Brian

My brother (gnerd) and I both added comments to the article. Mike's was:

"This study was designed to achieve the specific result the FDA dictated, whether they funded it or not (and I'd bet money they did). Note they used liquid with the lowest possible concentration of nicotine available. As a pack-a-day smoker of full flavor cigarettes, I knew 16mg would be a total waste of time. I started with 32mg. It didn't cut it. I moved to 48mg - nicotine nirvana! Let this guy do a study with useful nicotine concentrations and see how it goes. But the fact is, the FDA doesn't want a safe smoking alternative available for a couple of reasons. 1) They're partially funded by big tobacco and big pharma and 2) They need victims of tobacco-caused cancer to continue beating the anti-addiction drum. The FDA isn't about health, it's about a zealous agenda; an agenda that denies the human nature of addiction. There are multiple studies of nicotine vaporizers that show positive results. Have you ever seen one reported on CNN? Of course not. Can you say, "Government sock puppet?""

Way to go Bro!

I wrote:

"This article is a complete load of hooey! Paul Courson is not a reporter – he’s merely a gossip spewing whatever someone told him. An actual reporter would have checked his facts. For example, the FDA’s power grab was slapped down in Federal court; they are prevented from trying to stop imports of e-cigs. That’s just the most obvious untruth in this screed. The “study” was anything but. A scientific study would have said “Brand X electronic cigarette” yielded “N” blood level nicotine. We all know that the devices sold in malls and storefronts are worthless. Yet this article presented those as e-cigs generally. More of Courson’s failure to investigate. 16mg per ml is a very low concentration of nicotine; this study did not even apply a standard nic level to determine whether it worked. If Courson had done any investigation whatever he would have questioned this “study.” But he didn’t. What a fool. Or should I say, “Tool”? If Courson or cnn had any courage they would provide an email address to contact the “reporter,” like actual investigative news outlets do. I would be happy to help Courson do his research before again spouting a bunch of idiocy to a generally undiscriminating readership. I welcome him to follow up with the email address in my login. What this really is, is Big Pharma and Big Tobacco pushing more of their propaganda against the first truly working cigarette alternative to come along in history. The "Establishment" is scared, and well they might be. If our govt truly cared about its constituents, they'd be promoting e-cigs day and night. Instead, too much Big Money stands to have its failed products go unused. I, like virtually everyone else who has posted here, have had sufficient help from my e-cig to quit smoking. This writer is an idiot and the “study” was a sham. CNN is in the middle of that, not wanting to anger their Big Money advertisers whose products will either kill you or give you nothing for your money."

The ego is just another 3.7v mod with a long battery life than your standard styles. As far as vapor production goes, it depends on the atty and the juice, and voltage you use. The only thing you are paying for is:

A. Looks
B. Features
C. Battery life
D. Quality

There is nothing better than any other 3.7v mods other than those things. So for $100 do i think its worth it? Yes! If you already have a 3.7v mod with an extended battery? NO! If your looking for something better look into 5v, the latest and greatest.

BigXor really hit the nail on the head here. The one and only reason we decided to carry the VP units in the store was the safety. At the time nobody had really thought about it but us. We knew some day this would happen. Which is why we have never carried any other custom unit.

When Jeso first created the VP units he was one of the first mod creators to use protected batteries. He also designed the units to turn only 1 1/2 threads. So in the event that a user with a death wish decided to either A. Use none protected batteries or B. Mix and match charged and uncharged batteries, there would be room for the gas to go, in this case through the bottom of the unit. Now of course this wasn't advertised because some nut job would give it a try. Just because you have an air bag doesn't mean you should crash your car into a wall.

It would scare the heck out of you but you'd probably be ok. Another issue is the way modders place the atomizer fitting into the unit, most press the fitting into the unit. What does this mean? It means it won't handle much pressure, when a battery heats and expends and finally blows, guess where the pressure goes? You got it, right out the atomizer fitting. In this case it was the BB. While out in New York we pulled out about 40 units and placed them on the table and the first thing was said was, well, these are all pipe bombs just waiting to blow. We couldn't believe nobody anticipated this issue. Of course those with the knowledge like Bogxor warned of this but nobody listened.

In the VP units case the fitting is of a threaded design, not pressed into aluminum.


