[mob17]

Just thought i'd share my experience of quitting smoking.

I have been a regular 15 a day B&H Gold smoker for years. I always found it hard to stop. I tried patches, gum (YUK) and simply going cold turkey. None of these worked as i always thought about smoking a cigarette.

Then one day someone introduced me to e-cigarettes. These are essentially a cigarette looking piece of electronic equipment. Most comprise of a battery and a cartomiser.

The cartomiser is filled with e-liquid, which is comprised of nicotine solution, propylene glycol solution (acts as the carrier and makes the vapour) and flavouring. You can have so many combinations of nicotine strength, from 24mg to zero. A normal B&H Gold cigarette is 18mg. There are also loads of flavours, ranging from tobacco ones to chocolate!

So when you inhale, the battery powers an atomiser (in the cartomiser) which heats the e-liquid to produce nicotine vapour. This is the key to e-cigarettes and why i think they are the best form of nicotine replacement therapy. Because there is no combusion, there are NO harmful carcinogens, tar or carbon monoxide. The only thing you could consider even remotely unsafe is the nicotine, which is similar to a hit of caffeine from a cup of tea. You will only exhale vapour so its legal everywhere. No smell, no staining, nothing.

How does it feel? Well if you go for an established brand with quality products you will not be disappointed. If you go for the disposables you will almost certainly go back to regular cigarettes. I'm the sort of smoker who NEEDS that cig in the morning or else im a moody bastard. These easily provide me with the fix i need. The vapour production is very good and you get a very good throat hit.

The flavours are great too, and can be mixed. My favourite is a mix of two tobacco flavours, which is a mix of a harsh rich tobacco and a more sweet tobacco. I may try experimenting by blending some coffee or chocolate with the tobacco.

I've honestly not looked back since starting. It's been exactly 6 weeks. I don't even think about a cigarette anymore, even when friends are smoking i am more than happy to use my e-cig.

I've used 2 companies so far. Sky Cig and Jac Vapour. I used Sky Cig a few months ago then got back to normal cigarettes. Both are very good legit companies, but Jac Vapour wins hands down. They sell cartomisers which you can refill with e-liquid (which you can also buy from them). This vastly reduces the cost of e-cigarettes (compared to Sky Cig type companies who only provide pre filled carts), to roughly 40p a day based on 10-15 cigarettes! Jac Vapour is the company i have used for the past 6 weeks and they have been flawless, excellent quality products and customer service. www.jacvapour.com This may sound like an advert but i'm not affiliated with them in any way, i just want more people to stop smoking and actually try a method which works perfectly for me.

I have been using the smaller version of e-cigarettes so far, the V3i's, which are about the same size of a cigarette and look like one too. I now feel like i want to upgrade and start "vaping" with the VGO2's, because it's getting a bit tedious refilling and charging daily. The VGO2's have a bigger battery to give way more life, and use tanks, not cartomisers. Apparantly you get better and thicker vapour production and a battery which can last a day and a bit of heavy vaping.

For all you crack heads out there, you can even make or buy THC e-liquid! How cool is that. You can get high off a few drags with no one suspecting anything, apart from your face lol. It's much healthier than smoking a spliff. Disclaimer: i do not endorse drugs but i understand if people are addicted to THC (cannabis) I haven't tried this but have read on the internet about it. If it helps you cut out the carlncerous chemicals etc then its a good thing in my book.

So if you really want to stop smoking i urge you to try e-cigarettes. At first i thought it was a gimmick, but it is a serious form of nicotine replacement therapy which actually works. It feeds the chemical AND physical addiction to smoking. It feels great to take around 8 drags anywhere i want, and then pop it back in my pocket. Then when i feel like more a take a few more drags. Your mind will tell you when you've had enough, so you're not forced to take more nicotine than your mind needs, unlike normal cigarettes where people feel they need to fnish them.

So it doesn't even feel like i'm trying to stop. They are also vastly cheaper and healthier than normal cigarettes, so more money on other things

If you do decide to order off Jac Vapour, use promo code ECR69 and get 20% off

I hope this has been helpful.

