New X occasional cigar smoker!

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Hey guys,

I just wanted to drop in and tell everyone how I ended up here. Lets see, since I was in college I have been an occasional cigar smoker ( and on rare drunken occasions a cigarette smoker) and I have always enjoyed the act of smoking. After marriage and having a child it became even more occasional, maybe a few times a month in the summer and far less than that in the winter months, and I also began smoking far cheaper cigars ( mainly black and milds, which I would inhale to get a similar buzz as from a hand rolled).

While I was never determined to give up my occasional habit, I was very intrigued by e cigs and wondered how they would be as a replacement for occasional smoking. Last week I finally went to the Dollar Store down from the office and purchased a Krave 401, and excitedly started "smoking" it in the truck. The Krave was short lived, as it only lasted me until the evening where it was finished while playing Xbox.

The Krave had a weird flavor and was so short lived I didn't see it as a viable option, I then got a Blu from the gas station close to my house on Monday night, and was instantly in love with the flavor. I have been smoking it pretty heavily (for me anyways) since then and it still produces vapor this morning, so I can see this as a viable alternative.

Now to my question, are there any other disposables I should try? I know that the reusables are cheaper but I would like to keep this more occasional than not, and as much as I have enjoyed the Blu, having this around all the time would be too tempting for me. After the Blu goes dead I will probably only purchase once a month or less ( more or less try to keep the same smoking rate as I do with cigars) and I will stop bringing them to work with me! Having an e cig in my short pocket is not a good idea for me, haha.

Anyways, sorry for the long post, I look forward to talking with you guys.
 

Dakota Jim

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Welcome to the ECF
If the blu disposable is working for you that is great, however if you get a rechargeable kit you can get some different flavors and nic strengths
some suggestions would be to get joye battery that uses the same 510 thread that your blu carts would fit, these batteries are available from many online vendors and the kits are use less expensive than the blu rechargeable kits, there are many clearomizers available for them (vision v-nano holds about as much as the blu cartomizer does and you can see the juice level) the joye batteries are available in sizes from mini (350-400mah) up to mega (1100-1300mah - mah = how long the battery lasts before needing to recharge it)

Here is a link to basic starter kit with 2 650mah ego batts - clear's and charger
EGO-C and Vision Clearomizer Kit - $58.00 : Rocky Mountain Vapor, The Mountain top of Electronic Cigarettes

and here is juice supplier a lot of people use (I make my own) (they also have some starter kits)

Mt Baker Vapor - Electronic Cigarettes, USA made E Juice, and Accessories

hope this helps some but if the blu disposable is working for you that is great
 

fabricator4

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The problem is, none of us want to see someone who is essentially a non-smoker develop a nicotine dependency. Pretty well all of us are here because we are battling a nasty tobacco habit and this is a healthier alternative. It's about harm reduction, taking tobacco out of the equation, and possibly getting nicotine out of our lives permanently.

Blu e-cigs have a fairly high nicotine content, and will allow you to smoke for longer than you would with one cigar. I think I've got to advise you not to go down this route: either cigars or e-cigs that contain nicotine.

There are 0 nicotine alternatives to the Blu e-cigs. Perhaps others can advise you on 0 nic disposables but I've never used disposables at all.

Sorry if I seem to have come on a bit strong, but as someone who tries to be a responsible forum member I have tell you that we don't encourage people to take up vaping just for the enjoyment of it, and certainly not to develop a nicotine habit they don't already have.

At the end of the day you are an adult and will make up your own mind. If you did replace 1 cigar a month with just one Blu e-cig, then that would still count as harm reduction. Please try the zero nicotine alternative first however, and maybe consider not smoking OR vaping.
 

Vapoor eyes er

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Hi and welcome to ECF. Congrats on your decision. Seeing as you're not a full time smoker I would suggest a 400mah Mini Ego Battery fires at 3.7 volts and really gives a nice vape.
Here's a link giving the technical data:
510 Mini eGo Battery (400mAh,3.7v)(Discontinued) [01-G-3-1] - $10.50 : Healthcabin Electronic Cigarettes - Wholesale and Retail
Battery Info: 100 mah= 1 hour of normal vaping before recharge is needed.
Of course the above is rechargeable. Here's a freebie (pay shipping)
Free Electronic Cigarette
And their disposables:
Electronic cigarette disposables

Best of Luck.
 
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Fabricator, I appreciate your advice, and I can say that I have honestly smoked way more this past week while vaping than I would like. I finished the Blu after lunch today and do not plan on purchasing again for some time.

I think in the future I will only buy once a month and have a designated time that I use it ( this is what I do to moderate my cigar consumption). I honestly preferred the e cig better than smoking cigars ( I usually take a shower immediately after smoking and I normally hate the way my mouth taste the next day).

But, I will have to be extra strict on my self with e cigs, as they are less hassle than cigars and it could lead to smoking more.
 

mkbilbo

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Hey guys,

This is an extremely noob question but I'm curious. I was reading that one black and mild can contain up to 200mg of nicotine, if a disposable says it contains 24mg or 2.4% is that for the whole stick or does that refer to some sort of ratio?

