It's been about a week since my last smoke....

[22_Shooter 1,560]

I started a thread here not too long ago, with a picture of me holding a cigarette. It was to be my last cigarette ever. Well that attempt failed horribly.

 

I guess cold-turkey just wasn't going to work for me. Well, I had seen a commercial on TV for "BluCigs". An e-cigarette that looks like a normal cigarette. So I started researching e-cigs and discovered there is a whole culture surrounding this stuff. It reminds me of the gun community, with tons of forums, tons of vendors, people posting reviews of products, people testing new setups, etc, etc. It's wild.

 

So during my research, I decided to completely skip the "look-a-like" e-cigs and go directly to a device that lets me "vape" (the term for "smoking" these things) for longer periods of time on a battery, and it holds way more juice, so less refills needed.

 

Anyway, my main goal was to save money, while still getting my nicotine fix. The buy-in to get started can be pricey, depending on what sort of setup you go with. But after that, there's really only 2 things you need to keep buying; e-juice and your preferred means of turning said e-juice into vapor (atomizers/cartomizers, etc). But it will all quickly pay for itself in no time, and is way cheaper than smoking, in the long run.

 

For an example, the juice I'm using right now, I go through about 1ml a day. I just picked up a 36ml bottle for $13.95 shipped. So theoretically, it should last me about 36 days. I'm using a wick-tank and the replacement heads cost under $2 a piece. Each one can last about 2 weeks. So I'm looking at $18 for about a month's worth of use. Compared to what I was paying for cigarettes; about $140ish for a month.

 

There's eleventy billion vendors for all of this stuff. It took me awhile to find a juice that I really liked (I kept smoking cigs during this time). But now that I have found one I really like, I haven't had a smoke since the 3rd of this month. Which is absolutely unheard of for me. This stuff really works. You can order your juice in different nicotine levels (and there's even 0 nicotine juice, if you want to ween yourself off completely). Different ratios for different amounts of vapor or throat hit (that burn in the back of your throat that some smokers love).

 

I should mention that aside from me just not smoking a regular cigarette, more importantly, I haven't even wanted to smoke one. I'm 100% satisfied, and have no urges for a real smoke.

 

There has been an FDA study a few years ago, where they of course shit on e-cigs saying all this bad stuff was in it. But they never said where they got their liquid to test. I'm assuming it was some Chinese brand. I personally stick to US vendors who make their own, and the only ingredients are propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine, and flavorings.

 

I just figured I'd post my experience with this stuff. It's working, plain and simple. Now my end goal is to just get away from nicotine altogether, but until then, I'm really liking this. It's cheaper and healthier. More money for guns/parts!

 

Check out this forum if you're interested: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

 

Or ask here, and I can try to answer any questions. I'm far from an expert on this, but I've learned a lot over the past couple weeks. Reading about it at first, it looked like a different language to me, with all the terms and whatnot.

 

 

 

Here's my current setup:

 

 

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

Cool. Glad it's working out for you. Been looking into myself but haven't made the plunge yet.

[Mullet Man 2,114]

Quitter!

[thebuns1 4,323]

Good luck bro! Seems your doing better than most. The first few days is the hardest.

[vulcan16 971]

A good ounce of Lebanese hash helped me kick the tobacco habit back in the early 80's.

[WingedOne 14]

You can buy the base components and mix your own juice for even cheaper. I use totally wicked eliquid, but there are plenty of other retailers.

 

 

 

 

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Congrats this time Shooter! E cigs do work....

[Lone Eagle 839]

Congrats this time Shooter! E cigs do work....

 

Yes, they do. I bought a starter kit back when Wal-mart had them for $20, which included 2 batteries, 5 cartridges, a home charger, and a car charger. Nice thing about it is if I get the urge to "huff" while in the warehouse, I just slip off to the restroom and take a couple of puffs. No smell, no odor, none of the garbage they lace the new smokes with. I do still smoke a real one occasionally with the guys on break, and no way am I giving up my stogies. After a few weeks on the ecig, I just plain feel better.

[veprk 12]

Haven't had a smoke in over four months. Costing me around 25 a month for liquid and cartomizer's.

 

Look's like a nice rig you got there, and congrats on quitting!

[YOT 3,743]

It's been about 11 yrs 1 mo for me. Good luck. You can stop the habit if you really want to, but the addiction never goes away.

[22_Shooter 1,560]

Cool. Glad it's working out for you. Been looking into myself but haven't made the plunge yet.

 

I was overwhelmed with all the options at first. I didn't know what to buy. Things range from super cheap to super expensive. But I just kept reading and watching YouTube video reviews of the devices and ended up with what I have. I like it a lot. But I know some people prefer the smaller units.

 

You can buy the base components and mix your own juice for even cheaper. I use totally wicked eliquid, but there are plenty of other retailers.

 

Yep. Been sort of looking into it, but haven't gotten there yet. If I'm still at this for awhile, I'll definitely take a stab at mixing my own.

 

Congrats this time Shooter! E cigs do work....

