Brandon

Downloading now Told you I'd be back on my game eventually!

My sister lives in New Mexico and they use a swamp cooler in the summer time. LOADS more efficient than a regular exchange system that folks like us in the more humid areas are used to. Temps out there bump over 100 on a regular basis, sometimes over 110. But, there's nearly no moisture, so it doesn't feel that hot, and the swamp coolers really do shine. First time I visited them out there I was totally amazed. The condensation on the mustache was something I posted about awhile back Even though we're away from the winter dryness now, I still notice it from time to time. Also notice the cooling effect of the vapor when blowing it across my arms and hands when typing.

Dude, I'm watching Mike on Channel 4 weather out of OKC. Not exactly sure where you're at, but dayum you guys are getting slammed again! My grandmother and 9 of my aunts and uncles live in Stillwater. So far they're safe, but Jesus Christ this is just insane. Check in with us, let us know you're safe.

Thanks Nana. I'll be back in full swing soon on the forums, hopefully by the end of this week. Mother's Day this year was even busier than expected (which is a good thing) and now I'm drowning in paperwork. Once I get caught up on that and orient my new employees, I'll be golden. Freaking storm season... We're projected to have another bad day today like the one that destroyed Tektronik's roof. I only hope it's not as destructive and deadly as the last. But I'm slowly working my way through unread topics now... Tektronik: watch the weather again today man!

I'm so backed up on my reading. Sorry Tektronic, and sorry folks. Dang man, that's some major hail damage there. Glad you and your fam are safe! But sorry you had so much repair to do. My wife's Civic got totalled in 06 from that stuff and we had some major repairs to do on the house. But, nothing like what you got. Nobody down in my area was seriously injured, though a house about 3 miles north from me was pretty much demolished. The lady inside was banged and battered, but nothing too major (one of the deputy's mother). Few other houses in a nearby town about 30 miles away destroyed, but again nobody seriously injured. Also one touched down about 5 miles south of us, fortunately it was out in a field so nothing got damaged but some trees and fences. We've dodged a bullet 2yrs in a row now. Last year was the worst of course, with 8 deaths just under a mile to the east of me. Crazy times. But you folks up in northern and central OK got the worst of it this year. We watched the news out of OKC all night long, and it was horrible. Some folks got very lucky though, we watched some rescue footage of a family when their garage got destroyed and landed on top of their storm shelter. Neighbors were able to dig them out and nobody was hurt, so that's great. Storm season hitting a little late this year.... I really thought we'd get away with having no tornadoes this time Again, glad you and your family are safe sir!

I love the comments here. Honestly, look what this device is and what emotions it's envoking from us. It's expensive as hell in the PV world, that's no doubt. But it's also a break-away from what we're accustomed to. It has the blending of what we crave (flavor, throat hit, vapor, and nicotine), power / battery life, customizable experience, and also the connection with others in our community (via sharing customizable vaping profiles). So it definitely has a fusion of many different aspects of our life. Yes it's awesome. But at the same time, it steps on toes and crosses boundaries that we've not passed before. Will it be worth the very high cost? By the description, yes it will. And while I'll be the first to admit that I can be drawn in by sales tactics, I also know that the #1 most important piece of information I've EVER gathered about a product comes from reviews by people like me. I've always waited for information from people that are as OCD as me, and will most likely do the same here. But until that moment comes, I'll keep a special place in my mind for such a powerful and special device such as this I love the VaporTalk forum and also enjoy reading all the other PV forums, and I have a special place in my heart for VaporCast. All these different venues give me an outlet to people that enjoy vaping though I live in a place where it's nearly unheard of. Sharing vaping profiles gives me yet another outlet to learn, talk, and share with others.

http://vaporcast.com/audio_files_smbl/VaporCast%20-%20episode%2024%20-%20Deerunk.mp3 or http://feeds.feedburner.com/vaporcast/podcast

Ohhhh dang! Downloading now. I'll get back on that horse sometime

DougP925, one of the mod developers, joined the discussion to speak more on the technical aspects. This one excerpt from his post has pretty much sealed the deal for me. Basically, you'll be getting full power up to the moment the system senses the batteries are dead and shuts them off... I likie.

