ECigWizard Vaping Lounge

I remember a joke from my school days; An eminent lecturer stands in front of a packed auditorium and places a small pink box on the bench at the front, he takes the lid off the box and inside there is a spider, the lecturer informs the gathering that this spider has been highly trained in order to demonstrate a new scientific principal, he then looks down at the spider and shouts "Spider, jump out of the box" and to everyone's surprise the spider jumps out of the box, the lecturer then shouts "Spider, jump into the box", applause spreads through the gathering as the spider obediently jumps back into the box. With a pair of tweezers the lecturer proceeds to pull each of the eight legs off the spider in the box, the spectators are intrigued and a little horrified that such treatment should be doled out to such an obliging little spider. The lecturer then shouts "Spider, jump out of the box", the spider just looks at the lecturer who again shouts "SPIDER JUMP OUT OF THE BOX" but the spider still remains in the box. Triumphantly the lecturer spreads his arms wide and pronounces to his audience that "I have now proven that when you remove a spider's legs you cause it to become profoundly deaf".

OK, not the best joke in the world and it certainly seems much more long-winded now that I see it written down compared to my first hearing of it in the playground however there is a core truth to be drawn from it. When conducting research you must make sure that you are asking the right question, that you have chosen the right method to ascertain a useful answer and that the conclusion derived from the results is valid. In the joke example above none of these conditions are met... that's what makes it (a little bit) funny.

Bad Science

My views on medical research are almost entirely informed from my reading of a most excellent book called 'Bad Science' by Ben Goldacre, it really is worth reading as it is well written, entertaining and hugely informative. Right at the start of the book he uses the phrase "the plural of anecdote is not data" which is relevant to us Vapers because there is so much anecdote and such a shortage of data about ecigs, furthermore what data there is is often generated from researchers funded by groups who have an interest in obtaining a result that serves their interests.

Over at the 'The Rest of the Story' blog Dr Michael Siegel highlights a study by Katrina Vickerman in which 2,500 people who called American State Quitlines were followed up 7 months later to assess the quit methods that they employed and their respective success rate. As Michael Siegal points out "instead of estimating cessation rates among a cohort of smokers who made quit attempts using these products, the study analyzed cessation rates of a large number of smokers who had previously tried to quit using e-cigarettes but failed, and then called a quitline because they had failed and wanted to try again" thus drawing any conclusions about the comparative effectiveness of ecigs as a cessation aid are invalid as a large proportion of those calling the Quitlines will have already failed to quit smoking using ecigs, if they had successfully quit by using ecigs then they would not be calling the Quitlines and would therefore not be included in the study.

Michael Siegal reports that the study authors conclude that "This study indicates that e-cigarette users were less likely than those who had never used to have quit tobacco at the time of the survey..." to which he responds "But the truth is that many of the electronic cigarette users in the study did not use electronic cigarettes in their quit attempts!".

It appears that the wrong conclusion is drawn by the study authors because the cohort of those questioned is skewed. The only conclusion that I can draw from these results is that Ecigs do not always lead to everyone who tries them quitting cigarettes, one might extend this view to postulate that ecigs are in fact so broadly effective that if even Ecigs won't stop you smoking then there is a good chance that nothing else will either, this is quite different to the way the authors of the report interpreted their results.

False dichotomy?

We should also ask if the question of the effectiveness of ecigs as a smoking cessation aid is valid in the first place. We vape as an alternative method of getting nicotine instead of smoking tobacco, we do so because it is far less expensive and that logic dictates that vaping ejuice is likely to be less harmful to one's health than the thousands of chemicals found in tobacco. Ecigs are not sold as tobacco cessation aids and it seems wrong headed to seek to critically evaluate them as cessation aids. It is also not clear to me that the researchers consider Vapers to be ex-smokers, it is not uncommon for people who should know better to conflate nicotine intake with smoking tobacco.

I would love to see a truly randomised, double blind, comparative study between ecigs and a cessation aid (e.g. nicotine patches) as opposed to the study discussed above which is certainly not randomised or double blinded. I would also like to see a large scale, long term study of a cohort made up of smokers with a view to extracting data of quit attempts, methods and success rates at fixed time periods and/or age and the long term health outcomes of the various choices made by the participants. These trials would need to be undertaken by an independent and disinterested body so as to avoid the appearance or temptation of bias. It would be very expensive to undertake these trials however I am convinced that smoking tobacco is such a danger to public health and so costly to the public purse that the cost is justifiable and worthy of governmental financial support even in these days of austerity.

I'd like to talk more about how I would like to see these studies constructed and undertaken so I may return to the subject in the future, for now though, should you wish to read further about this particular study you can see Dr Michael Siegel's post here, the extract of the study here and another report on the study at the 'Live Science' site here.