 

Yes, they do. I bought a starter kit back when Wal-mart had them for $20, which included 2 batteries, 5 cartridges, a home charger, and a car charger. Nice thing about it is if I get the urge to "huff" while in the warehouse, I just slip off to the restroom and take a couple of puffs. No smell, no odor, none of the garbage they lace the new smokes with. I do still smoke a real one occasionally with the guys on break, and no way am I giving up my stogies. After a few weeks on the ecig, I just plain feel better.

 

That's what really nice about these things, this time of year in NY. I don't smoke in my house, so I would always have to go outside. With this I can puff inside. Same goes for driving. I don't have to open the windows when it gets into the single digit temps! Haha.

 

It's been about 11 yrs 1 mo for me. Good luck. You can stop the habit if you really want to, but the addiction never goes away.

 

I hear ya. After awhile, I plan on just quitting it all, and not being addicted to nicotine. The other night at work, my battery died on lunch break and I started freaking out, since I had no way to get nicotine and didn't want to bum a smoke and break my streak. When I finally calmed down, I realized it wasn't so bad going without a fix. I used to never, and I mean never, miss a smoke break before. But I made it through my second break without any troubles. It felt good.

 

Haven't had a smoke in over four months. Costing me around 25 a month for liquid and cartomizer's.

 

Look's like a nice rig you got there, and congrats on quitting!

 

Congrats to you, too!

 

Yeah, I like my setup. It's called The Bolt, and runs about $35 + $7 for an extension ring so I can use that big 18650 battery. The tank is a Vivi Nova and that cost me about $10. I highly recommend that tank to anyone who has a device with a 510 connection. The taste is great and so is the vapor production. It's also stupid easy to fill, and the wicks last a lot longer than cartomizers/atomizers. You can rebuild the heads with new wicks/coils to make it even cheaper. But at less than $2 per head, I haven't bothered with that.

 

 

So hardware wise, it was pretty pricey (for my cheap ass, anyway).

 

(1) The Bolt - $42 (including extension ring)

(2) 18650 batteries - $20

(1) Battery charger - $8

(1) Vivi Nova tank - $10

 

So about $80. You can get whole kits of different setups for cheaper. It all depends on what you want.

[Zombiehunter762 376]

Quit smoking some 15 yrs. ago.

Add the money up for those many years @ 1 pack every 2 days and you could buy all kinda of goodies.

Congrats on quitting.

[adjc 171]

hang in there.....don't give up. been 22 yrs for me, was up to almost 3 pks a day. quit cold turkey one day stayed off of them for three wks then broke, fired one up and got sicker than shit an never had another one again. it's not all that hard.....if your ready to do it. one of the best decision's you'll ever make in life. seems like name brand smokes were .85 a pack then, couldn't imagine paying what they are today. good luck

[unclejake 428]

Been two weeks for my wife and I. She has COPD and it got to where she couldn't catch a good breath, so she finally admitted it was time. We are using the patches to break the psych addiction to lighting up. after this amount of time, I still find myself reaching for one, but since we got the car smelling better and the house, it is getting easier.

DO NOT GIVE UP OR IN!!!!!!!

[TheDeacon 168]

Quit on Christmas 2009 and started using the e-cigs to get my nic fix as needed. I haven't been tempted to light up again. Best part, I can use them virtually anywhere!

 

Congrats on quitting!

[Agent Lemon 157]

I found that a general hateful attitude + lots of cardio and physical exercise made it easier to quit cold turkey. Oh, and liquor.

 

I relapsed a couple months ago after a year of no smoking, but it was actually very easy to stop again.

 

Just a thought.

[22_Shooter 1,560]

For all of you that have quit, punch some #'s into this thing: http://darrenfauth.com/calculators/money-saved-by-quitting-smoking

 

It's awesome to see how much money you've saved and how many smokes you've avoided.

[evlblkwpnz 3,418]

I'll quit after the SHTF and I can't get them anymore. Of course, when I stumble up on some I'll have a treat.

[mancat 2,368]

The easiest way to quit by far is to get sick. Seriously, go get the flu. The worse the better. This is how I quit in 06, when I spent 3-4 days in bed, and never looked back.

[veprk 12]

The easiest way to quit by far is to get sick. Seriously, go get the flu. The worse the better. This is how I quit in 06, when I spent 3-4 days in bed, and never looked back.

 

This is what motivated me. Got a lung infection.....and couldnt stop smoking. Then, as agent lemon mentioned, this made me very angry. A few days later I got my e-cig stuff and haven't looked back. Also put myself on a diet a few weeks later since I was feeling so good about quitting smoking, started at 240lb and im down to 208 as of last week. 190 is my target

[22_Shooter 1,560]

The easiest way to quit by far is to get sick. Seriously, go get the flu. The worse the better. This is how I quit in 06, when I spent 3-4 days in bed, and never looked back.

 

This is what motivated me. Got a lung infection.....and couldnt stop smoking. Then, as agent lemon mentioned, this made me very angry. A few days later I got my e-cig stuff and haven't looked back. Also put myself on a diet a few weeks later since I was feeling so good about quitting smoking, started at 240lb and im down to 208 as of last week. 190 is my target

 

Congrats!

