Nearly everyone has heard of vaping by now, yet few people know much about where it came from or what goes on around it. The lesser-known facts below are for long-time vapers, beginners and the simply curious alike.
The idea dates back to the 1960s
Herbert A Gilbert filed the first patent for an electronic cigarette device in 1963. The patent, for a smokeless, non-tobacco cigarette, was granted on August 17, 1965. His design bears some resemblance to the e-cigarettes sold today. It never took off commercially, but it laid the groundwork for the market that followed, and the modern industry owes him some thanks.
The modern e-cigarette came from a Chinese pharmacist
Gilbert’s concept stayed in the background until 2002, when Hon Lik, a pharmacist in China, invented the e-cigarette in its modern form. Hon started work on a different way of delivering nicotine after his father, who was addicted to cigarettes, died of lung cancer. He had tried nicotine patches and found the experience was not the same. He named his first device the ‘Ruyan’. It was in effect a forerunner of today’s pod devices and low-wattage vape pens.
Plenty of vapers use no nicotine
Vaping is usually thought of as a way of taking nicotine, but a good number of vapers go without it. Most e-liquids on the market are offered in a zero-nicotine version, so anyone who wants the flavor and nothing else has an easy choice. Nicotine-free vaping is more common than you might guess.
The running costs differ from cigarettes
With vaping, a device is an occasional purchase and e-liquid is the regular one. Over the long run it has been found to cost less than buying cigarettes by the pack, since you restock e-liquid far less often than a smoker buys packs.
Many brands make hardware, e-liquids and accessories, so devices exist at all sorts of price points, for a tight budget or a generous one.
One vape pen cost nearly 900,000 dollars
At the top end, some vape systems sell for a few thousand dollars and a handful for hundreds of thousands. The most expensive of all is the Shisha Sticks Sofia, which a Russian billionaire had custom-made as a present for his girlfriend. It cost 887,000 dollars. The pen has a gold button, a covering of 2-carat diamonds and Italian Murano glass.
Cloud competitions pay prize money
Vaping is also a competitive pastime. Some contests judge the sheer volume of cloud a vaper produces, and others reward how complex the cloud tricks are. Events are held in many parts of the world, and there is money to be won. Anyone can enter, though you will need practice and a powerful device. The biggest names are:
- The World Series of Cloud Chasing
- the annual Cloud Championship at Vape Capitol
- the cloud competition at Vapecon