Quantity? Ordering Supplies

[Real-ist]

Howdy Folks. I'm beginning the DIY venture. What determines the amount I order? It's just me who vapes.

I plan to order four (too much?) 1 liter bottles of Nic @ 100mg/ml (mix strength will be 18mg/ml) @ 70vg/30pg)

Without busting out the calculator and breaking the formula down, what's a safe amount of VG and PG I should order?

I'll do all the exact calculations before I mix.

 

[Izan]

Hola,

Imo; pg/vg will remain available while nicotine and vape specific flavors will face further restrictions. Plan accordingly.

I buy 1000ml of 80%VG, 0mg/ml, retail premix as needed; once or twice a year.

Vaping Community e-liquid Calculator - Vapocalypse Calculator

Calculate how long your nicotine will last

vccalc.vapingcommunity.co.uk

Cheers
I

 

[DavidOck]

DO get as much nic as you can afford. It's not getting cheaper, thanks to the FDA, and may become more so, if even still available to us mere mortals.

Agree with Izan, a liter of each should suffice for quite some time. Later on, how much of each will depend on how you mix. I like my mixes to be a bit on the PG side, so use more PG than VG.

 

[Real-ist]

Hola,

Imo; pg/vg will remain available while nicotine and vape specific flavors will face further restrictions. Plan accordingly.

I buy 1000ml of 80%vg retail premix as needed; once or twice a year.

Vaping Community e-liquid Calculator - Vapocalypse Calculator

Calculate how long your nicotine will last

vccalc.vapingcommunity.co.uk

Cheers
I

 

[Real-ist]

I'm stocked up with premix juice to last a while, so I can focus on building the Nic supply.

I tend to agree, VG and PG, along with flavoring is w.i.d.e.l.y used in the food chains. It won't be touched.

The calculator helped a bunch. Thanks for that. I was WAY off with my Nic longevity guess. I plan to get the Nic supply on order tomorrow.

 

[Real-ist]

I feel like I got rolled (aka pick pocketed). I purchased two/ 1 gallon bottles. Now I'm questioning if I need to get some extra bottles, and break (atleast one of the gallons) into smaller amounts.

If yes, short of more bottles, what's the best way to go about that?

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I'm not sure how you believe you got pick pocketed. But anyhow...

Are you in the USA? If so, see my blog post on nic base sources. There are links to glass bottles in that post after the nitotine sources. Cheapest I've found and many here use that brand. It is widely agreed on that if you are storing nic long term (more than a year), you should store in a freezer in boston round glass bottles with polycone cap. And for good measure seal the caps with several rounds of electrical or silicone tape. Less than a year teh fridge is OK, but keep awya from light as much as possible.

As far as mow much VG and PG to buy, well you didn't mention how much you vape in a day/month so it's too hard to say. But, if you are buying your nic in PG, and you vape 70% VG, buy a gallon of VG and about a half gallon or 2 liters of PG. If you are buying your nic in VG, then buy a couple liters of each PG and VG. That'll get you by for a good while.

As others have said, most places that sell PG and VG are non-vape sources for non-vape applications and will not be banned. In fact, you will generally save money buying PG and VG from non-vape sources. But if you are trying to increase your nic stash and have limited funds, don't buy so much PG and VG. Buy what you need for a little while and sink your money into nic. Prices went up in 2021 but have stayed stable for now. However that won't be forever. I personally believe nic base will be attacked by the government at some point. So either people will stop selling it to consumers or it will be taxed at a high rate. So the more you can buy now the better.

I also made a list of PG & VG vendors for your convenience

 

[Real-ist]

I'm not sure how you believe you got pick pocketed. But anyhow...

Yes. That was the most I've spent on vape related, ever. The prices were a bit of a shock.

Are you in the USA? If so, see my blog post on nic base sources. There are links to glass bottles in that post after the nitotine sources. It is widely agreed on that if you are storing nic long term (more than a year), you should store in a freezer in boston round glass bottles with polycone cap. And for good measure seal the caps with several rounds of electrical or silicone tape. Less than a year teh fridge is OK, but keep awya from light as much as possible.

I am in the U.S.

Your list is great. Noted and found. I was looking on Amazon for Cobalt Blue. It was a guessing game which to choose. Your list helps a lot.

As far as mow much VG and PG to buy, well you didn't mention how much you vape in a day/month so it's too hard to say.

I average 10-15ml/day.

But, if you are buying your nic in PG, and you vape 70% VG, buy a gallon of VG and about a half gallon or 2 liters of PG. If you are buying your nic in VG, then buy a couple liters of each PG and VG. That'll get you by for a good while.

I vape 70vg/30pg (12mg currently, with plans to experiment to 15mg) I purchased the 100mg PG base, with plans to mix mainly a Menthol/Mint as my daily. Other deviations of that may also come, as I get settled in and comfortable mixing.