Fashions exist in the world of vaping just as much as many other areas of our modern world. Today the majority of vapers use the Vision CE cartomizer on top of a eGo battery either as their main device or as a secondary Ecig for use when they are out and about. ECig Wizards popular New User Starter Bundle is based on this setup because this undoubtably offers a good vaping experience however different people have individual preferences so I'd like to introduce (maybe reintroduce) you to the Smok Mega Dual Coil Cartomiser, it has been around for a while now so you may have overlooked it. I'm not going to try to tell you that it's any better than a Vision CE cartomizer, just that it is different... and you might like it.

Physically

The Smok Mega Dual Coil Cartomiser is a straight edged tube with a circumference similar to that of an eGo battery and a length of about 75mm including the rubberised whistle shaped mouthpiece. The chrome version has a brushed finish and the black has a smooth black surface, both of which match nicely with the corresponding finish of the eGo battery. Don't be put off the black version for fear of receiving a cartomizer wrapped in black insulating tape, this has a paint coating and is of such good quality that it will easily outlast the life of the coil. There are two versions of this cartomizer, one with a skirted eGo fitting and one with a 510 thread, the latter is designed for use on mods whereas the former fits nicely on standard eGo batteries. As a personal preference I always use the eGo version and then employ a 510/eGo adapter if I'm using it on a mod, I find that this provides an airflow rate which suits me best.

Internally

The inside of the cartomizer is almost filled with white wadding, I know that wadding is not in vogue at the moment but it really is very practical.. just think of it as a giant wick feeding your Eliquid to the coils. With Eliquid soaked into the wadding there is virtually no chance of leakage, even with it in your pocket while out jogging you will find that when you break for a breather it will Vape just as well as when you started out and there will be no damp patch in your pocket either even when it's loaded to it's full capacity of about 4ml of juice.  As it's name implies this cartomizer has two coils (the part that vaporises your Eliquid), these are at the battery end beneath the wadding, each coil is 3 ohms so together they run at 1.5 ohms which is ideal for an eGo battery.

Reliability and Use

The Smok brand has a good reputation for quality manufacturing and this cartomizer doesn't disappoint, it gives good vapour production and flavour. To do the first filling you just pull off the mouthpiece and slowly drip your ejuice down the side while it soaks into the wadding, once the wadding is saturated leave it to stand for an hour or so and then vape away, subsequent fillings will not require so long to stand.

The Mega Dual Cartomizer is disposable, there is no changing of heads here however this makes it very simple to use which is appealing to many of us and additionally the cost of the whole disposable cartomizer is only about 50% greater than that of a CE replaceable head on its own.

The life of cartomizers vary greatly and it seems that it is just a matter of luck just how long one will last, however in my experience the Smok Mega Dual Coil Cartomizers are normally fairly long lived, often I have given up on one after many weeks of use simply because the wadding has 'gunked up' although the coils are still running fine. Ironically the one that I was vaping on while typing this has just died on me however it has served me well for about three weeks so I'm not too upset. If I had just filled it up I might be feeling a little less sanguine because one of the disadvantages of wadding is that you can't get your ejuice back out easily once added so it is lost when the cartomizer is disposed of but even allowing for this one caveat I'd still recommend that you consider adding one to you next order to try it out for yourself.

When someone decides to operate a business the prime reason is, and has to be profit, in a capitalist society 'Profit is King'. I'd like to look at the different paths to profit adopted by vaping supply companies, how market pressures alter their approach to business and how all of this effects you as a consumer.

Shaping business models

Have you noticed that you can buy a razor that is attractively packaged and manufactured to a high quality but is selling at a surprisingly low price? You will know that buying the replacement blades isn't so cheap, this is because the real profit comes from the sale of blades and in order to tie you to buying their blades the manufacturer ensures that there is no compatibility between makes and models. Computer printer manufacturers follow a similar profit model, the printer cost is low but the ink cartridge price is not.

I worked in a shop which stocked a carriage clock, it was a particularly nice timepiece... solid brass with an enamelled dial. I was proud to sell it and better still I had negotiated a really great price which allowed me to offer unbeatable value to my customers. My 'profit profile' was that I could offer a good value to customers that appreciated a quality product, furthermore that led to future profits when these satisfied customers returned to make further purchases. You can imagine how shocked I was to see the 'same' clock for sale in a 'catalogue shop' priced below what I was paying when buying direct from the manufacturer. When we asked the manufacturer for an explanation we where told that the catalogue shop had commissioned them to produce an ‘exclusive’ version, essentially it looked the same but was made using anodised aluminium and plastic for the case and cardboard for the dial, anybody seeing this in the catalogue would think that they were being offered a very good price but would not initially see that it was very poor value. The catalogue shop's business model was to get a quick, easy profit presumably assuming that there will always be more fools around ready to fall for an apparent bargain.

 To quote John Ruskin:

“There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man's lawful prey.”

