My e-Cigarette Experiences…

Posts Tagged ‘review’

I have to say that my E9 has been a whole lot better experience for me than the E8 was – not that the E8 was a BAD experience, but the E9 is just that much better.  I’ve been using it for a few months now and find that the short batteries really are the way to go over the long ones.  Granted, I have to have 3 batteries in rotation to get a full day of use our of my E9, instead of just 2 of the long batteries, but overall the draw is much easier and you can pretty much get a great hit and great effect from taking a double pull on the short E9 batteries – an almost effortless process once you’re used to it – and get a nice cloud of vapour.  The common complaint about the auto shut-off after 2 to 3 seconds is pretty much null, as you can draw continuously through the short battery with little effort and the E9 will just turn on again for a longer hit.  So one 4 to 5 second drag will get you the equivalent of the ‘double hit’ that is so often recommended.  I find that the long battery just takes too much effort to get the same effect.

My latest order, due sometime this week, contains a mixture of tobacco, apple, cherry, vanilla and peach flavoured cartomizers for my E9.  I will be checking these out and reporting my personal favourites to you next week.  Currently, I have a stack of both Menthol and Grape.  I’m not really that impressed with the grape…  not really enough flavour.  The Menthol are still my current favourites.  But I expect to find some of the other flavours to my liking.  Stay tuned for more on that. 

And finally…  It seems that e-cig.com have upgraded their order processing system somewhat.  I was quite impressed with the process, and with the emails that I’ve received – especially the order summary.  It’s in a nice format like a real shipping invoice, and carries a far more professional look than before.  They are growing up as a retailer as much as they are as a manufacturer.  I know I’ll be sticking with them for now.  At least until something as good can make the shipments to me here in Canada.  Someday perhaps.

Happy Vaping!

It looks like the folks over at Blu have things running more smoothly, and for our American readers only are able to deliver a solid product at a great price.  So I’ve returned the Blu links to the right hand column for easy access and of course to make my tiny piece of the action when you place orders.  The money raised by this blog is used to test products that I write about, and to help with the cost sharing for the webspace.  If there is anything left after that, I am sure I’ll find a good use for it.  But so far…  I haven’t had to think about that part. 

But this evening I did have a funny thing happen.  The email announcement from Blu that reminded I was an affiliate still and also told me of their new system was delivered 87 times in a matter of seconds.  I don’t know if that was a glitch at their end, or just some karmic advisory that I needed to pay attention.   So I am answering the call and have re-activated my link.

So…  if you’re looking for option, I still recommend the E9 I use, especially if you live in Canada, and for those of you in the US, check out Blu!

Happy vaping all!

And Season’s Greeting!

and I’ll actually get a coupon from my supplier for some free products!  Yes, I admit (and have in the past) that I have an affiliate account with e-cig.com (see the E9 Package link to the right) and that I do make a small (and I mean SMALL!) commission off of your orders that go through that link.  I’ve been using and recommending their product for quite some time now and am finally at the point where I am about to reach the minimum payout level, at which point I will have the option of taking a coupon for their store to purchase more product for my own use.  If you’re curious as to the commission levels, it will take nearly $2,700 worth of sales for me to earn that $100 coupon.  But still, the opportunity to provide information related to the e-cigs that I use, and to my specific experiences with them, is a good thing that I am glad to be in a position to offer. 

I am still happy with my E9 for the most part, except for the battery situation which they have taken care of.  As I mentioned before, I won’t buy the blue tipped batteries again, as I have had a 100% failure rate with them while only one of the red tipped ones from my E8 kit failed.  From what I’ve read, batteries are about the highest point of failure in these devices, especially in the 2 part units like the E8 and E9.  In the 3 part units where the atomizer is separate from the cartridges, atomizers are the weaker link it seems.  While there are advantages to that system (dripping), I prefer the nice clean operation of the cartomizer type systems and will continue to use my E9 for a long time to come. 

