Are you an active cigarette smoker? Stop smoking tobacco because it is associated with lots of health issues.
I’m not saying that vaping is not harmful, but according to American Heart Association (AHA), many people believe e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco.
Although there is no scientific evidence, many reports say that vaping is 95% safer than cigarettes.
Vape contains various concentrations of nicotine but doesn’t contain harmful and 7000+ toxic substances like tobacco.
Here we don’t argue for safety evidence, but most Americans shifted to electronic cigarettes and love it.
Beginners Vaping Guide: A to Z
If you’re above 21 years old, you can start your vaping journey to quit cigarette smoking.
Vaping juices and e-liquids are made from Propylene Glycol (PG), Vegetable Glycerine (VG), and food-grade flavorings.
Nicotine is optional in e-liquids. It is your choice to add nicotine strength to the vaping liquid.
What is Vaping?
Vaping is quite popular in the USA, UK, and Canada. It’s a method of inhaling nicotine and flavoring vapors created by electronic cigarettes.
E-cigarettes, aka JUULs, is a battery-operated device that generates heat. As a result, vaping juice and e-liquids get vaporized, and people inhale via the mouthpiece.
How Does Vaping Work?
A vape pen or e-cigarette contains various components and parts that generate heat and e-liquid vaporize.
It contains an e-juice tank, a battery, and a responsive coil that ignites quickly. Don’t worry; all the parts of an e-cigarette, aka vape device, and its functioning is explained in detail.
Whenever you put the mouthpiece in your mouth and suck, it creates a vacuum inside the vape pen, and the automizer senses it.
The automizer closes the circuit of the e-cigarette battery and generates heat near the e-liquid tank.
Due to heat, propylene glycol vaporizes and forms a vape cloud in your mouth. The vape cloud contains nicotine that people love to smoke.
Different Parts of a Vape (E-cigarette)
In 1968, Herbert Gilbert pioneered smokeless non-tobacco cigarettes. It was a great invention due to which people switched from extremely harmful tobacco cigarettes to vaping.
A vaping device contains the following important parts:
1. Drip Tip (Mouthpiece)
The drip tip is the most important part of an e-cigarette. It goes into the mouth where people inhale the e-liquids.
It is also called a mouthpiece, and it looks like a chimney from where cloud vapors go into your mouth and then lungs.
2. Tank
The tank is another important part of a vape device. This is where your e-juice or e-liquid goes.
It’s made from glass or plastic that surrounds the coil of a vape kit. The size of the tank is generally around 2ml.
3. Automizer (Coil)
Automizer aka coil is a metal wire whose resistance varies from device to device. The wire is surrounded by cotton that absorbs the e-liquid from the tank and heats up to make cloud vapors.
A beginner’s vape device has a coil resistance of 1 ohm or greater, while an experienced person can go for sub ohms whose resistance is less than 1 ohm.
4. Mod
Mod is the largest part of a vape kit that holds a battery and other components of the device.
The mod is connected with the upper part, i.e., the atomizer, and the bottom part, i.e., the battery compartment.
Some vape mods have a built-in USB port and pre-installed rechargeable battery.
5. Battery
A battery powers the entire parts and functions. It’s the heart of a vaping device.
The most commonly used battery is a 18650 vape battery, but some vape pens use different batteries too.
When you inhale from the drip tip, the automizer heat up (in automatic vape), or when you press the button, the battery power up the coil, and it heats the e-liquid.
How To Choose The Right Vape?
There are various types of vaping devices available in the market. You need to understand every type of vape and its functioning before starting your vaping journey.
1. CIG-A-Like
CIG-A-Like is a disposable vape that visually looks like a cigarette. The shape is cylindrical and is almost similar to a real cigarette.
Due to its compact design and shape, it’s highly portable. You can take it anywhere without any hassle.
CIG-A-Like vapes are best for starting your vaping journey. It’s easy to use because it has a built-in atomizer, tank, and battery.
2. Vape Pen
With time, many modifications were made to e-cigarettes, and in 2003 a Chinese pharmacist presented a vape pen on the market.
Understanding a vape pen’s functionalities is tough for a beginner because many parts are fitted into a very small device.
It heats the e-liquids mixed with nicotine with the help of a coil and battery. Due to heat, e-liquids get vaporized, and people inhale them into the lungs by mouth.
It became very popular because people can consume nicotine without burning tobacco-based cigarettes.
Vape pens are easy to use; hence people start their vaping journey with vape pens only.
3. Vape Mod
Vape pens are generally disposable or single-use, but vape mods can be re-filled with e-liquids. That’s why the majority of expert vape smokers prefer vape mods.
They can fill the different e-liquids of their choice and enjoy smoking. If you’re starting your vaping journey, I suggest you start with disposable vape pens.
4. Pod Kits
Pod kits are the newest generating vaping devices that are already popular. It’s also known as “Pod Mods.”
