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Because I've been focussing on new obsessions and, being of limited brain capacity, I find I can only concentrate on one thing at a time!
So, first of all it was a long and ultimately rewarding journey into the world of the E-smoking device (the battery powered vaporising gizmos which may or may not resemble cigarettes).
I had decided to finally get rid of my addiction to rollups, so i could focus on my love (and it IS love) of cuban cigars and pipe tobaccos (that's another story... more on this later).
I was sick of being tethered to cigarettes.
I am happy to say that, after 20 years of prodigious ciggy smoking I haven't had one for 2 months, which for me is unbelievable given my nicotine addiction.
It was like opening pandoras box when I first started looking into this e-cig world (just try googling and you'll see what I mean!). There is a massive forum and about a million people on youtube doing reviews/how-to's etc etc.
then there are all the thousands of liquids (or "juices" as many people call them) that you can "smoke".
It took me weeks of reading, watching and delving before I felt ready to take the plunge.
I have several "mods"; these are (generally) artisan/craftsman made devices to which one attaches one of the (many) types of "atomizer" or "cartomizer" (google these to learn all about them) which is, essentially, the part that contains the heating coil which vaporises the liquid which you then inhale.
These hand-made mods are normally a box or a tube which is essentially a battery holder with a connection for the "e-smoking" bit. They sometimes can contain a bottle into which you put the liquid which is then fed into the heating coil.
Either that, or you drop the liquid onto the coil from the top, or you pre-fill a cartridge.......
I have them made of wood, brass, aluminium as well as plastic, and they can really be quite amazing in their own right; really nice to own.
I have a beautiful handmade (by a chap in wales) mahogany and brass one, a brass tube one (called "the copper") made by a great guy in the states, two very highly regarded bottle-feeding devices (one made from walnut and bloodwood!) which are brilliantly effective and quite lovely objects in and of themselves. These are called "Reos" and they are made by a talented craftsman called Rob in the states.
I now consider myself (almost) an expert now, but it has taken me about 3 months of learning - there is a LOT to learn once you go past the chinese "looks like a cigarette" phase.
You can get some that look like pipes, cigars.... some that are made out of modified torches, car cigarettes lighters, laser pointers.... the ends of pool cues!
I have two that I can connect via USB and are powered straight from the computer.
There is (another) brilliant maker in the states who is making me a custom designed "pipe-like" device, which will be a unique and beautiful thing I'm sure.
As I said, there is a whole world of guys building, concocting and designing some amazing stuff out there.
My place looks like a science lab admittedly - bottles of eliquid in a huge number of flavours, batteries, chargers... not to mention all the different types of atomizers and cartomizers.
I have become an expert in voltages and ohms law (seriously!), propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine (the stuff that mixes with the flavourings and nicotine to produce the vapour), 510, 901 and 801 connections (don't ask, just google!)
I have some really amazing flavours..... most seem to be mass produced in china, but i don't like these much. I have discovered an entire cottage industry where people (mostly in the US) mix their own concoctions in more flavours than you can begin to imagine (seriously!). Some are organic - I like these a lot - some are extracted tobacco flavours, some are fruit, chocolate, coffee, dessert.... the range of flavours is actually quite overwhelming but some (not all) are really, really nice......
I know this is turning into a long post, but I am really happy that I discovered the world of the "Vapers". Seriously, if anyone wants me to point them to all the best info on the web, let me know.
The main benefit from all this is that it has freed me from addiction (yes, I am still addicted to nicotine, but now I'm getting it from liquid rather than as a by-product of burning tobacco; in other words, all the 1000's of toxins and other really bad stuff that causes cancer, tar build up etc. are simply not there - nothing burns you see).
Why is this especially great? well, I LOVE quality tobacco and I want to fully appreciate its complexities and flavours. I can do this better now the fags are gone.
Cuban cigars have been my focus for years, but more recently I have become increasingly consumed by yet another world.... pipes and all the incredible tobaccos therein.
