Well I've been vaping for a few months now, still very much a noob but while everything was still fresh in my mind I wanted to put together a quick info piece for those who might be considering looking at making their first few purchases. If this isn't the right place for it, any Mod, please move to where it should be! :-D
What is 510 and why does everyone talk about it?
510 is just the name given to the universal connections that just about every vape item uses. If something wants to flourish in the vaping community it pretty much needs a 510 connector so that you can connect clearos and tanks up to a battery.
So how do vapes work?
Consisting of two parts, there is the top bit (usually called a clearomizer) which is refillable with liquid juice. It has some wicks which draw the liquid up into the heating element. Then there is the bottom bit which is just a battery with a button on it.
You just put some juice into the top bit, making sure not to drip any at all down the middle tube, put the mouthpiece back on and connect it to the battery. Then you click the battery 5 times quickly to turn it on, leave it for a few minutes for the juice to get sucked up into the wicks in the clearo, and then you're ready to go. Vaping is self explanatory really, just hold the button on the battery down for a few seconds and you're away. How you vape it in is a matter of trial and error, personally i let it fill my mouth slowly for a few seconds and then suck back to get a throat/lung hit before exhaling but many do it differently, try it out a few times and work out what feels best for you.
Go cheap at first.
Get a feel for vaping by getting a cheap starter kit. Many of the vendors listed on this site will give discount codes to the side, use these to get a starter kit.
A starter kit will normally comprise of the very basics for what you need, I suggest as a minimum the following:
1 x Clearomizer
1 x USB Battery Charger
2 x Batteries with 510 connectors
1 x Juice liquid (10ml pack)
Personally I would pick up a couple of extra clearo's and a few different liquids to try them out and see which you like best. Even if you think you'll just be into the tobacco flavour, try something extra just once, you might be surprised.
Flavours.
People have different sets I guess, but I like to think of these as three categories of flavours - Tobacco, Fruits and Drinks. Tobacco is obvious, just different types of tobacco. I started initially with these but actually now I'm totally off the fags I just cannot bear the taste.
I'm on the fruits and drinks, grape is a personal favourite but I am a big fan of mint coffee too.
Menthol really hangs around as a flavour - you can't get rid of it easily once you use it in a clearo so it's best to choose one as a dedicated menthol clearo and don't put your menthol in the others.
Colour Coding
Sounds simple but I didn't think of it straight away, you'll probably be using different flavours after quite a short amount of time so get different colours of clearos. Simple ones I have are: Green for Menthol, Brown for Chocolate, White for Vanilla, Blue for (duh) Blueberry or Blue cola, Red for Cherry or Strawberry. Simple really, that's how I do it, it's just a common-sense system and keeps flavours distinct.
As I mentioned to someone today, nothing worse than sitting a your desk, looking at 5 black clearo's and wondering where on earth your menthol is then suddenly breathing in a nasty chocolate that you weren't at all sure about yesterday... I've been there!
Tanks and upgrades for clearos.
So once you've had a play around with these basics above, you can start to think about trying some different tanks. The difference here is generally that you can only throw away many of the clearos (the CE4 for example will burn out after a while) whereas the tanks can have little bits changed and they're good to go again. Also some of them can be made from pyrex which lets you vape certain other flavours without the fear of cracking (the cheaper plastic clearos can crack if you use some fruit flavours constantly, particularly grape).
The better tanks come as basically 3 main bits (they break down into more pieces but I'm going to concentrate just on these for the beginner).
Firstly the tank itself, then there will be a detachable section. Some tanks detach the top part (like the iClear 30 S) and some detach the bottom bit (like the various protank types - my personal favourites). Once you have broken the tank into two bits by unscrewing, you can then remove the atomizer and wicks by unscrewing it again. Very easily accomplished, this is the replaceable bit. Some people get into wick making etc but for me as a novice I just buy replacement atomizers, they cost about £6 for 5 of them and you won't use more than 1 every 6 weeks in my experience so it's not an issue).
Anyway, once it's split, the atomizer bit has been replaced, it's ready for refilling, reattach the bottom bit to the top bit, let the juice sit around the wicks for a while and then you're ready to go. I find that you get such a better vape from these tanks that they justify the expense - again, lots of vendors have either special offers on these pages, or they will have good sales on. Some of the tanks can be pricey but they are generally the leading edge stuff and not necessarily worth going for at the start, build up to the expensive stuff if you are so inclined.
Mods.
So this really confused me - everyone was talking about mods. I had no idea what they meant. All a mod is, simply put, is a different size or style of item that the clearo sits on. Instead of just connecting direct to a battery, you either put a battery into the mod, or you charge the mod direct in some cases, and then you attach the clearo or tank to the mod.
That's all, there is no secret or rocket science to a mod. It's just something you attach your clearo to instead of a battery. The mods have generally got capacity for bigger batteries and they will invariably have some kind of voltage/wattage adjuster built in - whether by a spinning dial or possibly displayed on a nice LED, rather than the consistent power ratings of the batteries.
