I started vaping in July 2014 with Kanger Protanks and Aerotanks with Naturevape coils, rebuilt with NR-R-NR wires from Stealthvape. It was the obvious high cost and inconsistency of the Kanger stock coils that immediately pushed me into the formative stages of making micro coils and learning how to wick. I dabbled with a Russian 91% clone too, then quite a few more RTAs and RDAs, TC and so on.
If you don't build yourself I don't see how you can learn anything worthwhile about wicking, airflow, coil wrapping/positioning and something I think is most important - heat flux, achieving the best balance of heat generation and cooling within the chamber for any particular juice. All this is plug and play with stock coils; the design either works or doesn't work with inconsistency being the main issue in their mass manufacturing.
During the next few years I've enjoyed the process of checking out the “latest and greatest” in wicking, wire and the increasing complexity of coils and I eventually reached a stage where I knew what works best for me and consequently felt less inclined to keep up with testing. I rebuild using straight wire and claptons/fused claptons that I make myself. My skills don't extend to making SFCs or aliens so I buy wire shots from
@Smut in order to make those coils.
In my experience, rebuilders are, and have always been, in the minority of the vaping community. The majority want plug and play for everything in their busy lives and see anyone delving into more hands on, detailed approaches as geeks. I'm happy to be viewed by them as a vaping geek but for me, vaping is sorted. I find others things in life to be geeky about these days. You never know it all but you can know enough and, for me, from that point there's more joy and satisfaction in learning about something completely different.
