Where there's smoke...

I’ve been knocking around with my e-cig for the better part of three weeks now and it’s probably time for an update on where it stands in my pantheon of gadgets. In the interest of putting the bottom line up front, I think it’s important to note that it’s still in use. At the three week mark, I’ll say that some of the newness has warn off and that it seems to be in the process of becoming more an appliance than an accessory. The learning curve is a nice gentle slope because the simplicity of the Vapor King model makes it mostly idiotproof. So far, it seems that it is exactly what is advertised… a substitute nicotine delivery system imitating the look and feel of actual cigarettes. What has really been a surprise is how much I would like the multitude of flavor options.

With that said, it’s not a 1:1 correspondence… While it imitates, it does not emulate. Even at the highest available nicotine level available the e-cig doesn’t pack the same punch as the real thing… and I very much still find myself looking for that punch at specific times of day; mainly following lunch and in the afternoon when I get home from work. Many of the e-cig bloggers talk about cutting out analogs completely on their first day. I’ll admit that analog consumption basically fell off a cliff with a 2/3 daily reduction, but after that it has held steady at between six and nine per day. Consumption is lowest on weekdays and climb slightly on weekends, which I didn’t expect. I initially assumed the desire for an analog would be driven by a stress response to work, but that hasn’t proved out in my own experiences to date.

I didn’t order an e-cig with quitting smoking in mind. I bought it because it seemed to be a better financial means of getting the fix that I needed and wanted… and if it had any health benefits from reducing exposure to the chemicals in cigarettes, I’d write that up as a bonus. Of course the thought has obviously crossed my mind that maybe it would be possible to kick the analogs completely, but I’m not there yet in my own head space. Maybe it’s a matter of finding just the right mix of flavor, nicotine, battery, and some x-factor – everything, ultimately, is a matter of having the proper motivation. For the moment, I’m going to continue to tinker with the mix and trying to find my own sweet spot. Even with buying a metric crapload of supplies to get started, I’m already closing in on the “break even” cost for this little experiment. Now that’s definitely a motivating factor.

Discovery...

I made an important discovery today in my quest for the perfect e-smoking experience... They apparently make the cartridges in five different strength... of which i've been using the lowest. That pretty much explains the intense desire to chew my own arm off and wanting to bludgeon everyone I've met for the last four days. That bit about cartridge strenght is apparently something they don't cover in the basic research and I only ran across it in one of the e-cig forums by accident while looking for new flavors to try. Needless to say, my order for high test carts went in this afternoon. I'm guessing that the added umph will be what it takes to get me over the hump and make the transition to all digital. As it stands now, I'm hitting an analog ever 4-5 hours to bump the level up and then using the digitals to maintain a slow glidepath. Until the new carts arrive, I'm holding at five or six analogs a day. Tinkering around with body chemistry is fun... I still believe this is a good product and a worthwhile transition, but I'll be happier when I get back to getting my full fix all at one time.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

V4L

I’ll confess that I wasn’t as happy with the GreenSmoke as I had hoped I would be. Once the first weekend’s newness wore off and I was living with it day-in-and-day-out, it didn’t pack the punch that I was looking to replace. Being a dedicated techie and really thinking there was something to the idea of getting my fix the new fangled way, I decided to do a bit more market research and settled in on the Vapor King model marketed by www.vapor4life.com. This little number, ladies and gentleman, seems to be the real deal in terms of giving a very “analog” experience within a digital footprint. The weight feels good in the hand, the delivery is smooth, and the flavors (oh boy, the flavors) are bloody fantastic.

The “starter kit” priced out at about $90 and included two batteries, five cartridges, a car charger, a USB charger, and carrying case, a charging case, and a USB dongle that turns your MacBook Pro (or PC) into an e-hookah. They tossed in a few freebies, like a sample pack of nicotine cartridges and some “drip” fluid as well. I ordered a few extra 5-packs of cartridges and all told my total cost to get in the game was $109 and change after getting a 10% discount. For you non-smokers out there, that’s about the price of two cartons, or a week-and-a-half’s worth of analog cigs.

I’m optimistic that this will be the device I’m going to settle on for the time being. I couldn’t ask for a better experience than I’ve had with this one so far. For anyone considering going digital, I have plenty of suggestions that I’ll probably get around to posting at some point. Until then, feel free to pick my brain… You know how much I love talking about new toys!