Vapour2 PRO Series 3X Vaporizer from V2 Cigs UK

V2 Cigs UK very kindly sent me this little gem to review, along with a bottle of their high VG eliquid. The Pro 3x is not a bad vape at all. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now, and when I’ve been busy pottering in the garden this has been what has sat in my wheelchair side bag, knocking about with trowels and other gardening tools. It has survived well – and it has never leaked on me. This is a good choice as an intermediate level set up. It would suit someone who has got on fine with a starter kit, but wants to move on to something that offers a better experience.

In the box you get the Series 3X vaporizer, the Series 3 Sub-Ohm Ceramic E-Liquid “Cartridge” (what I would call an atomiser or a tank), the Series 3X E-Liquid Cartridge,  3 interchangeable “atomizers” (what I’d call coils) rated 0.9 sub-ohm, 1.2 ohm and 1.5 ohm, and lastly the charging cord. They give you a lot of extras with this that would usually be sold separately. On the negative side this does make it a little tricky to work out which bit does what.  Vey unusually, the connection that the tank makes to the battery is magnetic; just drop it into place. Unfortunately that means that these tanks are dedicated; I can’t swap them over to a different battery to really push the performance and test them as thoroughly as I would normally do.

This comes with a little bit of charge in it, but it does need a good charge before use. The charger is a magnetic connection that snaps onto the bottom of the unit, and does allow passthrough vaping while it charges. The snazzy ring of LED lights in a circle around the base of the unit lights up to let you know it’s charging; red for low battery, green for full. It takes about an hour and a quarter to charge from flat. This is also where the charge indicator lights up in use. Give it a little shake and the motion activated LED lights up to tell you how much battery you have left. To switch the unit on and off (lock and unlock) it’s three quick presses of the fire button. Two quick presses puts it in power changing mode. There are three power settings – 1.8v, 2.5v and 3.3v. The LED lights on the base cycle slow, medium, and fast. Hit the fire button once when it’s where you want it, and the unit will switch to the selected power level. Three little LEDs on the side at the top show you which power level you have it set at.

In use with PG based liquids with a higher ohm coil and lower power setting it’s better than any of the standard starter kits I’ve tried. With the sub-ohm coil – and it is only JUST sub-ohm at 0.9 ohm – on the highest setting it does produce a richer, thicker vapour with decent flavour. Running the highest settings on this would equal running this 0.9 ohm coil at about 18 watts. I usually run an 0.4 ohm coil at 40 watts, a conservative setting for most experienced vapers. So this simply does not have enough oomph to become my main vape, but it is enough to make it a solid choice for when I don’t want to produce a fogbank. The airflow is tight enough for a decent mouth draw, and goes open enough for not a bad DTL draw on maximum settings, making this a good intermediate level choice for someone who wants to keep things very simple.

This is much better than a thin battery and disposable atomiser basic starter kit. It is definitely better than the old protanks. For the intermediate user in the house, it’s fine, but doesn’t beat his beloved Nautilus Mini on a true VV/VW box battery – which is a step beyond this unit anyway, being closer to advanced. The advantages of this is that it’s pretty simple, with a shallow learning curve once you figure out which tank and coil is which and for what purpose, and it produces a not-bad vape for a beginner or intermediate user. The disadvantage is that the vapor production simply isn’t thick and rich enough for an experienced vaper, and I’d like to see true sub-ohm with a lower ohm coil and a bit more power. The battery life is fine, but then you’re vaping at 18 watts on this; higher than most fixed power batteries, lower than most variable voltage sub ohm capable batteries on the market today.

The VSAVI gourmet toffee-caramel-choc juice they sent with it is really rather pleasant. This is an 100% VG juice that has been thinned as it flows very easily. In the V2 cig it performs well and produces a medium amount of vapour at max settings. In my standard juice testing set up (0.4ohm cotton wicked coil at 40W) it produces thick, flavoursome vapour. Slightly on the sweet side, but toffee first, caramel second and a hint of sweet dark chocolate on the exhale, which lingers in the mouth.

