Helping my dad make the switch

[Scot E]

From what I have read on this forum this seems to be a great place with a lot of information. My questions are about flavor strength and devices. So lets start if off with some information about my father and how the topic of e-cigarettes started.

My father is 56 years old and has been smoking for at least twenty years if not longer but I'm uncertain of the total time. He smokes around a pack a day give or take. Also he smokes light tobacco flavor cigarettes like Marlboro light. Sorry but I don't smoke so hopefully everyone here understands what I'm trying to say. Currently he is using Pyramid cigarettes. While at the doctors office a few months ago he was talking with one of the secretaries about smoking. She informed him that e-cigarettes are a healthier and cleaner option. To me if he can make the switch it would be great since he would not be exposed to the harmful part of traditional cigarettes. I don't care if he never stops using the e-cigarettes as long as he can quit regular cigarettes. He mentioned the topic to me and got me thinking about it. While looking up information he mentioned that a local gas station carried the Smoke51 Trio. We both agreed that for $20.00 it would be a good way to see if he wanted to try this new e-cigarette technology that has just popped up in the last few years. I understand that there are mixed reviews on this device but it was a good cheap way to see if this was for him. Later on he can get a better unit if the Trio turns out to be a dud for him. He got the Trio with tobacco flavoring and 11mg of nicotine. Well we charged the battery and he opened up one of the cartridge packs. Both of us noted that it had a strong smell of tobacco which was not bad but could be offensive to others. To me it reminded me of walking in to a tobacco store when I was younger. He toke a few drags of the Trio and noted that it had a full flavor cigarette taste to it.

I have found that a lot of sites mention V2 cigs as a good e-cigarette. I'm curious if any of their flavors or another companies have a light tobacco flavor. Also I'm open to other e-cig options to bring to my dad's attention. I'm not really looking to use this to help him save money right now just being able to help him make the switch is what I care about. I understand that this is something he has to choose. Thanks everyone for all your help.

 

[Iffy]

Can't help ya with the 'bakky flavs, but as for an upgrade...

For the price of three Smoke51s, you can get a RIVA set up, juices and some spare cartomizers for a superior vaping experience. Be sure to use the 20% discount code, october20!

Kudos for helping your Dad!

 

[Beans]

The Riva/eGo with cartomizers like Iffy said would be an excellent start for your father.

 

[conan]

I do not know where you are at in NC but in downtown Raleigh there is a Volcano store that will let you try out their stuff.

 

[Jerry B]

IMO anything you can get out of a gas station sucks. Most will agree with me that those kits are not really going to help your dad. But thats just my view so let me tell you how i got here maybe that will help.

I have smoked for the last 20 plus years, pack to pack.5 a day menthol full flavor 100's. i also smoked a cigar here and there. those cigars were smoked like cigs i inhaled deeply lol. Ok times moved on and i am now 45 needless to say my health was suffering. I decided i wanted to feel better and increase my chances of seeing my children grow up. Over the years i have tried the gum, the patch, zban, chantrix, the lozenge, the inhaler, hyponotizism, cold turkey, yep i tried them all to no avail.

I had heard about ecigs before but really never gave them much thought. Then not to long ago i found the Blu ecig at walgreens. One of the disposables for like $8 so i thought i would give it a try. Well there menthol was horrible, taste more like a choc/van mix and i could not even feel the nic (they are 24mg). But from that little Blu i did learn that i could come to like it if flavor etc was better. I joined up and and researched the hell out of it. I finally decided on picking up a eGo T. I love it and overnight thats right over night i quit smoking. The day my ego arrived was the last cig i had (waiting on bats to charge).

2 months down the line i have not had a single cig yet but i no longer use that eGo T. i found it was just not strong enough for me. I went out and bought some LR cartos (and used them on the eGo bats) and never looked back. Just a short span into this and i have 3 eGo bats a couple of mods and find i am very happy i picked up that Blu that one morning on the way to work.

The ecig save my life it can help your father too ya just gotta find that sweet spot for him. nothing beats the combination of the right rig, and the right juice.