@kato07 - Exploding wouldn't be an issue for the VP passthrough because it's a straight passthrough, there is no battery inside the unit.


So next time you decided to buy a unit because it's the "new" thing, make sure you keep in mind some of the saftey users. Ask the modder "what have you done to make this safe" any good suppliers or modder should give you direct answers about what they've done. We have answerd this question a few times. If they beat around the bush, ditch buying the unit, it's just not worth it.

If you can hold out a little longer, the Joker should be out pretty soon.

Amen to that, brother. People around me start getting edgy if I haven't had my full quota for the most recent 15 minutes...

As to whether there is such a thing as a 'vaping addiction' - I'd have to say, "Sure!" We have this wonderfully complex neurological system - the best in the world - that gives us all kinds of side effects. Spirituality, memory, all kinds of stuff. Addiction and mind-bending are right up there in the list. I believe they must all be of some survival benefit or we wouldn't be so successful as a species. People can become addicted to all kinds of things; daydreaming, reading, sex, drugs, whatever. These behaviors are not necessarily destructive; it's the obsession around them that becomes a problem. Physical addiction is an added component. When physically addicted to anything, our minds come to believe that substance is required, like food. When we're feeling a craving for our favorite substance, our mind reacts as if we're starving; and think what starving people will do to each other when they're hungry. This is how addiction can be so destructive.

As mentioned, nicotine addiction is probably one of the hardest to break; harder even than heroin or crack, despite that the withdrawal symptoms are not as severe. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know why that is, but I can say from personal experience it's much easier to break about any addiction than nicotine. Smoking is not simply a nicotine addiction, as we have often said. There are ritual aspects, other physiological issues like the throat hit, the who oral gratification thing. There's a lot more to it than just nicotine, which is why I think so many people can go hours without vaping when they couldn't go more than a few minutes without smoking.

I'm not that way; I'm a nicotine fiend. Patches and gum didn't work for me for at least two reasons; insufficient nicotine and the loss of the throat hit/lung effect. One quit smoking trial I thought I'd substitute a secondary product to get the throat hit part satisfied, and used patches and gum for the nicotine. That lasted one really loooong day before I gave that up as a bad idea...

Vaping is a wonder. I'm not completely comfortable with vaping only, even yet. I'm a serious addict; a dedicated addict. But vaping has done more than any other course to help me stop smoking. Believe me, I've tried everything I could think of including double helpings of intercourse and hot/cold showers to quit smoking. To no avail. Yet here I am with all these non-smoking days under my belt!

I'm still addicted though; addicted to vaping. For me it's the nicotine and the throat hit. For others it might be something else; just being cool, maybe. If you took my PV away I'd freak out on somebody. Well, no; before I got really off my rocker I'd just go buy a carton of Pall Mall and resign myself to an ugly death. But I do believe one can be addicted to vaping. We're capable, lucky us, of becoming addicted to about anything we find pleasant. It's just our lovely nature.

Just my .02. Great thread. Thanks everyone, this is exactly what I find so valuable about Vapor Talk. You all rock.

Scottbee posted some interesting info on the eGo batteries on the E-cigarette forum. He tested the batteries under load and they tested at 3.1 volts.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/joye-510/65055-battery-voltages-surprise.html

So it sounds like 3.7 volt mods like the Spade would be more powerful than the eGo.

Ok - so here it is! I have to say this was a much bigger PITA than it thought it would be. Other than re-attaching a wire on some of my kids toys, I've never soldered before. My soldering iron is several years old and I'm pretty sure I need to replace the tip. I goal for this project was to just get one built and working. It's not pretty. I didn't cover or seal any of my connection and didn't use any JB Weld or Gorilla snot. However, it's together and it works! I learned a lot doing this so hopefully next time I can put together some instructions. Pretty sure I'll get some 4 battery cases instead of using the 3 batt cases. It was just to tight for my liking. I also left out LED just because there was so little room and I was getting a little frustrated.

