What you need to know about Vaping
Welcome to the Vaping Post, an independent online publication specialized in e-cigarette and Vaping news since 2011. We cover a wide-ranging area of topics around Vapor Products as a tool to fight tobacco.
If you have any questions about vaping, here is a summary of what you need to know.
What is a vape?
An electronic-cigarette, nowadays is also referred to as a “personal vaporizer” or a “Vaping Device” – the vape community prefers not to call them electronic-cigarettes as Vaping has evolved well beyond the original electronic-cigarettes. Regardless, it is an electronic device that can be used to vaporize an e-juice based on propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, which is often flavored and may contain nicotine.
The invention of the electronic cigarette concept dates back to the 1960s, from a rejected American patent, so the industrial models we see today have originated from an invention by a Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik. For some people, Hon Lik turned his back on the independent a few years ago by selling his patents to a tobacco company. Though some other people, feel he would only have encouraged the transition of the tobacco industry to produce reduced-risk products regardless.
Today there are countless options of Vaping device styles and designs, but the many of the reputable brands are easily identified.
What is in a vape?
Vaping has been around for years now, but many people keep asking what is really in a vape. Is there tobacco in there? What about scary chemical names? The media are always claiming that vaping is not that safe. If you believe some of the junk you read you can really get scared, but don’t worry we have all the information you need to answer that question : what is in a vape?
What is E-juice made out of?
Most e-liquid has four main ingredients : Vegetable glycerine, Propylene glycol, Flavourings and Nicotine. If you know the basics you’ll be able to spot any differences quickly. Read the following article to know what is e-juice made out of.
How do you smoke a vape?
A lot of people are asking these days how to smoke a vape. “Vapes” – or also called personal vaporisers, electronic cigarettes, are relatively known by now and part of our social culture. But how do you smoke a vape is that the wrong question?
What is mouth to lung vape?
If you’ve taken up vaping recently, and spent any time on e-cigarette forums or blogs, you might be wondering, “What is mouth to lung vape?” You’ll probably also see people talking about direct to lung, and work out that these are two different ways of vaping. What’s the difference though? Which one is best, and most importantly – are you doing it all wrong?
Who invented the vape?
Wondering who invented the vape? If you only trust the media, you will probably get the wrong answer as non-specialised journalists are often try to scare readers or are simply misinformed. The story of vaping goes back to the early 1960s, and it’s not what the media make it sound like. Read more to really know who invented the vape.
How does an electronic cigarette work?
That’s a question that lots of people don’t seem to have a good answer to – and many of them, including scientists and journalists, really should know better. Luckily it’s not all that difficult to explain. Read more to learn how does an electronic cigarette work.
Is it safe to vape without nicotine?
Most medical experts now agree that e-cigarettes are a lot safer than smoking, but a lot of smokers who’re thinking about trying them still have some questions. One thing that (strangely) we’re hearing more often is the question, Is it safe to vape without nicotine?
Different models of vaping devices
Cigalike
This is the oldest model; a cigalike (from the English cig-a-like, resembling a cigarette) is an electronic cigarette that mimics the shape of a traditional cigarette (tobacco cigarette).
If it remains attractive at first, for the smoker a cigalike usually offers very little autonomy (battery) and produces very little steam. We advise you to avoid this type of model if you are in the process of smoking cessation.
A cigalike has other disadvantages of operating on a closed system. That is to say it usually requires the purchase of refills that are only available with the brand of the cigalike purchased which makes the choice very small and the Price often quite high.
Tube Mod
Tube Mod is an electronic cigarette much larger than the cigalike but still cylindrical in shape, “Mod” being the abbreviation for “modified electronic cigarette”. Highly effective, it incorporates a battery of large capacity (removable or not) to allow a day use. Most tubes Mods offer settings that allow you to adjust the “vapor” and quality to suit your needs, while simple ones are already set to work with a supplied clearomizer (kits ready-to-use).To go further, read our guide on the clearomizers.
Advantage of tube Mod is based on an open system, contrary to the cigalikes or pods that we will see below. Thus, you will be able to change atomizer to vary the pleasure and personalize your electronic cigarette.
Box Mod
Box Mod follows the same principle as tube Mod but differs in its rectangular or square shape. Very in vogue, it tends to replace the little seasoned tube formats from vapers. Even though many Mods offer option of using removable batteries to increase autonomy of the e-cigarette, Box Mods are better to carry such batteries (technically called “battery”). The ergonomics of box Mod is appreciated for its tight hold. To go further, read our guide on Box Mods.
Pod
Pod uses similar principle with cigalike, with a proprietary system most often, without reproducing the shape of traditional cigarette. Thanks to its USB key format it is possible to transport it very easily in a pocket. Although significantly more effective for its vapor production or nicotine diffusion than the cigalike, Pod will have a very limited range, requiring the user to recharge the device regularly.
It is increasingly common for Pods manufacturers to partner with e-liquid companies to integrate branded products into their cartridges. Vaper will still be forced to use supported refills with device originally bought.
How to choose a vape device?
The main point is to try. There are thousands of flavors in e-liquids and hundreds of models available in the market nowadays. To got faster, we are developing guides to help you make a quick and effective choice. These recommendations will be based on our own experience as we are all former smokers who have become vapers. In waiting for our complete guide to be published, we advise you to try the PockeX Pocket AIO as a first starter kit.