As others have said, most places that sell PG and VG are non-vape sources for non-vape applications and will not be banned. In fact, you will generally save money buying PG and VG from non-vape sources. But if you are trying to increase your nic stash and have limited funds, don't buy so much PG and VG. Buy what you need for a little while and sink your money into nic. Prices went up in 2021 but have stayed stable for now. However that won't be forever. I personally believe nic base will be attacked by the government at some point. So either people will stop selling it to consumers or it will be taxed at a high rate. So the more you can buy now the better.

I expect as you do.

I also made a list of PG & VG vendors for your convenience

Thanks very much for your time, Sir.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I average 10-15ml/day.

I vape 70vg/30pg ... Menthol/Mint as my daily

You sound like me. That's about how much I vape daily, peppermint/candy cane 99% of the time, same VG%. 6mg. 20-30W RDL.

But I also vape 50/50 MTL on lower power a lot, and trying to do more of that. For low power I do 12mg but gonna try 15mg soon. I add 1.5% Coolada for a little menthol kick. Low power is much less flavorful compared to the 20-30W.

 

[Real-ist]

You sound like me. That's about how much I vape daily, peppermint/candy cane 99% of the time, same VG%. 6mg. 20-30W RDL.

I like commonality.
I've vaped e-cig MTL since the very beginning. I used Intellicigs kit, along with their liquid products. Then I graduated to eLeaf isticks and ego-Ts, and continued vaping the Intellicig liquid. Using the (expensive) Intellicig liquid got me NicSick more times than I can remember...mainly due to chain-vaping when under stress. I knew (did not want to change out of comfort) no other way before graduating to Geekvape Mods and the Aegis Legend. In 2018 I bought the Aegis-X....and still...used the Intellicig liquids. (Did I mention their liquids are expensive?!!) It was Summer 2023 when I stopped buying from Intellicig...mainly due to cost. That put in the position of finding something "suitable" for taste and satisfaction. I'm not saying the liquid is GREAT, although I settled with using Naked100 (12mg) Crisp Menthol. It's OK

But I also vape 50/50 MTL on lower power a lot, and trying to do more of that.

I've not tried any 50/50.

For low power I do 12mg but gonna try 15mg soon. I add 1.5% Coolada for a little menthol kick. Low power is much less flavorful compared to the 20-30W.

Now days, I use strictly Aspire Nautilus 3 tanks. I have 5 of them. I use the 1.6, 1.8, and 0.7 standard coils, along with all the sub-ohm mesh coils.

I'm prepping for making my own coils and trying RTA tanks as well.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Now days, I use strictly Aspire Nautilus 3 tanks. I have 5 of them. I use the 1.6, 1.8, and 0.7 standard coils, along with all the sub-ohm mesh coils.

I'm prepping for making my own coils and trying RTA tanks as well.

Well I definitely recommend getting some rebuildables for vapocalypse stash. That's especially true if you can't economically stock enough factory coils (and the tanks and parts) for however long you intend to vape. Rebuildables are definitely the cheaper way to vape. I can't recommend any RTAs because my stash is largely discontinued stuff and I I'm not up with the lates. For me, I'd have to say that my favorite rebuildable tank is the Advken dominator tank with the Ijoy EXO-s single coil RBA. I bought a lot too many of those. But as they say, two is one and one is none. lol

 

[Real-ist]

Well I definitely recommend getting some rebuildables for vapocalypse stash. That's especially true if you can't economically stuck enough factory coils (and the tanks and parts) for however long you intend to vape. Rebuildables are definitely the cheaper way to vape. I can't recommend any RTAs because my stash is largely discontinued stuff and I I'm not up with the lates. For me, I'd have to say that my favorite rebuildable tank is the Advken dominator tank with the Ijoy EXO-s single coil RBA. I bought a lot too many of those. But as they say, two is one and one is none. lol

One thing I try to avoid, drifting from what works. It took me so long to get comfortable. That's what's holding me back mainly, in choosing a DIY coiled and/or mesh tank. I don't like to get caught up in all the new stuff out there. My #1 when looking into the tanks are MTL/DTL that are not juice hungry, and #2, they do not leak. #3, they need to be rebuildable.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

There's one vapocalypse thing you may not want to overlook. If you don't mind faffing around with rebuilding coil heads, save some of your spent nautilus coils. Disassemble, pull out wick and coil, rinse & dry then throw 'em in a jar for that day you might need them. I personally hate rebuilding coil heads but there are people here that do it even today, and there are vids on rebuilding the nautilus coil from back in the day. If that's something you think you might not mind doing, then save those spent coils heads.