Overall my impression of this setup is good – and it is a kit I will pass to the next person who asks me if I have anything going spare for them to try vaping. The downside is a lot of dedicated bits that will only work with this unit and a lack of power. The upside is the simplicity and a reasonable vape, with the option of buying a dry-herb unit that fits this model should you want it. At £79.99 it isn’t cheap, but it will probably be worth it for people who don’t want to look like a vape hobbyist, but do want reasonable performance from a simple device.

Thank you to V2 Cigs UK who sent me this kit to review for you free of charge.

MyBlu – surprisingly good

I got myself this little pod system cigalike from a special offer run by Blu. It’s self actuating, with no fire button. To vape it you just take a draw. I wasn’t expecting much from it, but oh boy was I surprised. This is a really good first proof of concept that may actually be good enough to allow someone to switch. It’s reasonably cheap to buy, although I think the price point could have been set a little lower. It vapes not badly at all, with just a very little spit back. The flavour from it is not bad at all. The whole mouth piece at the top is a sealed pod that contains an eliquid (35% VG) and the coil and wick. At £5.99 for three pods – 6ml of juice – it looks a little pricey to run, but that does include a new coil for every 2ml. That cost could be lowered by the adventurous willing to pop the base off a pod and refill it.

I blew through my first pod on this in about 5 hours and vaped the battery dead. However it does charge reasonable quickly. I’d vaped it totally flat and it took 40 minutes to charge. The usual charge time seems to be less than that, although closer to half an hour than the 20 minutes promised on the box. It is a good mouth to lung vape, but it is actually possible to DL on this thing and it survives it quite well.

The MyBlu is now living in my handbag for those stealth-vape necessary moments and for when my big set ups aren’t appropriate. The real bonus for me is that these little pods come sealed in incredibly tough plastic, so even loose at the bottom of my bag they’ll stay clean and won’t leak everywhere. I’d suggest this for anyone who can’t be bothered with the faff of a tank to start with. I’d also suggest it for vapers looking for a discrete device that takes up very little room and comes with the added convenience of leak-free eliquid.

iSub V on a Tesla Nano 60w

When Ecigarettedirect.co.uk offered me a choice of shinies to review, I picked the shiniest they were offering. My Three year Vapeaversary was just coming up (it was last Saturday, the 21st) and which of us can resist a little bit of shiny hunting to celebrate the Vape? These two look so good together that I forgot at first that the iSub V comes with SS coils as standard, and the Tesla Nano does NI and TI modes in Temperature control mode. So I had to wait for some Ti coils to turn up before I could try this set up as it really should be tried.

The picture makes it look like the tank is the exact same blue, but it isn’t quite. It’s close enough so that these two look like a matching pair and the tank does sit nicely on the Tesla, no awkward gaps and not too top heavy looking.

First the tank. The iSub V has solved some of my major gripes with this style of tank. It has
a wide open fill area, making it really simple to fill either with a nozzle bottle or a dripper. The tank isn’t huge, but the coil doesn’t take up all the space in there meaning that you get 3ml of space for juice. The top fill is easy to get at and I’ve only had it feel stuck the first time I’ve had to refill after a coil swap. It has a nice mechanism for the airflow adjuster too, and although it isn’t quite as open a draw as I would really like, it isn’t bad and it works for this tank, as I found out.

The coil swap is really good. As you can see from the picture I have the whole tank upside down in my hand with the lid still on. This means that any juice I have in there is perfectly safe. The coil simply pops out. You slip a new one in and you can’t get it wrong because the end of the coil that you can see there is shaped so that it can only fit in correctly. The only part that comes off to access this is the airflow, which can be wiped round and screwed back on. I’m told that these coils are lasting very well, which is nice to know.