My coupon will be used to get a case of some kind likely, and some more flavours to experiment with.  Of course, my flavour testing will also be posted here once I’ve tried a few more. So far, I’ve only tried the menthol and Flu-cured flavours, liking both of them at different times.  And a tip – you can order your cartomizers with different colours…  and it’s a good idea to do so.  I have gold wraps on my flu-cured, and black wraps on my menthol.  If I ordered a fruit flavour of some kind, I’ll likely go red for those.  This way, when I open the case to take one out I’ll know by the color rather than having to try to read the VERY small print on the package.

Happy Vaping!

It seems that anything related to e-cigs that have the Blue Led tip rather than red seem to carry some kind of curse for me.  I ordered my E9 with 2 red and 2 blue batteries.  Well the reds, while short lived for each charge, are working fine and are settling into the rotation that my use demands, while the blue – BOTH of them – died in less than a week.  And I do mean dead!  They appear to charge fine – with the charger showing red, then green as it should, and it even takes time to charge them, but then you pop on a fresh cartomizer, take a puff and NOTHING but blinking lights.  Oddly enough though, they seem to work normally until they are asked to carry the load of the cartomizer.  If you draw air through them or tap them they actually appear normal.  Odd.

But the good news is that my vendor is going to replace both of them.  The only costs I should bear are the shipping back to source.  I will, of course, be asking for the RED tips after this experience, but that’s ok… the body is still black and distinct from an analog, so that’s not a big deal.

So…  play it safe and don’t order blue tips – they cost extra anyway for some reason.  Or…  if you have blue tips and they’ve worked, please let me know.  Maybe I just had a bad batch.

Happy Vaping.

And yes, I’m still loving it.  I’m only on my third cartridge so far, but I’m also not a heavy vaper.  I tend to take a few puffs at about the same interval that I would light an analog, but I also threw away a LOT of analogs by letting them burn down in ashtrays, or butting out a half smoked cigarette.  I’ve already commented before on the wasteful manner in which I smoke, but that is perhaps the largest point of savings for me when using an e-cig.  Add to that the cost of the cartridges – about $2 CDN per cartomizer landed – compared to the cost of analogs at around $9.50 per 20 pack, and you have a rather incredible savings even if I do use two cartridges daily.

Battery life is certainly not a great factor in this model, and I do find vapour production reducing sharply after about the equivalent of 6 to 8 cigarettes, but I have three batteries in rotation so I have on in use, one ready to use and one on the charger at any given moment.  This way I know I’ll always have the ability to use my e-cig when I want to.  In short, if you’re looking for a good model of e-cig that uses the 2 piece cartomizer technology, the E9 is a terrific model at the right price, and most importantly it does ship into Canada with only short delays.  I recommend EMS shipping, as they seem to, so far at least, be quick and easy and have had no issues at Customs in Vancouver.

More updates coming soon…  stay tuned!

If you’ve been following me here at all, you know that I was quite impressed with the E8 e-cig kit that I’ve been using, and had some long term successes in avoiding tobacco products while using it.  Until I lost it.  But through the whole process, I did have thoughts and desires from time to time for an analog smoke, but was generally able to curb that desire.  It just took a few hits of my E8 and all was good again.  But this time around, when I ordered a whole new kit to replace my lost E8, I opted to move up to the slightly larger E9 model.

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Well the worst has happened.  A few weeks ago I lost my kit.  The little e-cig case (old style cigarette case) containing my e8, spare battery and a couple cartridges was left someplace and lost.  So I’ve fallen from vaping for a while and have been back on analogs while I hunted, called, and ordered a new kit.  Let me tell you this…  the negative impact of smoking ALMOST made me not do it.  I almost quite.  But since I’m vaping at the higher levels of nicotine still, my body craved badly what it was missing, and I tried a couple of alternatives that just didn’t make it for me.  Like so many times in the past.  So I bought analogs.  And I’ve been smoking.  I can also tell you that I NOTICED the differences between smoking and vaping in a matter of a few days.  The laboured breathing returned.  The stink in my car, my clothes and even in my office just from the residual smoke are already noticeable.  And the hit on my budget.