This article will also bring you important information about choosing for the first time an electronic cigarette :
Vaping and health
You are wondering if the electronic cigarette is dangerous for health and it’s totally legitimate. To put it simply, the answer is yes. Electronic cigarette is dangerous for health just like others consumer products but offers a very significant reduction in tobacco smoked risks.
Hundreds of studies on electronic cigarettes appear every year in the world and while it is difficult to weigh the pros and cons, as majority contradict each other. Today it is possible to state formally that electronic cigarette offers a considerable reduction in risk for smoker who switches entirely from tobacco cigarette to electronic cigarette.
What is the level of danger?
It is very difficult to give an exact figure on the percentage of risk reduction for smoked tobacco, but major public health organization was hold in 2015 to do so, it is the British health department.
Public Health England (PHE) said in 2015, via an independent scientific report that the electronic cigarette was 95% less dangerous than smoked tobacco. Since then, other public health organizations have followed including the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the University of Victoria in Canada.
If other reports such as those regularly published by WHO are less optimistic about general benefits of e-cigarettes, and may for example Questioning its efficacy in smoking cessation, raise the risk of renormalization Smoking, or the fear of gateway to youth smoking, there is however a general consensus on reducing the risks that electronic cigarettes bring to smoked tobacco.
It is important to note that health gain for smoker will only be judged optimal if he completely stops smoking. Indeed, dual-use electronic cigarette / tobacco cigarette will only bring health effects potentially moderate. By continuing to expose carbon monoxide, nitrosamines, tars and fine particles of smoked tobacco even a small amount, smokers continue to put their lives at great risk. This doesn’t mean that a “vaper” should be discouraged quite contrary. Using an electronic cigarette alternately with tobacco is a first step toward smoking cessation, but smoker must keep this in mind. Using your e-cigarette only in places where smoking is prohibited, for example, don’t represent an interesting tactic for our health (this will remain prohibited in many countries).
If vaping offers a 95% risk reduction, what are the remaining 5%?
It is still difficult to answer this question precisely, but the vapor of an electronic cigarette may contain at generally very low levels, compounds deemed harmful to health. Some studies try to identify volatile organic compounds (VOC) in vapor. The most cited in the scientific works are from the aldehydes family. We often talk in the case of the electronic cigarette traces of formaldehyde, acrolein and acetaldehyde.
The concentration levels of these compounds are very much lower than those included in cigarette smoke, which are number of thousands. On the other hand, strong variations can be observed depending on the apparatus configuration such as its power, its hydration in e-liquid or its frequency of use.
In order to minimize possible production of volatile organic compounds in the electronic cigarette vapor, we recommend you to always ensure that the resistance of your atomizer is correctly fed with e-liquid. We also advise you to space the puffs as much as possible not to overheat your resistance. Also be sure to change your resistance regularly (at least every two weeks for daily use). Finally it is essential to keep good balance between the ohm value of your resistance and the intensity (in volt) or power (in watt) of your electronic cigarette. If your e-cigarette steam irritates your throat abnormally (apart from the normal nicotine hit) check these three points.
Consult your dealer for advice, or consult the operating instructions of your equipment for the usual values. An equivalence table is available in our article (in French only for now) on resistances (not to exceed the 4 V seems coherent).
To conclude this section on the health and risks associated with the use of electronic cigarettes, there will always be a doubt about the long-term effects for the simple reason that ethically, researchers cannot ask non-smokers to vaporize and over a very long periods. Only major epidemiological studies will be able, perhaps in fifty years to answer this question. But on paper, major risks generally associated with smoking (cancer, cardiovascular or respiratory diseases) appear to be much reduced with electronic cigarette.
Does vaping effectively stop smoking?
Studies that have focused on smoking cessation with the help of electronic cigarettes report a wide range of figures. Some studies such as the University of Melbourne in Australia report for example an efficiency rate of 18%, another in the United Kingdom, a 28% shutdown rate, or an American meta-analysis (study that analyzes a set of studies) reports an efficiency of 18%.
The real efficacy in weaning can only be achieved by a very complex studies (such as randomized controlled trials), which are still very rare today because they are very expensive, but what can be retained so far is that electronic cigarette has at least the same efficacy as the pharmaceutical methods usually sold on the market (patches, chewing gum, inhalers, etc.).
For example, a large-scale European survey showed that 6 million would have already weaned from tobacco through electronic cigarettes. If the surveys are not of great scientific value, it is possible to judge the potential of e-cigarette from a public health perspective.
Is vaping dangerous to the people around you?
Electronic cigarette is infinitely less dangerous to the environment than smoked tobacco, but it is not free from any potential risk for people who are next to you. As usual, studies contradict each other, but it can be noted that for a large majority of them, the exposure for the entourage is much reduced. The main reasons are that there is no combustion and that the nature of the steam is extremely less harmful to the body. Moreover, with electronic cigarette there is no secondary current, e-cigarette does not produce steam if it is not activated, in contrast to a tobacco cigarette that Placed in an ashtray produces an extremely harmful smoke (slow combustion). In addition the lifetime of steam in ambient air is very low compared to that of tobacco smoke.
stop-tabac.ch website published by the University of Geneva explains that “if the health consequences of passive vaping are less important than passive exposure to tobacco smoke or even to the limit of clinical significance, Cannot today say that passive exposure to the aerosol of the e-cigarette or passive vaping does not exist.
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This article was written in April 2017 by Ghyslain Armand, former smoker, founder of the Vaping Post, editor of the Vaping Post magazine (printed french edition) and co-director of the film Beyond the Cloud.
This information may be updated.