Now the Tesla Nano 60w TC. This is a seriously nice little mod to hold in the hand. It has a lovely shape, slightly curved in all directions. It’s Zinc alloy and it isn’t a fingerprint magnet. This feels really solid in the hand, not so heavy that you’d want a crane to lift it after a couple of hours, but definitely there and not ready to slip out of my grip to a fumble. The fire button is on top of the mod. That took a little getting used to. It is really solid feeling and has a nice meaty click to it under your finger so that you know you’ve hit the button. The controls are pretty standard too, and I’m impressed by the fact that it doesn’t constantly nag with queries as to if I’ve changed coils. Five clicks to lock and unlock and there’s a power lock too which you access with a long press of the up button and the fire button together. The TC mode is got at by pressing both the power adjust buttons while the mod is locked, making it pretty much foolproof even for a beginner, damn it. A nice clear screen, with all the info right where you need it is the icing on the cake. Battery life is pretty impressive too, at the settings on the screen here, this is easily giving a full day while being swapped out with another set up with a different flavour in it. I’m told.

Together they make for a pretty good vape. It’s the best TC vape I’ve ever had, and I’m not all that keen on TC vaping in general. For me there seems to be a little bit of something lacking although I’ll take this set up over any of my others bar the Aspire. That’s still my number one, with this running in at second.  It just goes to show just how subjective vaping gear is though. Just after I took the picture at the beginning of this post I handed the whole thing over to Best Friend for him to have a try. I’m told I won’t be getting it back. For the first time in three years Best Friend is tasting the flavour of the juice in his vape and has done for four days now. There were loud noises of joy over my favourite caramel, and then the vape cupboard got raided. He is over the moon with it, and as that is his first upgrade from a Nautilus Mini at 12w, I call that remarkable. Last I heard there was a caramel scented fogbank over Carlisle. This set up has Gnome approval. It’s now missing, presumed Ed.

Coming next – win £100 of gear with EcigaretteDirect.co.uk

 

Cheap Thrills – Glory Glaze

My Vapeaversary bash, with goodies supplied by Ecigarettedirect.co.uk, starts with a 60ml dripper bottle of Glory Glaze. I’ve always loved the idea of a doughnut flavour vape, but I’ve never yet found one that suits my taste buds. The juice comes in a box, inside is the dripper bottle which has a child proof top, which is still reasonable to open with arthritic hands I’m happy to say. It’s clearly labelled with the nicotine strength and has all the other appropriate info you’d expect.

I tried this in my normal set up. An Aspire Cleito at 28W, which is the perfect set up for my normal 90/10 3mg Caramel juice and is where I start for every other juice. This is a very sweet doughnut, and you can really taste the dough. The blueberry is a very nice jammy hint, not overpowering. There’s a hint of something else there and then a wall of sweetness hits me, drowning everything else out. I persevered with it, swapping to my standard caramel in another tank and giving it a good long rest. Turning the power up and down made no odds; after that initial blast where I could taste something other than SWEET, it had gone. All I had left was icing sugar flavour, and that much too strong.

So I’m sorry to say that I still haven’t found a doughnut flavour that’s quite right for me. This I think would have been close if they hadn’t made it so sweet, but as it is I just can’t get on with it. Best friend just made a face and passed me it back after one puff; I didn’t even get an opinion from him.

Up next: My Vapeversary new kit, the tank and mod, and why I’ve not seen them since Sunday. Plus a chance to win £100 worth of vaping kit from Ecigarettedirect.co.uk.

What to get for the vaper that thinks they have everything?

The Nautilus X tank. The lovely folk at Vapelux London sent me this little gem of an intermediate level tank to try so I could review it for you. Browsing their range of tanks (Vape tanks UK) is a little like being a kid in a sweet shop again for me. What on earth do you buy a vaper if you aren’t one? It does depend on what kind of gear they already have, and for this it is necessary to have (or buy) a variable wattage device to put it on. If they use something that has a screen on it, rather than something that just has a button that lights up, you’re generally safe. This is a really smart little – very small form factor- tank that comes with a coil installed, a spare coil and a spare glass tank. That really is all the average vaper needs to be able to fill this and put it on a battery and vape it.