Ok - so here it is! I have to say this was a much bigger PITA than it thought it would be. Other than re-attaching a wire on some of my kids toys, I've never soldered before. My soldering iron is several years old and I'm pretty sure I need to replace the tip. I goal for this project was to just get one built and working. It's not pretty. I didn't cover or seal any of my connection and didn't use any JB Weld or Gorilla snot. However, it's together and it works! I learned a lot doing this so hopefully next time I can put together some instructions. Pretty sure I'll get some 4 battery cases instead of using the 3 batt cases. It was just to tight for my liking. I also left out LED just because there was so little room and I was getting a little frustrated.

Hey Michelle! I have a Spade and have no problem recommending it! It's a great unit and I love mine. It's a good way to go because you'll also get to start vaping with the best juice I've found so far (VT). For strenght, I would suggest 24mg. I smoked a pack to 1 1/2 packs of Marlboro lights a day and the 24mg worked perfect for me. I started with 18mg and wasn't happy with it. I quickly switched to 24mg and it made a huge differene. You'll find this is a little different. For some 24mg is to much and for others it's not enough. I would start with 24mg.

It's always good to get extra atty's. If it's in your budget, I'd get 2 spare batteries and a couple of extra atty's. A 10ml bottle lasts me about a week. Sometimes more/sometimes less. FYI the VT Traditional Tobacco is my favorite and I vape it 95% of the time.

General Questions:
How long have electronic cigarettes been around? They've been gaining popularity over the last few years, not sure when they actually hit the market.
How safe is the vapor? (How easy is it to overdose on nicotine?) Vapor is pretty safe, using an e-juice 24mg strength or less makes it fairly difficult to really over do it and make yourself sick. That's not to say you couldn't do it, but you'd have to really be chain vaping and then you have no one to blame but yourself.
Why does Firefox think vapor is not spelled correctly?! (well that one is a little off topic :/) My Firefox is cool with it
How long have you been vaping? Been analog free for over 70 days now, but I had tried the e-cig before that, I just didn't by any spare atomizers, when my only one burned out I went back to analogs for a little bit, now I'm back on track, and I have plenty of spare atomizers at all times.
Did you start vaping to quit smoking, or for just a "safer" switch? I started vaping because I did want to quit smoking, and it worked well. now that I have made the initial investment I'm not in a hurry to quit. It's much less expensive, less damaging to my health, and I enjoy it immensely.
Did it work? Hells yes.
How long did it take you to quit? Took me maybe 24 hours, but took my wife a couple weeks to totally quit. A buddy of mine just quit after 2 days with his first e-cig ever.
Can you give a good reason too start using an electronic cigarette other than health reasons? You'll save money, smell better, and you can use them indoors (most places).


Choice and Price:
In your experience, have you actually saved money by switching? Definitely, and the savings continue to get better after you make the initial investment.
Compared to cartons of cigarettes, what was your start-up cost? You can get a good 510 starter kit for around $50, plus some extra juice, you're lookin' at about $80-$100
What is the difference between a 510 and a pen-style? (Man I hope that's not the same thing) They are just 2 different models of atomizers, 510 is more compact.
Is there a comparison chart for all the brands and/or models? ??? You'll find 510s and 801 penstyles are favorites here.


Usage:
On average, how long does a bottle of juice last you? When I'm at home using my 5V passthrough all day I can go through 3ml in a day. At 3.7V maybe 1.5ml-2ml
On average, how long does a battery last before you have to buy a new one? The manual batteries tend to hold up longer, but I'd recommend buying a mod unit that uses cheaper batteries.
On average, how long does a vaporizer last before you have to buy a new one? Most atomizers should last around 1 month, anything after that is a bonus in my mind. But with good care they can last much longer than 1 month.
Compared to smoking a normal cigarette, do you have to reload (rejuice) your e-cig? If so, how many times? When direct dripping I'd say it's pretty close to about 1/2-1 cig every time I add 3 drops, with a cartridge you get more time between fills.
Compared to smoking a normal cigarette, is smoking an e-cig as satisfying? For me it's more satisfying in many ways, but there is an adjustment phase.
Once the juice is loaded into the cartridges how long does it take to evaporate before it's unusable? Left open to the air I wouldn't leave it more than 24 hrs, but I really don't know, i prefer to direct drip myself and fill cartridges (if I'm using one) right before I use it.

Those are just my opinions and experiences, so keep asking around and you'll find all the answers you need. Welcome to the forum.