That's a kind of confusing issue. It's not consistently used. Sometimes "24mg" means "contains 24mg of nicotine", sometimes it means "contains 24mg per milliliter of liquid but we weren't bothered to mention the amount of liquid".

It's easiest to just think of it as a ratio. 24mg means 24mg of nic per ml of juice. And 2.4% is the same thing as 24mg. Just move the decimal (1.2% is 12mg, etc.).

(Technically, 2.4% means that one liter of the juice is 2.4% nicotine by volume. But that shakes out to 24mg in each milliliter of a well blended juice.)

The black & mild, they're talking total nic in the entire cigar. But, now, how much is in the smoke, how much is in each "puff", how much is absorbed (and how fast), I don't know. Don't know how you'd find that either (well, unless you want to run a lab test on yourself or something, take blood samples and all, but that'd be kinda pricey :) ).

Same for vaping. I use "clearomizers" which are little tank like widgets. They hold about 1.6ml of juice. The one I'm using right now has 18mg (1.8%) juice in it. 18mg times 1.6 is 28.8mg. So that's about the amount of nic in the little tank. But obviously I don't inhale the whole thing at once. Nor have I bothered to count "puffs" nor anything like that.

And some testing suggests about one half of the nic is "available" via the vaporizing process. Which would mean I get about 14mg total out of a full tank.

Of that, how much is absorbed? Dunno. A decent enough amount I was able to switch off cigarettes. And I was a pretty heavy smoker. Up to 2 packs a day. But if you're looking for an "equivalence", nobody's all that sure. Everybody has to experiment to find their "level". There are some rough "rules of thumb" but even those are iffy.

I ran into another 2 PAD smoker on the forums here and we went in exactly opposite directions. Both of us started around 24mg but I found I could not get to sleep at nights. I cut back to never higher than 18mg. The other guy went up. Uses 36mg with some 40+ around for strong cravings.

I suspect, from our discussion, the difference lies in the frequency of inhales. I tend to "chain vape" or, at least, puff on my PV more often than he does. So to reach our personal nic level (and all us nicotine addicts have a level we seek to keep in our blood streams), he uses higher "doses" than I do.

So if you're looking for an "equivalence", there's no chart or anything. There's a lot of "experiment until it works for you" going on. :)

Anyway.

You don't sound like you smoke much at all so I can't help but discourage both smoking and vaping. You said:

...having this around all the time would be too tempting for me.

Yeah, nic is addictive. The ideal is no nicotine at all. That said, if the choice is "smoke or vape", I say vape. Nobody can say vaping is perfectly safe but it's almost a sure bet to be safer. But, sure, you could ramp up a nic addiction on vaping. So be careful.

Still, if you do occasionally smoke and you do not think you will stop, it's probably better to vape when you would otherwise smoke. What worries me is I started out as an "occasional" type myself. It didn't stay "occasional". Over a few years, it spiraled outta control and took over my life. 35 years later, I regret having gone anywhere near nicotine. I may never quit nicotine. May not be able to.

So take care with this. If you're flat out not going to stop smoking completely, yeah, grab a Blu instead.

And far as other disposables? I can't say I liked any of them except Blu. The other "big" one out there is NJoy but those are 45mg and they're trying to seriously imitate cigs. It was like a Marlboro red. Way too much for me. I preferred a more... smooth? kind of thing. NJoy wasn't so much a "throat hit" as a throat punch. :)

Most of the rest seem to be "fly by night" crap. I haven't--yet--seen anybody here come back with a good recommendation of any others outside of NJoy and Blu far as disposables go.

So I'd say if the Blu works for you, there it is. That's your smoking substitute. I still like their "classic tobacco". I'll even buy a disposable once in a while. I buy juices from the company that makes Blu's for them but Blu has a proprietary, exclusive "recipe" agreement with them so they don't sell the Blu flavors. They do have some that are pretty close. A two that when mixed get really close. Close enough I enjoy them at least when I'm in the mood for a "tobacco like" experience.

Bad thing is, I find that the battery life is uneven in the disposables. I don't know if it's a "shelf life" thing or what. Some last a while, some seem to go too fast. It's annoying. But the alternative to that is a good rechargeable system like most folk around here use. But that sounds like that might actually encourage an actual increased nicotine addiction in your case being you don't smoke regularly.

Oh, one goofy thing you can do to extend the battery life? Store the Blu in the frige. No, I'm serious. It works. :)

Anyways, sorry for the long post...

Hah! You have not seen long posts grasshopper. Now you have met one of the masters of the "post so long it's a good thing nobody can throw rotten vegetables via broadband". BWHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAAA!!!!!

:D
 

Talyon

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Yes try the 0 nic and see if that works for u OP. if not your a big boy and use the blue as a repacement for your cigars.

On a side note a buddy of mine real life and on this forum told me today of a study comparing the actual nic content vaped vs smoking puff per puff this sort of thing, I haven't seen it yet and am awaiting him sending me the link, I'll post it in a new thread once I receive links.

GL OP. enjoy your Vaping exp.
 
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