Giving E-Cigarettes A Second Look

As a 38 year old who has smoked for 24 years, it takes a lot to get me to say, "yea.. I like this." Even so, that is exactly what I have said about the new E-Cigarette kit that I have purchased. I am a harsh critic and someone that is not easily swayed. But when I was reviewing the various websites, products, and options available to me, I made a choice that I am happy with. In the end, I have become a second time E-Cig convertee.

Second Times A Charm...

I have tried going the E-Cigarette route before but with less stellar results. About a year and a half ago I made the plunge after trying just one disposable and bought myself a starter kit. In retrospect I know that I jumped in too soon and did not do the research that I normally put into most things in my life. But at the time I felt that it was right and the brand that I had chosen was sufficient and refills were easy to come by. It had also appeared by my early calculations that I would save about $5-$10 a week or basically get the equivalent of a free pack and a half of smokes every week. Sounded good at the time.

At first I enjoyed the new way to smoke. I guess it was sort of a novelty. I will say however that I did get the nicotine that I craved and for about two weeks this method and brand worked just fine. It wasn't until my third cartridge refill pack that I really started to get curious about how they worked and weather or not I could get a little more out of the cartridges before tossing them. So I did what any regular guy does, I started taking things apart.

I realized that inside the cartridge was a cotton or some similar material wrapped around a heating element. This "material" was soaked in the liquid that produced the vapor (propylene glycol diluted nicotine). When this liquid was all used up the heating element would start to slowly burn the cotton material and you would get a really nasty drag that tasted like burning cloth. So I started looking for ways to rectify this. This was before some one got the bright idea to sell what is now called E-Juice.

Eventually I ran out of patience for the process and decided that the E-Cigarette was too much of a pain and that is was so much easier to just use my lighter to light up a real tobacco cigarette. So I smoked the old fashioned way for about a year and a half. Well, actually I quite for about 4 months in the middle of that time period. I tried Chantix and it worked just fine for me and the only side effect I had to deal with was about two weeks worth of feeling nauseous.

Everything Deserves A Second Chance.

Out of the blue one day I came across a blurb  in something I was reading about being able to refill your E-Cigarette using something called E-Juice. Naturally I got curious and I went to the web to see what the deal was. I instantly found a short video of some guy using a container that looked like the old fashioned nose drops bottles to refill his E-Cigarette. I thought to myself, "hmm... this could be a great way to keep the E-Cigarette from burning and tasting horrible if it is always full." So I did what I always do when intrigued by something, I did some research.

What I found was not really a surprise. I found that over the year and a half that I was away from E-Cigs they have gone through some changes and improvements. The E-Juice market seemed to be huge and there were various brands and distributors selling different flavors and sizes of juice. The varieties were endless. So my interest was peaked once more. I decided that I would give this another shot. With the E-juice and the right brand of E-Cigarette I could not only save money in the long run, but I could actually enjoy smoking these because I could control my nicotine and flavors. I was in!

After some searching and reading I settled on a tank system because there is no cloth-like or cotton-like material to burn. The tank just holds as much juice as it can as it waits to be pulled into the atomizer for vaporizing. I went with an average product that got good reviews for quality and gave me options in style. I chose to go for a stainless look manufactured by a company called Joyetech.

When I ordered I also selected a bottle of the standard tobacco flavor juice. I did not want to experiment with flavors just yet. It did not take long to arrive and when it did I put it to the test immediately. As it turns out I was not too fond of the tobacco flavor as it was too much on the sweet side for my taste even though it should not have been. Regardless of the flavor the tank system and E-Cigarette worked flawlessly. I expected to get a good flow of vapor from the tank system and that is exactly what I got. It felt like I was smoking a standard tobacco cigarette but without all of the burning flavor.

The LED light at the tip shined a subdued purple hue that was a pleasant surprise to me. I half expected a red color as that is what you typically see. The purple was nice and as it is my wife's favorite color she noticed it right away and was thrilled to see it. The next morning I looked for places in my town that sold E-Juice so that I would not have to wait for a shipment to arrive before getting rid of the tobacco flavor that was anything but.

I found a tobacco shop nearby that had a decent supply of E-Juice and the owner was very pleasant and helpful. Their prices were the same as what I had seen online but without the shipping costs of course. So it appears that I had found my local E-Juice supplier. I picked up a tobacco flavor, and Camel Cigarette comparable flavor (I was a Camel smoker), and I went for a peach flavor as well. I wasn't too sure about the peach but I figured what the hell. As it turns out, the peach was light enough to not be overpowering yet strong enough to give you that underlying and undeniable peach flavor. I loved it!

The Joyetech 510T that I bought and the E-Juice that I purchased have kept me smoking for the last week and I am very happy. I actually got a regular tobacco cigarette from a friend the other day and I only smoked about half of it. After being a vapor user for the last week and getting used to the clean taste the tobacco cigarette tasted very "dirty". I could taste the burning tobacco leaves and I could almost taste the chemicals. I know that is probably not possible but it felt like it. There is a big difference between the vapor and the tobacco. The vapor is much, much cleaner and you can really tell the difference after using a tank system for some time. I could not be happier.

The Future Of Smoking.

It is almost funny to me to think of smoking as something electronic. Being someone who reads sci-fi and who writes science fiction, it is clearly one of those things that was sort of predicted long ago in some science fiction story. Just like Roddenberry had things similar to cell phones in Star Trek (tricorders)  other writers have had electronic vapor-like smoking devices in their stories. So in a way, to me this is a bit like the future coming to life. Anyway, it brings up the question, where does smoking go from here?

More and more the government and other watchdog groups are fighting the tobacco lobby in Washington and new taxes are put onto cigarettes it seems like every year or so.  In Chicago where I grew up (I'm in  the suburbs now) a pack of cigarettes costs around $10-$12 which to me is outrageous. By me they are still around $5-$7 but how much longer until they reach that $10 mark? The people who make the laws are against smoking and have been for a long time. The general public is against smoking and have been for a very long time. There is not much left for smokers these days. It is even getting harder and harder to smoke outside in public. New laws in my state dictate that smokers cannot be within 10-15 feet of any public entrance or building. Smoking in bars and restaurants has been outlawed and pretty soon you will not be able to smoke on your own property it seems like.

The advent of the electronic cigarette has come at a time when smoking tobacco cigarettes is frowned upon by society. Employers are getting in on the act as well. When an employer finds out that you are a smoker it is common for them to suggest a cessation program and even offer to pay for it. Some of them will not hire smokers and will even go as far as freezing their pay and promotions. If something like that happens I'm not even sure if you can sue for discrimination. Can you be discriminated against if what makes you different is something nobody likes or that they think is dangerous and you should not be doing it anyway? The environment is getting increasingly hostile towards the smoker these days.

The electronic cigarette may be the answer. It may be the only way that people will be able to smoke soon. Or at least it might be the only acceptable way to do it. If you want to continue smoking you might need to consider going the vapor route, if you have not already. In the recent past something like that might be a bit difficult to swallow. Now however it is not so bad. Like I said before, I rather enjoy the E-Cig now and the product that I have been using for the last week is very pleasant, gives me what I want, and does not bother those around me. Is smoking acceptable for me again? Actually, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" My wife hates the smell of tobacco smoke and would always complain, even when smoking outside. Now, she does not say a word. The only thing that comes from her with regards to my smoking now is, "I like the purple light."