For me, if this mod lives up to the hype it would be a very sensible purchase. I say that not owning any high voltage portable device. The only high voltage device i own is a VaprLife passthrough (and the car adapter to use with it). Besides the fact that the "vaping power profile" is customizable, the fact that the voltage is variable would be worth it to me. I was *this* close to buying a joker, but the OCD in me said to wait until there has been at least one month of reviews on it. And even with the announcement of the Pulse, I'm still tempted to spring for a joker. But the wifey bought me a playstation3 a week ago for our anniversary, so now I've also got the fever for a 46" panasonic plasma so that we can watch blue ray movies. (sigh) Too bad an extra $grand$ won't suddenly materialize in my bank account!

*****EDIT: Cisco didn't actually make the screwdriver, it was Trog. Apologies for my misinformation***** Thus far the only way to keep track of the Pulse's development is to keep track of it on his thread at Vaper's Forum. To those not familiar with Cisco (and of course I'm not personally familiar with him, just his history, writings, and apperances on VaporCast) he's commonly known as the godfather of mod-PVs. Not that making the first mod was his idea, nor did he actually come out with the first mod. But he was one of the first. The Laser Pointer Mod and the ScrewDriver mod are essentially his. And he was also one of the first to make detailed tutorials. And this will be his first mod that he's making commercially. Nowadays tutorials are a dime a dozen, but that wasn't the case in the twilight years of vaping. In any case, I know for a fact that this type of mod is a step in the right direction. The more we distance vaping from smoking the better off we will be. Smoking never had electronics, pulse width modulation, or firmware Like every purchase I make, I won't be the first one. I'll wait for a few reviews first. But even with that said, I still plan on making a Nuck's FistPack.

Well it looks like Cisco has done it again. Except this time, he's going super high tech and bringing together a team of coders. The Pulse mod sounds like it's going to be the next big breakthrough in PVs. I honestly thought it was a joke until I got to around page 5 of the thread. I dislike posting links to other forums here, but I feel it necessary this time. The full description and thread can be found here: http://www.vapersforum.com/showthread.php?t=15615 The Pulse is microprocessor controlled PV, pulsing power to the atomizer at variable voltages. Pulse width modulation is something I've not ventured into yet in my DIY hobby projects, but there are tons of benefits. I just never thought about it being used to power an atomizer Here is quote from Cisco outlining the abilities: Thus far he says it will be available later this summer around June/July, and hasn't fully estimated the purchase price yet. The only hint in that regard is that he said it will definitely *not* be under $200. I personally don't expect to see it for much less than $300 considering what this beast can do.

@Twinnie - no I've not seen any video tutorials on refilling a 510 carto. I've seen some on different methods of refilling the KR808 carto though, and the process is essentially the same. Here are a few I found on a quick youtube search: Battery thread-dripping method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F6BUIGr2DI Syringe method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpnxZuJEiRo Condom filling method: I use the condom filling method personally. It's relatively quick and very easy, except I push down the mouthpiece into the condom rather than the battery thread end and I go much much slower. Also, I've stopped filling mine with as much juice as I used to. Now I stick with a single fill of a little more than 3/4 of a full condom. About 4/5s full I'd say. Yes they totally rock at 5v. Love them on my passthrough! But I don't have a 6v device to compare them to yet. I can imagine them getting very hot at 6v b/c at 5v, it's pretty warm.

Drat! Scott beat me again When work gets less hectic I'll be back on my game. So don't get used to it! BTW: Thanks for the shoutout sir.