[xs2man]

Nice write up. My quit date was 16th July, and apart from 2 weeks offshore Norway where they are meant to be banned, I haven't touched a cigarette. I was 20+ a day (40 when drinking, and I was verging on alcoholic for a while).

I actually started with Skycig also, but that was back near the start of the year. Never got me off the smokes, just halved my consumption. Until I lost the battery charger. Then back on the smokes. I just don't like cig-a-likes, and as you say, they probably wont be enough to get you off the smokes.

BUT, on the 16th July, I got through the post a CE5 Blister pack from Paradise Vapes. They only have CE4's in stock just now, but at £7 you can't go wrong. I also got some juice ordered with mine. I got some Irn Bru and some Red Bull to start with. And they sent me through a wee sample of some Pina Colada too.

This got me hooked, and within a day, and with the help of the wonderful e-cig forum : http://allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/ I had decided that this was for me, and that I would invest straight away in some higher quality gear.

Anyone else thinking of trying this out, I would recommend the blister pack I linked to above to start. And get some juice (10ml at a time in case you don't like it).

If you do like it, order another blister pack as you'll need a spare to use while the other one is charging. And wait until your order from China has arrived, lol. I use Fasttech for most of my "vaping" gear.

This is what I currently have :

Mods (the thing that provides power to your clearomiser that holds the juice):

Vamo (I have V4, bought from the UK at a much higher price, but this kit will sort you out).



https://www.fasttech.com/products/1411/10004394/1395800

Less than £40 delivered. But will include your batteries and one of the best chargers available. My favourite mod I currently have in hand.

My SID :



https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/...cigarettes-set

Again, around £40 delivered. Comes with batteries and a charger, but this comes with a vivi nova clearomiser / tank for holding the e-liquid. Just add juice.

And I am currently awaiting a Innokin MVP v2 :



https://www.fasttech.com/products/1411/10004594/1390901

This one is just under £30. The battery is built in, so you just charge it up via USB. It apparently has a battery life of 1.5+ days depending on how much you use it. Where the other 2 only last a day or so on batteries. It also comes with an iClear30 tank, which holds 3ml of juice (I vape that a day roughly). And you can use it to charge your phone or similar when out and about. Fantastic looking piece of kit.


The mods I have are all variable voltage and variable wattage, which means you can ramp up, or ramp down the hit you receive depending on your needs at the time. Rather than just supplying a constant voltage which may or may not always hit the spot.

My favourite clearomisers / tanks at the moment are the Evod, Protank and Protank Mini. You can search them on fasttech if you want to see what they are. But dont get evods from fasttech as they are clones. Healthcabin do real ones from China, or just get them from a UK supplier. They are only around a fiver. The Protanks and mini Protanks are pyrex tanks, use the same coil heads as the evods, and are great. My favourites, and I have many.

It's easy to get carried away with all this stuff, but I love it.

Currently vaping Blueberry + mint, or Mojito Madness regularly. And they hit the spot just fine. Don't really like tobacco flavours much.

I also vape 24mg 70/30 (PG/VG) mixes, down from 36mg 50/50. I would recommend anyone starting out from a 20+ a day habit to go at least 24mg.

I mix my own as well as buying it in premixed though. You can't beat the Chinese for selling 100ml of 24mg blueberry for less than a tenner. A months worth of vape for just a little more than a packet of smokes. Nice.

That said, there are a LOT of good UK suppliers for e-juice, and some lovely flavours. Expect to pay anything from £1.50 to £6 for 10ml of the stuff from UK though. But you don't have to wait 2 weeks on postage.

[gaza01]

Im not a smoker myself but this thread makes for an inspirational read. Nice one guys!

[lilez19]

yeah i use the vaporizer and i love it !!! No nasty cigg smell!

[rich1068]

Good for you guys. I stopped February 4th this year. And I started a thread too. Look who's at number 4!!

I never did go back to the fake ciggies after that try out. Just went cold turkey. Stopped drinking too and tbh I miss that more.

And after all those years smoking? I just feel stupid now.

