What is an E-Cigarette?
What exactly is an electronic cigarette?
Here is a rudimentary description with many of the fine details omitted for ease of introduction.
An electronic cigarette is a device that uses a battery and a heating coil to heat a liquid and produce a vapor that is both flavored and has nicotine. That sounds complicated but it isn’t really. It is simulated smoking with a similar experience including a “throat hit” and the satisfaction that only nicotine can deliver. The “throat hit” is sort of like the experience you get when drinking a carbonated soda and it burns a little and provides a satisfaction (if you don’t believe it just try drinking a flat soda). As it applies to smoking cigarettes I have never heard anyone say “Hey man that’s a great smoke cuz it has good throat hit!” I suppose the terms used would be “smooth and mellow” or “harsh”. But we are trying to simulate smoking here, so “throat hit” was coined as a term. Anyhow, I am trying to convince you that you can successfully quit smoking the real ones by using electronic ones instead. It provides the chemical satisfaction, it is enjoyable (I think more so), and many people have been successful in doing so.
Is it a safe alternative to cigarettes?
The world is much too political and backwards and litigious and otherwise dangerous to the small businessperson for me to advocate the use of electronic cigarettes. Here is my disclaimer: I am not a doctor of any kind, I don’t know anything that you can’t also read for yourself in books, magazines, or internet publications. Please use electronic cigarettes at your own risk. I also use e-cigarettes at my own risk. They might make me sick. It is possible in a wide world of possibilities that e-cigs are harmful to your health as well. I will state a few facts about the ingredients that are used and thus may enter into your body. You should research them yourself and read who uses them and in what types of medicines and cosmetics. Considering that you have purchased and are using e-juice made by reputable stores/manufacturers. The 2 main vapor producing ingredients (1. pharmaceutical grade propylene glycol 2. vegetable glycerin) are often used in medicines and without a doubt directly ingested or inhaled into the body when using/taking them. These ingredients are approved by the FDA in some medicines only and ARE NOT approved for use in e-cigarettes and are not recommended as safe for that purpose. You make your own judgment after careful consideration of the available information (not provided here). The other ingredients > nicotine and food quality flavorings are easy to research as well. I can tell you that food quality flavorings are safe to eat only when eaten in foods.
The typical electronic cigarette looks like this (pictured above).
It has two or three main parts: 1. An atomizer or cartomizer which contains the heating coil 2. A battery which screws together with the atomizer or cartomizer 3. A cartridge or other type mouthpiece
when using an atomizer (cartomizers do not use this
part). These 2 or 3 main parts together with a liquid (simply called “juice” or “e-juice”
made up of propylene glycol and or vegetable glycerine,
food flavorings, and nicotine) make up all the parts of an e-cigarette device.
The liquid is heated to produce a nicotine-laced flavored vapor. This vapor is inhaled into the lungs as you would smoke from a real cigarette. The
liquid itself ultimately gets inside and around the heating coil in one of
three possible ways: 1. From a plastic cartridge that doubles as a mouthpiece and
also has a reservoir inside to hold the e-juice (this cartridge is
press/friction fit on the end of the atomizer) 2. By directly
putting drops inside the atomizer using a dropper bottle (in which case a hollow
mouthpiece is used instead of a cartridge>called drip tip) 3. A cartomizer is used which holds juice in its own
self-contained area (a kind of combination atomizer/cartridge all in one
piece)is a less expensive than an atomizer and tends to be a shorter life span
item. This part has a one-hole rubber plug at the end to keep the liquid inside
and doesn’t need a mouthpiece.
There are many different makers and brands of ecigs on the market (almost exclusively from China). However there does tend to be standard sizes and interchangability between brands for the same model ecig parts. For instance if you buy the 510 size atomizer from Bauway, it will often fit on your Joye 510 ecig. Some of the most popular models of ecig are: the 510 (which shares the thread pattern with the 306), the 301, 801, 901, Kr808. There are more, but these are the biggies of which I am familiar.
Does it actually taste like a cigarette? I would have to say no. It is enjoyable and quite similar but not the same. If you give it a minimum of effort to make the switch it often times may eventually prove to be even more enjoyable than smoking was to you. Is that a good thing? Maybe not if you really would like to be off nicotine altogether. The next thing I will say is that you can still “Vape”, as it is called, with zero nicotine liquid. There are generic tobacco flavors, brand tobacco flavors, and food flavors and dessert flavors. There are different strength nicotine liquids and zero strength nicotine liquids.
How long does the battery typically last? That is hard to quantify exactly. The smaller types of e-cigs (that actually look like cigarettes) batteries can last less than an hour for a “heavy chain-vaper” and maybe up to two hours for the light user. The juice typically held in a cartridge has to be refilled often as well. The cartomizer is a step up in juice capacity over using an (atomizer and cartridge combo) but many users say there is a compromise in the flavor. That is to say many prefer the flavor of an atomizer over the flavor of a carto. You will have to try them both to see for yourself. With so many factors it is easy to see why many e-cigarette users get stuck carrying around multiple batteries, cartridges, and other paraphernalia for the frequent battery swaps and juice refills. The answer to many of these issues is e-cigarette “Mods” as they are called.
What are Mods? Mods make use of the atomizers and cartomizers that are also used in e-cigarette kits. Atomizers and cartomizers burn out like light bulbs and are available for purchase separately. They screw into the top of the mod the same as you would the stick type (cigarette looking) ecig battery. The mod typically has a much larger battery capacity and may provide days of use for some people. Some mods also have their own method of juice storage and juice delivery (called juice feeders). That is to say not only can you store two days or more of juice inside the mod, you can deliver it to the atomizer or cartomizer to be vaporized without taking your hands off to unscrew dropper bottles for refilling. For many feeder type mods (the good ones) you can vape and refill juice with one hand while walking your dog and talking on the telephone. Pretty special huh?
There are currently a fantastic amount of parties involved in the electronic cigarette market. The industry is growing in record time. There are manufacturers, suppliers, stores, clubs, internet forums, websites, huge conventions, and even Vape-TV. There is also a burgeoning market for “reviewers” to opine on all things e-cig. Some very popular video reviews / reviewers can be seen on YOUTUBE. I really don’t want to delve any deeper into the e-cig technicalities here but I will provide you a few excellent links to various places to learn, to talk about, and to buy things.
I did not get any permissions
to provide these links from owners. If you do not want your organizations link
to be included here just email me to be removed. I do not have any affiliation with these
links. I do not make any claims that these links endorse my products.
Two Popular Forums (where I go to gain the knowledge):
Some Popular Reviewers (find out what’s hot and what’s not):
Grimm Green,
The Vape Babe, Basilray,
BigIceDog
Some awesome tutorials:
Doctor Vapor, MistressNomad, GrimmGreenIndustries
Some Major Chinese Manufacturers of Electronic Cigarettes:
Some good places to purchase e-cigarette merchandise that I have personally shopped at:
Madvapes,
SuperTManufacturing,
Backwoods Brew, Valuevapor, ElectonicNicStix,
Myfreedomsmokes,
Ikenvape
A large database of almost every known e-cigarette mod:
