You see vapes on the street, at parties and at car meets, but the reason behind any one person’s device is rarely obvious. News coverage tends to describe vaping as smoking with nicer flavors. Plenty of people simply picked it up from friends and found they liked it. Others came to it from cigarettes. In this post I share three accounts from my own circle: mine, and those of two friends whose names I have changed. I’d like to hear yours as well.
How I started: no cigarettes involved
People tend to assume I was a smoker first. I wasn’t. For most of my life I was against anything that looked like a smoking device. Cigarette smoke smelled awful to me, the appeal of Cuban cigars was lost on me, and weed never interested me.
What changed my mind was a hookah at a billiard hall. I tried it one time and liked the watermelon flavor. I still knew next to nothing about hookahs or vape devices, but that evening left me less wary of things that make clouds.
Some years on I met my boyfriend, who vaped a lot. I kept my distance from inhaling anything, although I did like the smell. In the end he bought me a beginner kit and a bottle of e-juice. It was apple pie flavored, and I couldn’t stand it. Things improved once I moved to fruit and candy juices. That first device was tiny and low powered, which seems funny to me now: these days my reviews and my everyday vaping are done on Smok’s Mag P3, which I have reviewed separately.
Loving e-liquid, and being annoyed at how unpredictable the taste of a new bottle can be, is what pushed me into writing reviews. The aim is an honest, unbiased description of the flavor and quality of a juice or kit, so a buyer has some idea of it beforehand.
Why I still vape
I am aware that I’m the kind of person the media points to when it calls vaping dangerous. I never smoked and had no need for nicotine, yet I vape daily and enjoy it a great deal. At first the only reason was that my boyfriend did it. What kept me going was the taste. I have a serious sweet tooth, and sweet juices are the ones I reach for. That is my own experience and nothing more.
The other reason is that I like vaping alongside a drink. Some people only want a cigarette when they are drinking; I enjoy my vape most with a Jack-and-Coke in hand. Both are for people aged 21+ only.
Two friends who came from cigarettes
Adrian: from hookah pens to a two battery mod
Adrian, as I’ll call him, was a heavy smoker: a pack every other day, comfortably more than ten cigarettes daily. His route away from them began with hookah pens, followed by the Logic pen. Later a coworker showed him refillable vaping.
Money was what made him change devices. Logic refills were sold in a pack of 5 that lasted him roughly a week, which put his spending near what cigarettes had cost. To save money he bought a simple rechargeable vape running at 0.2 watts. His hardware grew as the industry did. At one point he was at 200W on a four battery mod, which proved too bulky to carry comfortably. He ended up with a two battery mod and a recommended setting of 120W. His favorite juice is Killer Kustard by Vapetasia, and he would rather vape dessert flavors than menthol or candy ones.
Trevor: a kit that gathered dust, then a JUUL
Trevor, also a changed name, had smoked since turning 18 and went through a pack a day or more. His first purchase was a regular vape kit. It did not replace anything; he ended up using it on top of his cigarettes, because the nicotine level in the juice was too low for him. He used the kit now and then, when he remembered to charge the batteries, and mostly it sat unused.
Later he found JUUL. Those devices became hugely popular for three reasons: they are discreet, they carry more nicotine, and corner shops and convenience stores stocked them. JUUL has drawn heavy criticism over underage use. The product itself was designed for adult smokers, with a stronger nicotine hit than the soft throat hit of older vaping devices. Trevor has used his for several months. He says his clothes and breath smell better and that he spends less each day than he did on cigarettes. Creme Brûlée used to be his favorite pod; after JUUL withdrew its flavored pods from sale, Mint became his daily choice.
Where that leaves the argument
Vaping gets criticized from several directions. Many people call it a gateway into smoking and a temptation that leads teenagers into nicotine addiction. The critics have real points:
- It is still nicotine, and nicotine is addictive.
- It has drawn in people who used no nicotine product before. I am one of them.
- Devices and e-liquids are easier to get hold of than cigarettes.
- The long term effects have not been researched enough to be known.
The things the vapers I know like about it are practical and social:
- It often costs less than cigarettes.
- You can take a puff or two at intervals; a cigarette gets smoked in one sitting.
- The smell is far easier to live with than cigarette smoke, which matters on a night out.
- There is a community around it. Vapers happily compare favorite flavors, nicotine strengths and wattage or TC temperature settings.
If you do not use nicotine, there is no reason to start. I did, and I’ve told you honestly how that happened.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us in the comments how you got into vaping and which memories go with it. At ejuice.deals we treat vaping as a hobby and a pastime, and we’re glad to answer questions about juices and kits by phone, DM or email.