Let me start off by saying that everyone has different tastes in vaping, and I am not trying to set dripping up as the 'silver bullet'. That said...
I recently (through somewhat interesting circumstances) received my first RDA last week, a pair of Tridents by Grand Vapor. This being my first non-carto or clearo vaping solution, I thought I would report my views of what dripping has been for me this past week.
1. I am tasting flavors in my juices I did not know were there. I had all but given up on Boba's Bounty as a fairly tasteless juice and was in love with Vaperite VR4. After 8 days of dripping (using 1.8 ohm microcoils and a 1.7 ohm nanodragon coil) my impressions have totally reversed. I can actually taste all the subtle flavors that have given Boba's its huge reputation; the solid tobacco with a graham crackery vanilla follow-up that has kept me working through my 30 mil bottle at a steady pace. My nicely carameled VR4, however, has been revealed to have more of a buttery biscuit flavor, compared to the caramel I thought I was tasting.
2. Flavors are more dense with a (good) dripper. I get a more 'full' taste of the juice I am dripping, which allows me to more completely evaluate the flavor. In a nutshell, if I like a flavor in my dripper, I will like it in my clearos. The reverse cannot be said. I loved VR4 and a local dragonfruit juice in my rebuilt Protank 2, but can't see myself keeping them in rotation now that I have experienced the full taste in my drippers.
3. I get a much better first-impression of a juice. If I was going to a B&M, I will always take this device with me and ask if I can drip a couple drops for a sample. The local 'B&M (schill-joint, selling $100 V1 Lavatubes...) has their juices out in Stardusts for you to try, and all of those clearos have been used so much that every juice tastes like burnt silica. Not very pleasant. And If I am going to commit to 30+ mils, I want to know what it really tastes like, not what the clearo tastes like.
4. I can take better draws with my Trident. The ability of the Trident (and many other RDA / RBA devices) to select the airflow has really turned the corner for me on vaping. I have been existing as a half-smoker, half vaper due to the draws making me cough or get a wheeze after a time. With a 2mm airhole, I can take 5 second lung inhales all day long and only cough at all when my throat gets dry. Most vapers, especially newer ones, critically underestimate the effect that proper airflow has on your vape experience. It gives you the ability to increase or decrease the flavor density, add to or reduce throat hit due to affecting the vapor density, and it really lets you find your own style of drawing in a way that a fixed airflow clearo never can.
5. I have true hope of quitting for the first time since beginning vaping. I have found my cigarette consumption go from 5-10 a day to 1-4 a day, in the first 3 days of dripping, and it's getting less slowly. After meals and right after getting up in the morning sometimes still demand the hard punch of that full milligram that a smoke delivers, but I am stocking some 18mg (my standard is 6) soon, and hopefully will be able to nuke my hard cravings with those juices to kill the smokes once and for all.
6. I am having more fun with vaping. I can shoot out a respectable fog when I feel the need to show off, and I can experience the vapor in a whole new way than before. It makes me excited to try a whole range of new juices and other variables.
7. The 'problems' I was having with vaping have all but disappeared. No more wheeze from vaping, no more burnt hits (well, not after I discovered the rhythm for dripping as opposed to drawing, burnt cotton tastes awful), no leaking 510 connection, no wick feeding problems, just predictable performance every time I fire my device. I also find I have to rebuild / rewick far less often, now that I have room to work on my coils and can really see what I'm doing. I also have the simple option of simply pulling the old wick and dryburning for a few seconds instead of wasting more Kanthal when I want to switch flavors.
The negatives?
1. Don't drip and drive!!! You can only realistically fit so much juice in the dripper before it will start coming out the air holes. As a result you will run dry about 5 minutes into any drive, which can be frustrating. I will put a few more drops in at a long red light, but I drive highway a lot, and that means either pulling over when I want to vape, or dealing with it. My wife doesn't fancy the idea of being my dripping ....., so there we are. I am looking at a Kayfun Lite + for this issue.
