Day 121 - Still in the hole

Not much to say really, I finally got some new toys. Kanger ProTanks. They're quite nice. Airflow is huge, maybe even a bit too much and look beautiful on my mods.

I was talking with a friend about the cost of vaping and I fired up my spreadsheet. To my sadness, I still haven't saved money. Sadface.

Day 121

While I've curbed most of my toy spending and settled in on a few flavors I enjoy, I still spend far too much. I'm also wasting cartos when I punch them, I keep warping them and ruining them. (which btw was a pain in the butt to fix, almost destroyed my carto tank. Had to cut the carto off with a pair of pliers and shape it so the carto pieces would push through the ring.)

All in all, its coming closer to $0. Perhaps in another month!

Day 108: Business and money.

Its been quite busy for the past few months. We finally launched our company Spartan Vape (it isn't much to look at right now), and we've been furiously trying to sell starter kits to everyone possible. I've learned quite a few things since then. Firstly I'm an atypical vaper. I jumped into this with both feet and bought everything possible to figure out what I did and didn't like. Seems most people just stick to what they know and aren't very adventurous. They'll choose an eLiquid flavor and only vape that. Nothing else. Its quite odd to me since I do love to try everything and figure out what's best for me. I guess that's why review sites are so popular, people don't take risks.

On a more new vaper note, I'm down to -$82.73!! Yeah I still haven't saved money, and I think I forgot to update the spreadsheet for an order or two. But... it's getting down there! Slowly but surely. Its a far cry from the -$400+ it was at. 

Sadly it won't be this low for long, I have my eye on a Kanger Protank. I've destroyed a few tanks with my favorite eJuice Arnold Palmer (from Mt. Baker Vapor) and I'm running out of cartos to use. While I love my carto tank it's a real pain to fill up all the time. A Kanger Protank will solve most of my issues. 

Day 108 -$82.73

Last week I also had a good lesson on proper battery care. I was charging my original 18350's (Labled ICR18350, came with the Vamo) and I suddenly smelled burning electronics. I've worked in the tech industry for a long time and instantly recognized it. Since it was so hot out I figured it was my video card again, I've had to replace capacitors on it several times due to overheating. So I popped open my computer to take a look. That's when my roommate came in said he smelled smoke and freaked out and started yelling 'FIRE FIRE' I turned around and there it was. My battery charger was on fire. Ok not on fire, just smoking pretty bad. Since I take precautions beyond most people I killed the power via remote switch and used my electrical fire extinguisher to stop the smoking. 

It was my fault. Somehow the battery developed indents on the bottom. I'm still not sure what caused it, but the negative side of a few of my batteries have the same pattern. I figure it happened from the bottom coil when I drop my Vamo. (which is common for me) Looking back on it, I should of retired all of those batteries as soon as I noticed the damage. I need to be more careful with what is essentially a bomb. It could of been MUCH worse. Lesson learned. 

On the back of this I picked up a bunch of eFest IMR 18350's from SteamMonkey's website, a few high quality chargers and a old surplus 1/4" thick ammo case. Next time a battery fails while charging, it won't catch fire or do any other damage. 

Day 87: Been quite busy, and health changes.

Boy have I been busy. With the official launch of my company Spartan Vape, money worries and various company drama I forgot to post!

I am currently still in the hole financially. Still hovering around -$200. Negative $201.83 actually. My collection has grown quite a bit. I picked up 5 new eGo Batteries (all 650mah from my company) and several clearomizers. Its difficult to keep the costs of vaping down when I really just want to try everything. My last order from Mt Baker Vapor consisted of 15 new flavors alone. Its slowly creeping down though, every day it gets closer and closer to $0. One day... one day.

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Health. Many people start vaping to be more healthy. Good on them, I support them 100%. While my own reason for vaping was more selfish, money every reason to switch is a good one.