Thanks for the thoughts there Dave and also the additional info. Disaster preparedness has really been on my mind a lot lately. Last year I got pretty freaky about it and read everything I could get my hands on (including bomb-shelter info) but I've resisted the urge to jump in with both feet. Also thanks for the tip on water. Food is easy: there are tons of long-term storage foods available. But I never really looked into the water thing. I will now! I've not yet tried regular alkaline batteries in a PV though I've got plenty of spare boxes (and atty connectors) to wire up and plenty of batteries. Once the dust has cleared from the mother's-day rush here at work, I'll have time to play with it. I'll be fairly vacant from the forums this week and next. We triple (or more) our staffing during the mother's day rush and I'm on 70hr work weeks now

Okay, so I burned my first one. Started getting an actual burnt taste from one last night. It was different from the usual taste-change that tells me they're getting dry and it's time to refill. This one tasted like it was actually burnt. Opened it up, and sure enough it was. 1 out of 5 I've opened up: not bad. I'll continue using them. Just can't beat that flavor and longevity! Love em!

Wow. HUGE price difference there! And yes, that's the exact same kit! Hard to believe there's such a difference.

Great posts in here everyone, thank you all! Sounds like I'll be making and packing a three AA alkaline battery box mod at the very least. Since AA alkalines are so easy to find, I think that would be my best bet. @Tektronik - actually I do need some more MREs. I've only got 2 left, so I've been cruising through the consumer-version market and have found some acceptable substitutes for the real military version. I've got my eye on a 12 case right now but I'm hesitating to press that button. I totally appreciate your gesture to try and find out more from your commissary. Thanks a lot! @FTJoe - I haven't seen that brand of freeze dried food before. I've been keeping a close eye on Mountain House and Alpine Air. But this Thrive brand is about half the cost of most 1yr systems I've seen. Thanks for the link!

As storm season hits me here in tornado alley I've started wondering about a 72 hour emergency kit (aka Bug-Out-Bag). I'm long overdue for making one, and last year was a stark reminder of that fact: 8 deaths here in my home town February 2009, only 1/2 mile away from me. I've been lucky in the fact that I've personally seen 9 tornadoes during my lifetime. Last year's 2009 disaster would have been number 10 except that it was night, so visibility would have been impossible except during the brief instances during lightening flashes, but I was huddled inside when the golf-all-sized hail started to hit. Despite seeing 9 other tornadoes during my life, last year's incident really shook me up. Something I didn't realize until my wife pointed out the fact that I've bought about 20 flashlights since then. Now I'm starting to realize it scared the **** out of me on an unconscious level. I guess spending the night alone in the bathtub in the dark with only a piddly little AA flashlight made me realize how unprepared I am. Yeah that's right, I was born and raised in tornado alley but I don't have a storm shelter. Shame on me (but that's a totally different topic). So besides other things, my question is this: Does a personal vaporizer really have a place in a 72 hour emergency kit? I've started to get a few items together (I'm a big fan of MREs since my brother-in-law went down to New Orleans to assist in the Katrina relief efforts, and survived off them for a couple weeks and brought some back to play with). But do they really belong in a 72 hour kit? The only device I can fathom to include would be a home-made 3AA alkaline battery box mod (in a disaster, who's going to think to grab some 14500 lithiums?). That's no problem to make, but should I really be thinking about nicotine when that weight and space could be better suited to more food, water, tools, radios, etc?

Whoops, holy crap! I totally messed up on that math! Sorry everyone! You're totally right Amcnutt. Now I'm having a hard time understanding how I made such a big mistake. But really I feel that you'll be happy with the money you spent, even if you only find 1 or 2 of the flavors to your liking. For us VG vapers that are looking for an excellent variety and a good throat hit, you wont' find another vendor that suits your needs as well as WordUpEcig.

An excellent point that is easily overlooked. The #1 factor to consider is if the vendor makes their own juice (here in the USA or otherwise outside of China), #2 if they come from China, and then #3 which individual vendor orders them from China. I can't remember the exact episode of VaporCast (I think it's 18 or 19) that mentions the difference between vendor's juices, but the point is made that *ALL* vendors have the choice of tweaking a juice's flavor recipe even if it's ordered from the same China manufacturer. So a flavor of chinese 555 from AwesomeVapor may be different from a flavor of chinese 555 from ELiquidPlanet even though they order from the same China manufacturer. All vendors can specify how they'd like the flavor to turn out in the end. We're blessed with the fact that not all juices are made the same, even if they come from the same chinese manufacturer. That's part of the fun in finding your favorite flavor. Not only do you need to look for your favorite flavor, but also your favorite vendor!