 

[Real-ist]

There's one vapocalypse thing you may not want to overlook. If you don't mind faffing around with rebuilding coil heads, save some of your spent nautilus coils.

I've saved them all from day one. Kinda crazy, I thought originally. I use to boil them, then into the oven on a cookie sheet. Some of them I've drilled out the holes for better wicking. I went as far as searching Aliexpress for rebuild kits. I've not ordered because they're Kits are questionable.

Disassemble, pull out wick and coil, rinse & dry then throw 'em in a jar for that day you might need them. I personally hate rebuilding coil heads but there are people here that do it even today, and there are vids on rebuilding the nautilus coil from back in the day. If that's something you think you might not mind doing, then save those spent coils heads.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

There was a company (VVTF) that made a nautilus RBA but they went through 3 versions and all 3 were junk. I fell for it all 3 times lol. I can't believe no one ever made a good one with a Subtank Mini/Kayfun 5 deck style. That would have been a hit, I think. I pestered Hippovape to make it because they made one that fit many of the devices that take the non-nautilus BVC coil with a deck like that, but they never listened lol.

 

[Real-ist]

There was a company (VVTF) that made a nautilus RBA but they went through 3 versions and all 3 were junk. I fell for it all 3 times lol. I can't believe no one ever made a good one with a Subtank Mini/Kayfun 5 deck style. That would have been a hit, I think. I pestered Hippovape to make it because they made one that fit many of the devices that take the non-nautilus BVC coil with a deck like that, but they never listened lol.

The earlier Aspire tanks leaked so bad, I was constantly wiping things off. Back then I never bothered to try other liquids. I learned to carry whatever I was using at the time, in my breast pocket. While doing so, It fell out and broke the tank. Seemed every time I ordered coils, 2-3 pieces of replacement glass come naturally...lol.

Regarding Aspire tanks and their functionality; They do not have rebuild kits available and do not plan to make them. That's the bad. The good, their Nautilus 3 tanks work well. Considering there are no spares, spares are had by buying more. Hence my having five of them. Several with bubble glass and many spares.

It would be nice to see someone advance from the design.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Aspire made an RBA for the Nautilus Prime AIO kit, and many thought it would work in the Nautilus tank, but nope. Just for the Prime.

I fell away from Nautilus tanks soon after I first got into them back when all there was was the Nauti 5ml and Mini. I just hated that threaded glass-to-metal that would always seem to get too tight and stuck. I broke a few trying to get them off. Then I bought the metal T sleeve for the Nautilus Mini and it made things a whole lot better...and better looking IMHO. But I soon ditched aspire altogether.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

My #1 when looking into the tanks are MTL/DTL that are not juice hungry, and #2, they do not leak. #3, they need to be rebuildable.

The KHW Mods Dvarw MTL and DL RTA's easily meet all three of your requirements. Each has many airflow options, from a proper MTL to a fine restricted DL to a wide open DL.

And....... you can purchase every known spare part for them, making the Dvarw vapocalypse proof.

I have a couple of each and nearly all the spare parts.

Dvarw's are super easy to build on/wick and are easily maintained. They offer excellent, tough to beat, flavor.

 

[ShowMeTwice]

Now I'm questioning if I need to get some extra bottles, and break (atleast one of the gallons) into smaller amounts.

If yes, short of more bottles, what's the best way to go about that?

Personally, I would break the gallons down into 120ml bottles. Much easier to manage.

Boston round, dark brown or blue bottles are fine.

All my nic is stored in 120ml bottles and kept in a freezer. I recently opened a bottle from 2015, it's still very clear.

If kept in glass bottles and in a freezer your nicotine will last for years.

Here is a good thread you might want to look over.........

Nic Base Storage: Freezer vs. Room Temp Experiment

Although it's common knowledge that the optimal way to store nic base is in glass, with minimal head space, in the freezer, a repeated theme in some of the "stocking up" threads has been that some folks either don't have a freezer at all, or...

www.e-cigarette-forum.com

 

[Real-ist]

Personally, I would break the gallons down into 120ml bottles. Much easier to manage.

Boston round, dark brown or blue bottles are fine.

All my nic is stored in 120ml bottles and kept in a freezer. I recently opened a bottle from 2015, it's still very clear.

If kept in glass bottles and in a freezer your nicotine will last for years.

Here is a good thread you might want to look over.........

Nic Base Storage: Freezer vs. Room Temp Experiment

Although it's common knowledge that the optimal way to store nic base is in glass, with minimal head space, in the freezer, a repeated theme in some of the "stocking up" threads has been that some folks either don't have a freezer at all, or...

www.e-cigarette-forum.com

I will look into this info, thanks.

Originally I planned leave one gallon factory sealed. The other gallon, I will break it up into 16oz bottles for less handling.