What's it all about?

ozzz

So recently enough, my friend bought an e-cig (he bought the parts separately) with different nicotine fluid flavors (taste pretty damn good) and as a result has been off tobacco for 2 weeks.

I've read Alan Carr's book and only managed to go off the cigs for 3 weeks. I've also tried to stop by going cold- turkey, patches etc. I've even tried the disposable e-cigs from Centra that cost €6 but they didn't taste great and I didn't feel satisfied afterwards.

Now I'm thinking of buying an e-cig like my friend's mentioned above with the different flavors.

However, can anyone answer a few questions? I would really appreciate any help in quitting them little evil sticks.

1. I understand that pure nicotine in e-cigs is a lot less harmful than tobacco in cigarettes but really how bad is it? Can it have long- term effects? Is it really just a 100% pure nicotine?

2. If I didn't like the disposable e-cig, what are the chances that I also won't like the more expensive e-cig that I'm after. I don't want to end up spending money just to realize that. Anyone have a similar experience?

3. Does anyone have anything good/ bad to say about e-cigs?

Looking forward to all your replies!

grindle

ozzz wrote: »

1. I understand that pure nicotine in e-cigs is a lot less harmful than tobacco in cigarettes but really how bad is it?

About as bad as having two or three coffees a day.

ozzz wrote: »

Can it have long- term effects?

None that we know of but any mild stimulant that constricts blood vessels probably has some sort of effect. Nothing that's been repeatedly measurable so far.

ozzz wrote: »

Is it really just a 100% pure nicotine?

Nope, not at all. The strengths on the juice market range from 0% to 4.5% (45mg).
2.4% (24mg) would be seen as pretty strong and most people use 1.2% (12mg)-1.8% (18mg).

ozzz wrote: »

2. If I didn't like the disposable e-cig, what are the chances that I also won't like the more expensive e-cig that I'm after. I don't want to end up spending money just to realize that. Anyone have a similar experience?

I would've thought it fairly slim - trying a crap ecig with low power and shitty flavours tends to be the reason people think ecigs aren't for them for the obvious reasons both of us outlined.
It's like trying a Denny's sausage and thinking "Jesus, is that what a sausage is? Never again."
If you smoke pre-rolled packs and these keep you off the cigs for just one week, you've lost no money.
There's a very odd thing going on in a smoker's head when burning your money is less of a waste than buying a thing with it.
As a former rollie-smoker I've spent a metric fuckton more than I ever would have on tobacco, but it's been worth it for my health.

ozzz wrote: »

3. Does anyone have anything good/ bad to say about e-cigs?

Good
Healthier
Tastier
Less smelly or not smelly at all - this depends on the inclinations of whoever's around you, some love the sweet flavours and others like my GF make an Olympic sport out of pissing and moaning so their opinions on most things should be discounted
Cheaper for pre-rolled smokers

Bad
More expensive for rollie-smokers
If you're in anyway curious or like tasting things the way they should be you're screwed - it can become a time-filling and slightly technical hobby for the small fraction who get into rebuilding. It might not seem like a warning sign to you now but the fact that you're the type of person who joins a forum or tries to learn about some subject vastly increases the chances of you falling into this nerd/enthusiast category eventually.

StickyIcky

What Grindle says 100% /thread

Seriously though my input would be

3. Does anyone have anything good/ bad to say about e-cigs?
Good - where do I stop... I just can't tell you how good they are (compared to smoking) it's just a complete no brainer. No lighters, no ashtrays, no horrible smell, no stained teeth, no ash, no dust everywhere, no cancer from smoking, no giving people second hand smoke.
Bad - they can be a pain in the ass when they're not working well. You need backups for everything in case something fails or stops working well you need another one that's working to stop you from just going and buying some smokes which always work and have no faffing about.
Another bad it's hard finding juices that you like. With smokes you'll just stick to the same brand but with juice you don't like 3-4 of them that much, then you find one that you love but then you want to try this other one and ooh that's nice, and the next one oh I don't like that. Then another one and before you know it you have a dozen bottles of different juice and half a dozen different types of actual e-cigs. Before you know it you're spending €100 on vaping gear and even then you're still thinking could there be something even better out there

2. If I didn't like the disposable e-cig, what are the chances that I also won't like the more expensive e-cig that I'm after. I don't want to end up spending money just to realize that. Anyone have a similar experience?