 

[Scot E]

I travel between Charlotte and Greensboro. I was wondering if there are any liquids, carts or cartomizers that have a light cigarette flavor just incase my dad can't get use to the full flavor. Thanks for the product recommendation. I will have check in to those products.

 

[mooreted]

Welcome to the ECF. I'm glad you made a decision to get away from smoking tobacco. Using a Personal Vaporizer as an alternative is healthier and a lot more enjoyable.

There is a lot of information here, and it can be a bit overwhelming choosing the right PV and juice. However, it can also be easy if you choose good equipment and take your time in learning to use it.

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Recommendation for those who don't want to read the whole thing:

This is your shopping list:

• 1 standard 3.7v mod such as the Indulgence V3 or E-Power
• 2 batteries for your mod
• 1 battery charger
• 2 packs of Boge 2.0 Ohm cartomizers for trying juices
• 1 carto tank from Madvapes
• Several sample packs of juice to try out

I know, I know; OMG! he's recommending a mod to newbies! My take is:

• Small batteries are going to be frustrating and may lead to failure
• eGo, Kgo and the like cost more money to replace batteries and don't have replaceable parts
• A good mod will give a better vape, last longer and will be more likely to help you kick the smoking habit
• Dripping is confusing and difficult for many people. Cartos are cheap, and you can use them to try a sample. If you don't like it, throw the carto and sample out
• Filling cartomizers is a pain, a tank is easy to fill, lasts all day and needs to be replaced less often. Once you find your all-day vape, this is the way to go

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Many kits you will find online are made up of the following parts:

• Battery
• Charger
• Cartridge (cart)
• Atomizer (atty)

While an atomizer can be handy for testing new juices by direct dripping, this configuration is difficult to use and tends to perform poorly. The first thing you will want to get with your kit is a pack or two of cartomizers (cartos). Cartomizers have their own atomizer and cartridge in one piece, have a more consistent vape and hold more juice.

Atomizers and cartomizers have a resistance rating in Ohms. You cannot use low resistence attys and cartos on a small battery as they pull too much power and will kill your small battery. You need a battery 450 Mah or higher for low-resistance attys and cartos.

The basic types of cartomizers are:

• Standard resistance (usually 3.0 ohms)
• Low resistance (as low as 1.5 ohms)
• Cartomizer tank

The standard resistance cartos are the only cartos you can use on a small battery PV.

Low resistance cartos give more vapor and a hotter vape. The lower the resistance, the bigger the battery you need.

A cartomizer tank has a cartomizer inside a small tank. The cartomizer has a small hole punched in it so soak juice into the carto so that you can just fill the tank when it gets empty.

The basic types of personal vaporizers in use are:

• Small battery, cigarette-sized
• Big battery, cigar-sized
• Standard modification (mod)
• Variable-voltage mod (VV mod)
• Bottom-feeder mod
• Box mod

The small battery PV's are meant to simulate a regular cigarette as much as possible. These can be convenient as they are small and easy to carry. However, they have a very short battery life and require you to constantly have a battery charging.

The big battery types have a much longer battery life so that you can vape one PV all day without charging.

A standard mod has removable batteries of varying sizes. This enables you to have a PV that can stay charged for very long periods, and the batteries are removable and cheap which saves money. Many mods have replaceable parts so that if, for instance, a switch fails you just buy a new switch and replace it.

Variable voltage mods allow you to adjust the voltage depending on the carto and juice you are using at the time. This allows great flexibility, but you also need to have a workable understanding of voltage and resistance. Not recommended for new users.

A bottom-feeder mod is usually a box mod with a small juice bottle attached. You squeeze (squonk) the bottle to fill the attached cartomizer. Once you get used to sqonking the right amount of juice into the carto, you can get a very consistent vape all day long.

A box mod is just that: a box that contains a battery or batteries, an activation switch and a connection to screw your cartomizer or atty into. These can be small or big and blocky. They can also be variable-voltage.

The next thing you will need is juice. This is probably the most difficult part. Every one's tastes are different, and your tastes will change over time. You may even have periods where you can't taste anything, or everything tastes terrible. You may have a hard time finding juices you can vape all day. The best thing to do is try small samples until you find something you like, and then stock up on those. You will just have to experiment.

