How to Vape. A Beginner’s Guide to Vaping

If vaping is a new frontier for you and you wonder how to use a vape, you probably have no vaping experience and wonder what’s the best way to start. More and more smokers turn to vaping as to a healthier alternative.

The vape industry responds to the great market demand and produces a large variety of vaping devices, accessories and materials for different users based on their preferences, style, smoking, and vaping experience, etc. No wonder many ex-smokers get confused and start googling how to vape correctly.

What is Vaping?

When one uses an electronic cigarette or a vaporizer, they vape, and the process is called vaping. Electronic cigarettes and vaporizers emerged as a healthier alternative to smoking. These devices vaporize e-juices to deliver the flavorful vapor with or without nicotine to the system of the user.

The e-liquids usually contain propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), food-grade flavorings and nicotine. Even though the first e-cigarette was introduced in China back in 2003, this device got to the US market only in late 2006.

Nowadays you have a wide range of vaping devices and e-liquids to choose from. Back at the dawn of the industry, all of these products were manufactured in China. Nowadays there are local companies all over the world making products for vaping.

Basics of Vaping Devices

When trying to figure out how to start vaping, you need to learn the basic information about vaping devices and how to choose the right one for your needs. Vaping devices come in all shapes and sizes. Some remind regular cigarettes, while others look like a box, a tube or a pen. Currently, nearly all of the vaping devices operate with the help of a lithium battery.

The battery heats a wire coil. Next, a wick draws the e-liquid to the coil. Finally, the e-liquid is heated, and it vaporizes. A vaper inhales the e-liquid through the mouthpiece in a manner that resembles smoking regular cigarettes.

Atomizer

This is another important part of a vape that bears responsibility for the e-liquid evaporation. This part of the vape comes in different styles, like the following:

– Atomized cartridges (obsolete);
– Cartomizers;
– Clearomizers;
– Hybrid atomizers;
– Rebuildable dripping atomizers;
– Rebuildable tank atomizers.

Each of the atomizers has its unique features, as well as advantages and disadvantages. It’s quite easy to choose exactly what you need though.

Coils

A coil is a little piece of resistance wire that is shaped like a spring. The material and the diameter of coils differ, as well as the number of wraps. These parameters influence the resistance of the vape coil.

The resistance of the coil defines the power consumption of the vape and the heat production. Most of the coil wires are made from Kanthal, Nickel, and NiChrome. These materials are considered to be the safest for human health.

Wicks

Different materials are used for vape wick. The most frequently used ones are as follows:

– Ceramic;
– Cotton;
– Eko-wool;
– Twisted silica cord;
– Stainless steel mesh.

The wick transports the e-liquid from the vape tank to the coil. Thus, the material of the wick matters a lot.

E-Liquid

E-liquid is the material that evaporates in your vape and delivers the flavorful vapor to your system. An e-liquid typically consists of vegetable glycerin and/or propylene glycol, and food grade flavorings. There are e-liquids that contain nicotine and those that do not. You can purchase e-liquids that have different PG/VG ratio, nicotine content, and flavors.

When it comes to nicotine ratio, ex-smokers usually start with 18mg/ml or even 24mg/ml, slowly decreasing their nicotine intake and switching to 12 mg/ml. The lower nicotine content, the better flavor you will get.

Battery

A vape’s battery is the core element that makes it or breaks it. Some vapes use built-in batteries that can be charged but cannot be replaced, while others use batteries that can easily be replaced and charged.

RDA

RDA is an abbreviation that stands for rebuildable drip atomizers. RDA does not have an e-liquid reservoir. A user needs to drip the e-liquid onto the atomizer manually. RDAs are made for people who enjoy building their own coils.

RTA

RTA is an abbreviation that stands for rebuildable tank atomizers. An RTA is basically an RDA with a small reservoir for e-liquid. With an RTA, you can build coils on your own.

MTL

Have you heard of MTL vaping? MTL stands for mouth-to-lung vape or vaping method. MTL means that you inhale the vapor into your mouth and inhale it afterward.

Mouth to lung vaping is very popular as it lets you enjoy the flavor and the taste of the vapor. MTL vaping has both advantages and disadvantages. Here are the main things about it you should know.

Advantages of MTL Vaping

– Perfect for ex-smokers. MTL vaping imitates smoking, which can help smokers part with the harmful habit and switch to a healthier alternative.
– Affordable price. MTL vaping devices don’t require batteries as powerful as DL vaping devices. Thus, the price of the former is usually a bit lower.
– Cool vapor and intense flavor. MTL devices let you enjoy the flavor of your favorite e-liquid to the fullest. Many vapers enjoy that vapor is cool and comfortable to inhale.
– Economic. MTL vapes consume less e-liquid compared to DL vapes. Slow inhalation and slow vaporization are the reasons behind it.

Disadvantages of MTL Vaping

– Old-school. Advanced vapers believe that MTL vaping is outdated and boring. It is not applicable for cloud-chasing and competitive vaping.
– Little throat hit compared to DL vaping. If you opt for e-liquids with high PG ratio, the hit will be stronger, but still nothing like the hit in DL vaping.

DL

DL stands for direct lung vape or vaping method. With DL, you draw the vapor directly to your lungs. It feels like taking another breath of air. Direct lung vaping resembles smoking regular cigarettes, and it is most common among ex-smokers. DL vaping experience is similar to what you get when using a joint, bong, shisha or hookah.