For the vapers; it comes with a 1.8ohm coil (and a spare) that reads 1.88 ohm on my tester. The advice on the coil is that it’s designed for 12-16 W and at that it’s giving good vapour production and wicking a max VG juice while being chain vaped, so it will take most juices happily. The drip tip is replaceable. It has variable air flow on the top half of the top of the tank – the black bit lying to the right in the picture here – and as you can see it’s top fill wide enough to fill from a dripper bottle or from a squeeze bottle easily. That’s bigger than life size on my screen though. The coil is changed from the top too. The glass tank slips off allowing access to the coil which unscrews from the base.  At 16 W with a 3mg juice it’s smooth as silk wide open on a restricted direct inhale. You could stand higher mg in here easily, yet still get a good amount of vapour. Shutting the air back gives a decent mouth to lung, very satisfying slightly warm vape, making this perfect for folk who want more vapour but don’t want to go sub ohm.

It really is a totie wee thing. I’ve shown it here on my Mini Volt, next to it’s sub-ohm big brother the Cleito on my Snow Wolf. As you can see the tank itself is tiny at 2ml. However as it isn’t a sub ohm tank it has the old school advantage; it doesn’t drink juice, it won’t run your batteries flat as quick and you can stealth vape with it on a small form device. This will be my go-to going out set up over Christmas and the New Year. I actually prefer it to the tank that came with the Mini Volt for the reasons I’ve given above, although I do still use that tank on a different device. I’m surprised at how good the flavour is from this. This is about as good as a lower wattage/higher ohm tank can get. My best friend currently uses the older Nautilus Minis and I may have found his upgrade at last. I’ll let you know how he gets on with it.

This tank would be ideal for a vaper who has been using a starter kit and wants an upgrade. In that case they’ll need a variable wattage device to go with it. It would work very well for a vaper who already uses a tank, but would like a better one. Lastly the vaper who thinks they have it all might look sideways at this and think it’s one to consign to the unused drawer. That would be a mistake. There is a place for this, and that place is when you don’t want to be a human fog machine, but still want decent amounts of flavour and vapour. Oh, don’t get me wrong; it can chuck it out, and does, surprisingly well for a coil that’s the same resistance as my very first tank.  The Nautilus X tank was provided to me in return for this review by Vapelux London who have not influenced my review in any way.

Who do I believe on Ecigs?

The Surgeon General’s report on ecigs came out today. I’m not even going to dignify it by linking to it. Once upon a time the RCP published a landmark report that highlighted a link between smoking and cancer. The US dragged its feet and shuffled awkwardly before catching up later. We have here the same situation. This is the report I trust: Nicotine without smoke: Tobacco harm reduction

Catch up USA. Until you do we are counting the cost in lives lost. History is watching from the future and right now it’s appalled.

Kanger Top EVOD Starter Kit

What starter kit should I get for the smoker who wants to switch? The lovely folks at The Electronic Cigarette Co sent me the perfect answer so that I could review it for you. Top of my Christmas Stocking Stuffers list this year is the Kanger Top EVOD. It’s a lovely little thing, not much bigger than a cig-alike, and really easy to use. The first magic thing about it is that it’s top fill, meaning you just unscrew the top and fill it. No mess, no fuss. Fill and go. The second good thing is that it’s an organic cotton coil for good flavour and plenty of vapour, even though it’s 1.5 ohm. Fixed power which in the plus side means less to set for a beginner, but on the downside it means that it’s set well below my sweet spot for this tank, which is 7W. A wee bit more power behind this nifty little tank proves it to be so much better than the protanks I started vaping on.

The draw is nice and open on this and that means I can both direct inhale and mouth draw with it. On a tank like this I tend to do a combination of both, but it gives that option. The air is set though, with no adjustment. This is a good thing for a beginner, with less to set. It only took a few hours to charge to full too, although I’d seriously consider getting a second battery so that you have a backup if this runs out on you.