2. I need a new battery. My trusty little 1300mah Ego Twist has been with me through a lot and has been worth every one of the $20 I paid for it. On the other hand, the amp limitation of the cell and the lower charge capacity has been hitting me at the worst times. If my coil is lower than 1.8 ohms and I want more than 3.3 volts, I notice a drip in performance, and the battery tube can heat a bit sometimes, which is a danger sign. If I ever experience even a hint of battery warmth, I immediately rebuild my coil to a higher resistance and try again. These limitations have me eyeballing a mechanical mod and either a pair of MVP V2's or a Provari in the future.
3. The Trident has sparked my desire to look into the higher dollar devices. I am not going to become a spendy vapor by any stretch of the imagination, but I am now more willing to lay out $40-100 for a device once I have researched it and determined that it is likely to meet my needs. I used to be fine with modding a low end device seeing if I could get what I wanted out of it. whereas I will still do that, I am now also looking to see if something else has everything I want out of the box for more money, so beware your wallet.
Overall, I have to say that finding out I am a dripping vaper was a shock to me. I thought the concept of dripping rather than having a tank, or even a carto, to hold tons of juice was stupid as hell. It just seemed ...-backwards to me, kinda stoneaged or sinister looking. I totally get the appeal now.
To anyone who is tired of having issue after issue or not being satisfied with a clearo or carto solution, I would highly recommend getting an inexpensive but decent RDA and playing with it a bit. The IGO-L and Trident clone are both very inexpensive (less that $20) and very accessible and perform extremely well. With $5 in 28 or 30 gauge Kanthal and a $2 bag of cotton balls, you can have all the supplies to rebuild and experiment with for about a year. Rip Tripper has excellent Youtube vids on coiling an RDA in anything from basic to super advanced configurations. Adding on a $10-15 digital multimeter for testing coils and a little trial and error with the wrapping process can have you up and coiling like a pro in no time at all. And that's satisfying, knowing you have made your own vapor-slinger work just like you wanted it to.
Sorry for the book, but I felt the experience was compelling enough that I had to share, in hopes that I help someone else who was in the same place I was.
I recently (through somewhat interesting circumstances) received my first RDA last week, a pair of Tridents by Grand Vapor. This being my first non-carto or clearo vaping solution, I thought I would report my views of what dripping has been for me this past week.
1. I am tasting flavors in my juices I did not know were there. I had all but given up on Boba's Bounty as a fairly tasteless juice and was in love with Vaperite VR4. After 8 days of dripping (using 1.8 ohm microcoils and a 1.7 ohm nanodragon coil) my impressions have totally reversed. I can actually taste all the subtle flavors that have given Boba's its huge reputation; the solid tobacco with a graham crackery vanilla follow-up that has kept me working through my 30 mil bottle at a steady pace. My nicely carameled VR4, however, has been revealed to have more of a buttery biscuit flavor, compared to the caramel I thought I was tasting.
2. Flavors are more dense with a (good) dripper. I get a more 'full' taste of the juice I am dripping, which allows me to more completely evaluate the flavor. In a nutshell, if I like a flavor in my dripper, I will like it in my clearos. The reverse cannot be said. I loved VR4 and a local dragonfruit juice in my rebuilt Protank 2, but can't see myself keeping them in rotation now that I have experienced the full taste in my drippers.
3. I get a much better first-impression of a juice. If I was going to a B&M, I will always take this device with me and ask if I can drip a couple drops for a sample. The local 'B&M (schill-joint, selling $100 V1 Lavatubes...) has their juices out in Stardusts for you to try, and all of those clearos have been used so much that every juice tastes like burnt silica. Not very pleasant. And If I am going to commit to 30+ mils, I want to know what it really tastes like, not what the clearo tastes like.