 Big tobacco

Most of the major tobacco companies both in Europe and America have either entered the e-cig market or are actively planning to do so, it does not take a genius to see that their obvious path to profit from these ventures is to sell a product that is incompatible with its competitors thus obliging consumers to purchase that companies cartridges. One can further assume that these nicotine cartridges will not be cheap and are likely to be sealed to stop us refilling with other e-juices. This is the same profit model used by some razor manufacturers. 'Big tobacco' has the financial capital, marketing experience and distribution networks to overshadow existing e-cig sellers and make the sort of extraordinary profit that they have come to expect from the sale of tobacco.

Fly by nights

I'm not sure if the term 'Fly by Night' is still in common usage, if it is not it should be. It neatly encapsulates the type of e-cig outlet now popping up all over the place. There is no need for them make much investment to sell vaping gear, they can just buy some product from a wholesaler in China and knock together a website or market stall, they don't need to be a vaper or even interested in vaping. Here the 'catalogue shop' profit model applies, they will buy product at the lowest possible price without considering quality so long as it looks OK, it can then be sold fast and cheap despite being poor value.

Rip off merchants

I think these sellers are the worst out there. You will have seen them, you may even have fallen for it. They have glossy websites and a poor quality product in a posh box, there is always plenty of spiel and a very high price tag. Their route to profit is to catch newbie e-cig converts who don't know any better and fall for their hype. These merchants don't often get customers making a return visit but with a high enough profit from the first sale they are quite happy. There is one born every minute.

Reputation

There are only a small number of vaping suppliers like ECig Wizard who can offer you a wide range of products sourced from manufacturers who are known to offer good products and strict quality control. Companies like ECig Wizard are not after a 'quick buck' but instead aim to profit from continued sales to loyal customers who trust them because they offer value. As I write this a couple of the 'Senior Wizards' have just returned from China where they have been looking at manufactures and their goods in order to secure further supplies of the best that is available, by handling the goods and meeting suppliers face to face ECig Wizard can maintain the standards that so many of us have come to rely on.

Cheap copies

We should all be aware of cheap copies of e-cig products. There are companies in China who produce good quality, well designed vaping products, unfortunately there are also many others who produce 'copy' versions of these products, these manufactures are not motivated to produce a reliable and quality product, all that matters to them is that their goods look like the real thing. Too often these are imported by sellers looking to make a quick and easy profit from you.

More Ruskin

Another John Ruskin quote is: “Blue colour is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight” but I really haven't got the first clue what he meant.

The views expressed in this article are personal ones, they are not necessarily shared by ECig Wizard.

We vapers use many consumable products, obviously ejuice is a consumable and for those that mix their own DIY juice all of the mixing gear like syringes, latex gloves and bottles have a limited life. Atomisers and cartomizers eventually fail or just fade away and even your Ecig battery will not last forever. Thankfully replacing all of these when needed is relatively inexpensive when compared to the cost associated with a regular smoking habit.

With a little extra care you can extend the life of your Ecig hardware quite easily. It stands to reason that you should avoid dropping, bending or otherwise abusing your Ecig, for example you should always make sure that it is not in your pocket when that particular pocket goes into the washing machine, but it may not have occurred to you to clean atomisers, cartomizers and electrical connections to enhance the useful life of your vaping device, our Alcohol Wipes and some paper tissues are really all you need to clean up your act.

This therefore is a review of one of the most useful parts of a vapers kit, paper handkerchiefs. In particular I will be looking at the ASDA Smart price White Tissues available at 65p per box at the time of writing.

ASDA Smart price White Tissues come boxed with a stated average content of 225 2-ply sheets measuring 210 x 200mm. They are not the most luxurious paper handkerchief available, if you have a cold and need something to tend your nose I would not recommend these to you, they are frankly a little bit course lacking the 'fluffy' surface of more expensive branded product however for the vaper wishing to maintain their Ecig goods they are the best that I have found. Not only are ASDA Smart price White Tissues comparatively inexpensive but they are also ideal wiping and cleaning tools for vapers because they are not 'soft and fluffy' so they do not tend to leave behind the strands of paper fibre that others can do.

When I buy these from ASDA I tend to buy several boxes at the same time and I'm sure that the person at the checkout gives me a knowing look whenever I do. I am only glad that I never have to stock up on frozen meals for one at the same time because that would only serve to confirm their suspicion that I must be a lonely old man and that the tissues are being bought to serve the same function as they are by teenage boys, if you know what I mean.

 

It's always good to have tissues to hand when vaping, you naturally want to wipe over your device to keep it looking clean and free from all those fingerprint marks and periodically wiping your drip tip is a good idea too. If you are unlucky enough to spill ejuice they can be invaluable to mop up the mess.