It can also be compared to inhaling hot air into the lungs. If you have never smoked and wonder how to inhale vape, we recommend you to start with mouth to lung vaping method and turn to direct lung slowly as you get more experience. Over some time you will understand how to inhale vape without coughing.

Advantages of Direct Lung Vaping

– A satisfying vaping experience. Direct lung vaping grants you a powerful throat hit that ex-smokers crave for. DL vapes make users more satisfied, especially when it comes to advanced and expert vapers.
– Bigger, thicker clouds of vapor. With DL vapes you will never have to worry about poor vapor production. Made for blowing out enormous clouds, DL vapes will impress you and your friends as well.

Disadvantages of Direct Lung Vaping

– Less flavorful vapor compared to MTL. Since the taste buds are mostly located on the human tongue, MTL vaping is more satisfying flavorwise when compared to DL vaping.
– Dry hits. If you don’t have enough vaping experience or don’t treat your vape right, you can get the worst nightmare of a vaper – a dry hit. When the cotton gets burned because of the lack of e-liquid, the cotton wick gets damaged by the heat. In this case, instead of inhaling your favorite flavor, you will inhale the awful-tasting burnt cotton smoke.
– Unusual experience. While MTL vaping will most likely feel second-nature to most of the vapers, DL vaping might feel overwhelming at first.
– Risky. When it comes to DL vaping, you are dealing with extremes and higher risks that accompany low coil resistance and high battery power.

How to Vape Medical Marijuana and Other Herbs

If you are thinking of vaping medical marijuana or dry herb, you probably wonder what the right place to start is. You will find the basic information you need to know below.

Steps of Vaping Dry Herb Material

– Get the herb ready. First, make sure that your material id dry. Next, grind it well.
– Pack your vape. With the help of your packing tool, load your dry herb material into the heating chamber of your vape.
– Close the heating chamber and activate your vaporizer.
– Wait until the vaporizer lets you know that it’s ready.
– Pull off the vaporizer lightly to taste the first draw. Enjoy your vaping session!
– Once your vaping session is over, clean your heating chamber from the residues;
– Clean the mouthpiece from time to time to prevent bacteria accumulation.

It’s that easy! Follow the instructions of the manufacturer of your vape closely for optimal performance and safety.

How to Vape with a Dab Pen

A dab pen does not look like any other vaping device. Its operation is different as well. Dab is a marijuana concentrate that can be consumed with the help of a dab pen. Here is how you can use a dab pen to vape your concentrate:

– With the help of a dab tool, pack the concentrate into the heating chamber of the dab pen.
– Leave about one-quarter of the heating chamber empty for good air circulation and better vapor production.
– Avoid touching the dab concentrate with your hands. Contact with your fingers can degrade the material.
– Close the heating chamber once it’s packed with dab.
– Wait till the indicator light indicates that the device is ready.
– Press the fire button.
– Take a little pull off your dab and inhale the vapor.
– Press and hold the fire button for one or two seconds before inhaling to get more vapor.
– Once the vaping session is done, clean the heating chamber to prevent residue buildup.

Experience and Vaping

Wonder how to vape properly? Start with choosing the right device for you. Naming a certain device or two would be wrong since every vaper prefers something else based on their needs.

However, it is possible to make the choice of your first vape easier by describing types of devices that are currently available and noting what skills and level of experience one needs to enjoy a vaping session without any extra fuss.

Let’s break all vapers into four categories: beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert. Here’s what we recommend you to choose based on your experience.

Beginner

If you have no experience in vaping at all, we recommend you to start your vaping journey with a low output regulated device with an internal integrated battery.

To get the most of your device while staying safe, pair it with a clearomizer that has easily replaceable coils. The resistance of the coils should be over 1.0 ohms. The JUUL Starter Kit is a great example of a device, suitable for beginners.

Intermediate

If you have some experience in vaping, know how to operate, maintain and troubleshoot minor issues with your vapes, you are a vaper with an intermediate level of experience. If you are tired of your beginner device and look for something with more vapor production, more customization or better flavor production, turn your attention to mid powered regulated devices (80W or less).

Pair them with clearomizers with replaceable coils. The resistance of the coils should be above .5 ohms. Turn your attention to sub-ohm devices that deliver great vapor and flavor, while granting user safety at the same time.

Advanced

If you have a perfect understanding of what vaping devices fit your needs and style best, if you have comprehensive knowledge of Ohm’s Law and Joule’s Law and can handle rebuildable devices easily, you’re an advanced vaper.

We recommend such users to check out the modern rebuildable vapes. Also, they are very likely to enjoy high power regulated mods, accompanied by high wattage sub-ohm clearomizers.

Expert

How do you vape and what do you explore when you’re an expert? Expert vapers have comprehensive knowledge of every aspect of vaping. They are never confused when it comes to choosing a new mod, coil or e-liquid.

They rebuild and troubleshoot vaping devices easily. Most likely, expert vapers will enjoy a hybrid vaping device most of all. Hybrid mods should be handled with extra care and precaution, that’s why we recommend them to expert users only.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how to vape and how to choose a device based on your needs and experience, it’s time for you to choose your first vaping device. It all boils down to personal preferences and experience, after all.

We hope that vaping will be a pleasant and relaxing experience for you. Now that you know how to properly vape stay away as far from smoking as you can![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]