Some new atty's take longer to break in than others. Those are the ones that I usually end up flooding several times.

Angel, this is not on topic with your original post, but I need to say something. Your posts are extremely difficult to read because you don't use punctuation...or seldom use punctuation. It makes everything in your posts run together, and it's hard to follow your line of thought. You have some interesting things to say, but some are going to miss out because they won't want to wade through the post trying to follow what you are saying.

Hi soupninja and welcome, I have both units so I will give you info to help with your decision. First of all I love both for different reasons.

EGO: I'm getting about 12 hours per charge from the batts. Thats excellent. The model is very nice looking and creates a smooth vapor. It is about an inch shorter than the Spade and a very comfortable unit to hold.

SPADE I get 5-6 hours from the batts. Its a very nice looking unit. I do get a nicer throat hit from the Spade as compared to the eGo. To me it feels lighter than the eGo.

A draw back with the eGo is the batteries are proprietary. If they go out you're limited where you can go to get a replacement. I have not seen a price for new ones. The Spade uses a standard 10440 protected batt that you can find at multiple websites. I hope this limited info will help. The easiest solution is to just buy both.

Hi Soupninja, here's my $0.02. First, I've spent plenty of money (over $400) in the last six weeks, on e-cigs. I'm now putting a lot more thought into my purchases, based on my experiences. I was very interested when the eGo came out. Then I realized that the eGo battery is, basically, a bigger version of a 510 battery. I.E. it is a sealed unit with the switch built in. When it goes, you chuck the whole thing in the battery recycle bin at the store and buy a new one. As of right now, I don't believe any site (Janty or otherwise) has a spare battery listed, or even a mention of what they'll cost. That scares me. You've already learned a very important thing, batteries will die. That's why, for now, I'm sticking with my Spade. The battery housing is very well made, and uses an inexpensive 10440 protected li-ion cell. Christopher sells them for $7, and they're also available at places like Battery Junction where they're on sale now for $4. At that price you could buy a three for the price of a standard 510 batt. I know that the Spade will eventually wear out. But right now, it's my favorite, and I'm thinking of buying another, when my 510 batts start to go. Good luck!

BTW, do keep in mind that, If you decide you have to have an ego, Totally Wicked is releasing their version, in two other colors. They say it'll be available on the 21st. They're calling it the Tornado.

John

Hey Jake, like I said in the chat room you're an adult and can make your own decision, but I dont recommend you starting vaping. Belive me I understand the curiosity, but its just not a road you need to go down. Most of us here have smoked for years and vaping was a godsend to us. It gave us an alternative to the nasty analogs. I understand you wanna vape at 0 nic, but like we discussed its not just the nicotine that smokers have become addicted to. There's a whole psychological aspect to it. I commend you for asking questions and doing research before you make a decision. I wasn't that smart at 19. Thats my advice since you asked. Please come back and let us know of your decision.

ps.... it was very nice chatting with you.

Don't know how you got a <-1> rating on that post, so I clicked +1 for ya to take it back to 0.

Tried to just delete everything in the cloned post. Got a popup telling me that the post is empty. Now it isn't.

Viva La Vapor!!!

I'm sitting here at work reading the latest edition of the NFPA Journal. The NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association. Well, I'm thumbing through it and what do I see but an article entitled "Cigarette threat 2.0". It seems there was a fire that erupted in a cargo compartment of a plane that just landed at Min. St. Paul. The cause of the fire was a shipment of 1,000 e-cigs. The article states " Though only minimal damage was reported, the incident has called into question the safety of these increasingly popular devices". The issue with the fire protection community is not the stty and such but the batteries. In fact last summer the Air Line Pilots Asscoiation called for a ban on bulk shipments of batteries due to their apparent malfunctions.

So I'm thinking this is just great! As if we didn't have enough problems with the FDA, now we have potential rivals with the NFPA and the ALPA.