 

I got up to about 205 while I worked at my last job. It made me lazy. Since getting my current job, I've gotten back down to 190. I'd like to hit 185, but I'm pretty comfortable at 190. I'm 6', and have always been "husky". At one point a few years ago, I got down to 175, and looking back at pictures, I looked sickly. I don't give a shit what those medical weight index charts say I should be at for my height (I think 160-170). I looked and felt great at 185. Any lower and I look weird.

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Well you can quit the way I did, wake up in a Cardio ICU after two heart attacks, five heart failures, and emergency bypass.

Sort of kills the idea of ever smoking again.

 

BTW I don't recommend this method.

[22_Shooter 1,560]

Well you can quit the way I did, wake up in a Cardio ICU after two heart attacks, five heart failures, and emergency bypass.

Sort of kills the idea of ever smoking again.

 

BTW I don't recommend this method.

 

Ouch. Hopefully things are better for you nowadays!

[cvhanh20 1,052]

Kinda like this!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCsKLWJrvWA

[gunfun 3,931]

I found that a general hateful attitude + lots of cardio and physical exercise made it easier to quit cold turkey. Oh, and liquor.

 

I relapsed a couple months ago after a year of no smoking, but it was actually very easy to stop again.

 

Just a thought.

 

Not a smoker here, but I've read that the difficulty in quitting smoking has a genetic factor. People in my family who quit did so cold turkey with little difficulty. I realize that is not the norm. Basically the studies I read, showed that nicotine has a trait in common with many other addictive substances. Not everyone gets the same level of rush or whatever it is you feel, based on some physical susceptibility. The more enjoyable or satisfying it is for you, the harder it is to quit, and vice-versa. This means that people who get preachy and say it should be easy because it wasn't so hard for them don't necessarily know where the others are coming from. Good job on quitting. Please consider quitting all the nicotine. You know the advantages, you don't need to hear them again.

 

Bribe yourself to stay off of them, get something really nice and valuable and sign a contract that you will give it away to friend or charity if you take smoking back up. It will be money well spent and quickly recovered.

[22_Shooter 1,560]

I found that a general hateful attitude + lots of cardio and physical exercise made it easier to quit cold turkey. Oh, and liquor.

 

I relapsed a couple months ago after a year of no smoking, but it was actually very easy to stop again.

 

Just a thought.

 

Not a smoker here, but I've read that the difficulty in quitting smoking has a genetic factor. People in my family who quit did so cold turkey with little difficulty. I realize that is not the norm. Basically the studies I read, showed that nicotine has a trait in common with many other addictive substances. Not everyone gets the same level of rush or whatever it is you feel, based on some physical susceptibility. The more enjoyable or satisfying it is for you, the harder it is to quit, and vice-versa. This means that people who get preachy and say it should be easy because it wasn't so hard for them don't necessarily know where the others are coming from. Good job on quitting. Please consider quitting all the nicotine. You know the advantages, you don't need to hear them again.

 

Bribe yourself to stay off of them, get something really nice and valuable and sign a contract that you will give it away to friend or charity if you take smoking back up. It will be money well spent and quickly recovered.

 

Yeah, my end goal is to get away from nicotine altogether. I haven't set an exact date yet, though.

 

Since moving back to NY in March or so, I've quit drinking soda, lost weight and got into pretty good shape, and now, have quit cigarettes. I don't drink (and never really have, aside from special occasions). I need some sort of bad vice!

[termite 463]

I quit in early 06, watched my wife sit here and have a heart attack, she kept saying it was just indigestion, yeh right. They put in stints, we both stopped, but she picked it back up about 4 months later and having to live in the same house with her smoking, it drove my ass crazy smelling it, so I went back to dipping. I can say that I breathe better, until I come home. With all the welding and painting I've done over the years, the doctor told me years ago that I have breathing problems, NO SHIT DOC, or I wouldn't be here gasping for breath, Oh Yeh, I had smoked since I was about 12 years old, I thought it was cool, NO it was stupid, but the mornings getting up and coughing my lungs up are much less, and I have busted 3 ribs coughing that crap up. So now the main thing is to ease off the dip, I'm down to about a can every day and a half, but when I get "that taste" or "craving" it's just hard to run from. Good luck on quitting and stay committed to it, you will never be sorry you did.

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

I have quit several times, and always go back to it after a year or two. I'm a firefighter and I see all kinds of ways people die. Something gonna kill ya sooner or later. That's a fact jack. Smoke or quit so long as it makes you happy.

[22_Shooter 1,560]

Welp, seemingly right on schedule, I think I'm going through what they call the "quitter's flu". Been feeling like a pile of shit the past couple days; body aches, headaches, freezing cold one minute, sweating the next, can't breath through my nose, puking, diahhrea. Fun times!

 

If people get this, it seems to be right around week 2 of quitting, and tomorrow is week 2 for me.

 

I've had no desire to puff on my Bolt. So this may very well be what kicks me away from nicotine altogether. Which would be great, as it would just bring my end-goal to a close much sooner than I had planned. I just need this to be over soon. Death sounds more pleasant than this.

[Dad2142Dad 6,559]

Don't give in