Some mods can be insanely expensive, there is no need to go in that direction unless you have caught shinyitis at an early stage.
People refer to two types of mods mostly - box mods and tube mods. Pretty obvious. A box mod is shaped like a small box and the tube is shaped like, well, a small tube. You bung your battery in the bottom of it (most mods will need a totally different kind of battery *and* charger to that which you bought in your starter kit but they aren't expensive) and you hook up whatever clearo or tank you want to the top bit. You then turn it on, set the voltage and wattage if relevant, and away you go.
Recommendations:
Starter Kits
Ego T
This pack comes with two clearos, two batteries and a charger kit - everything you need to get up and running really. Can't fault it but I wish that more vendors would sell them with different colours so you can colour-code flavours - FEEDBACK TO VENDORS :-D
Evod
This is the same as above, but rather than the disposable CE4s that the Ego kit comes with, the Evod is pretty much a first tank system with a replaceable atomizer. I loved these but I have had some problems with them leaking in recent weeks, they are a great system and a really nice vape if they work fine.
Flavours
Obviously try some tobacco ones if you're into that, but I always keep Menthol, Grape, Cola, Coffee, Vanilla, Apple with me. Wouldn't suggest trying things like ice-cream etc at the start, they can be a bit of an acquired taste and you want to have more kit to fall back on before experimenting too far. Menthol is just an outstanding flavour to vape, I always have at least one tank (normally tucked into the business card section of my suit haha) filled with menthol.
Tanks
I like the bottom loading tanks with the small, cheap, replaceable atomizers. I can only say good things about Kanger Protank Minis and Kanger Protanks. As early stage tanks they are just outstanding, the size profile of the mini is very nice and fits easily and simply onto a standard 510 battery. The protank mk 1 is bigger and is a genuinely nicer vape, it comes with a little 'skirt' adapter thing to make it fit with the standard 510 battery.
Honourable mention to iClear 30 S - It's a really really nice vape, solidly built, screams quality. But it's a top loader, it sucks up a lot of juice into the wick, and because it's a top loader you kinda need to keep topping it up so the wicks don't get dry. Don't have that problem with the protanks, however it really does vape well enough for me to overlook that and I now keep one of these loaded with coffee for when I want a heavy vape.
Mods
Others will add to this I hope.
I absolutely love the Innokin VTR and can't stop recommending that people get one. However they are pricey compared to many out there and I don't have the experience to be able to say whether it's really worth it. They are a very heavy lump.
What is 510 and why does everyone talk about it?
510 is just the name given to the universal connections that just about every vape item uses. If something wants to flourish in the vaping community it pretty much needs a 510 connector so that you can connect clearos and tanks up to a battery.
So how do vapes work?
Consisting of two parts, there is the top bit (usually called a clearomizer) which is refillable with liquid juice. It has some wicks which draw the liquid up into the heating element. Then there is the bottom bit which is just a battery with a button on it.
You just put some juice into the top bit, making sure not to drip any at all down the middle tube, put the mouthpiece back on and connect it to the battery. Then you click the battery 5 times quickly to turn it on, leave it for a few minutes for the juice to get sucked up into the wicks in the clearo, and then you're ready to go. Vaping is self explanatory really, just hold the button on the battery down for a few seconds and you're away. How you vape it in is a matter of trial and error, personally i let it fill my mouth slowly for a few seconds and then suck back to get a throat/lung hit before exhaling but many do it differently, try it out a few times and work out what feels best for you.
Go cheap at first.
Get a feel for vaping by getting a cheap starter kit. Many of the vendors listed on this site will give discount codes to the side, use these to get a starter kit.
A starter kit will normally comprise of the very basics for what you need, I suggest as a minimum the following:
1 x Clearomizer
1 x USB Battery Charger
2 x Batteries with 510 connectors
1 x Juice liquid (10ml pack)
Personally I would pick up a couple of extra clearo's and a few different liquids to try them out and see which you like best. Even if you think you'll just be into the tobacco flavour, try something extra just once, you might be surprised.
Flavours.
People have different sets I guess, but I like to think of these as three categories of flavours - Tobacco, Fruits and Drinks. Tobacco is obvious, just different types of tobacco. I started initially with these but actually now I'm totally off the fags I just cannot bear the taste.
I'm on the fruits and drinks, grape is a personal favourite but I am a big fan of mint coffee too.
Menthol really hangs around as a flavour - you can't get rid of it easily once you use it in a clearo so it's best to choose one as a dedicated menthol clearo and don't put your menthol in the others.
Colour Coding
Sounds simple but I didn't think of it straight away, you'll probably be using different flavours after quite a short amount of time so get different colours of clearos. Simple ones I have are: Green for Menthol, Brown for Chocolate, White for Vanilla, Blue for (duh) Blueberry or Blue cola, Red for Cherry or Strawberry. Simple really, that's how I do it, it's just a common-sense system and keeps flavours distinct.
