My e-Cigarette Experiences…

Posts Tagged ‘smoking’

Yes folks… 16 days since my departure from the use of analog (tobacco) cigarettes.  That’s about $144 ago, and I’m still working on my $150 starter kit.  Tomorrow at noon, I’ll have reached the point where my smoking habit would have cost what my starter kit did (with 43 Cartridges) and I still have 10 full cartridges left which I now estimate will last me about 8 or 9 days.  I’ve also placed my second order from my supplier (see link on the sidebar) for another 40 cartridges, or about 32 to 35 days based on my current usage, for a total cost of $90 CDN landed!  It works out to about $3 per day compared to $9, or a 67% savings over analogs.  And it’s healthier!  So what’s this about the Dressage show? 

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On my 11 day post I commented on a lesson I had learned.  Here I am two days and two (yes, only 2) cartridges after that lesson.  I have noticed that a soft draw, and less frequent draws, helps to keep my E8 working very nicely.  I’ve been enjoying the flavour more, and have no more problems with ‘burnt’ tastes.  And…  both of my batteries are running far longer than it takes to charge either of them.  So it really does come down to how one uses the device when we are measuring performance, and the kicker is that many of the reviews I’ve seen and read are based on situations like mine, where I’ve gone from analog to e-cig and reported bad results after short term use.  I suspect that many of the problems people are having is as much user error as product failure.  It DOES take time to adjust to these, but they still feel like smoking!

What I am actually saying here is that 3 days ago I was shopping for another model of e-cig and ready to toss my E8 in the trash.  Today…  I just ordered another 40 cartridges from e-cig.com to go through to September.  And I have ordered Cherry and Menthol cartridges mainly – they offer a nice flavour and a smoother taste while also leaving a very subtle scent behind them that people around me have described as pleasant.

Oh…  and I’ve almost forgot to share something important with you.  I’ve actually vaped in a couple of pubs and malls!  It certainly draws attention but once people realize what you’re doing they want to know more.  So setup that affiliate account with your vendor of choice and get some cards made up to send people to your link.  You might as well join in and make some little bit of money helping people get healthier!

Well…  the trip to the asylum is seemingly shorter with each passing day.  I was reading some of the recent news and discussion around e-cigs and found a number of choice articles out there in the recent news.  One reports of legislature pendingthat will force e-cig users (vapers) to join analog smokers in designated smoking areas.  So…  it’s better for all parties if we take those of us that are trying to avoid tobacco smoke and put us in right back into the second hand smoke of a smoking pit?!  Or the article that reports that PayPal are dropping accounts of vendors that are selling e-cigs in the US.  Or my personal favourite - this one you just HAVE to read!  I don’t want you thinking I’m crazy when I tell you that seven of the loudest and most widely recognized anti-smoking associations are actually telling people to use analog tobacco cigarettes over e-cigs – even with clear evidence of the existence of 57 KNOWN DEADLY substances in tobacco smoke that ARE NOT FOUND in e-cigs!  But please… don’t take my word for it!

On the upside of this though, I did find an article that speaks in favour of the e-cig, and speaks of results of a small study into the effectiveness of e-cigs to quit smoking. At least there are some studies starting to show results out there, so there’s certainly hope that we’ll continue to see e-cigs grow in popularity.  Meanwhile – I KNOW they work and are healthier than analogs.  I’m vaping and I’m finding that I don’t get winded as quickly, and I still get my nicotine when I need it.  I feel great and I’m happy… what could be better!?

that I’m more than a little disappointed in Blu.  If you’ve seen their website today you know that they have opened their system to taking orders once again.  The downside is that they are actually warning clients that they are looking at 4 to 6 weeks to SHIP the order.  The upside is that will only reserve a one dollar pre-authorization on your credit card until they are able to ship your order.  Now… I appreciate the honesty here folks – really I do – but it just seems pointless at this stage to proceed.  I might be wrong – and hope I am – but I don’t see a bright future here. 

Further – by the time things are all smoothed out at Blu, and perhaps a few other sellers of e-cigs online in the US, the rest of the world will already be using the 3rd or 4th generation of e-cigs.  I’m finding that I really like the disposable cartridges.  But I do need to find something better than the E8.  I’m watching my short battery die already (yes I’ll be testing their Customer Service!) and I’m also finding that there is a slight taste of burning plastic when I hit the end of a cartridge.   So I’ll be trying something else for the next round.  More reading to do this week!  Stay tuned for what I buy and from where as we go further down the road to find the perfect solution for my needs.

Cheers!