4. I can take better draws with my Trident. The ability of the Trident (and many other RDA / RBA devices) to select the airflow has really turned the corner for me on vaping. I have been existing as a half-smoker, half vaper due to the draws making me cough or get a wheeze after a time. With a 2mm airhole, I can take 5 second lung inhales all day long and only cough at all when my throat gets dry. Most vapers, especially newer ones, critically underestimate the effect that proper airflow has on your vape experience. It gives you the ability to increase or decrease the flavor density, add to or reduce throat hit due to affecting the vapor density, and it really lets you find your own style of drawing in a way that a fixed airflow clearo never can.
5. I have true hope of quitting for the first time since beginning vaping. I have found my cigarette consumption go from 5-10 a day to 1-4 a day, in the first 3 days of dripping, and it's getting less slowly. After meals and right after getting up in the morning sometimes still demand the hard punch of that full milligram that a smoke delivers, but I am stocking some 18mg (my standard is 6) soon, and hopefully will be able to nuke my hard cravings with those juices to kill the smokes once and for all.
6. I am having more fun with vaping. I can shoot out a respectable fog when I feel the need to show off, and I can experience the vapor in a whole new way than before. It makes me excited to try a whole range of new juices and other variables.
7. The 'problems' I was having with vaping have all but disappeared. No more wheeze from vaping, no more burnt hits (well, not after I discovered the rhythm for dripping as opposed to drawing, burnt cotton tastes awful), no leaking 510 connection, no wick feeding problems, just predictable performance every time I fire my device. I also find I have to rebuild / rewick far less often, now that I have room to work on my coils and can really see what I'm doing. I also have the simple option of simply pulling the old wick and dryburning for a few seconds instead of wasting more Kanthal when I want to switch flavors.
The negatives?
1. Don't drip and drive!!! You can only realistically fit so much juice in the dripper before it will start coming out the air holes. As a result you will run dry about 5 minutes into any drive, which can be frustrating. I will put a few more drops in at a long red light, but I drive highway a lot, and that means either pulling over when I want to vape, or dealing with it. My wife doesn't fancy the idea of being my dripping ....., so there we are. I am looking at a Kayfun Lite + for this issue.
2. I need a new battery. My trusty little 1300mah Ego Twist has been with me through a lot and has been worth every one of the $20 I paid for it. On the other hand, the amp limitation of the cell and the lower charge capacity has been hitting me at the worst times. If my coil is lower than 1.8 ohms and I want more than 3.3 volts, I notice a drip in performance, and the battery tube can heat a bit sometimes, which is a danger sign. If I ever experience even a hint of battery warmth, I immediately rebuild my coil to a higher resistance and try again. These limitations have me eyeballing a mechanical mod and either a pair of MVP V2's or a Provari in the future.
3. The Trident has sparked my desire to look into the higher dollar devices. I am not going to become a spendy vapor by any stretch of the imagination, but I am now more willing to lay out $40-100 for a device once I have researched it and determined that it is likely to meet my needs. I used to be fine with modding a low end device seeing if I could get what I wanted out of it. whereas I will still do that, I am now also looking to see if something else has everything I want out of the box for more money, so beware your wallet.
Overall, I have to say that finding out I am a dripping vaper was a shock to me. I thought the concept of dripping rather than having a tank, or even a carto, to hold tons of juice was stupid as hell. It just seemed ...-backwards to me, kinda stoneaged or sinister looking. I totally get the appeal now.
To anyone who is tired of having issue after issue or not being satisfied with a clearo or carto solution, I would highly recommend getting an inexpensive but decent RDA and playing with it a bit. The IGO-L and Trident clone are both very inexpensive (less that $20) and very accessible and perform extremely well. With $5 in 28 or 30 gauge Kanthal and a $2 bag of cotton balls, you can have all the supplies to rebuild and experiment with for about a year. Rip Tripper has excellent Youtube vids on coiling an RDA in anything from basic to super advanced configurations. Adding on a $10-15 digital multimeter for testing coils and a little trial and error with the wrapping process can have you up and coiling like a pro in no time at all. And that's satisfying, knowing you have made your own vapor-slinger work just like you wanted it to.
Sorry for the book, but I felt the experience was compelling enough that I had to share, in hopes that I help someone else who was in the same place I was.
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