Eight days ago, I celebrated my second year of being cigarette-free.
The celebration was a short one: I tried to smoke a stick of Marlboro.
If you’re beginning to think that’s weird, I just want you to know that I did the exact same thing last year. It’s not that I’m trying to get back into the habit it’s just that I wanted to test myself whether or not cigarette smoking still has its allure. And just as I suspected… I was disgusted by the smell and taste of burning tobacco. I’ll probably do the same thing on September 4, 2017.
A Quick Look Back
I was cigarette smoker for 25 years.
Two years ago on the date mentioned above, I smoked my last cigarette (as a bonafide smoker).
It was 12 noon and I was standing under a tree.
After that, I threw away my lighter and the carton which probably held around 8 more sticks of Marlboro Reds. I had my lunch and everything went until about an hour later when the craving began. It was already half past 1 o’clock in the afternoon and I was feeling irritated. By 4pm, the cravings even got worse. My throat started to itch and my ears and eyes as well. By the time I left the office door at around 5pm, I was already feeling a little sick. I was sweating all over. It felt like I couldn’t make to the parking lot.
As soon as I reached my car, I opened the glove compartment and grabbed my vape. I huffed and puffed for a good 3 to 5 minutes and the craving went away instantly.
I bought my first vape a few days before I quit smoking. I already planned how I was going to quit. Google helped a lot, especially when I first got curious with vaping and electronic cigarettes. My first vape was Kangertech Subox Mini Starter Kit which I bought from a local vape store for about 60 Dollars.
That moment when the vape eliminated my craving was the moment I realized I wasn’t going to smoke cigarettes ever again.
Vaping 101
So what is vaping?
The internet defines vaping as “Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling the water vapor produced by an electric device called vaporizer (or e-cigarette).”
Vaping is a tobacco-free, and in some cases even nicotine-free, version of a traditional smoking, but often times we opt not to use the term smoking simply because there is no smoke only vapors. For those who are not so savvy with vaping, let’s just say it’s smoking minus tobacco, minus the obnoxious smell, generally minus all the side-effects and health risks, and even the smoke.
The vapor in vaping is the vaporized e-liquid that is inhaled and exhaled by vapers. It normally appears thicker than the regular cigarette smoke, but dissipates more quickly into the air and smells much better (often times smelling like candy, fruit and even pastry).
A Brief History of Vaping
There are numerous theories saying that vaping has been part of many civilizations as early as 500 B.C. but a closer look would reveal that while vaporizing herbs and concoctions is part of the early medicinal and religious rituals, the process is included actual burning of herbs and leaves which contradicts the very principle of modern vaping and in fact closer to traditional combustion-based smoking.
A good of example would be the History of Herodotus by the Greek Historian Herodotus, who describes the first use of vaping while writing about the customs and traditions of Scythians, a massive clan of Iranian Eurasian rovers who used to live in the lands of what is now Southern Russia, back in 500BC. The Scythians would throw weed on red-hot stones, which would turn into vapor immediately, and they would bathe in it and inhale it.
Also Irfan Sheikh – the physician of the Mughal emperor Akbar I (1542 – 1605 AD) – is associated with inventing the hookah, many consider it a key step towards the making of the modern vaporizer.
The most accurate recount in the history of vaping is Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist and small-time medical researcher made the first modern e-cigarette in 2000. Motivated by his own smoking addiction, and his father’s death from smoking-induced lung cancer, Hon Lik spent numerous years building a smokeless cigarette that worked. In 2006, he released his first e-cigarette to the international public. It contained a battery, plastic cartridge, ultrasonic atomizer and a nicotine solution suspended in propylene glycol.
The Device
The Vape is the electronic device which vaporizes the e-liquid or the e-juice which the Vaper inhales. It consists of a Box which holds the circuitry and the battery and an Atomizer which produces controlled and regulated heat to vaporize the liquid.
Vapes or E-cigarettes have varying looks and forms, some are smaller than others, some look like short pen and even look like actual cigarette sticks.
The bigger vapes or the box-types produce thicker vapors than the small ones.
The Juice
E-Liquid (or e-juice, or vape juice) is the fluid that fuels the Electronic Cigarette. It is what provides the nicotine solution and the flavoring to your Electronic Cigarette. It creates the vapor in which you exhale that mimics the traditional smoke from analogue cigarettes.
E-Liquid uses base ingredients to create a smooth flavor. This base can consist of PG (Propylene Glycol), VG (Vegatable Glycerin) or both. Most of our e-Liquids have mixes containing 70% PG/VG 30% to 50% PG/VG 50%. PG and VG are combined with natural or artificial flavors such as vanilla or apple which creates unique and satisfying recipes.
Propylene Glycol is used as a flavoring carrier in food products, as an ingredient in food coloring and also used as an additive in various medicines. A combined base of PG/VG blend is much more smooth then 100% PG base. Propylene Glycol is non-toxic.
Vegatable Glycerin is a sweet, thick, vegetable based liquid. 100% VG base is very thick and hard to smoke effectively. A combined PG/VG blend is recommended. Vegatable Glycerin is also non-toxic.
I used to buy dozens of e-liquid from the local vape stores in the city but after a year, I decided to make my own e-juice. (Ok. I will write about my experience in making my own juice later on and maybe I’ll even share some of my e-liquid recipes.)
Finally
I will not write about the pros and cons of vaping in this article and neither will I write the different point of views of the anti-vaping and pro-vaping community. I am saving that for another article.
What I wanted to show is my own personal experience with vaping and how it helped me kick the habit.
Two years of vaping and I feel fine. In fact, I’ve never felt healthier in my whole life. I don’t have the morning coughs anymore and my clothes smell good the whole day… even the cologne I sprayed early this morning still lingers in my shirt and in my skin, and it’s already 6pm. I bike better (I’ve been biking for 3 years.) and I can do longer bike routes in the weekend as compared to my performance 3 years ago.
Vaping is the new smoking.
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