Tarkers Tips - Vaping

[Tarkers]

Yes....it's that time of the week when I ramble on aimlessly from my hacienda.

Back in the early 70s, I was already in a relationship with my future 2nd wife.....she was a smoker, I had never touched the "evil weed ", not once, even at school, when everyone else was sneaking off to the bike-sheds.

I moaned at her continually (there is nothing worse than living with a smoker if you have never smoked yourself), so as a joke, she bought me a pipe for Xmas, 1972?

I proceeded to take the challenge, filled it with Clan.......and for the next 30 years I proceeded to pay for an NHS hospital on my own, via the ridiculously high UK taxes on tobacco!!

Yes, I loved it, that pipe (and several new pipes over the years) became my constant companion.....there was one in my home office, one in the car, one in my Barbour coat-pocket and one at my work.

Now, for any smokers out there, you get a feeling of invincibility as the years roll by, by 50 years of age one or two of your friends or workmates have died, even famous footballers, politicians and tv personalities............but I was never sick or ill.....NEVER......it was weird.

What I did notice was a slight shortness of breath, and the most worrying, black phlegm every morning for an hour or so.

One day, my number 7 son came to me with a business proposal.....go 50% with him, on a load of imported Chinese vapers.....they were new at the time, nobody was really selling them...a niche market.

After parting with a sizeable cheque, 3 large boxes arrived................mainly CE5s, Ego-T batteries, chargers, spares.....and thousands of different flavours.

They took a bit of getting used to, the "throat hit" is totally different but the nicotine hit was superb, especially using 36 mg.

Within a month, the black phlegm was gone, shortness of breath had disappeared and my sense of smell and taste was incredible.......even the car, office, house....everything smelt fresher.

We made a bit of money but the Vaper market became too complicated, too many new models, new flavours etc......so I took the last dozen or so cheap CE5s....and ultimately ended up in Mexico.

Now for anyone that has ever used these......they are pretty simple to use, fill up the plastic tank with juice and hit the fire button....great for a week or so, but the batteries go flat pretty quickly (I always had 2 spares on charge) and the life on the batteries isn't great, maybe 2 months?......plus after a week, you get less and less of a vape. There are lots of Youtube videos and how to try to clean the coils, but they are basically a sealed unit and it is cheaper to throw them in the cupboard and buy new ones.

Even here in Mexico, I used up my spare 12 units in 2 years, and as they are not actually "legal" here (big tobacco and the government are still making a fortune here even at £1.50 a pack), I ended up paying ridiculous money for black market replacements.

So, 6 months ago, I took the plunge.

After a few hours watching Youtube vids of Re-buildable models.....I bought a pack of goodies from a Vape shop in the USA......my liquids were seized at the border but the hardware got through.....I lost about £100 on the liquids but found a local guy who is supplying me "under the counter" juice...no probs.

My hardware is an Archon Cloudchaser RDA Clone (rebuildable dripping atomiser)....3 brass posts, large dripping well, interchangeable mouthpieces.....I am using 6 wraps of 26 gauge Kanthol on a 1 electrical screwdriver which gives me 1.5 ohms on my new ohm/battery tester.

I matched it to a SkeletonKey Mod Clone with top-of-the-range Sony 18650 batteries, fully charged, gives me 3.7 v and 2100mAh.

Total cost, including delivery, was maybe £150......but I never have to buy anything again....everything is totally rebuildable.

THE THING IS A BEAST......it actually frightened the life out of me the first time I fired it up. It came with dual 1 ohm coils that give 0.5 ohm in parallel.......a huge cloud of vape, pretty hot, spitting and crackling......after my first hour, I removed one of the coils (10 minutes under a microscope) and putting a thicker cotton in, I sat in heaven under a palm tree.

This thing is beautiful....it is bit like driving a porsche after having a Ford Anglia for 2 years.............no comparison.....pure luxury.

Over the last 6 months I have only needed to rebuild the coil once after I tightened the screwhead too much....it took me 15 minutes max. I put a new cotton wick in once a week, 5 minutes...the Sony battery lasts all day then straight on charge overnight..............pure delight, well worth the money.

[Tarkers]

......and I forgot to mention......there is no need to use the 36mg juices, the "hit" is that intense that after my first day of using the max I could buy here, 24mg, I found myself walking around on a permanent "high".......great for Notts matchdays as it was numbing the pain of last years relegation but not very clever when you cannot remember if you have put the sheep and goats away for the night......or even worse, whether you are supposed to pick your girlfriend up from the bus depot today!!

I am now down to 18mg and even that is still a bit strong......might drop down to 12mg for my next batch of Mount Baker juices.

[DangerousSausage]

I'm a non-smoker and have never even tried a cig, I find the smell of cigarettes absolutely vile and am pleased I never tried one. But I do like the smell of pipes. It actually reminds me of Notts, as there used to be a lot of pipe smokers at Meadow Lane. They probably relocated to the Main Stand after we got the Kop back, if they're still around at all. E-cigarettes can smell a bit like the shisha pipes (no bad thing), but I don't think the idea is to get high! 

[liampie]

esigs are much better, the smoke does not smell for starters!

i do not smoke tho.