I've never been a very active person. I grew up with a computer even before the dawn of computers. I learned to type before I could write, and had a modem and an internet connection before AOL even existed. Needless to say, most of free time as a youth was spent behind a computer, staring into a TV/Monitor programming, playing video games or talking with people on BBSes. Claiming that I'm an "physically active" person would be a flat out lie.

Last weekend, I went out for a BBQ with my brother and nieces. Of course being the uncle they don't see all the time my 4 year old niece decided I was her toy for the day, not that I minded. We ran around, played in the park and I did the "i'm bored, I'm going to swing you around like a rag doll" game.

Yesterday, In a rare non-slug moment, I had to run crossing the street. I was crossing a street when suddenly a car ran the red light and nearly hit me. I saw the car, sprinted a bit and made sure I was ok. It wasn't until an hour later I realized... that didn't make me run out of breath. So I did another test, I walked up and down some stairs several times, and STILL had energy afterwards.

It wasn't until I started writing this entry that I realized that, I have a LOT more energy now than I did before. None of the activities I've done in the past week really made me tired. Something like this would of put me out of commission for at least a week if not more. Now I'm ready to do it again.

I also noticed I'm happier. For no reason at all. I've never been a particularly happy person and very introverted, I always see the negative side of things and really need personal time to unwind. (lets face it, people in general are annoying) Lately I've noticed it doesn't bother me as much. Perhaps the MAOIs they put in cigarettes are finally wearing off but I'm just happier.

Another note, I did have a brief cold a few weeks back after the San Diego trip. Normally a cold would of lasted at LEAST a week. This time it went away after about 3 days.

It may be all anecdotal, but I'm pretty sure I'm much healthier vaping than when I was smoking. Its hard to tell since I've been smoking since I was 10 so I don't really have a baseline to compare to. But I certainly feel better and have a LOT more energy to deal with people and events than I use to.

We'll see what happens, but I'm liking the results so far.

Day 80 - R.I.P. my beloved eGo

I lost a close friend last night. I went out to dinner with some friends and brought my eGo 1100mah battery with me. He was with me from the start, always providing a backup to my Vamo. I sat down at the table with him in my pocket and I heard a snap. I broke the the battery between the connector and the battery body. I've seen pictures before on reddit and never thought it would happen to me but it did. 

On the bright side, when I get some time I get to take it apart and see how it works on the inside =)

Day 70 - iClear30 goes Kaboom!

I realize I haven't updated my venture into vaping lately. Truth be told I've been quite busy. My best friend who jumped ship instantly to vaping and I have started a small vaping company. I've spent the better part of the past 3 weeks talking with vendors in China, and setting up the company website (which I will pimp out here when we have products). While this isn't my first foray into starting a company, this is the first time I've done it alone, and I have to say its quite a bit of work. However in aprox 3 weeks when our shipment(s) come in from China, it will all be worth it. Enough of that.

Today was an interesting day. My friend and I headed over to Hayward, CA and took a look at our competition, It's Vapor 5 during our day of shopping. Of course I couldn't help myself, so I picked up a few things, an A8 rebuildable atomizer and one of those fancy new iClear30 tanks! I've wanted a modern RBA for quite some time, the A8 was cheap and there and well, yeah.

So I got home, unpacked my iClear30 and loaded up my favorite flavor, Arnold Palmer and... I got a whole 2 vapes off it.

iClear30 - 3/27/2013 - 3/27/2013

I've never had a tank crack on me before, I was quite surprised on how quickly the cracks spread. Luckily I took it off and cleaned it out before it got all over my mod. I must say I'm disappointing  I was looking forward to seeing what all the hype was about. I supposed I'll have to stick to my Kanger T3s. I'm confused to tell you the truth, Arnold Palmer has never cracked a plastic tank before. Hopefully they'll replace it tomorrow.

Quick Edit: about 5 mins after I wrote this, I loaded up Arnold Palmer in a Vivi Nova noticed I didn't get the atomizer on all the way, tried to screw it on with a pair of tweezers and... accidently unscrewed the tank off the bottom. Yeesh this has not been a good day for me. 10ml of Arnold Palmer gone without vaping a single drop of it.