If you find your cartomizer 'gurgling' when you draw on it, it maybe that your battery output is too low or that the cartomizer is getting tired but it could also be condensation build up. To clear condensation take your cartomizer off the battery and with a tissue corner twisted into a needle, poke it gently into the various cartomizer inlets, when you remove the tissue you may well find that it has absorbed some of the condensation causing the problem. If your cartomizer is of the replaceable head type you can open it up to discover more orifices that could benefit from your careful attention.

The screw connection between your atomiser or cartomizer and your battery can also build up deposits, these can make the threading less smooth and may reduce electrical conductivity. Bunch up some tissue to clean the internal threads and use a fold of tissue between your finger and thumb to clean the external thread.

There is a difficult balance to be archived with the manufacture of cartomizers, if the ejuice flow to the atomiser is too restricted 'dry hits' can occur leading to an unpleasant burnt flavour, on the other hand if the flow is too free then 'flooding' results which can cause further gurgling furthermore the difficulty in archiving the correct balance is further exacerbated by the differing viscosity of Eliquids. You will often find that as a result of this the well in the battery where the cartomizer attaches becomes dampened with ejuice, again using a bunched up edge of tissue to absorb this is recommended because this excess juice can impede air flow.

Atomisers and cartomizers can also be washed, this may extend their life and sometimes can revive a faltering unit. Glycerol is the primary constituent of ejuice and it is water soluble therefore plain water is an ideal liquid for washing. Personally I would not want to wash my cartomizer in anything that I would not be happy to vape for fear of some remaining even after rinsing, I do know of people who use sterilising fluid designed for baby bottles but for me I find water does the job just fine. To clean your atomiser or cartomizer firstly remove any remaining ejuice and deconstruct the item as far as it has been designed to be dissembled, and then soak all the parts in water for several hours followed by rinsing under running water. While it is still in pieces it should be left to dry for a day or two, depending on temperature conditions. Once it is completely dry it can be reassembled, I have heard recommendations to give a quick 'dry burn' (two or three short burst of battery power to the atomiser without ejuice) before reintroducing the ejuice but I do not find that this is necessary.

So there you have it, ASDA Smart price White Tissues really are useful to vapers and can easily become one of your most used consumable products.

It is important to remember that whenever cleaning your vaping equipment not to break, bend or dislodge delicate internal pieces or electrical connections. If there is a favourite paper tissue in your life please tell us about it in the comments. The use of the term 'consumable' in this article does not imply that any of the products are in any way edible.

Several years ago I was showing my newly acquired motorbike to a few family members, it was brand new, very shinny, made in China and very proud I was too. One of the would-be admirers commented that it was a "nice looking factory custom [motorbike]", this is of course a contradiction in terms. If you have any knowledge of bikes you can now skip to the end of this paragraph while I explain: Many bikers love to customise their machines, most do it subtly with the odd petrol tank sticker or colour matching tax disk holder but some people really go to town with everything from adding oodles of chrome or airbrushed paint jobs right through to frame reshaping, these vehicles are then known as 'custom bikes'.  A factory custom would therefore be a bike with the appearance of customisation while in reality being mass produced.

Mods?

As vapers we happily use the term 'Mods' to indicate the base part of an Ecig of the type which has a removable battery and/or voltage/wattage adjustment, this term has developed from it's original usage as a shortened form of 'modification'. True Mods are modifications of something else to make it into a Ecig device, these are often now  referred to as DIY Mods but if you think about it that is a bit daft, if it's DIY it is a modification. Tautology.

We need to invent a new naming convention, while I think about that lets look at what 'DIY Mods' look like and how they are constructed.

Imagine something (anything) that is roughly suited to be held in your hand and is either hollow or can be hollowed out, it could be a small tin that previously functioned as a boiled sweet container, maybe the case used by your partner to hold their glasses or a defunct wii remote... there is an almost infinite degree of possibilities for what can be used. I have included some pictures of  'DIY Mods' produced by Alex Livewire Walpole & Steve Booth to whom I offer my grateful thanks for their inspiration, help and kind permission to share their pictures.

Making a Mod

I don't intend to give detailed instruction on DIY Mod making, if you are skilled in electrical engineering you should be able to easily work it out, conversely if you are not then I really don't want you to blow yourself up because of the inadequacy of my tutorage or the constraints of this brief foray into the subject however the principle is fairly straight forward. Once you have your wii remote, partners glass case or whatever you want to turn into an Ecig in your possession you integrate a battery (normally in a sprung holder) and connect the negative end to the negative side of your atomiser/cartomizer fitting and the positive end to a power switch and/or control chip and then on to the positive terminal of your atomiser/cartomizer fitting.

The switch in the circuit should be the press=on, release=off type and should be conveniently located for operation with your finger or thumb when the body is held naturally in the hand. It's also sensible to have a secondary circuit breaking toggle switch to isolate the power when not in use to stop accidental firing. The control chip (if fitted) would normally give the ability to change voltage and/or wattage and may include battery voltage and atomiser ohm readings too. I don't really think that I need to explain where the atomiser/cartomizer fitting should be fixed.

