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.

Day 30 - One Month in, and converting friends by accident

Its been a an entire month since I've had a cigarette. I've gone through 50+ flavors, bought a ton of hardware and have converted 5 friends by accident. I feel pretty good even though my initial plan to save money hasn't happened yet.

Converted by accident you ask? Seems everyone is interested in vaping. Whenever I go out I always have to field questions about what vaping is, how it works, is it safe, where to buy them, what they should get, etc. Its quite tiring to tell the truth. The first friend to jump on the wagon was Steve, he went full bore just like I did and got his first vape mail today. Tons of eJuice from Mt Baker Vapor and a good amount of hardware from Vape Dojo. It took an entire day of questions from him, and once he got home, went crazy. Hes in the same boat as I am, save money.

The second friend just wants to stop smoking. Not so much stopping the nicotine, but to stop the smoking part. He even talked me into loaning him a battery and CE5+ until his shows up. Several others have followed suit as well. For some reason I expect the majority of my friends vaping by the end of next month. Quite a happy accident!

I've finally figured out what flavors I enjoy (Spoiler Alert, its the Sweet ones). I just tossed in an order to Mt Baker Vapor for some more of my favorites. I also got my favorite flavor in various PG/VG mixtures trying to figure out how exactly they work.

So what does the future hold? Obviously more delicious flavors. I want to delve into RBAs (Rebuildable atomizers) and manual batteries. Not just for the cost but for the vapor production. One thing I really miss about smoking analogue cigarettes was feeling my lungs fill up with smoke. Some videos I've seen with RBAs show huge plums of vapor.

Its been a great first month. Heres to a month more.

PS. I'm still $200 in the hole. I seem to hover around this number. Hopefully once I find my perfect setup it will finally go down.

Day 16 - I Thought this was going to be cheaper?!?

Everything has been great so far. I found some great flavors I enjoy vaping all day (Monster, Guava and Butterscotch, mmmm) I haven't had any issues with hardware, or atomizers going bad yet. Everything is great. I couldn't be happier, or could I...

I just placed another order for hardware. This time two eGo batteries, a car charger and some Vivi nova tanks from VapeDojo. I also picked up two Katana Kits (12.99 each) to give too two smokers in my life, my step father (who sounds like a water bong in the morning, its getting bad) and my best friend whom isn't a PAD (pack a day) smoker but has tried to stop numerous times. I tallied up the total order minus the Katana kits, added it to my spreadsheet and... crap.

I have spent a total of $323.97 on vaping, saved $93.57 on smokes, for a total savings of... -$230.40. To top this all off, I still need to pick up more juice! I thought this was supposed to SAVE me money not cost me money. Yeah, minor problem I suppose.

So you may be wondering why I picked up more eGo twist batteries? While switching between both my Lavatube and the eGo I've found that I rather enjoy the eGo more than my Lavatube. It just hits better, and stronger and doesn't burn the juice as easily at high wattage. Also my Lavatube has a tendency of dropping the voltage for some reason making some hits weak. To top it off, travelling with the eGo is much easier as its smaller and more compact. I think I'll stick with the eGo twists for a while until I 'save' up for a more powerful mod. I say 'save' since it isn't a matter of cost, its a matter of saving money! Right? Right?

16 days down without a smoke. Heres to 16 more.