Electronic Cigarettes

[Jayce]

Something that I haven't exactly advertised about myself is I've been a big cigar/little cigar smoker for the better part of 8 years. I figured instead of keeping quiet about a newfound direction I've taken I'd yack a bit about it here. For those that don't know, my wife and I have been parents for approximately two weeks now. Months ago I started to consider some realistic factors.

1) I absolutely love to smoke
2) I acknowledge it is a life threatening decision
3) I want to be able to play soccer with my grandkids someday

I started to Google around about electronic cigarettes, largely known as e-cigs. Man... what a crazy world that is. Walking into the e-cig world knowing nothing about it is pretty intimidating... much like what newer users coming to forums asking how to build a computer must feel. DDR3 this, socket 1155 that, PCIE 2.0 say whaaaat? Fast forward a bit, I caught myself on one of the largest e-cig forums out there and began asking questions. Long story short, I'm hooked on this vaping thing.

Yes - vaping. Sounds strange at first... that is until you begin watching videos on YouTube of big-time vapers who have posted hundreds of hours of video to help users like you get educated in the quickest way possible, such as GrimmGreen or pbusardo, who constantly refer to what they are doing as vaping. Suddenly it doesn't seem that strange. I learned a lot about this world, such as what an atomizer is, how to recoil a head, what a mod is and how cartomizer tanks work. I also learned the number one rule - avoid e-cigs at the local gas station. I know the Blu is out there, and if you have it and it works for you, great! That's awesome. But there are a lot of other e-cigs out there that might be worth considering.

To date, I have not had a little cigar/regular cigar since May. Do you have any idea how hard that was for me? I was not hooked from a nicotine stance. I was hooked from a, dangit, I just love smoking stance. There were times I could put it down and not touch anything for weeks. Then I'd light up again and pound through a pack in no time. Given the fact we purchased our first house 1.5 years ago, I've been doing a tremendous amount of work to it on my own. Plumbing, electrical, drywall, cutting down trees, planting new trees, painting, trim, baseboard, floors, ceramic tile, you name it - I'm doing it. Suddenly the breaks I was taking to catch my breath turned into a cigar break. One turned to two. You get the idea.

At any rate, I felt the need to yack a bit about it here in the event anybody else out there was curious about this topic. I cannot put into words how highly I recommend vaping in favor of smoking. It may take some time, it'll take some knowledge, some research, some asking of questions, and sure it takes a little bit of maintenance to clean and care for your e-cig (as opposed to going to the local store to grab a new pack), but I feel better, I smell better, and I AM better all around.

That is all.

 

[Joe C]

Not sure what e cigs are all about...health wise that is. I was a smoker for decades and quitting was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. Been about 5 yrs now smoke free.

Congrats on getting off the nicotine habit

 

[Jayce]

Not sure what e cigs are all about...health wise that is. I was a smoker for decades and quitting was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. Been about 5 yrs now smoke free.

Congrats on getting off the nicotine habit

The nice thing about vaping is you don't leave behind a smell for your wife to yell at you over. In the vast majority of cases, the fact is the nicotine is what keeps people on cigarettes. You can get your e-liquid (what is used in e-cigs for the flavoring) in different levels of nicotine. Most users either pick up vaping with a comparable nic level and continue on that. Others dumb it down one bottle/month/whatever at a time until they're hitting 0 nic. A lot of users enjoy vaping so much and it's seemingly cancer-free risk to just continue on with it. There's a thousand different use-case scenarios, but that's the basic jist of them all.

Personally, considering how much I enjoy smoking, vaping is completely awesome given the fact I get the smoke-like experience while not smelling like trash. It makes having a vape over my lunch break not something I feel the need to cover up. Working in a school district with a shirt/tie dress code, last thing I want is to have a meeting with principals about smoking and reek of cigar smoke. Just my 2c on that front.