[mob17]

Originally Posted by xs2man

Nice write up. My quit date was 16th July, and apart from 2 weeks offshore Norway where they are meant to be banned, I haven't touched a cigarette. I was 20+ a day (40 when drinking, and I was verging on alcoholic for a while)

My quit date was exactly a month after yours (16th Aug)!

Thanks for your thoughts. It's good to know there are other, more advanced users on here. I'm still relatively new to this but i really want to start using more advanced equipment. It is daunting, but i'm going to join that forum you linked and try and learn more!

I really do want to stay with Jac Vapour as they are a UK based (Scotland) company. Their shipping/communication is super efficient. However, if i am limiting myself and missing out, i might try other retailers based on the info on that forum and what you have said.

100ml for less than a tenner is brilliant! My juice currently costs me £40 for 100ml! Before i run out of my current juice i will order some from that site you linked

By the way, do you think i should go straight for Variable Voltage ones? Also do you use mixing bottles and syringes, if so any links?

Originally Posted by rich1068

Good for you guys. I stopped February 4th this year. And I started a thread too. Look who's at number 4!!

I never did go back to the fake ciggies after that try out. Just went cold turkey. Stopped drinking too and tbh I miss that more.

And after all those years smoking? I just feel stupid now.

Yeah i remember that thread! Took me 6 months since commenting, but hey ho!

Got a lot of respect for you going cold turkey. It is the best way but very hard! You do feel silly after quitting, so much money wasted killing yourself!

[doughboy]

Well done guys for getting off real ciggies, but with all due respect, you've not really 'given up' have you?

You're just cranking up your nicoteen addiction to a new level on the assumption it's 'safe' to do so with some new gadgets (unregulated and untested made in all sorts of dodgy places overseas).

I gather the authorities want to class these as medicines and thus make them tested, safe, and only available from chemists, makes sense really.


I got hypnotised in May 2003 and stopped straight off from a 15 year 20-30 a day habit.

Had my last ciggy as I waited outside for the appointment and never even considered one after one 30 min NLP session (neuro linguistic programming).

Wasn't really that hard, I just came out of it as a non smoker.

Best £200 I ever spent.

[Sparky68]

I have been on and off the e-cigs, have tried the Skycigs which i found useless [batteries always died] and the e-motives which seem better.

Would really like a vapour one though but, not sure which is best.

[mowflow]

Well done. I gave up a while ago but my wife still smokes. I really do wish she would at least make an attempt to chuck it. I think she is so afraid of failing and is further discouraged by how easy i found it (i'm one of those non addictive smug bastard types) as she is always trying to get me to start again.

I may well buy her one of these gadgets.

[safety_james]

Nice write up and well done and I admire you for doing it.

Ive been a 15+ a day on the horrible Menthol cigs, and its annoys me. I stopped once for a few months and then started up again, and now its not even enjoyable, its just part of leaving the office for a few mins or something I do on the 45min drive to work.

Ive got a pack of e-lites given to me through work, so maybe Ill have a crack at it.

I know its 100% down to me.. I just struggle.

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by mob17

Got a lot of respect for you going cold turkey. It is the best way but very hard! You do feel silly after quitting, so much money wasted killing yourself!

It was so much easier than I thought it would be though. Fair enough I got tetchy a few times but other than that no problem. Definitely to do with your state of mind. I've halfheartedly tried a few times in the past but never lasted more than a few hours. This time I think it was something to do with looking at my children and starting to feel a bit mortal.

Thing is I don't feel financially better off after giving up either of my vices. Nicotine is such a great appetite suppressant and now I just spend money on food and eat twice as much. I think I must have put on at least a stone.

Originally Posted by doughboy

Well done guys for getting off real ciggies, but with all due respect, you've not really 'given up' have you?

You're just cranking up your nicoteen addiction to a new level on the assumption it's 'safe' to do so with some new gadgets (unregulated and untested made in all sorts of dodgy places overseas).

I gather the authorities want to class these as medicines and thus make them tested, safe, and only available from chemists, makes sense really.

Ah, who cares? They're not going to kill themselves. That's the point. And as far as regulation goes I'm extremely suspicious of those who want to regulate it. Some of the anti-smoking lobby seem to be having some sort of knee jerk reaction because it's like smoking.