Pod mods are easy to use and carry hence a lot of people prefer this device. Also, pod mods are rechargeable; hence you do not need to replace your vape battery every time.
There are two types of pod mods popular in the market:
- Closed pod vape (comes with pre-filled e-liquids)
- Open pod vape (comes with re-fillable e-liquids)
Pod kits are very easy to use and slim in design. So, a beginner can also use it without any issue.
What are Vaping Styles?
Vaping styles are very popular among vaping communities. The vaping styles are classified into two categories, depending on the airflow.
You must have heard about the terms MTL (Mouth To Lung) and DTL (Direct To Lung).
It’s totally a personal choice because some people love MTL, and some are DTL.
1. Mouth To Lung (MTL)
Mouth To Lung (MTL) is more similar to traditional tobacco smoking. It feels like you’re smoking a real cigarette; that’s why most ex-smoker start their vaping journey with MTL.
MTL is designed for tight airflow and higher nicotine strength. In this vaping style, people inhale the vapors in their mouths and then take them to the lungs.
MTL tanks are used by millions of ex-smokers trying to quit smoking.
2. Direct To Lung (DTL)
Direct To Lung aka DTL is also a popular vaping style among vaping community. This vaping style is preferred by experienced people who have years of experience.
In this vaping style, e-liquid vapors are directly inhaled into the lungs instead of the mouth. If you’re just a beginner, you’ll feel odd going with DTL vaping tanks.
What is E-liquid?
E-liquid is a mixture of different substances that vaporize when the coil heats up. E-liquid stands for electronic cigarette liquid, and it’s the most important part, or we can say- the heart of vaping.
E-liquid Ingredients
It contains Vegetable Glycerine (VG) and Propylene Glycol (PG) with some food-grade flavoring and nicotine.
Let’s discuss the ingredients of an e-liquid:
1. Vegetable Glycerine
Vegetable Glycerine is an odorless liquid that is made from coconut oil, soybeans, palm oil, etc.
The viscosity of vegetable glycerine is high, generating high vapors when heated.
It’s in a sugar syrup-like structure and tastes mildly sweet.
2. Propylene Glycol
Propylene Glycol is yet another safe ingredient used in e-liquids. Propylene Glycol is also found in many cosmetics, food, and medical products, and it’s generally harmless for health.
The viscosity of Propylene Glycol is very low, and it causes sensations in the throat. If your throat is sensitive, then you can try low propylene glycol e-liquids.
3. Food-grade Flavoring
To give a better flavor to your mouth, food-grade flavoring is added to the e-liquids.
It is generally in the form of natural and artificial both. The flavoring used in e-liquids is approved by FEMA.
4. Nicotine
Nicotine is an optional ingredient found in e-liquids. It’s an addictive substance that affects your nervous system.
If you’re trying to quit smoking completely, you should not buy nicotine-based e-liquids for vaping.
How To Choose Best E-liquid For Vaping?
Now you know the ingredients of e-liquids. Depending on your vaping purpose, you can choose the best e-liquid from any popular online vape store.
If you want to quit smoking, make sure you’re using nicotine-free e-liquids in your vape device.
There are thousands of flavors available online, and you can choose one as per your choice.
If your throat is sensitive, you should buy low PG e-liquids. A 10mL e-liquid bottle generally has a 50/50 VG and PG ratio.
Due to TPD law, nicotine can not be provided in a bottle whose size is above 10mL.
The nicotine strength in a 10mL bottle generally ranges between 0 to 18mg.
If you have an e-liquid shortfall of 50mL vape juice, you can add a 10mL Nicotine shot into it.
Adding a 10mL Nicotine of strength of 18mg can turn your 50mL vape juice to a Nicotine strength of 0mg to 3mg.
The shortfalls usually come in VG/PG ratios of 70/30 and 80/20, making it perfect for Direct to Lung (DTL) and sub-ohm vaping.
How Much Nicotine in Vape?
A 10mL e-liquid bottle contains 0g to 18g of Nicotine. If you want to know- how much nicotine a beginner should consume, then I would say:
“The strength of Nicotine in a vape is your personal choice.“
However, these are some recommendations for Nicotine strength in vaping:
- Non-smoker trying for the first time: 0mg/mL.
- Light smoker giving a shot to vaping: 3mg/mL.
- Ex-smoker switching to vaping: 6mg/mL.
- Ex-smokers who used to smoke one pack of cigarettes daily: 12mg/mL.
- Hardcore smokers can go for Nicotine Strength: 18mg/mL.
Conclusion
In this beginner’s guide to vaping, I’ve covered all the basics of vaping devices, e-liquids, Nicotine strength, etc. I hope you’ve got enough ideas to start your vaping journey from here.
If you’re planning to quit smoking, make sure your e-liquid should not contain Nicotine.
If you think I’ve left something to cover in this guide- feel free to add it in the comment box. I’ll cover those areas in the next content update.