But, I'm going to do another post on this.
Bye
So, first of all it was a long and ultimately rewarding journey into the world of the E-smoking device (the battery powered vaporising gizmos which may or may not resemble cigarettes).
I had decided to finally get rid of my addiction to rollups, so i could focus on my love (and it IS love) of cuban cigars and pipe tobaccos (that's another story... more on this later).
I was sick of being tethered to cigarettes.
I am happy to say that, after 20 years of prodigious ciggy smoking I haven't had one for 2 months, which for me is unbelievable given my nicotine addiction.
It was like opening pandoras box when I first started looking into this e-cig world (just try googling and you'll see what I mean!). There is a massive forum and about a million people on youtube doing reviews/how-to's etc etc.
then there are all the thousands of liquids (or "juices" as many people call them) that you can "smoke".
It took me weeks of reading, watching and delving before I felt ready to take the plunge.
I have several "mods"; these are (generally) artisan/craftsman made devices to which one attaches one of the (many) types of "atomizer" or "cartomizer" (google these to learn all about them) which is, essentially, the part that contains the heating coil which vaporises the liquid which you then inhale.
These hand-made mods are normally a box or a tube which is essentially a battery holder with a connection for the "e-smoking" bit. They sometimes can contain a bottle into which you put the liquid which is then fed into the heating coil.
Either that, or you drop the liquid onto the coil from the top, or you pre-fill a cartridge.......
I have them made of wood, brass, aluminium as well as plastic, and they can really be quite amazing in their own right; really nice to own.
I have a beautiful handmade (by a chap in wales) mahogany and brass one, a brass tube one (called "the copper") made by a great guy in the states, two very highly regarded bottle-feeding devices (one made from walnut and bloodwood!) which are brilliantly effective and quite lovely objects in and of themselves. These are called "Reos" and they are made by a talented craftsman called Rob in the states.
I now consider myself (almost) an expert now, but it has taken me about 3 months of learning - there is a LOT to learn once you go past the chinese "looks like a cigarette" phase.
You can get some that look like pipes, cigars.... some that are made out of modified torches, car cigarettes lighters, laser pointers.... the ends of pool cues!
I have two that I can connect via USB and are powered straight from the computer.
There is (another) brilliant maker in the states who is making me a custom designed "pipe-like" device, which will be a unique and beautiful thing I'm sure.
As I said, there is a whole world of guys building, concocting and designing some amazing stuff out there.
My place looks like a science lab admittedly - bottles of eliquid in a huge number of flavours, batteries, chargers... not to mention all the different types of atomizers and cartomizers.
I have become an expert in voltages and ohms law (seriously!), propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine (the stuff that mixes with the flavourings and nicotine to produce the vapour), 510, 901 and 801 connections (don't ask, just google!)
I have some really amazing flavours..... most seem to be mass produced in china, but i don't like these much. I have discovered an entire cottage industry where people (mostly in the US) mix their own concoctions in more flavours than you can begin to imagine (seriously!). Some are organic - I like these a lot - some are extracted tobacco flavours, some are fruit, chocolate, coffee, dessert.... the range of flavours is actually quite overwhelming but some (not all) are really, really nice......
I know this is turning into a long post, but I am really happy that I discovered the world of the "Vapers". Seriously, if anyone wants me to point them to all the best info on the web, let me know.
The main benefit from all this is that it has freed me from addiction (yes, I am still addicted to nicotine, but now I'm getting it from liquid rather than as a by-product of burning tobacco; in other words, all the 1000's of toxins and other really bad stuff that causes cancer, tar build up etc. are simply not there - nothing burns you see).
Why is this especially great? well, I LOVE quality tobacco and I want to fully appreciate its complexities and flavours. I can do this better now the fags are gone.
Cuban cigars have been my focus for years, but more recently I have become increasingly consumed by yet another world.... pipes and all the incredible tobaccos therein.
But, I'm going to do another post on this.
Bye
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