Ten years ago, no one had even heard of vaping. An electronic cigarette was a device only to be imagined. Either you had nicotine gum or your trusty smoky friend, though neither choice was ideal.
When e-cigarettes did come up on the market, there were hundreds of unanswered questions. People really had no idea what to expect from vaping.
Since then, the vaping world has expanded and developed past what we ever would have thought possible. As a result, it can be fairly intimidating to prospective customers. If this is your first time vaping, here’s what you can expect.
Vaping Devices
All vaping devices have three standard components: a battery, a heating atomizer coil, and a tank for e-liquid. However, they vary in structure and complexity. Here are the four devices you might consider using your first time vaping.
E-Cigs: E-cigarettes are simple vaporizers with a battery that lasts about 200 puffs. The pre-filled cartridges snap into place, and one is roughly equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. E-cigs are meant to mimic traditional cigarettes in design as closely as possible and can be purchased as either reusable or disposable devices.
Vaping Pens: Vape pens have twice the battery life of an e-cigarette and come with a cartridge you can refill with whatever kind of e-liquid you like.
Vaping Pods: Vape Pods are designed to maximize the user experience. They are as powerful as a vape pen, but come with easy-to-use cartridges designed for the busy vaper who isn’t interested in learning how to configure complex vape controls.
Mods: These are advanced vaporizers usually intended for the vaping connoisseur. That being said, there are a number of simple vaporizers designed specifically for first time vapers. Box mods are handheld devices that offer incredible battery life, a large tank capacity, customizable controls, and plenty of airflow. If you plan on blowing large clouds, you’ll need to get yourself a mod.
E-Juice
E-juice is a blend of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin that, when heated, produces a vapor that resembles smoke. While many first time vapers prefer to stick with traditional vape juice flavored with tobacco or menthol, you can also find them in flavors of all kinds.
Flavor: Suffer from a sweet tooth? Craving your double mocha latte from Starbucks? In the mood for something indulgent? You can find practically any flavor e-liquid you can imagine. From Turkish tobacco blended with vanilla and caramel to fruity cereal or lemon meringue pie. In fact, some vape stores even allow you to whip up your own personal blend.
Nicotine: You can purchase e-liquid with whatever concentration of nicotine you please. You can generally find 3.6mg/ml, 2.4mg/ml, 1.8mg/ml, 1.2mg/ml, 0.6mg/ml, 0.3mg/ml, and finally nicotine free. Your first time vaping, you’ll probably want to start with 1.8mg/ml and then gradually work your way down.
Today, you can also find nicotine salt liquid. This more natural form of nicotine is easier on the throat. You’ll find nicotine salts with up to 50mg/ml of nicotine. Many claim to prefer these vape juices because they supposedly resemble cigarettes much more closely.
PG vs. VG
The ratio of propylene glycol (PG) to vegetable glycerin (VG) will vary from bottle to bottle. PG holds flavor well and is responsible for the throat hit many former smokers crave. VG tends to be more viscous and feels a lot smoother against the throat
When vaping e-cigarettes and vape pens, you’ll generally want to stick with high PG blends because the high VG blends will clog up the atomizer. However, when sub-ohm vaping you’ll want to choose high VG e-liquid to mitigate the heat from the atomizer.
Ohms (Coils) & Wattage Safety
The resistance of the coils helps control the amount of wattage power coursing through your vaporizer. The higher you set your wattage and the lower you set your ohm resistance, the more powerful your vape will be. Most vapers tend to stay within a range of 20-80W and a resistance of 0.5-2.0Ω.
Devices on the market today usually self-regulate. Too much unregulated power could easily overheat the atomizer and prove very dangerous. Before handling advanced devices, you’ll want to educate yourself on Ohm’s law and the relationship between wattage, voltage, amperage, and resistance in order protect yourself and those around you from unwanted vaping accidents.