The good news is that my new kit arrives today or tomorrow at last, and I will be able to immediately return to the joys of vaping and get back on track to recovering from this most annoying habit.  I’ve got 2 chargers, 4 batteries and lots of cartridges coming this time so I’ll have the option of keeping a spare set in at least one alternate location and won’t be carrying my entire kit all in one case.  The message of course is to ensure that you keep at least one spare battery and supplies in a separate place so that if you DO lose your e-cig, you can continue to enjoy the pleasures of vaping while your replacements are shipping.  It does take a couple weeks to get supplies!

Can’t wait to return to vaping – and will have a review of the slightly larger E9 in a few days.

Vape On!

njw

I had to get in touch with e-cig.com all the way over in China today to report that my short battery is REALLY short, lasting only enough for about the equivalent of 2 cigarettes before the dreaded flashing LED.  So I hooked up to their online live support (timing is everything for this one) and I was quickly greeted by an agent that typed pretty solid English.  I explained my problem, and was promptly given all of the information that I require to ensure that I get a replacement battery included in my next order which I will likely be placing next week.  We went through the usual ‘did you’ type questions to ensure that I had charged and cared for my battery as it needs to be done, and once satisfied that I had in fact done all that I could to ensure that my battery was well taken care of, I was given the details and promised that I would be taken care of.  Simple!  The whole process took all of 15 minutes, and I am happy with the results so far.  Now of course we will have to wait until next week to see if this all comes together as they promise, but at least the support staff are easy to work with and very supportive to ensure that you are fully pleased with their product.  And that’s the most important thing to me.

So I leave you with the reminder that I am having great success with e-cig.com so far, and highly recommend them especially to my Canadian readers as they seem to be able to ship product without problems and I’m quite pleased with the product and service so far.

And once again… the links ARE affiliate links but I really only make 4 to 5% on your orders.  It’s a small amount really (averaging about $7 per starter order) but it does help with some of the bills related to keeping the blog running and helps lower my shipping costs on the products I order.  It’s easy to become an affiliate as well so if you’re inclined to attempt to make a small income from other e-cig users, head on over and get your own affiliate number.  And if all else fails, you’ll at least get back that 5% on your own orders so in effect every 20th order you place should be pretty much free.

Cheers!

njw

It seems that there is a down side to the whole e-cig thing… for me anyway.  I’ve noticed that I am actually experiencing some weight gain.  Now…  before you run out and buy a pack of analogs keep reading!  In the past year and a bit, I’ve been able to restore myself to my target weight range, and this for the first time in nearly twenty years.  So I can’t say for sure that this weight gain is entirely due to the change in my smoking habits, but I have historically gained measurably when I’ve quit or tried to in the past.  So it’s a logical thing to assume that this gain is related.  But the other thing to note is that after a whole month away from tobacco, I’m usually somewhat heavier than I am this time, so the gain is not that severe.  In fact, so far, I’m only up ten pounds which is a great deal less than I’ve gained in the past.  So I’m going to take some measures to attempt to lower that weight gain and get back into the target range that I’ve set for myself… and lose that ten pounds again before this gets to be a bigger problem then it needs to be.  But I feel you need to know this part of my experience as well as the good stuff, so that you’re prepared if you’re still burning tobacco and thinking about going over to the e-cigs.

The action plan that I have at the moment is a short (5 day) juice fast to cleanse and purge the system and hopefully shift the scales back in my favour once again (pun intended).  For those of you that have made the switch, I’d be interested to know if you’ve also gained, and to what extent compared to your past experiences with other methods of tobacco reduction.

As always – there’s more coming soon so be sure to stay tuned.

Happy Vaping!

njw

Well, it’s been over a month.  I’ve set a new record for going the course without a whole analog cigarette!  I’ve gone weeks in the past, but usually with a few smokes along the way, and by this point I’m back up to several per day with every other attempt to quit in the past.  But with e-cigs, yes, I’ve had a few cigarillos (4 in the whole month) but I’m happy to say that I am still not bound to run out and pick up a pack or cigarettes.  So they really ARE working!  And yes, I will continue to use my e-cigs.  Now to the frustration…

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