@Joe2003 - I'm bummed that your 510 carto turned out burned That really sux. I've torn apart 4 of mine so far, all of which have been used at 5 volts and less (multiple fillings), and haven't found a single bit of burnt material in them. Let's chalk that up to the fact that since they're disposable, the quality control isn't the same as a standard atomizer. That's to be expected. But also at the same time, it's still a little bit disappointing and also frustrating. At the moment, even if every single one of my 510 cartos turn out burnt after a single use, I'd still be happy with the performance. Would this cost me more than a regular atomizer? Absolutely yes. But considering the superb flavor and longevity, it's still worth it to me. And since I'm no longer on the quest for the perfect juice, I'd still be saving money. Maybe one day if the price drops considerably they will be more economical to be thrown away after the first use (as the manufacturer suggests). But for now, I'll continue to fill mine multiple times since they don't seem to burn. If I tear apart a few more and find one burnt then I may reconsider it. Maybe Janty will release their metal-filled-cart sometime soon and give us the solution we're looking for.

Honestly until yesterday I've not used a 510 atomizer for about the past 2 weeks. I've been enjoying an 801 at 5volts too much and my 510 cartomizers when I'm out and about. I loaded up a 510 atty yesterday just for the simple fact that it had been so long since I used one (note that the 510 was my starter atty). I was very disappointed with the flavor, so I loaded up a second one thinking the first one may be past its useful life. Same result: good vapor and throat hit, but piddly little flavor. I only own one 801 and 901, so perhaps my experiences aren't a good example. But the 901 is not very pleasing to me. The flavor is good, but all my different juices seem to taste the same. It's not that the flavor is bad, but even when i blow it out completely and do a dry burn, the juices still taste very similar. The 801 on the other hand is totally fantastic for me at 5 volts. Very good flavor (though not as good as a cartomizer), excellent vapor production (slightly better than a 510), and very good throat hit (though not as good as a 510). Personal taste really is personal. Fortunately there are several different atomizers and devices to try. Eventually you'll find the right combination if the 510 never seems to work well for you.

Quick update: 5 of my sister-in-law's employees are now happy vapers Really they took to vaping like ducks on water. She comments all the time about how they vape in their offices and come to staff meetings with a PV in their mouths! I think all of them bought 510s, but I'm not 100% sure of this. The 510 was my recommendation due to the better throat hit that newer vapers need to get off analog cigarettes and I'd recommend it again in a heartbeat. I think most of them bought their supplies from Vapor Kings, because they're in the same state as us. I also just sent my sister-in-law with all the extra bottles of juice that I don't like or just don't prefer. About 20 bottles I think I told her to keep as many of them as she'd like, then pass along any of them to her employees to try out. Honestly this is a mixed blessing for me. I'm so happy that at least 5 smokers are successfully making the switch to vaporizers. But I'm also a little trepidatious since the FDA is getting more active in trying to ban us and make it harder to get supplies. For myself, my family, and the other vapers that we've able to help I truly hope that everything will turn out for the best once all the dust settles.

I'm not an Ego/Tornado owner, but I do own a 510 mega battery. I love it. And even though since then I've bought a BB and a VaprLife passthrough, I still love that mega battery. There's much to be said for the holding a PV that has some weight and length to it. But, considering that the Ego/Tornado batteries cost only a bit more than the 510 mega batteries and last 3-5 times longer, I'd have to suggest the Ego/Tornado if you can afford it. Your options are better as well with the Ego/Tornado because you can safely use the newer Low Resistance 510 atomizers. If the Ego/Tornado was available when I bought my 510 mega battery, and I had read all the awesome reviews about it that are now available, I'd go the Ego/Tornado route instead.