Originally Posted by mowflow

Well done. I gave up a while ago but my wife still smokes. I really do wish she would at least make an attempt to chuck it. I think she is so afraid of failing and is further discouraged by how easy i found it (i'm one of those non addictive smug bastard types) as she is always trying to get me to start again.

I may well buy her one of these gadgets.

Not wanting to be rude but how do you cope with the smell? If I get the odd whiff of a cigarette it's still pleasant to me but I don't know how I'd get on now living with someone who did.

[mob17]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Well done guys for getting off real ciggies, but with all due respect, you've not really 'given up' have you?

You're just cranking up your nicoteen addiction to a new level on the assumption it's 'safe' to do so with some new gadgets (unregulated and untested made in all sorts of dodgy places overseas).

I gather the authorities want to class these as medicines and thus make them tested, safe, and only available from chemists, makes sense really.


I got hypnotised in May 2003 and stopped straight off from a 15 year 20-30 a day habit.

Had my last ciggy as I waited outside for the appointment and never even considered one after one 30 min NLP session (neuro linguistic programming).

Wasn't really that hard, I just came out of it as a non smoker.

Best £200 I ever spent.

Thank you

Cool hypnosis! Great that it worked out. I have heard of people using that but have been sceptical. It's probably because i love the feeling of vaping after a meal!

About not technically quitting smoking. I believe i have as there is no smoke present in the vapour and no combustion taking place. It's a form of nicotine replacement therapy, the same as nicotine patches. You wouldn't say people on patched haven't given up would you?

The following is not trying to bash you, but more of a rant towards the authorities and doubters.

About them being made in dodgy places. They are already under BIS (the new name for the DTI) and regulated by LACORS through the Trading Standards authorities. All UK brick and mortar ecigarette outlets, and all UK-based Internet outlets, are visited, inspected, and materials tested & analysed by TSA at present.

About it making sense for e-cigs to be regulated. It's not really as cut and dry as that. Scientists still don't know all the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke, but they do know of all the chemicals in vapour, for which there are vastly fewer. But you see anyone regulating or banning smoking completely? If e-cigs are regulated and require a pharmaceutical license, then this will essentially be a ban.

Think about all the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke; carcinogens, tar, carbon monoxide. You only have to read this from Cancer Research http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/canc...in-a-cigarette Think it's pretty conclusive that cigarettes are more dangerous than e-cigs. Nicotine is the only chemical that even remotely might be considered "dangerous", but it's the same level as the hit of caffeine in a cup of tea. Now why would THIS need to be regulated, and at the same time cigarettes be freely sold? What would be the consequences?

German study concludes e-cigs are not medicines/drugs http://translate.google.com/translat...17%2Findex.php

If the regulatory bodies succeed in classifying e-cigs as medicine, and not nictorine replacement therapy (which they obviously are NRTs), then this will either ban e-cigs or require pharmaceutical licenses. See the below quote as to how this will affect our supply:

There are at least 5,000 products on the market now, the majority being refill variants. All will need to be removed from the market immediately licensing comes into force (within 21 days is the usual requirement). A license can only be applied to one product or product combination: a single hardware model, or a single liquid type/flavour, or a single device plus one liquid type. There is no possibility of a single license for several products. Each single product takes at least 3 years and at least £2m to achieve a license for (as that is what it has cost Intellicig in time and money to get their license so far, with no result as yet). Intellicig famously underestimated the cost and timescale, and have had to modify their time plan by a factor of 2 (initial estimate was <2 years), and their cost estimates by a factor of 20 (initial budget was £95,000).

So it means the end of the one thing that is helping loads of smokers quit.

Who's behind this injustice?

The regulatory process is owned and operated by and on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry in order to protect their income. They make the same as the tobacco industry does from smoking: £2bn or more a year in the UK.

The introduction of a Tobacco Harm Reduction product that will attract 50% of smokers (at least) and will result in the same reduction in disease (as ecig use has no apparent disease vectors) will therefore cost them at least £1bn a year in the UK, eventually. This is what happened in Sweden and they are absolutely desperate to stop the Swedish scenario spreading elsewhere: a 50% drop in smoking and then disease; a disastrous result for pharma.