 

[PP Mguire]

I used to be completely against smoking, and I relatively still am due to the fact that my whole family (mother, father, sister from 16 on) smoked. Chain smoked, and indoors. When people came over, they came to my room in our brand new house because the walls were yellow and if you sat on the living room couch you felt like your nails would turn yellow and you would need to burn your clothes off. On the other hand, I highly enjoy a nice pipe smoke on a rainy cool evening with a glass of Scotch. I know how cliche that must sound, but it is exceptionally relaxing for me. Pure tobacco doesn't seem to be "as harsh" as something in a mass produced cigarette like a Marlboro Red. I'll also admit that vaping appears to be harmless but it's pretty much in an infancy state right now with no "real" knowledge about long term effects. So with that being said I'll congratulate you on a less stinky, more healthy way to sidestep a habit. Just know that we don't know everything about it currently and you could be walking into something potentially worse. Probably not, just my 2c.

Anyways, since we are chatting about smokes, I like a nice hookah every once in a while too. Doesn't smell terrible and it's not really frowned upon like regular smoking. I get that less than I would smoking my pipe though.

 

[Sean W.]

ive never smoked anything...

 

[mac_mogul]

The problems with e-cigarettes are the chemicals that make up the 'juice' that is atomized and inhaled.

It contains propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol as well as some vegetable oils and nicotine.

Nicotine is not healthy, duh.
Vegetable oils are fine, not intended for inhalation but meh.
Propylene glycol is determined "safe" by the national food and drug association, but it is a key ingredient in things like anti-freeze which is toxic.
Polyethylene is also considered "safe" by the fda, but is the main ingredient in things like rocket fuel which is toxic.

So, there's that to consider.

 

[slaychandim]

I actually just got an E-Cig myself we have a store here in Minneapolis that specializes in them they have some pretty awesome juices or whatever you call them. I am just learing about all this I myself bought one at a smoke shop but at this store i was talking about they sell the peices for them so you can build your own essentialy. that may be my next step if the one I have wears out. I am at least gonna look into buying a glas tank with replacable wicks hopefully I will be able to use same batery thingy

 

[carnageX]

The problems with e-cigarettes are the chemicals that make up the 'juice' that is atomized and inhaled.

It contains propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol as well as some vegetable oils and nicotine.

Nicotine is not healthy, duh.
Vegetable oils are fine, not intended for inhalation but meh.
Propylene glycol is determined "safe" by the national food and drug association, but it is a key ingredient in things like anti-freeze which is toxic.
Polyethylene is also considered "safe" by the fda, but is the main ingredient in things like rocket fuel which is toxic.

So, there's that to consider.

You mean rocket fuel isn't good for you? Pry healthier than Redbull or any energy drink, lol.

 

[Jayce]

The problems with e-cigarettes are the chemicals that make up the 'juice' that is atomized and inhaled.

It contains propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol as well as some vegetable oils and nicotine.

Nicotine is not healthy, duh.
Vegetable oils are fine, not intended for inhalation but meh.
Propylene glycol is determined "safe" by the national food and drug association, but it is a key ingredient in things like anti-freeze which is toxic.
Polyethylene is also considered "safe" by the fda, but is the main ingredient in things like rocket fuel which is toxic.

So, there's that to consider.

It matters where you get the juice. Not all vendors are created equal. I prefer buying liquid from the local shop as he makes it there in front of you with a full list of what ingredients are in it. THAT makes the difference.

 

[PP Mguire]

It matters where you get the juice. Not all vendors are created equal. I prefer buying liquid from the local shop as he makes it there in front of you with a full list of what ingredients are in it. THAT makes the difference.

Yea was going to say the same thing. I don't know much about those e-cig units but I do know from my MiL (who is anal about researching things) that everything used to make the unit and who makes the fluid makes all the difference in the world for these things. I read a short deal on Reddit about how the wick can make a difference too. Not that it matters to me, but I do like reading up on some things my family members are doing. I'd rather them do that instead of smoking real cigs in front of their newborn daughter.