Bought an E-Cigarette contraption! Anyone else using one?

[AP0ll0UK]

Evening All

My wife picked up an E-Cig from the local petrol station to see what it was like. We're both in our early 30's and have smoked since we were about 14, 10-20 Lambert & Butler.

The E-Cig looked straight forward enough, it came with a normal tabacco cartridge and the Mrs picked up a few Vanilla ones to go with it. USB charger, a blue light on the front when you were smoking it, and I have to admit I was impressed. A bit of a hit to the throat and whilst it didn't feel like I'd had a smoke when I'd finished, it seemed ok. Cheaper to run than actual cigarettes but still on the pricey side when you work it out and the battery didn't last long.

The Mrs bought it for her to use primarily but she gave it up after about a week after a bad day at work and went back to the Lamberts. It got me seriously thinking about stopping and I spoke to a guy at work who had the next level up which was a contraption with a longish battery and a clear tank at the top which he filled with liquid, a bit pricey up front but would easily pay for itself within a week.

I had a chat with the doctor and had my blood pressure checked [I was very surprised when it came back normal!], but I mentioned the E-Cigarettes to her and she mentioned that aside from the other 4000 chemicals I wouldn't be putting into my body if I stopped smoking, she showed me a chart that suggests that if you stop smoking before you're 35, the effects of smoking aren't completely reversed, but your probably about 90% of the way there, plus much less prone to cancer and other diseases.

I did my homework and last week I invested a few quid in something called a Riva 1100 Deluxe Starter Kit. Wanky Titanium finish, 1100ohm batteries [2 of], plus it came with a USB charger, a case, and a couple of small bottles of sample liquids, RY4 [???] and Raspberry. I also bought a B&H liquid which was recommended because I wanted something tabacco flavoured, Lambert & Butler, Apple, and Menthol. I just wanted tabacco flavours to be honest, but everyone who 'vapes' these things says that your taste changes within the first few weeks and to get some other flavours as the liquid tabacco versions aren't great.

I tested it out over the weekend and I have to say I haven't touched a cigarette since Friday lunchtime. I know its early days yet, and I'm coming down with a chest infection / man-flu which is usually a time that I fall out with cigarettes a little and smoke the bare minumum. I charged the batteries on Friday night and I'm still running the first one down. One of the 'clearomisers' isn't working properly, that's the see-thru plastic tank bit that contains a coil and the liquid. It gives me a nasty burnt taste and despite washing it and changing liquids it's still doing the same thing. The vendor has offered to send me a free replacement and upgrade me to a different version which is rebuildable and allows you to save even more money!

Overall I think it's great. I've nearly gone through the Menthol sample already and after that I had a go at the Raspberry one which I can honestly saw was pretty good! I'm trying Apple at the moment which isn't as good as Raspberry, but the point is that I didn't think the wanky flavours would be anything special but they're pretty good. The guy at work as an Irish Coffee flavour which he let me try and that was pretty good as well.

We never smoke in our house and I have to say I've no quarms about using this thing in the house. I'm not a hippy, I've never smoked rollups, I've no nicotine stains on my fingers and I hate smelling of smoke. We're just a young professional couple who've had a bad habit for far too long. The main motivation is money if I'm honest. I like smoking, after meals, with beer, when I'm stressed, not before I get out of bed in the morning but I've generally always enjoyed it. I know about the health implications and my wife is going to want a baby in the next few years and knows she has to stop and I said I would too. But at moment it's mainly money.

I've not plucked up the courage to use it at work as I'm currently contracting but the other guy uses his in the office. He's in the legal team and sits right next to HR and they don't say a word.

And with that sad about smoking it in the house, the first battery has just gone flat but thats not bad since Friday night and I've another one that I can use whilst the first one is charging.

I'm quite impressed and to be honest I didn't think I would be. I'm also impressed with the throat hit, and with the fact that I've only thought about having an actual cigarette when I've been stood talking to the Mrs at the back door when she's been having one. I intended to do both for a few weeks before giving up the real ones and moving to the electronic one. Aside from when I got food poisoning a few years back this is officially the longest I've gone without an actual cigarette for years. I'll be interested to see where I'm at in a few weeks / months when the novalty has worn off. The longevity seems to be in the different liquids though.

The contraptions themselves do look a bit like something a crack dealer would smoke his stuff through. Strangely I've noticed a few people with them in the last few weeks whereas I don't ever recall seeing them in the past. I do feel like a bit of dick standing outside with it I have to admit. But I think of the money it'll save me and feeling like a dick quickly subsides. £8 per day, verses the initial outlay for the contraption, some samples and delivery @ £48, and the probable ongoing running costs of less than £1 per day for the liquid [which you can buy in bulk and mix yourself to save even more money], plus probably £5 for new coils once every couple of months is going to be a huge saving for me if I can keep it up. It might sound sad but it's given smoking a bit of a new edge for me, tons of different flavours to try out including an espresso flavour that contains actual caffeine!