Where do you get the parts from?

The body of your DIY Mod is often a repurposed object but you can also buy little metal or plastic boxes designed for electronic hobbyists. The control chip and atomiser/cartomizer fitting can be obtained by cannibalising a 'factory mod'  or obtained online and Maplins will happily sell you the switches, wire and tools needed.

Don't even attempt anything like this as a first electrical project, as for myself I simply don't have the skill, patients or imagination to attempt anything along these lines and am content to use the mass produced products with their inherent practicality and uniformity however I do very much respect those that do make their own mods and love the results of their endeavours.

Back to naming conventions.

There has to be a way of simplifying the terms used within vaping, those we now use have developed chaotically and often lead to confusion for newcomers to vaping and can contribute to the need to explain the use of a word after it has been spoken.

Let's just start by trying to rename the mods and batteries. Borrowing the term PSU (Power Supply Unit) from computing parlance could be a start. These could be sub devided into those with integral batteries like the standard ego battery and those with removable batteries like mods, these could be identified as IB (integral battery) and RB (removable battery). Thus an ego type battery i.e. battery, switch and atomiser/cartomizer fitting in one unit could be called a IBPSU and a mod could be a RBPSU. You can still use the VV and VV/VW initials to indicate variable voltage and variable voltage/wattage devices, USB to indicate a passthrough device that terms like Ego/510 to indicate which type of atomiser/cartomizer fitting is used.

While we are on a roll with this let us also rename atomiser/cartomizer fittings as A/CFs. So where are we now? Your mod and vision cartomizer filled with a sweet caramel & tobacco flavour ejuice can henceforth be referred to as a VV/VW RBPSU 510 A/CF + CE5 V3 with RY4.

Simples, no?

O'h, maybe I need to think all of this through a bit more.

Today we say goodbye to the Vision Eternity Rebuildable, the last one sold today. The Vision Eternity Rebuildable takes its place in the Ecigwizard museum.

For those looking back in 5 years time at old ecig technology, here's more on the Vision Eternity Rebuildable.

The Vision Eternity is a fantastic rebuildable kit made up of several components made by the quality renowned Vision! The Eternity as the name implies will last you a very long time and is presented in a great little case.

 

The Vision Eternity is a new breed of rebuildable as it does not have any annoying screws to hold in your coils, this device has snap-down poles which make it quick and easy to fit a new coil!

 

You can either use traditional dripping (the chamber for dripping holds a lot of e-liquid) or you can use the eGo-T needle base with an eGo-T tank cartridge giving you the ultimate in flexibility.

 

The Vision Eternity Rebuildable is extremely well machined and engineered. The device comes with multiple components all of which are beautifully chrome plated, quite simply this is a fantastic looking piece of kit.

 

A comprehensive instruction guide within the case which will help you get started straight away. The connection is 510 and the kit comes with an eGo collar.

 

Contents - within the kit you get the following items

 

• Drip Tip
• Cone
• Coil Base
• eGo T Needle Base
• eGo T Collar
• Dripping Chamber (used to hold the e-liquid)
• Changeable Coil Pre-Made

 

Remember the Vision Eternity rebuildable atomiser is aimed at advanced users due to the variables involved in building your own successful coils and wicks!

Prohibition does not work. In the 1920's alcohol consumption was made illegal in the USA, this did not stop Americans drinking it simply lead to the illegal supply of alcohol and a gangster culture which although romanticised through the looking-glass of time was in fact a brutal and ugly development. For many years the supply of recreational drugs has been illegal throughout most of the world however many people still use drugs and again the prohibition has lead to a gangster supply economy.

I'm not making an argument for anarchy. When smoking was banned in confined public spaces it reduced my freedom (given that at the time I was a smoker and loved going to pubs) however along with the population as a whole I accepted the ban because although it restricted my freedom it also enhanced the freedom of the non-smoking majority to enjoy their pint without having to passive smoke at the same time. The same point is true of drink/drive legislation, restricting the freedom of people to drive while under the influence of alcohol to give the freedom of safer roads to the majority.

Would adding restrictions to ecigs via the ratification of a European Directive effect your freedom to vape? Clearly it would, but it will not bestow any real freedoms to the majority of the population that do not vape, there is no quid pro quo.  As a result of this it seems predictable that attempting to enforce law in this area would be unproductive and ineffective.

Proposals

We do not yet know 'exactly' what restrictions to Ecig sales the European Parliament will be asked to accept or reject within the Tobacco Directive but we do know that the draft proposal suggests that ejuice above 4mg should be subject to licensing as a medical product and we know that a European Council examining the draft has gone further by suggesting that all ejuice containing any nicotine at all should be treated as a medicine. Furthermore it has been suggested that flavours in ejuice should not be allowed.  Forcing us to vape only products licensed as medicines would amount to a virtual ban, clinical trials and medical licensing is a very complex and very expensive procedure which would stop new products coming to market and prohibit existing ones.