I agree with Dave and BirdDog 100%. Slow down and get back to basics here. I was doing to pricing today and here's what I've found:

electronixstix.com - Starter kit = $51.99 (2 atty's, 2 batts, charger, 5 carts). Pack of 5 blank carts = $4.00. Two 15 ml bottles of juice = $19.98. That's a total of $75.97. Jason was running a 30% New Years discount with discount code "happynewyear". I don't know if this is still working, but if not then use discount code VTALK10 which will give you a 10% discount. With the 10% discount your total is $67.37. Orders over $60 ship free.

awsomevapor.com - Starter kit = $49.00 (2 atty's, 2 batts, charger, 5 carts). Pack of blank carts = $5.00. Two 16 ml bottles of juice = $20. Arno will also give you a 3ml sample with the starter kit and for each bottle of juice, so that'll give you an additional 9ml of juice free. Total is $74.00. I think shipping is $5.95. Arno ships free for orders over $80, so I'd grab an extra atty or bottle of juice which would make your order $84 and it would ship free.

wordupecig.com - Start kit = $58.99 (2 atty's, 2 batts, charger, 10 carts). Pack of blank carts = $2.65. Three bottles of 10ml juice = $26.97. That's a total of $88.61. They have a 10% discount code of "NewYears" which brings your total down to $79.75 and all orders ship free.


Hope this helps! My kids are fighting so I gotta cut this short, but I'll be back!

I agree with Dave and BirdDog 100%. Slow down and get back to basics here. I was doing to pricing today and here's what I've found:

electronixstix.com - Starter kit = $51.99 (2 atty's, 2 batts, charger, 5 carts). Pack of 5 blank carts = $4.00. Two 15 ml bottles of juice = $19.98. That's a total of $75.97. Jason was running a 30% New Years discount with discount code "happynewyear". I don't know if this is still working, but if not then use discount code VTALK10 which will give you a 10% discount. With the 10% discount your total is $67.37. Orders over $60 ship free.

awsomevapor.com - Starter kit = $49.00 (2 atty's, 2 batts, charger, 5 carts). Pack of blank carts = $5.00. Two 16 ml bottles of juice = $20. Arno will also give you a 3ml sample with the starter kit and for each bottle of juice, so that'll give you an additional 9ml of juice free. Total is $74.00. I think shipping is $5.95. Arno ships free for orders over $80, so I'd grab an extra atty or bottle of juice which would make your order $84 and it would ship free.

wordupecig.com - Start kit = $58.99 (2 atty's, 2 batts, charger, 10 carts). Pack of blank carts = $2.65. Three bottles of 10ml juice = $26.97. That's a total of $88.61. They have a 10% discount code of "NewYears" which brings your total down to $79.75 and all orders ship free.


Hope this helps! My kids are fighting so I gotta cut this short, but I'll be back!

In Cali it looks like the republican primary is closed, so only registered republicans can vote to decide who the republican presidential candidate will be. The dem primary is simi-closed, so independents can vote in that one.

Wow - my 500th post.

'Twas the night before Christmas
And on Vapor Talk
A member was lurking, you might even say stalk
He wasnt a troller, or spammer, or geek
A professional bowler ? No, that would be weak
He was merely a poster, we'd all seen before
Who liked to hang out at the Vapor Talk Store
Exotic Tobacco ? Dulcis ? Midnight ?
The choices were there, overwhelming with fright
And Chris, the store tender, would stand there and watch
As the mystery member would oogle the lots
For hours and hours as time ticked away
He'd click on the flavors, but never on "pay"
And Chris, ever patient, would stand there and smile
As fast as he entered, he'd exit
But why?
Its not that he didnt intend to invest
In the woozles and wazzles of grape flavored sets
It seems that he already had quite a stash
Of bottles of Vapor Talks Heavenly Hash
And sure as the sun will soon set on horizons
His wife wouldve beaned him, for thinkin of buyin
So this week, and sadly, he'd have to just gander
And spend his payola on pooh bears and pandas
But next week is coming, and quick as a wink
He's sure to log on and to click on the link
That always invites him to grin such a grin
Youd think he was 9 years old, maybe just ten
So to Chris, Smoking Man, and to Brian and Stu
To Nana, To Sinikal, Vegas and Gazoo
JeffB and The Green, to Gdub and LordVapor
Ofortuna ( My favorite VaporTalk Vaper ! )
Merry Christmas to all, and to those Ive forgotten
Dont take it too hard, Im old, my brains shot


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !

I've got a lot of his old records. Great stuff. For you youngins - hope you enjoy this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0KHt8xrQkk