The vapour production isn’t bad. It’s designed to be used with standard higher PG eliquid, so it’s never going to give you huge clouds. If you’re a non-smoker with a smoking friend the draw of this is that they can use it indoors without it setting off smoke alarms. This is the level of vapour I use when I’m not drawing attention to the fact that I’m vaping. The samples of the in-house juice that the lovely ladies sent me to go with this are ideal to use in this tank. Also a perfect variation of flavours and nicotine strength. The flavours come through not bad at all, which is the cotton in the coil giving the advantage. You will need spare coils ( 5 for £8.95 £1.79 each) for this as they do only last about a week, but that’s normal. If you’re switching up from something like a CE4 disposable which costs more to replace if you’re buying decent ones, then you’ll seriously like the flavour and vapour production and the ongoing saving. The price tag is also very nice. It is currently on the Electric Cigarette Co site at £15.95 making it pretty much affordable for anyone. While you’re on that site have a look at their information, it really is very good. The sort of no nonsense guide to how to switch that I wish I’d had nearly three years ago.

Remember guys, don’t worry about the details. If you want to switch do just two things. First relax and don’t stress about it and second use your ecig whenever you feel like it. Everything else will sort itself out in time. You’ll find yourself using the ecig completely differently from how you smoked. You don’t have to smoke a whole cigarette any more, so you can pick it up, take a couple of puffs and put it back down again. As often or as little as you like. Remember to enjoy it.

Tornado Twister by Vape Dinner Lady

Back before I moved house the lovely people at Vapedinnerlady.com contacted me and asked me to review three of their premium E-Liquids. I agreed and they sent me their sample pack, and then I fell off the planet while my house move (and family issues) dragged on and on. So this review is about as late as reviews get and I’m really sorry, because these juices are good. Very good.

This is the second of the three juices they sent me which I’ve had in my third back up tank since it arrived. Tornado is a watermelon and kiwi with a difference. I can taste the watermelon with an undertone of the kiwi which is pleasant but subtle enough that I couldn’t identify it at first. Neither flavour is overpowering, nor is this a sweet vape. It is as dry as a Chablis. There is I think the barest touch of menthol, just a hint to cool the vape. I have a real soft spot for melon flavours as I’ve mentioned before, and this one has the ability to clear vaper’s tongue like a breath of fresh air. I dislike menthol vapes generally as they are usually far too strong for me, but this I like. Menthol vapes usually taste like trying to eat fruit after cleaning my teeth to me, but this has the balance right so that it is just there and no more. It is a 70% VG mix and comes in a glass dropper bottle with a nice thin nozzle and a child proof cap. I prefer the desert vapes in this range, but it you’ve not got that sweet a tooth, then the Tornado range may be what you’re after.

Just like the other juices from Vape Dinner Lady it vapes beautifully, with a rich thick vapour that isn’t harsh. It wicks well in a basic protank. It’s also smooth and good in a simple fixed power sub ohm system that I’m testing to review over on Amazon. I shall review the last of these three flavours in the next week for sure as I have a starter kit sitting on my review queue that I really want to share with you. Please note that I was sent these juices free of charge to review.

Cornflake Tart by Vape Dinner Lady

Back before I moved house the lovely people at Vapedinnerlady.com contacted me and asked me to review three of their premium E-Liquids. I agreed and they sent me their sample pack, and then I fell off the planet while my house move (and family issues) dragged on and on. So this review is about as late as reviews get and I’m really sorry, because these juices are good. Very good. Cornflake Tart has been my go to second flavour ever since I found the sample pack when I finally unearthed my vaping stuff in the huge pile of boxes.

Firstly it’s a 70% VG mix, which makes it smooth enough for me to really enjoy.  I get the cornflake and syrup straight away, followed by a hint of sweet strawberry and then pastry crust. I also get a touch of cream, just the tiniest hint of a custard jug, even though the taste profile doesn’t mention it. The flavour is exactly what they say it is on the menu. It also vapes beautifully, rich thick vapour that isn’t harsh. It wicks well in a basic protank and tastes just fine. It’s also smooth and good in a simple fixed power sub ohm system that I’m testing to review over on Amazon.