Particulars & Practicalities

How would a 'ban' work in practice? Firstly let us consider the hardware (the batteries, cartridges, atomisers, et al), these can and sometimes are used for vaping zero nicotine ejuice and as such no justification could be made for restricting their sale or use. Secondly vaping flavours could be banned but as many food flavourings can be used in ejuice this would be impractical. Lastly ejuice containing nicotine could be required to have medical licensing but this would look very strange when tobacco containing nicotine AND TAR is legally sold with the catastrophic dangers to health that are well known however never underestimate the stupidity of our elected representatives. There are already many countries in the world that severally control or ban products that contain nicotine but not tobacco products like cigarettes.

Much of the impetus behind the attempts to control vapers originated with opinions expressed that  suggested that vaping could 'normalise' the act of smoking while more recently there has been a claim that ecigs are a potential 'gateway' to smoking.  Let us be clear, these opinions are not from experts in the use of ecigs, there are no experts yet because the product is too new to have been thoroughly studied. What we do have is users, people who vape regularly, you and I.  We know more about usage patterns than anyone else and I'm sure that we would all agree that vaping is used by us as a cheaper alternative to tobacco and that it is likely that consuming nicotine without the tar from tobacco is probably safer. I can't imagine a non-smoker thinking that they would like to become a vaper and the idea that they would then follow on and become a smoker as a consequence in just plain dumb.

The above article represents my personal views which are not necessarily those of Ecig Wizard.

A few years ago I was talking to two salesmen representing a fish food manufacturer, one had flown over for the trade show from America the other was English, I asked a technical question about a particular fish food in their range, the American gentleman said that he did not know the answer to my query because "we only distribute that one to the European market so I'm not sure of the answer" to which the UK representative said “no, we have it in the UK too”.  It was apparent that the American considered the 'European Market' to be Mainland Europe, the U.K and Eire while the English guy automatically assumed that the 'European Market' was nothing to do with the U.K. The point being that so often we in the UK forget that we are part of Europe, it's as true now as then.

 It's easy to imagine that something called a Draft EU Directive would not have any effect on us in our country, we might even assume that our Parliament would simply ignore something that we consider so manifestly stupid but we need to realise that nothing could be further from the truth.

The Draft EU Tobacco Directive proposes including electronic cigarettes within its legislation. Vapers will be greatly effected if this is allowed to happen. If it became illegal for you to buy ecigs and ejuice what would you do? There would only be four choices, 1) Give up nicotine. 2) Go back to smoking tobacco. 3) Break the law. 4) Move out of Europe.

How the EU works

EU Directives are designed to be beneficial to the citizens of Europe as a whole, there are many examples to praise, the Distant Selling Directive or the Water Framework Directive have been a distinctive advantage to us, to name just two. Furthermore when the European Parliament sets a standard this is often spread across the globe. Imagine being a manufacturer of cars; if you do not comply to EU emission controls then you are excluded from sales within the European Union, it would make no sense to make a mass produced car that could not sell in such a large market or to produce a different quality of vehicle for each market, so by default everyone buying a car anywhere in the world is effected. If the EU ban ecigs it will effect the production and design innovation of ecigs worldwide.

Draft European Directives originate from the European Union Commission, the Commission is made up of Commissioners from the member states, the Commissioners are not voted into their position by us, they are nominated by national governments. I do not think that the inclusion of Electronic Cigarettes in this update of the Draft Tobacco Directive has been done because the Commissioners are inherently evil or that they wish to inflict us with smoking related illness by forcing us back to using tobacco, I simply believe that they are unaware of what ecigs are and the roll they have in offering those of us who can not or are unwilling to stop consuming nicotine a choice other than to smoke.

You can read the directive online @ ec.europa.eu/health/tobacco/docs/com_2012_788_en.pdf the relevant paragraph for Vapers is 3.7.

The Directive has been presented to the EU councils and EU Parliament. It is the responsibility of EU council members who are drawn from relevant ministers of national governments to evaluate the draft and with the EU Parliament make amendments to it. The EU Parliament then accept or reject the proposal. It is right now that our elected representatives are deciding on our vaping future. Once the EU Parliament has accepted a directive our own national government must implement it or face action from the European Court of Justice, in fact once passed a directive is the de-facto law across Europe. You can forget any thoughts that you might be harbouring about our Government standing up against the EU Parliament, once a Directive has been accepted it is simply too late to change it. It is predicted that the EU Tobacco Directive will be adopted by our Government in 2014 and take effect 2015/16.

So when & what?