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In other news, I was in San Diego and had a chance to go to Vape Revolution in Anaheim, CA. I have to say, WOW. This place was awesome. Top notch customer service. The atomosphere was incredible and the sales people were on top of it. The place was also packed. Picked up a few toys there myself. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend checking that place out. Its worth the trip.

Day 38 - Vamo update

Seems the guys over at Vapedojo are just freaking awesome. I told them about the Vamo problems and   he responded with just a simple, "We'll send you a new one!" few hours later I got the USPS tracking number. Talk about service.

Now lets hope they don't ask for the broken one back so I can take this baby apart and see the insides (perhaps even fix it) I'd love to see the innards of an advanced device. (Oh and the reddit karma would just be a bonus ;)

On another note, I finally got one of my loaned eGos back from my best friend. His order finally showed up and hes now converted for life. Several more people have since asked as well, sadly I'm out of Katana kits to give/loan out but every smoker I know has at least a passing interest in vaping.

Day 36 - The VAMO

I came home from an interview today (which I think I totally bombed, I do not feel good about this. Sucks) and was happily surprised by my latest acquisition to my Vape Arsenol. The VAMO V2! I picked this baby up from my favorite hardware vendor Vape Dojo (To be fair, I had a 25% off coupon, otherwise I would of gotten it from somewhere else) For the price and full kit, it was well worth it. Tossed in two 18350s and powered it up as soon as I could, switched over to variable wattage mode, screwed in my Vivi Nova and took a toot at 9 watts. My lungs currently aren't talking to me as it was way too high.

My first thoughts: The Throat hit created by this device is massive. Much more than I'm use to by far. Nothing else I've used (my eGos, the Lavatube or an ancient flashlight I converted years ago when I first learned about vaping) have ever produced this effect. In truth I didn't think something like this was possible. I've tried several atomizers of varying ohm value and noticed a huge difference between them at the same wattage. (The Vamo makes checking it so much easier) It seems high resistance, 2.5ohm+ works great with this device, while lower ones, 1.8ohm-, perform poorly. Ecto Cooler from MVB has never tasted so good with a 3.0ohm vivi nova at 7.5 watts. 

Secondly, this thing just LOVES finger prints. Note to self: Next time I commit a crime, do not leave the Vamo behind. The moment I took it out of the plastic sleeve it was already covered in tiny finger prints. 

Next point of annoyance is the charger that came with it. The 18350's do NOT sit well in it. Its not secure. I feel if I bump the thing the batteries will fly out. Not a huge deal since I have a ton of chargers already. 

Otherwise, I think this is one of the better hardware purchuses I've made for vaping. I already love it more than my Lavatube. Best of all, my Vivi Novas look beautiful on top of it.

Now, what will my next piece of hardware be... maybe an eVic? Perhaps a box mod?

Vamo + New Vivi

A few days ago I received an order from the best eJuice supplier in the world, Mt Baker Vapor. I picked up my all day vape Monster flavor in various PG/VG mixtures to test out how each performs. So far I really enjoy 100% VG. It produces the vapor feeling I miss from smoking. I've noticed I don't really like as much throat hit vaping as I did smoking. I really enjoy it smooth and the VG mix is perfect. Next time I order my ADV flavors (which btw are currently Strawberry Kiwi, Mango, Monster and Ecto Cooler. They're all glorious) I'm going to get them in 100% VG with 3-4 flavor shots.

I really need to stop buying stuff. I keep staying around -$200 in the hole with this endevour. However I'm having a ton of fun researching and answering questions. Seems every person I normally interact with is very interested in vaping. I seem to have several devices that are always on loan. Not that I mind, more vapers, more fun right? On the bright side I finally figured out what I like in terms of flavor/PG/VG Mixture so I don't have to buy every possible flavor anymore, that should cut down my costs a bit.

On a side note, I got to tell someone I didn't smoke today. Felt kind of good.

Edit: Its day 36 not 35! Wow how time flies.