This is a very nice vape indeed and has helped keep me happily insane through the last four weeks. When I test a flavour to review I fill a tank with it and add it into my standard rotation. I know if it’s really good if I start to pick it up unconsciously more then my normal flavours. I’m running short of this one already, and I’ve barely touched my other standard second flavour at all, so I know it really is a winner. I have in fact picked this up instead of refilling my all day vape tank when I’ve been busy. If you’re a desert vape fan as I am, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed even if you never had cornflake tart at school. For those of use who did though, the added nostalgia is really nice as the flavour really is exactly as I remember it from first school.

I will be testing the other two to review over the next few weeks. Please note that I received these E-liquids free of charge in return for an honest review. I will always give my real opinions of the things I’m sent to review, regardless of whether I paid to buy them or not.

Two years vaping, zero tobacco cigarettes smoked

It is two years since I last smoked a tobacco cigarette. The main reason why vaping has worked to bring me this far is that I enjoy it. I have come down in nicotine levels to 6mg from 36mg in easy stages and I have no interest in reducing that level further at the moment, but then nicotine has never been the issue with smoking. The benefit I get is all as a result of the fact that I’m no longer breathing in smoke and burning particles, no longer breathing in carbon monoxide and all the other products of lit tobacco. My breathing is easier, I no longer need to use my ventolin inhaler, I’ve had no episodes of bronchitis and I can taste my food again; all the benefits of being a non-smoker with none of the drawbacks of having to cease all nicotine use. I was already a nicotine user, so the fact that I still use it is also not an issue. For those telling me that I’ve just swapped one addiction for another, my answer is a resounding, “So what!” because it really doesn’t matter at all, even if I continue to use nicotine for the rest of my life, it is doing me less harm per year than ONE DAY of relapsing to smoking. It is preventing me from relapsing to smoking.

I also haven’t dropped a lit cigarette in two years. Remember how many house fires are still caused by smoking materials? For every scare story about ecigs exploding there are hundreds of unreported deaths and injuries in house fires that are not sensationalised because they aren’t newsworthy, when they should be. In all honesty vaping probably has saved my life. I was a house fire statistic waiting to happen.

In the last two years I have suffered two major bereavements and supported a close friend through a major bereavement and another through a psychotic break. I have survived my (rented) house being completely renovated while I was living in it and I’m about to purchase my first home. These are stressful events in any life, and they hit me as a vulnerable disabled person very hard indeed, remembering that stress levels increase the severity of the symptoms of my chronic illness. Through it all I have not wanted to smoke, because I had a viable alternative that I enjoy more than I enjoyed smoking. The main reason that I enjoy it more than smoking is because of the flavours. Those same flavours that the anti-nicotine puritans say is ‘attracting children’ against all of the research that says that they do not, are the reason why my safer alternative method of obtaining nicotine which is preventing my relapse to smoking is working for me.

So what do you think will happen to me if those flavours are restricted? I will very likely relapse to smoking.

The TPD is also going to cause me huge problems immediately in May. I will no longer be able to buy my eliquids in bottle sizes greater than 10ml. These bottles are too small for me to handle safely. They will also only dispense twenty drops of eliquid a minute, meaning that in order to fill even a TPD compliant 2.5ml tank, I’ll have to sit and squeeze a bottle without moving for well over a minute, whereas now I have a nice big chunky soft squeeze bottle that’s easy for me to hold and it takes seconds to fill my tank. I’ll have to fill more often, from smaller bottles, with more waste, using bottles I can’t grip, that take much longer for me to fill a tank in a way that is practically impossible for me to do.

So what do you think is likely to happen to me in May?

The government don’t seem to realise that the TPD rules are doing actual harm. We need to get this nonsense sorted out, so that ordinary people like me are able to stay away from smoking lit tobacco.