Smoking and all its income generators is one of their most important income channels (principally, the vast drug market for treating sick smokers, such as chemotherapy and COPD drugs; then the boost to many other drug sales such as diabetes treatments; then the boost to OTC meds; then the smallest of all these: the smoking cessation market), and is protected aggressively at the highest level of government.

At the end of the day everything always boils down to money.

Originally Posted by mowflow

Well done. I gave up a while ago but my wife still smokes. I really do wish she would at least make an attempt to chuck it. I think she is so afraid of failing and is further discouraged by how easy i found it (i'm one of those non addictive smug bastard types) as she is always trying to get me to start again.

I may well buy her one of these gadgets.

Thanks You should introduce her to the smaller type e-cigs. First timer's usually feel weird smoking a huge pipe lol. The smaller ones will slowly introduce her to the world of vaping. It really isn't that hard

Originally Posted by safety_james

Nice write up and well done and I admire you for doing it.

Ive been a 15+ a day on the horrible Menthol cigs, and its annoys me. I stopped once for a few months and then started up again, and now its not even enjoyable, its just part of leaving the office for a few mins or something I do on the 45min drive to work.

Ive got a pack of e-lites given to me through work, so maybe Ill have a crack at it.

I know its 100% down to me.. I just struggle.

Definitely have a crack mate! You can get tons of different menthol, minty type e juices. That's another thing which i like, its not anti social and quite acceptable if people understand.

As long as you try good quality e-cigs you'll be ok hopefully. The disposable ones are not the same!!

Originally Posted by rich1068

It was so much easier than I thought it would be though. Fair enough I got tetchy a few times but other than that no problem. Definitely to do with your state of mind. I've halfheartedly tried a few times in the past but never lasted more than a few hours. This time I think it was something to do with looking at my children and starting to feel a bit mortal.

Thing is I don't feel financially better off after giving up either of my vices. Nicotine is such a great appetite suppressant and now I just spend money on food and eat twice as much. I think I must have put on at least a stone.

Cold turkey/hypnosis is definitely the best way no doubt. Wish everyone could do that, but the reality is that it just isn't doable by the majority.

I have kept my weight exactly the same since stoppping, probably because i'm still getting the nicotine hit.

[xs2man]

Originally Posted by mob17

My quit date was exactly a month after yours (16th Aug)!

Thanks for your thoughts. It's good to know there are other, more advanced users on here. I'm still relatively new to this but i really want to start using more advanced equipment. It is daunting, but i'm going to join that forum you linked and try and learn more!

I really do want to stay with Jac Vapour as they are a UK based (Scotland) company. Their shipping/communication is super efficient. However, if i am limiting myself and missing out, i might try other retailers based on the info on that forum and what you have said.

100ml for less than a tenner is brilliant! My juice currently costs me £40 for 100ml! Before i run out of my current juice i will order some from that site you linked

By the way, do you think i should go straight for Variable Voltage ones? Also do you use mixing bottles and syringes, if so any links?

I would go straight for variable wattage. Variable voltage is good, but when you put a different clearomiser on, with a different resistance, you have to adjust the voltage to get the same "vape" with the same juice depending on the resistance of the head. With variable wattage, you set the power (watts) and the voltage is adjusted automatically to account for the resistance of the head. Much easier to work with.

And with any variable voltage/wattage devices, you are adjusting the flavour / concentration you are receiving, so if you want more flavour / nicotine, crack it up a few watts / volts. If you are happy, keep as is, if it's too much for you, then drop it a few. It's great. And not at all too complicated. Will take you 2 mins to figure it all out, lol.

With that in mind, I would go for any of the ones I listed in my first post. I love my Vamo, and would highly recommend one. But the MVP is cheaper, and comes with a clearo / tank too, and is a simpler solution as the battery is in-built.

There are a couple guys on youtube who do reviews of just about everything that gets released.