One important thing to know about juice: no juice is going to taste like burning tobacco. You aren't burning anything, you are creating vapor. The "tobacco flavored" juices taste more like chewing or pipe tobacco not cigarettes.

This is just my personal opinion, take it with a grain of salt. You are the only one who can decide what's best for you.

Finally: quitting smoking is difficult no matter what method you use. Take it easy on yourself. Take your time and if you still need to smoke as you're learning; go ahead and smoke. You will set yourself up for failure if you stress yourself out. Be patient, and you will get there.

 

[mooreted]

Just a basic blurb I'm working on to try and cover most of those questions. To add to that: If you want a cigarette-sized PV then you should look at the Volt from Smokeless Image.

 

[conan]

7340 Smith Corners Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28269
Open Mon-Sat 10am to 7pm, Sunday 12pm to 5pm
Retail Store : (704) 597-1581

Mad Vapes

 

[mooreted]

Ohh, I didn't think of that. MV in person would be awesome. They can definitely help you find what you need.

 

[Chacharm]

Tell your dad that I did the same thing. I tied a crappy one and said Nope. These things don't work and they're not for me. Someone got me to try it again a few years later and they have improved hugely. I bought an Apollo Extreme kit.
The terminology is all new and intimidating - it took me a while to figure it out. But for the price of a carton of cigarettes, he can buy a kit from a decent company and try it out. The Apollo Extreme is meant for heavy smokers and gives you a good throat hit. You'll want to get him the HIGH nicotine type because that will basically come closest to giving him the nic hit he is used to if he was smoking lights. Vaping doesn't deliver as much nicotine as smoking does. The gas station/convenience store type will not have a powerful battery or a high nic content cartomizer - it is guaranteed to deliver a disappointing experience.
I was smoking 3 packs of full flavored cigarettes a day - and I vape one or one and a half cartomizers a day now. He will likely use less too - as he won't be lighting and then smoking entire cigarettes. Now that I have been at this for a little while I am moving on to a tank system and checking into Mods.
I would suggest finding a good Ecig that you've ordered online from a reputable company and starting with the simple battery/cartomizer. Make sure he is using it correctly. I was trying to smoke it like a cigarette and it was choking me and I hated it.
And tell him to expect vape throat the first week or so - that freaked both me and my son out. And tell him to tell himself that this ISN'T smoking, not to expect the same experience. This is different, and better. I actually prefer it to real smoking. Tell him he is basically switching to a different brand that is socially acceptable and that will involve some slight adjustments.

 

[Scot E]

Thanks everyone. I will give a look at ego and other e-cigs. I can't believe the number of replies in just a few hours.

 

[Scot E]

I just realized they are closed today. I would so take my dad over there but since it is new years holiday everyboy and their brother are closed. Except for Walmart, food lion and fast foods lol.

*Mad Vapes that is*

Originally I was looking at the v2 cig since it was a "Big Name" brand that a lot of people talk about but I'm starting to like the price and availability of parts for the 510 and 801. Also the insane number of different vendors with different juice flavors. Looks like I get to do some more research lol. I know it maybe weird for a son to do research for his father but being that I'm 22 years old and more technology literate then my father, so looking up forums and other resources is easier for me to do. Granted I love my father to death and enjoy working with him when I can but he does not have any interaction with a computer since his job does not require him to because he works for a catering company. He is just a grunt or whatever you want to call a guy that just does manual labor. My father has the hardest time trying to just check email.

I hope that next weekend me and my dad will be able to drive over to Mad Vapes. Does Mad Vapes have any kind of flavor samples that customers can try before they buy?

 

[mooreted]

I haven't met them in person, but I buy a lot of stuff from Madvapes. They have been awesome. I'm sure they'll help you find something good. Don't know if they have samples, but I bet they'll let you try some things.

Sent from my easy chair using brainwaves.

 

[BluSwatch]

I've gotten alot of stuff from MadVapes also, and it all works great. If you could actually go to their store, all the better. (I would LOVE to go to their store )