Are any of you actively using one, and if so what's your experience been like? Have you stopped smoking, or just dropped the real ones for the electric one / one addiction for another

[I Black Belt]

Been on one for 3 months now after nearly 30 yeArs on the fags.
Haven't touched a real one or felt the need to.
I'm using the long battery type with the ce4 clearomisers (best deal £10 for 7 off fleabag) and I replace them every two to 3 weeks
Battery has an LCD screen showing charge and number of puffs taken @ £12 for a 2400mah
Liquids. 24mg menthol or cherry.
Top tip for you. Read up on steeping. Makes a hell of a difference to your juices. I have stuff that's been steeping for weeks and I use it in rotation. There's no comparison for me between a steeped and unsteeped. The steeped gives a much better throat hit and superior flavour

[flumperino]

I've been using an e-cigarette for about a year. Not smoked a real fag during that time after having smoked for about 14 years.

I think they're great, and for me a valid alternative to normal cigarettes. Yes they may not be fully tested, or researched, and perhaps not wholly safe, but the way I look at it is that they absolutely must be better than the poison that you get in regular cigarettes. A gamble perhaps, but as I have tried and failed to quite the fags, I'm comfortable with it.

I haven't got into the sets and start packs and such, I just buy the 10 Motives ones from the supermarket that uses replacement cartridges.

The only negative thing for me is that I have become more addicted to nicotine than I was before. When you smoke a fag, that is a finite thing that, once it ends, you don't have one for another hour. But with the e-cig I sometimes find myself sitting on the couch just puffing away for half an hour, lol. But I view this as a small price to pay.

So thumbs up from me :o)

[macmilm]

Lets hope with all the people jumping to these that in 10 years time they dont turn out to be worse than ur usuall fags ;-)
You would assume not but you never know ....

[RSV]

Gave up smoking about three and a half years ago now (when my Mrs told me she was pregnant). I used patches starting with large patches for two weeks then gradually reducing the size, think the course was about 6weeks long. In that 3 and a half years I've probably had about 10 fags while pissed so not perfect but pretty damn good. I know quite a few people who have ditched cigs for ecigs and fair play to them it seems to work well but the way i look at it is your still addicted to Nicotine!

[Fon]

I could easily smoke 20-40 fags a day.

When mine arrived (many years ago) I havent smoked since.

All of my mates that tried these, and continued to smoke, never gave up smoking.

All of my other mates, that binned the fags on day one, have all given up.

Fon

[Ganty]

Just ordered the kit in the OP, let's see if I can adapt.

[blaggard]

The nicotine dependency point is valid, try to wean yourselves off them once you're on them.

[I Black Belt]

The premise is simple, you reduce the nicotine content in the juice over time
For me it's the oral fixation and something to do with my hands that the ecig really helps with

[macmilm]

For me it's the oral fixation and something to do with my hands

buhahahahhaa

[AP0ll0UK]

Many thanks for the feedback, I didn't expect many of you to be using them.

I also often find myself either on the way to work, or whilst I'm at home just puffing away on the thing because I'm enjoying it. I think that is suggesting to me that I need to go for the 24mg strength liquid verses the 18mg which I'm on at the moment. I might be a bit more tempted to put it down after 5 minutes.

Another thing I've also started doing is just getting the end of it and sucking up as much as I can rather than having a short drag on it the same as I would a cigarette. The throat hit is a bit different but it feels stronger. Again that might be a sign that I need stronger nicotine.

This cold or whatever it is has really hit me hard today and amongst everything else I've lost my sense of taste and smell so the experience has been quite different. It feels like I'm doing it for the sake of it as I can't enjoy the taste, but I know a cigarette would feel much much worse.

Here's a question for those of you that have one, or for Ganty who has just ordered his, Menthol and Cherry has been mentioned of which I definately need more Menthol as it mixes quite nicely with the other liquids I have such as Apple and Raspberry. But what other liquids do people like, or dislike, and have you found a particular vendor which you think does really good liquids?

The custard one keeps popping up a 'lot'. There's even one guy who has a site dedicated purely to his custard flavour that is talked about a lot on various forums. The RY4 liquid I have seen described as the champagne which you should only bring out on special occasions, apparently some people say it's a tabacco flavour whereas other people say it's more of a coffee flavour. Even though my replacement clearomiser has arrived today I'm going to refrain from trying the RY4 as I simply won't be able to taste it! Other people on other forums seems to be on some quest for the perfect RY4 and have bought about 20 of them from different vendors and have reviewed each one!?!?!

