It has been an incredibly LONG journey to get here and I cannot thank you all enough for the wealth of wonderful information that is shared here. If I had discovered VU years ago my vaping, smoke-free, journey would likely have been a LOT shorter. I have no idea how I could have missed stumbling across this site sooner but I am here now and that's what counts.
First, a little about me in general. I started driving a tractor trailer at the ripe age of 18 and started smoking about two weeks later. I spent almost 20 years hauling just about everything to and from just about everywhere until three years ago. I sold my truck and "retired" from trucking because I could no longer pass the physical examination. I've been married almost 19 years to the same gorgeous woman and we have two wonderful daughters. Now I am mostly a stay at home dad who tries to make a little money on the side while my wife pursues her career full-time. I love to tinker and take stuff apart to see how it works and I'm pretty good at fixing most things. Vaping just seems like such a natural fit for me, right? Then why was it SO hard to get started???
I was first introduced to vaping about 5 years ago when a fellow driver asked me to help him work on his truck. While I was at his place I met his fiance who had recently quit smoking and was using e-cigarettes to help. She had just gotten an ego stick and clearomizer the day before and let me check it out. I was definitely intrigued, so the next day I took my brother down to a "local" vape shop about 20 miles away. We were helped by some great folks and each bought a Vision Spinner, some cartomizer tanks and some juice. My brother has been vaping ever since - I lasted 2 days. I was vaping while driving through Chicago rush hour traffic when a full cartomizer sprung a leak and pissed 6ml of juice all over my lap and my hands which immediately got all over the steering wheel and the gear shift while Spinner and cartomizer went right out the open window. My first foray into vaping did not end well but I was determined to make it work.
My brother has progressed pretty normally through the vaping journey and I have tagged along trying at each step to start vaping and quit smoking. I have managed a few periods of vaping and smoking but I could never seem to quite get to the point of making the switch. I loved the idea of vaping but I just couldn't put it all together for myself. After a day or two of vaping full-time the throat hit just got too intense for me. I've always had to be pretty selective with my brand of analogs because my throat couldn't handle two or three packs a day of most of them. I tried lots of different juices both premade and homemade and I have just never been able to find one that didn't start to burn throat and lungs after a couple days of heavy use. They start out great but I just couldn't keep going.
The one constant that I didn't even think about until I started pouring over the threads here - High Nic! I was after all a heavy smoker so I needed a high nicotine level, right?
As I type this I am vaping 0 nic plain 25/75 PG/VG in my new SMOK TF-RTA G2 with a fused clapton I built myself sitting on top of my new SMOK Alien 220W and LOVING it!!!! My other TF-RTA has a 2mg nic lightly flavored with the same PG/VG mix in it. My last analog was over two weeks ago I don't miss it at all. I vape through 30ml to 35ml of "juice" a day but my throat hasn't felt this good in YEARS and don't even get me started on how great my lungs feel.
It took me a long time and a lot of wasted money but I finally squeezed myself down the rabbit hole and I aint ever looking back!!!
First, a little about me in general. I started driving a tractor trailer at the ripe age of 18 and started smoking about two weeks later. I spent almost 20 years hauling just about everything to and from just about everywhere until three years ago. I sold my truck and "retired" from trucking because I could no longer pass the physical examination. I've been married almost 19 years to the same gorgeous woman and we have two wonderful daughters. Now I am mostly a stay at home dad who tries to make a little money on the side while my wife pursues her career full-time. I love to tinker and take stuff apart to see how it works and I'm pretty good at fixing most things. Vaping just seems like such a natural fit for me, right? Then why was it SO hard to get started???
I was first introduced to vaping about 5 years ago when a fellow driver asked me to help him work on his truck. While I was at his place I met his fiance who had recently quit smoking and was using e-cigarettes to help. She had just gotten an ego stick and clearomizer the day before and let me check it out. I was definitely intrigued, so the next day I took my brother down to a "local" vape shop about 20 miles away. We were helped by some great folks and each bought a Vision Spinner, some cartomizer tanks and some juice. My brother has been vaping ever since - I lasted 2 days. I was vaping while driving through Chicago rush hour traffic when a full cartomizer sprung a leak and pissed 6ml of juice all over my lap and my hands which immediately got all over the steering wheel and the gear shift while Spinner and cartomizer went right out the open window. My first foray into vaping did not end well but I was determined to make it work.
My brother has progressed pretty normally through the vaping journey and I have tagged along trying at each step to start vaping and quit smoking. I have managed a few periods of vaping and smoking but I could never seem to quite get to the point of making the switch. I loved the idea of vaping but I just couldn't put it all together for myself. After a day or two of vaping full-time the throat hit just got too intense for me. I've always had to be pretty selective with my brand of analogs because my throat couldn't handle two or three packs a day of most of them. I tried lots of different juices both premade and homemade and I have just never been able to find one that didn't start to burn throat and lungs after a couple days of heavy use. They start out great but I just couldn't keep going.
The one constant that I didn't even think about until I started pouring over the threads here - High Nic! I was after all a heavy smoker so I needed a high nicotine level, right?
W R O N G ! ! !
As I type this I am vaping 0 nic plain 25/75 PG/VG in my new SMOK TF-RTA G2 with a fused clapton I built myself sitting on top of my new SMOK Alien 220W and LOVING it!!!! My other TF-RTA has a 2mg nic lightly flavored with the same PG/VG mix in it. My last analog was over two weeks ago I don't miss it at all. I vape through 30ml to 35ml of "juice" a day but my throat hasn't felt this good in YEARS and don't even get me started on how great my lungs feel.
It took me a long time and a lot of wasted money but I finally squeezed myself down the rabbit hole and I aint ever looking back!!!
Thank you all again for this treasure trove of vaping information - I might never have figured it out without y'all!
I do enjoy reading the anniversaries - mostly 'cuz I'm looking forward to sharing my own! 
As my brother got into DIY juice and eventually sub ohm rebuildables he slowly slid down to 10mg/ml and is still there (for now... I introduced him to fused claptons last night and he thinks joining me at lower nic might be a good idea). Right now I'm playing around with 2-3mg/ml and that seems pretty good. I can still taste the nic @ 3mg and it makes me nervous that I will start to react - I am also finding some flavors that seem to irritate so I am experimenting with that right now too. Guess I'm just a sensitive kind of guy. 
Great story