The time to act is now, there is no point in complaining once this directive has been accepted by the European Parliament. Politicians need to hear from us, they need to be told how we as individuals use ecigs, what we see as the advantages of vaping and the consequences to us of a ban. We need to make it clear that ecigs are not tobacco products and so should not be included in the Tobacco Directive and that they are not a Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) either so must not be burdened by the legislation designed for medicines. Electronic Cigarettes are a novel product and must not be pushed into pre-existing legal structures.

The first, simple thing to do is fill in every online partition you can find. Online surveys also play in important roll in informing others. Get your Googling finger out and start to get heard!  You may have never considered writing to your MP or MEP but these people are elected by us to represent our wishes, they can't do this unless they know your views. Some MP's and MEP's are actively seeking your input, others may simply not be aware of this impending ban or how serious it will be to so many of us. They simply need to be told by email or letter what you think, you need to ask your local MP to raise this issue with the Department of Health, your MEP also needs to be asked by you to represent your views within Europe. This needs to be done now while our vaping future is being actively decided.

Update 3/5/13. One of the councils evaluating the Draft Tobacco Directive has suggested that E Cigarettes should be removed from the Directive. JURI, which is an excellent acronym for Legal Affairs, feels that the inclusion of e-cigarettes in the Directive would not withstand legal challenge. This is an important step in the right direction, even if their advice is ignored and e-cigarettes remain in the Directive the JURI opinion would imply that a realistic legal argument could be raised with the EU courts. We are not yet free of the threatened ban but we are a bit closer.

Notes

I have avoided the temptation to make this article a link-fest of hypertext because I'm fairly sure that you know how to use a search engine but I must sneak in just one suggestion: Vapers Against the Ban's site is a fantastic resource of further information. Vapersagainsttheban.wordpress.com

I'll be posting more about Ecig legislation and studies to expand this article in the future, maybe it's not the most entertaining subject but it is important to vaping and it's future. Your comments about the above are welcomed. The views expressed in this article are my personal opinions and are not necessarily those held by ECigWizard.

So a while back we did an naming competition for 19x WizMix flavor names. We had close to 1000 name suggestions (600+ posts) for our new flavor names and yeah... It will take some time to go trough them and pick the best ones.

Win a year's supply of e-liquid!

Vape On!

Mixology = Mixology is another term for mixing drinks or bartending and a Mixologist is another term for a bartender or bar chef. Mixology is generally accepted as a slang term for a refined and in depth study of the art and craft of mixing.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary dates mixology to 1948 and defines it as: "the art or skill of preparing mixed drinks" ~about.com~

What is needed

Mandatory : Empty bottle(s), Nicotine, flavouring(s).
Optional : Syringe(s), PG (Propylene Glycol) , VG (Vegetable Glycerin)
Extra : Sticker label, marker

You can use old e-liquid bottles, or get some from the vendor or even ebay - Depending on what size you need.

Syringes are for precise measuring of the nicotine / PG & VG / flavourings.

Marker and Sticker labels are for liquid name & nicotine strength (highly recommend the latter).

Ratios, Diluting & Mixology 101

Before starting the flavouring mixing you can make the nicotine base ready. Most often it is sold in higher mg then what you could even vape straight up. In this case we will use the Platinum Ice as an example that you can get 30ml and in 1l bulk at 54mg (5,4%).

Ratios

Most likely you've stumbled upon 70/30, 50/50, 80/20 and Full PG or VG ratios when purchasing pre-made liquids. This is to indicate the PG/VG ratio of the mix. You can do the same in DIY as it's just basic math.

• Ginger's e-juice 80/20
  
• Vermillion River 70/30
• Nordic Vapours 70/30
• WizMix 70/30
• FSUSA 50/50
• Pipe Sauce VG 98%*

 

*The tobacco bases come from Flavors Apprentice and are not USDA organic and may result in small amounts of PG.
VG in itself is real syrup so most often it has to be diluted with distilled water, alcohol or little pit of PG and thus the mixes are quite popular. In some cases (cartomisers) can't really handle high or pure VG liquids that well due to the filling type and the thickness of the e-liquid.

I personally prefer using 50/50 NoNic as a base, then adding the flavourings and the nicotine. This way the mix will have a nice vapor production as there is a good amount of VG in it.

Diluting

So to dilute your 54mg nicotine first halve it - for 30ml of Nicotine use 30ml of PG/VG or VPG (50/50mix). If you decide to use VG on that you will get as an end result 60ml of 27mg VPG Base.

Mixology

For 30ml of ready made eliquid you will end up using anywhere between 5 (1.5ml) to 25% (7,5ml) of flavourings. This is all up to the flavour strength and what you want. "Taste is subjective" TPA for example does not give any rations for this specific reason. One customer may like 5% and the next one wants 20%. I generally go for around 10-13% flavourings and for 30ml that would be 3-4ml. The bottom line is - make what you like. In the beginning it will be trial & error. I gave up % calculations on flavourings long time ago and nowadays I just go with my nose. If it smells good -> it's ready.