I started buy trying a crappy little e-cig and I liked it in the fact it kinda felt like smoking! It was 'high strength' and gave me a bit of a head buzz. Note however at this stage I was only smoking when drinking so I hadn't had any nicotine yet that day. So yip I was hooked immediately. I Wanted to substitute my 'drink smokes' with something healthier. I bought the 'cig-a-like' ones first... they were okay but always ran out of battery and needed charging. Then I moved up to the 'eGo' sized ones and that was MUCH better. Now I'm using the big ass 3rd generation styled ones that look more like a bong than a cigarette.

1. I understand that pure nicotine in e-cigs is a lot less harmful than tobacco in cigarettes but really how bad is it? Can it have long- term effects? Is it really just a 100% pure nicotine?

There are numerous very long scientific reports on e-cigs and modern e-cigs have no harmful chemicals in them. Nicotine would be the most harmful one but at the doses there are in cigarettes and ecigs the effects are similar to caffeine. It's a mild stimulant and if you have a pre-existing heart condition it's advised not to take nicotine because it has short term effects on the vascular system, which completely go away after the effects wear off.

In my opinion, if you smoke... you're flipping a coin and saying cancer heads yes tails no, that's idiotic. "Electronic cigarettes" or nicotine vapourisers, are so harmless compared to cigarettes they're not worth even thinking about. The only bad thing about them is that if you use them you could carry on being dependant on nicotine. I myself could (and have and do) easily give them up for a couple of weeks just to prove I'm in control and not the nicotine. But that's the worst thing about them. If you can enjoy drugs sensibly (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and chocolate of course), moderately and not damage yourself or others why not.

ozzz

Thanks for the lengthy replies!

I'm really leaning towards 'em now.

jamie72

grindle wrote: »

Bad
More expensive for rollie-smokers
.

I'm challenging this.

Over a six month period:

Ecigs
2 Ego Cs @ €14 each = €28
2 Kanger 2T @ €5 = €10
23 replacement heads @ €1.40 = €33
5 100ml Bottles from bargain vapour @ €14 = €70
Total on ecigs = €141


Rollies (I think €5.20 a packet now?)
40 Packs of rollies @ €5.20 = €208
Total on rollies = €208


These are all based on my own usage. I smoked 1.5 packs of rollies a week and a 100ml of juice from bargain vapour lasts me just over a month.

Other factors come in as well. I assumed the T2 heads being changed every week, but that bargain vapour stuff is very nice to the coils, and you would probably get longer from them, not to mention they can be washed.

EDIT: Forgot the €2 for the charger for the Egos, I'll just say it's displaced by not having to buy a lighter for the rollies

grindle

I'll challenge your challenge and raise you a challenge.

This might be an unfair comparison, but considering the amiunt of rollie smokers who buy illegally or get friends to buy from abroad...I bought all of my tobacco in Amsterdam. €100 would last me six months @ 5-10 a day.

Now, rebuilding and DIY is cheaper week to week considering my builds cost less than a cent per rewick and my juice costs are around €1.50-€2 a week...but I'll not break even for a couple of years at this stage. Presuming I don't buy anything else. Which would be a wild presumption. People are just gonna buy new gadgets.
And the vast majority aren't going to be making their juice and rebuilding. If the mods, atties, batteries and know-how were there when I just started I'd be breaking even but I'm not gonna recommend every newbie to start doing everything I'm doing because when you start you just want to quit cigs.
Fine, I concede - rollie-smokers: ecigs can be cheaper if you jump into being a frugal ecig nerd immediately.
Don't buy an eGo as a starter, get a brass Nemesis and a Helios clone and drip tip, two Sony 30A batteries and an eFest Luc charger, some O.32 Kanthal wire and a large pack of natural cotton, and a multimeter. And some nic base, PG, VG and unprocessed tobacco leaves and flavour concentrates and syringes and empty bottles.
You'll break even in 6-12 months depending on juice use.