Have a look at their videos : http://www.youtube.com/user/pbusardo...re=csp-in-feed or http://www.youtube.com/user/toddecigreviews or http://www.youtube.com/user/GrimmGreen

Then you can decide what you want to try.

As for mixing, I got a kit from here : http://www.thealchemistscupboard.co....20mixing%20kit

It's pretty good, but not sure about the base nicotine. Want to get a PG base instead tbh. But I got extra bottles from Fasttech.

Have a look on this thread : http://allaboute-cigarettes.proboard...scrollTo=23191

It lists loads of UK vendors, and discount codes for the vendors, so you get to support British business and save some money. But still more expensive than China, lol.

Originally Posted by doughboy

Well done guys for getting off real ciggies, but with all due respect, you've not really 'given up' have you?

You're just cranking up your nicoteen addiction to a new level on the assumption it's 'safe' to do so with some new gadgets (unregulated and untested made in all sorts of dodgy places overseas).

Good on you for giving up with a hypnotism session. Won't work for everyone though.

I have no interest in giving up my addiction to nicotine, but just didn't want to kill myself with all the other crap you get with cigs. This works fine for me. And I am no longer a smoker (except offshore).

BUT, I do consider myself as having "given up" smoking. I no longer smoke.

[doughboy]

LOL - mob17 - you convinced me mate, blew my points out of the water! I must be reading the wrong papers.

I always doubted the hypnotism before I did it, and I worried about 'missing' cigs after food etc.

But the hypno just made me think like a non smoker, i.e. non smokers don't think about cigs, so there's nothing to miss if you get my drift?

The only thing I noticed was that I had a load of time on my hands that I couldn't work out why. Then I realised it was me trying to fill in all the smoke break time that I didn't need anymore.

Better e-cigs than real burners though

[mob17]

Originally Posted by doughboy

LOL - mob17 - you convinced me mate, blew my points out of the water! I must be reading the wrong papers.

I always doubted the hypnotism before I did it, and I worried about 'missing' cigs after food etc.

But the hypno just made me think like a non smoker, i.e. non smokers don't think about cigs, so there's nothing to miss if you get my drift?

The only thing I noticed was that I had a load of time on my hands that I couldn't work out why. Then I realised it was me trying to fill in all the smoke break time that I didn't need anymore.

Better e-cigs than real burners though

Thanks I do feel good about it, even if i still am taking my hit. I'm a right bastard when i don't get my nicotine!

The e-cigs feel "cleaner". I actually tried smoking a B&H Gold cigarette the other day just to compare, and it was disgusting. I literally took 3-4 drags and just threw it away.

I guess mine and many others addiction is also to do with the physical process of having something in your hand and dragging. I'm sure if i went cold turkey, but still getting nicotine through patches etc, i would be thinking that something is missing. I think i would over eat, or just feel tense!

I find hypnosis very interesting, can't believe it actually works. So did the Doc dangle a yoyo in front of you and tell you to stop smoking, or was it a bit more advanced than that?

xs2man - Thanks for the recommendations in your first post. I think i'm very close in going for the MVP

[lolololol]

Well done all - it's my one year no smoking birthday on 1st October - I joined that 'stoptober' last year and used patches to quit.

[mob17]

Originally Posted by omaragha

Well done all - it's my one year no smoking birthday on 1st October - I joined that 'stoptober' last year and used patches to quit.

Well done! I could never quit with patches very hard.

[Sparky68]

OK you convinced me, back on the electronic ciggies.

[xs2man]

Originally Posted by Sparky68

OK you convinced me, back on the electronic ciggies.

Nice one. Whats your weapon(s) of choice?

[Sparky68]

Back on the 10 motives , well until I can find a decent liquid one.

[xs2man]

Get a MVP 2 : http://myepack.co.uk/itaste-mvp-v2-0.html

And a couple Protank 2's : http://myepack.co.uk/protank-2.html

And your set...

[mob17]

Originally Posted by xs2man

Get a MVP 2 : http://myepack.co.uk/itaste-mvp-v2-0.html

And a couple Protank 2's : http://myepack.co.uk/protank-2.html

And your set...

+1

Exactly what i'm doing now