Reader Glenn has brought another blog to my attention, and most specifically an article that gives more information on the recent announcement by the FDA warning of the existence of nitrosamine in e-cigs.  Yes…  there is nitrosamine found in the e-cig cartridges tested by the FDA – but it’s the amount in comparison to other products that are currently approved and available for purchase that’s the interesting thing.  Read more here!

A well written letter, and one that I agree with fully:

http://cagecanada.blogspot.com/2009/05/e-cigarettes-letter-to-health-canada.html

Also, be sure to read the follow-up correspondence found here:

http://cagecanada.blogspot.com/2009/07/correspondence-with-health-canada-on-e.html

njw

Yes…  over 100 hours have passed now since my last analog!  I’ve dealt with excess heat, family driving me insane, work issues and a few other matters of somewhat higher than normal stress levels, and still I don’t even feel like I need a cigarette.  So do e-cigs work?  MOST DEFINITELY YES!  I’m quite sure that since Friday noon when I started with m E8 I would have burned about $45, and I’m only down 7 cartridges in 4 1/2 days.  And this first few days have been a little better stress test than would be normal for me, so I’m pretty sure that 10 of these cartridges will last me around a week.  So that’s 8 packs (40 cartridges) per month at a total cost of around $60 – or about a week’s worth of tobacco!  Net expected savings – try $180+ per month – or more than $2,000 per year.  Not bad!

The one area that I’m finding the E8 weak is the flavouring.  I have to admit that I don’t really get the flavours at all.  I can’t tell you if I’m smoking menthol, cherry or flu-cured most of the time, as they all taste somewhat the same.  There’s a hint of tobacco taste in each cartridge, and they are all a little sweeter than I’m accustomed to, so it’s really hard to tell the difference.  Mind you, I’ve been working on the samples that were not labeled, and on a few of the ones in boxes but I may also have mixed them up during use.  So I have to pay more attention to which ones I’m actually using for a few days to see if I can get the flavours down.  But still…  cherry should be an easy one?!  There have been some times when puffing on a cherry cartridge that I’ve gotten a hint of that old Cherry Cavendish I used to smoke in my pipe so long ago.  Maybe the nicotine strength has some play in that part as well…  Still some learning to do, and I will of course share my education with you all here.

That’s all for now… I need to get out of my hotbox office (we hit 35 C today!) and into something cool – like a beer or 3!

G’night!

It’s been 54 hours since my last tobacco (analog) cigarette…  and I feel GREAT!  There’s been no battles or cravings.  Even the morning kick start has been easier than with any other form of nicotine replacement I’ve tried to date.  This morning I awoke for the second morning to take a few puffs off my E8 from e-cig.com and find that it is just as effective as that first smoke in the morning to start the engine and kick down that first morning craving.  And the best part is that I don’t have to go out onto the back deck to have that first hit.   I start the coffee, fire up my web and email software in the office and I’m settled and ready before I finish receiving all the spam! 

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I have to admit that I am fully surprised.  I mean, I expected the e-cig to be a great idea, and was pretty sure that it could easily integrate into my life and my world, but I never expected it to be so easy.  It’s been 14 hours and more than 200 KMs of driving, along with a few beers at the end of the trip.  Normally, that would be about 30 analogs or about $15 worth of tobacco…  today I’m still on my first cartridge!  Seriously!  As I said earlier, I’m sure that this is HOW I smoke, taking small doses but doing so very often, which makes it appear that I am smoking 20 or more analogs a day, when I’m only actually consuming the equivalent of about 10 to 15 daily while wasting the rest.

More thoughts tomorrow as I start a new day – and day 2 of being analog free!

OK… so nearly six hours in and I’m still on my first battery and my first cartridge.  I’ve gone about my day fairly normally except for the fact that I’m not stopping all activities to have a smoke when I crave.  And in doing this I’m already learning something VERY interesting to me.  It seems that I crave a smoke often, but I don’t give myself time to finish the whole thing.   This afternoon, at the office, I felt a craving and I answered it by taking a drag of my e-cig.  Then a second.  Then I was ready to put it away and move on.  I’d have had to stop working – go outside and walk 50 yards from the building, in the back, out of sight – then light up.  Pull a few hard drags off the analog and then snuff out 1/2 of the smoke and dash back into the office.  Even hastier and more wasteful on ugly weather days.  So I think I might actually end up saving even MORE than I had thought.  I’m nearly 6 hours into my vaping experience – no cravings for an analog and still on the first charge and cart!  I wonder how long this first one will go?  So far… I’m 12 analogs into the day.  Stay tuned! 

(NOTE:  Updates will be staggered but quite interesting this weekend as I am at a family function that includes some drinking – so it will be a REAL test of the stamina of the e-cig hardware and cartridges.)

Have a great – tobacco free – weekend!