Something happened while waiting for FoO

I discovered vaping.

Yup been a smoker for about 20 years, trying to quit for more than 5 years.
Tried nicotine patch and gum, didn't work. Will power? Nah.
Started when a friend of mine mentioned "e-liquid".
I thought "Wow must be some new hi-tech electronic liquid scientist invented."
Nope. Its just plain liquid made up of weird sounding chemicals used in everyday food products, plus nicotine. Put into an assortment of devices which vaporize it to create "clouds".

And it's supposed to cure smoking.



Yup, was skeptical. But my interest was piqued.
So went to the internets and saw a bunch of these..



plus you need this



Not as simple as lighting a cigarette.

Told my friend "Nah, too complicated." He replied "Dude you're playing damn PoE. Get your pussy ass and go to your nearest vape shop and ask for help."
Okay, because of the promise of a "smoking cure", I picked my cat and we went for the nearest vape shop. Very helpful and they gave me something like this.



Seem simple enough.
1) Unscrew the top.
2) Put the hi-tech "juice" in the tank.
3) Prime the pre-made coil with "juice".
4) Screw the coil and close the top.
5) Unscrew the bottom and put the battery inside.
6) Close it and wait for a few minutes
7) Press the fire button and inhale.
8) Cough the fuck out.

Yeah, not cool. Dude told me "You'll get the hang of it."
Now it has been about a month of vaping and about two weeks of Harbinger. Got 8/40, reached act 9 with around 10 deaths with my Dark Pact Witch. Consumed two bottles of my favorite "juice" plus some other flavours I tried and tested, and flavour swap.

Today I passed by the store I often bought my pack. I was a bit surprised that I did not miss them, but got curious and bought a pack of cigarettes. Take a hard pull... and it was so bad it was amazing. It's not like how I remembered it to be. I can't believe it. So again, I take a puff this time. It's better but still bad, and man the "cloud" was pretty meh. I smiled at my pack, "I hope I'll never miss you, we had such good times together."



I know vaping is still relatively new and there's still no long term study to prove how safe it is but so far as what my limited research tells me, its far better than smoking. I'm not telling people to vape but those who are trying to quit smoking, might as well try, it might also work for you.

They need to make a vape that tastes liek a cigarette and not a unicorns asshole after a cotton candy binge.

Also, the smoke feel is far different.

"

tramshed wrote:

...unicorns asshole after a cotton candy binge.

LOL!

Well, at least it can still replaces two of the habits of smokers: both the action of sucking through a stick and the nicotine their body craves. Better than continuing to suck on those cancer sticks.

"

tramshed wrote:

They need to make a vape that tastes liek a cigarette and not a unicorns asshole after a cotton candy binge.

Also, the smoke feel is far different.

There actually is tobacco flavor, but later when your taste returns some people would like to vape sweet or juicy flavors. Like me at first I've vape the menthol tobacco mimicking the cigarette flavor I've smoked. But then later turned to bubble gum flavor, then now minty sweet strawberry flavor. There are tons of flavor you can actually choose from. There are ones that mimic your favorite cigarette flavor, your deserts, your favorite fruity juice. And there are some nice weird flavors which are named just as weird like Suns Tears, Morning Breeze, Broken Chains, and what have you. Lots to choose from to help you transition from smoking to vaping. You can't really tell if you'd like it until you've vaped it.

Congrats! I don't think vaping is anywhere near as harmful (if indeed it is harmful at all) as smoking due to no tar which is what is really bad about smoking. My wife quit through vaping and I don't think she could have succeeded without.

Ill stick to weed

though I did have a vape for that at one point

"

kolyaboo wrote:

Congrats! I don't think vaping is anywhere near as harmful (if indeed it is harmful at all) as smoking due to no tar which is what is really bad about smoking. My wife quit through vaping and I don't think she could have succeeded without.

Thanks. Yup, tar and all the other gases and chemicals created by burning tobacco is what really makes smoking harmful. Nicotine is addicting, I'm not saying it's good but not the real harmful substance in smoking. I'm really glad that I've discovered vaping. I'm just a tad worried that the government might do something stupid like ban it or something. I feel it's okay if they regulate it, they can recommend and certify reputable juice and kit makers and create an information campaign on how safe it is and how to do it safely. But not to a point where small and medium companies will have a hard time or no chance to compete and make their products available to the market.

Yeah, actually it appears that nicotine is maybe a bit more harmful than caffeine. If they do ban vaping, they are making a serious mistake. It has helped lots of people quit that would not without it. Would be like taking one half step forward and three back.

"

element274 wrote:

Thanks. Yup, tar and all the other gases and chemicals created by burning tobacco is what really makes smoking harmful.

I would still be wary of vaping. Cheap made vape pens have been known to release toxic chemicals (due to cheap manufacturing materials and also the toxic chemicals used in some fluids you smoke) and faulty vape pen batteries have been known to explode while charging or in the pocket.

You're still taking a risk IMO. If this is something you plan on continuing to do, I'd suggest doing a bit of research on the 'hardware' you have.

To quote a manufacturer of high quality vape pens:

"

The composition of the metals in the coil can vary greatly even if the atomizer looks the same. Most of the coils are made from kanthal, nichrome, titanium alloy, Grade 2 Titanium and Grade 1 Titanium, depending on the manufacturer. Others are unknown alloys, and companies are not always aware of what they are. To avoid vape pens with unknown alloys, always look for tests. The atomizer could contain harmful materials, and possible negative long-term effects.

Not trying to be a fearmonger, just trying to pass on a bit of info that isn't usually covered when discussing vaping. Good luck on your journey to quitting smoking. :)

"

Shovelcut wrote:

I would still be wary of vaping. Cheap made vape pens have been known to release toxic chemicals (due to cheap manufacturing materials and also the toxic chemicals used in some fluids you smoke) and faulty vape pen batteries have been known to explode while charging or in the pocket.

Untrustworthy hardware is a problem regardless of what you're doing. Do you check your frying pan manufacturer to not sell pans with shoddy coatings that chip off and poison your food?

The unknown risk with ecigs is 99.999% less risk than the known risk of analog cigarettes. New things are always going to be scary to some people, but the status quo is untenable.

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re: danger of nicotine, I've yet to see one good test on its effects without also grabbing comorbid effects from cigarette smoking. It's neuroactive, it's an upper, we can find an LD50, but that's about the extent of current knowledge.

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re: regulation, I'm very upset that ecigs are being classified as cigarettes and/or tobacco products. It's going to take a decade or more to undo all the bullshit that's currently being levied on it, and the arguments for damaging it are a combination of that aggravating "we get it, you vape" meme and ignorant bureaucrats that see a way to expand their hate tax base.