favorite cotton. I tried some cotton bacon v2 and did not get on well with it. Odd break in flavor, doesn't wick for shit. Not for me. Have tried fluffing it, teasing it, wicking it normal, looser, tighter. Just an overall pain in the ass that even if it works for an hour inevitably leads to dry hits on rta's. I'd say it's my wicking, been running rebuildables for 4.5yrs or so now. Don't have those issues with muji or 13feets.

I can't say these companies don't do something different to the cotton with any proof. My best guess, they're resellers. Buying up loads of surgical cotton or similar, slapping it in some snakeoil packaging to pimp it up and mark it up like mad. Find it hard to believe there are self sustaining industries hand primping specialty cotton from fairy pubes and selling to a few hundred people a month and it's worth their effort. By the time you factor how few vapers there really are, then weed out the ones who build and wick their own atomizers, then divide the few that remain among cotton bacon v1, v2, v3.. v36 (starting to become apple and naturally each rendition is the 'bestest'), native wicks, firebolt, cotn threads, sneaker cotton, vandy cotton, wotofo cotton, cotton gods, kendo, pro cotton, fiber n cotton, wick sticks, cotton jack, fuzion, fuzz, and the list goes on and on and on. And they're all speshul. Of course also excluding the people who use rayon, the big bulk boxes of sally beauty supply cotton, muji, 13feets or cotton balls. And then consider how long a package of cotton lasts.

So a big money maker to actually devote it to cotton primping and fight over such a small market? Doubtful. Worth it to buy in bulk and slap a name on it? Sure. Cotton resellers. Just like Coil Master slapping their name on an ultrasonic cleaner and marking it up $10-20, you know CM didn't stop in the middle of everything and hire engineers and a production plant to build specialty ultrasonic cleaners. Especially when you hit Amazon and they've got 13 models of the same identical unit with a different name slapped on. Just the way business works.

These are just my opinions and hunches, nothing more. People may like a particular brand and think it's got great flavor (subjective) or it's easier for them to work with. If so then great, go for it. I wouldn't tell someone stop using what works and you're happy with. I stick to what works for me. And I'm not sold on the cute story on the back. People who taste wine from a cheap bottle and expensive bottle and give their impression. The vast majority find the expensive wine tastes better (of course) - except both bottles are filled with the same wine. So it's impossible either tasted 'better'. The mind can be manipulated and lead people to believe something like what they sense or experience regardless. And that's how cotton bacon sells cotton for $320/lb. The same size pack of cotton bacon sold as sterile surgical cotton is 42 cents vs $7. And it too is packaged in smaller consumer size packages and marked up for profit. Make of it what you will.

You've basically summed up my thoughts on the whole 'Gucci cotton' industry better than I ever could.
Rather than them even buying and cutting medical cotton to size then packaging I would bet they go straight to the supplier and just ask for cotton batts built to the form factor they want, they get that in bulk then throw it into some colourful packaging. As for their V1, V2, V3, Prime, etc; I assume their manufacturer has said "we tweaked the manufacturing process verrry slightly" so V2 would really be V1. 01 and so on.
I checked Wick N Vape's site very quickly and they didn't have an address listed on the site. If it was a large production facility you could bet that they would have the address listed. They're probably just a small link in a large cotton production chain with maybe 20 workers taking pallets of cotton and stuffing it into bags, heat sealing them and then sticking a QR code on it. I would bet the bags are made in China (Wick N Vape supply the graphics for the bags) and shipped out to them. As for the cotton, it might be cheaper to buy that locally so the "made in USA" claim probably holds true.

 

[John-W]

I moved to high VG liquid and its much, much better on this RTA. Seems much less harsh on the throat and the cotton gets scorched less often at 75W (0.185ohms, if the ohm meter in my box mod (Geekvape Aegis X) reads right with the wattage, you can reverse calculate to get more decimal places using a trial and improvement method and I assume the ohm meter uses more than 2 decimal places but just displays 2.
With 50:50 liquid cotton would have a dark brownish colour to it when changing. With high VG liquid from shortfill bottles (they come as 0% nic and you add nicotine in VG after to circumvent trade laws) the cotton I changed after about 600 draws was clean and unburned looking even though I got one or two burned tasting hits, though nothing that made me want to choke like 50:50.
This is using the large Muji pads.

Speaking of Muji pads I've been using the Scottish roll technique. One issue I've had (a few times) is that the cotton kind of clogs up and only some gets pulled through while the bit that is too thick gets pushed back, or wicking moves and bends the coil.
Am I just using too much when I do this? The original Scottish roll guide said to use lots of cotton and it should feel too tight. Is there a way to roll it up in a really compact way so it fits through the coils, then I can pick away at each end of the wick to thin it out whilst still having dense cotton in the coils? Or am I just going too thick? Or is it better to stuff less cotton into an RTA as there's a tank?
I'm using about 1.25-1.5cm wide strips of muji pads by measuring against the two coils together than adding a bit.

 

[MyMagicMist]

Am I just using too much when I do this? The original Scottish roll guide said to use lots of cotton and it should feel too tight. Is there a way to roll it up in a really compact way so it fits through the coils, then I can pick away at each end of the wick to thin it out whilst still having dense cotton in the coils? Or am I just going too thick? Or is it better to stuff less cotton into an RTA as there's a tank?

One thing in the Scot Roll to ensure. Don't twist it. Be sure it is all rolled in one direction. (Yes, you can twist the tips. No way to not to really.)

That aside you can use too much, yes. Know it is recommended you fill the coil with wick material feeling tight. Find that if you leave about half a mm of space, it works better.

If I use a 3 mm ID coil that means I use about 2.5 mm width/girth of wick material. Usually I leave that as "tube" at the top of the coil. This lets airflow go through the coil.

This all said each RDTA, or RDA will have its own way to be wicked. You could have too much, or too little. Vaping is so damn fickle at times. *chuckles*