(Using the 27mg VPG we made earlier)
1,5ml flavouring and 28,5ml of base would result in 30ml @ 21,98mg
3ml flav / 27ml base = 30ml @ 20,82mg
7,5ml flav / 22,5ml base = 30ml @ 17,35mg

If one flavouring is too dominating, add a bit more of the other or dilute the mix with PG/VG. If the flavour is too weak - add more.

Calculating

There's calculators for mixing and even recipes in the internet. All you need to enter is nicotine mg you have, what mg you want and how much flavourings you're going to use.

Here's just few examples :
http://ejuice.breaktru.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.boggi.esig
http://www.ecigvape.com/#anc_calcs
http://www.eliquidcalculator.com/#home
http://www.todmuller.com/ejuice/ejuice.php
And many more.. Just Google e-liquid calculator / DIY e-liquid calculator

BUT.. You can also do that manually. And it's not even that hard :)

Math A (how much is needed) : total ml / ( nicotine mg / target mg ) 
Where mg is the strength of the nicotine (not %)

Example :
We have the 27mg we made and we're going to make 30ml of e-liquid and we're aiming for 10mg/ml.
30/(27/10) = 11,1ml of nicotine needed

Math B (what strength) : (mg*amount/total amount)
Where mg is the strength of the nicotine (not %) and amount is ml *20 (1ml is 20drops).

Example :
We have the 27mg we made and we're going to make 30ml of e-liquid and we're aiming for 10mg/ml.
(27*220/600) = 30ml of 9,9mg (222/600 would result in sharp 10)

I myself prefer using the latter math as I already remember roughly the amount I'm going to need to make X-strength. And for my DIY's it's more about knowing what I just made, not what I'm going to make.

Steeping

Steeping is a craft of it's own. Some do it for premium liquids as well (even most cases it's actually recommended). So if your e-liquid bottle (purchased or DIY) is missing it's flavor or color that you were used to -> try steeping. Steeping in general is a process for evolving the liquid. Nicotine liquids react to heat, air and light (this is why liquids in a tank may change their color) - some do it faster then others.

Option 1 (slow - days)
Open an e-liquid bottle and place it in direct sunlight / warm location for few days (up to a week even).

Option 2 (fast - hours/days)
Fill the sink or a bowl with hot (or boiled) tap water and put the e-liquid bottle in. You can change the water few times if you like. Do note that really hot water may shape your bottles (it's plastic after all).

Option 3 (super fast - minutes/hours)
Ultrasonic cleaner (yeah.. I said that). So in an ultrasonic cleaner you have the hot water and high frequency sound waves to agitate the liquid and presto - Basically an all-in-one option. In some cases only few cycles will do the trick (3-8min) but that is really up to the user. If you wish do 5.. or 10.

How to tell a part an good ultrasonic cleaner and not so good one? As this is what makes the difference in the end result. Yes you can get one for 5$ from China but they ain't ultrasonic. Most likely they have a small rotating motor for it to 'shake' a bit. So to test yours, get a piece of tinfoil and dip it in your ultrasonic cleaner. In just seconds the tinfoil piece should get holes in it.. Bigger and smaller ones.

 

Here is some pictures from my last DIY batches (friday 12.4 vs wednesday 17.4, so 5 days steeping)
The one's without a cork are from the 5days old batch.

x

NCOT - Stock up

"Best before" for eliquids / nicotine is around 1year. To extend the lifespan of your eliquids, for example lets say you've purchased 500ml or more and there is no way you'll get trough them in a week.. Or even a month. You naturally want them to taste good and have the nicotine when you vape them. For longest preservation, number one place would be something cold, like the refrigerator. And if you don't feel comfortable keeping them where you store your food as-is, put them in a box with a lid before storing them in your fridge. Oh and there's always those mini-fridges ;)

If you have children in your house, the fridge might not be the best place for this - nicotine is a poison and kids like everything that's even remotely interesting looking (red, green and purple liquids for example).

Only thing that you will lose over time when storing your liquids is the nicotine strength. Naturally the flavor will also decrease over time if stored in room temperature, direct sunlight and open cork (way faster then it would in a fridge).

Nicotine test from the internet shows that it takes around 5 weeks for an 35mg eliquid to lose 1mg, 7 weeks for 2mg when it is open cork - in sunlight - room temp. Compared to cork closed (same location) it takes 8weeks to drop 1mg. 8weeks Cork closed in room temp there's no change in the mg and same is applied to refrigerator test (only that in there the liquids will keep the mg even longer).

When handling and storing e-liquid please be careful. Nicotine is poisonous and is not recommended to be digested. In some cases it can also cause irritation if it is in contact with skin.
Even though e-liquid is stored in child-proof bottles you should still keep the bottles out of reach of children, animals and anyone who is not actively using the e-liquids. You should also make sure the cap is on properly and sealed before storing. You can also opt for NoNic products if you wish.