There's also a guy in Israel called Yaeliq who runs a website and Facebook site and he seems to be getting quite a big following. He's doing 100ml of various flavours for $18 plus $10 I think, but I've seen it mentioned that he's pushing his prices up soon to $36 for 100ml. There's tons of other places as well in the UK, but in particular I want a nice coffee / americano / espresso that has caffeine in it, an Irish Cream one like the guy at work had, I'll probably give the custard one a blast seen as everyone seems to rave about it, I saw a lemon sherbert one somewhere which I'd also like to get, and also the Jack and Coke, Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew liquids done by the guy in Israel of which you can really customise the stuff that he does -

Flavor Strength
1-standard – original recipe
2-meduim – a little strong
3-strong – very strong taste

Cooler, Sweetness, Mint, Sour
This is an extra flavor to your juice
0 – don’t add extra
1-standard – add a little boost
2-meduim – add a medium boost
3-strong –add a lot of boost

And there was me trying to find a Lambert and Butler replacement! I know it probably sounds stupid to most of you but its actually quite cool all this flavoured liquid stuff. If I can find some I like then I'll pickup the bigger bottles as opposed to small samples and I might even try and pickup the base liquids and try to make my own, maybe.

Am I ok to post links to this stuff as it would save those who are interested trawling the net when I've saved it in my Favorites? I'm in no way affiliated with any sites and I don't sell the stuff, I've just got links to different bits and pieces across the different sites that I've come across on my travels.

As for the steeping thing, thanks for the advice I Black Belt, I'll have a read about that after I've had some kip as I'm knackered. I've seen it mentioned but haven't read too much about it yet.

@macmilm - You can come round to my pad and we'll cover the walls in silver foil, wear little silver hats and you can have a blast on mine whilst we watch documentaries on Aliens having gangbangs in moon bases :-P

[Fon]

The slower you pull (suck) the bigger throat hit your get!

Fon

[macmilm]

@macmilm - You can come round to my pad and we'll cover the walls in silver foil, wear little silver hats and you can have a blast on mine whilst we watch documentaries on Aliens having gangbangs in moon bases :-P

Can we also discuss my views on the truth about hitlers death in the bunker (or lack of it) ???

[Hippie on hill]

Ruyan was described to me as Chinese for like smoke.
The odd thing is that no 2 ruyan4 I've ever ordered or mixed up myself have been exactly the same lol
Some have more vanilla, more cinnamon, some are sweeter than others ....

I dunno if you've seen this thread already, http://www.digital-forums.com/showth...ighlight=Ecigs well worth a read if you've not
I don't recommend buying any liquid from e-liquid.cn anymore since they switched to Microliq as all the Microliq liquids I've tried have all had a horrible tobacco after taste now.

Currently on Ruyan4, Red Bull and Double Mint 7mg PG liquid I've mixed up myself with Hangsen flavourings from Cig-eliquid.co.uk, CE4 and CE6 clearos, and eGo batteries from e-liquid.cn

[AP0ll0UK]

The slower you pull (suck) the bigger throat hit your get!

Fon

Holy shit, you're a genius! Thank you, I feel like such a noob! I was just sucking back on it quite quickly and hard [uw er]. Needless to say mine didn't come with any instructions, but the batteries were guranteed to be genuine and not fakes which blow up if you leave them on charge all night.

@macmilm You're talking shit mate, don't you know that Hitler and the rest of the high ranking Nazi officers fucked off to the North Pole in one of their UFO's and they've been living there ever since! They apparently travel to South America quite a bit via the hole that runs through the centre of the Earth. So yes we can discuss that all you like ;-)

@Hippie on hill - Thanks I hadn't seen that thread but I'll have a read through it now I'll also take a look at that website you mentioned and see what's on there as I'd quite like to try and mix my own at some point just to see what happens. What's the Red Bull like, and the Double Mint verses Menthol? I've seen Softmint mentioned somewhere which from a certain site is supposed to be very good. The Menthol I've got seems to mix great with anything. Have you tried any of the Coffee liquids?

My CE5 clearomiser arrived today, I've had it in bits already and put it back together but I'll save that for when I can taste again and get some of that RY4 in it to see what all the fuss is about

[macmilm]

So many innuendos lol

[super mike]

... I've never smoked rollups...

What's wrong with rollies?

Good luck with quitting.

[AP0ll0UK]

@macmilm - Yes I know, I know. And spitters are quitters

@super mike - Nothing is wrong with them, my Dad used to smoke them. I just have a stereotype in my mind when I think about smoking them but that's probably more to do with the fact that I used to live in Bradford and half the people there make new rollies from the ones they've picked up off of the street

[Hippie on hill]

I'm not keen on the menthol myself, the double mint tastes like double mint chewing gum and red bull tastes like the drink imo
Once you've used menthol or mint in an atty i wouldn't recommend using it for fruit or drink flavours without giving it a good clean out btw as the flavour does tend to linger and make them taste a bit like having a drink after brushing your teeth otherwise

Not fancied any of the coffee flavours myself but I think DJOD was a fan of 1 of the Mocha flavours before he gave up.

[AP0ll0UK]

I know what you mean about the Menthol lingering but with the fruit stuff it's quite cool, especially with a cold. I wouldn't put a coffee or anything kind of drink type liquid in with the Menthol though as that would just be strange!

@super mike - Have you tried the electronic cigarettes?

@Ganty - Please let us know what you think when the kit arrives and also how you get on. Good luck mate!