As I mentioned to someone today, nothing worse than sitting a your desk, looking at 5 black clearo's and wondering where on earth your menthol is then suddenly breathing in a nasty chocolate that you weren't at all sure about yesterday... I've been there!
Tanks and upgrades for clearos.
So once you've had a play around with these basics above, you can start to think about trying some different tanks. The difference here is generally that you can only throw away many of the clearos (the CE4 for example will burn out after a while) whereas the tanks can have little bits changed and they're good to go again. Also some of them can be made from pyrex which lets you vape certain other flavours without the fear of cracking (the cheaper plastic clearos can crack if you use some fruit flavours constantly, particularly grape).
The better tanks come as basically 3 main bits (they break down into more pieces but I'm going to concentrate just on these for the beginner).
Firstly the tank itself, then there will be a detachable section. Some tanks detach the top part (like the iClear 30 S) and some detach the bottom bit (like the various protank types - my personal favourites). Once you have broken the tank into two bits by unscrewing, you can then remove the atomizer and wicks by unscrewing it again. Very easily accomplished, this is the replaceable bit. Some people get into wick making etc but for me as a novice I just buy replacement atomizers, they cost about £6 for 5 of them and you won't use more than 1 every 6 weeks in my experience so it's not an issue).
Anyway, once it's split, the atomizer bit has been replaced, it's ready for refilling, reattach the bottom bit to the top bit, let the juice sit around the wicks for a while and then you're ready to go. I find that you get such a better vape from these tanks that they justify the expense - again, lots of vendors have either special offers on these pages, or they will have good sales on. Some of the tanks can be pricey but they are generally the leading edge stuff and not necessarily worth going for at the start, build up to the expensive stuff if you are so inclined.
Mods.
So this really confused me - everyone was talking about mods. I had no idea what they meant. All a mod is, simply put, is a different size or style of item that the clearo sits on. Instead of just connecting direct to a battery, you either put a battery into the mod, or you charge the mod direct in some cases, and then you attach the clearo or tank to the mod.
That's all, there is no secret or rocket science to a mod. It's just something you attach your clearo to instead of a battery. The mods have generally got capacity for bigger batteries and they will invariably have some kind of voltage/wattage adjuster built in - whether by a spinning dial or possibly displayed on a nice LED, rather than the consistent power ratings of the batteries.
Some mods can be insanely expensive, there is no need to go in that direction unless you have caught shinyitis at an early stage.
People refer to two types of mods mostly - box mods and tube mods. Pretty obvious. A box mod is shaped like a small box and the tube is shaped like, well, a small tube. You bung your battery in the bottom of it (most mods will need a totally different kind of battery *and* charger to that which you bought in your starter kit but they aren't expensive) and you hook up whatever clearo or tank you want to the top bit. You then turn it on, set the voltage and wattage if relevant, and away you go.
Recommendations:
Starter Kits
Ego T
This pack comes with two clearos, two batteries and a charger kit - everything you need to get up and running really. Can't fault it but I wish that more vendors would sell them with different colours so you can colour-code flavours - FEEDBACK TO VENDORS :-D
Evod
This is the same as above, but rather than the disposable CE4s that the Ego kit comes with, the Evod is pretty much a first tank system with a replaceable atomizer. I loved these but I have had some problems with them leaking in recent weeks, they are a great system and a really nice vape if they work fine.
Flavours
Obviously try some tobacco ones if you're into that, but I always keep Menthol, Grape, Cola, Coffee, Vanilla, Apple with me. Wouldn't suggest trying things like ice-cream etc at the start, they can be a bit of an acquired taste and you want to have more kit to fall back on before experimenting too far. Menthol is just an outstanding flavour to vape, I always have at least one tank (normally tucked into the business card section of my suit haha) filled with menthol.
Tanks
I like the bottom loading tanks with the small, cheap, replaceable atomizers. I can only say good things about Kanger Protank Minis and Kanger Protanks. As early stage tanks they are just outstanding, the size profile of the mini is very nice and fits easily and simply onto a standard 510 battery. The protank mk 1 is bigger and is a genuinely nicer vape, it comes with a little 'skirt' adapter thing to make it fit with the standard 510 battery.
Honourable mention to iClear 30 S - It's a really really nice vape, solidly built, screams quality. But it's a top loader, it sucks up a lot of juice into the wick, and because it's a top loader you kinda need to keep topping it up so the wicks don't get dry. Don't have that problem with the protanks, however it really does vape well enough for me to overlook that and I now keep one of these loaded with coffee for when I want a heavy vape.
Mods
Others will add to this I hope.
I absolutely love the Innokin VTR and can't stop recommending that people get one. However they are pricey compared to many out there and I don't have the experience to be able to say whether it's really worth it. They are a very heavy lump.
