Hello everyone, I'm Andrew and I hail from the beautiful Peoples Republic of Kalifornia. I had forgotten to introduce myself earlier when I originally signed up so here I am. I've been a 1.5 pack per day smoker of Marlboro lights for about 14 years and tried quitting a few times, typically failing whenever I'd go to Las Vegas for friends bachelor parties or just to gamble.
Even tried that prescription drug Chantix which worked amazingly well... quit cold turkey with zero cravings even. I'd use it again if it weren't for the side effects I experienced which included BIZARRE and VERY vivid dreams. And not bizarre in a good way. Just think of the most disturbing dream you've had combined with it being 5x more realistic, and you'd still only partially understand how it effected me. lol. Luckily the dreams ended as soon as i stopped taking it, and I lasted 9 months till.... wait for it.... Vegas.
Now... on to Vaping. About two months ago I decided to pick up one of those disposable e-cigs from my local gas station. While I hated how hard you had to hit it, it did in fact help with cutting back on my smoking. I think I bought around 6 of them @ $7.99 each... which of course was my FIRST mistake. That's almost $50 wasted.
Figuring that an actual reusable/refillable e-cig would be a much better use of money, I went down to my local head shop (Westminster Smoke Shop) and bought an fake Ego-T/EVOD kit (battery, case, clearomizer, charger) and a bottle of "Booyah Vapors" e-liquid for a combined total of $40. That was mistake TWO. First off, the e-liquid stunk up a room and was nothing like exhaling "water vapor" like I had heard about", and second... after two weeks the threads started to get messed up and the battery + post would have problems making contact. I went down to the head shop and for another $10, bought another fake EVOD which helped for another couple weeks and when the connection problems returned worse than ever... I ended up throwing it against my work bench in my garage making sure it wouldn't be a problem any longer.
So up till that point, I had spent $100 and the only thing I had to show for it was a lighter wallet, a few weeks not smoking (had to buy a pack after killing the fake EVOD), and a lot of frustration. I'm very good with electronics, and I did everything I could to make it work including pulling the center pin, un-soldering it, adding a super thin washer, and even re-threaded the battery and EVOD.
I finally decided to buy some brand name, authentic equipment. I found a shop called Vape Revolution just up the 605 freeway from me who had a great sale on Kangertech ProTank 2's for only $10, so I bought one of those. All the local vape shops seemed to be charging $30+ for an authentic Ego-C Twist 1000mah battery, and I didn't trust online shops very much, I decided to drive to the closest Vape shop I could find that didn't look shady.
The place is called Sunset Vapor, and right off the bat the two employees Ken and Bill (I believe Bill is the owner) were very nice. Bill had me sit down with him at their self-serve e-liquid sampling station where they had about 30 or so flavors ready to go. I went with a 30ml bottle of Halo's Turkish Tobacco which was normally $20, but I was informed that it was "happy hour" which runs between 2pm-4pm and all e-liquid during those hours was 20% off. SCORE! The other guy Ken then helped me out with a battery, and for not much more than an ego-C twist they had the Innokin iTaste VV v3.0 variable voltage, variable wattage for $40. I had my previously purchased and still unused ProTank 2 with me and Ken showed me how to get things setup, how to adjust volts/watts, and had me making excellent clouds in no time! If any of you live near Huntington Beach/Seal Beach/Long Beach, I highly recommend them for their great customer service, friendly atmosphere, great location (about 150 yards from the beach on the corner of PCH and Warner), and knowledgeable staff. I'm sure I probably could have saved a few bucks buying online but with shipping factored in and my lack of experience with available products, It was worth every dollar buying locally. Plus I'd always rather help local small businesses than some online shop where I really don't know who I'm dealing with.
So at the end of the day (i hate that cliche), against what online communities like this site say... I still went out and wasted over $100 before getting it through my thick skull that experienced vapers like many members here AND at your quality local vape shop/lounge KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT. They're not trying to "up-sell" you to make money off your naivete and lack of knowledge.
Getting properly setup with high quality vaporizor tank (Kangertech Protank 2), variable volt/watt battery (iTaste VV v3.0, and delicious e-liquid (Halo 30ml) only cost me $70 once I got done being stupid and throwing money down the garbage disposal, never to be seen again.
If you haven't purchased anything and want to quit smoking, PLEASE.... stop in at a reputable vape shop/lounge like Sunset Vapor where you can try a bunch of flavors BEFORE buying, and spend a couple extra bucks this first time by making your purchase at that same shop. Don't be a jackass and try a bunch of flavors, get a bunch of advice, then run off and buy it online. Karma can be a mean mistress to people who do such things.
Anyways, I'm happily vaping right now with absolutely no desire to touch a cigarette. No more unreliable knock-off products, no more frustration. Just cloud after wonderful cloud of sweet sweet vapor!