So what exactly is vaping anyway?
Vaping is a cigarette replacement that is now being used worldwide by people just like you, in order to help them shake off that hold that cigarettes have had over them for so long.
Let’s face it, many of us have had many attempts at quitting, it’s a hard thing to do, being that cigarette addiction is both a physical and psychological addiction. The reason that smoking is so addictive is because it hooks you in many different ways.
First there is the nicotine and chemical addiction, arguably the hardest part to go without, but then you also have the hand movements, the triggers and habits that go along with the actual act of smoking.
This is where vaping can help. You’re literally halving the difficulty by using vaping as a cessation tool.
If you’re vaping with nicotine, that is one less thing to worry about. Then there is the hand movements and keeping your hands occupied, check that off the list too. All of a sudden, you’re only really having to deal with the habitual aspects of smoking as well as the other horrible chemicals that you’re addicted to. Don’t get me wrong, this is still incredibly hard to do, but vaping lessens your dependence.
Vaping as it’s name implies is completely different than smoking. While it may share a similar physical action, be able to assist in helping you squash that cigarette dependence, they could not be more different.
Important: Vaping is not smoking. The draw is different, the taste is different and the feeling when you vape versus smoke is completely different. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that it is going to be just like smoking, because it won’t. Once you remove that expectation, you will have a much better chance of success.
By it’s very definition, vaping is the act of vaporising something and inhaling in order to mimic the act of smoking. It works by using heat to vaporise a liquid into very tiny particles (vapour) which are then inhaled and exhaled.
How exactly does it work?
To create vapour, you need 3 basic things. The liquid that is to be vapourised, a heat source, and an atomisation environment (something that applies heat to the liquid in a way that it can create vapour efficiently).
The reason we need the 3rd thing (the atomisation environment) is more for efficiency and providing the ability to control the vapourisation, so that we can use it for purpose. If you were to just hit a bowl full of liquid with a blowtorch, there really is no way to contain that vapour and use it in any useful way, but essentially that is exactly what is happening, just in a more controlled way.
Let’s take a look at each requirement in a little more detail.
The heat source (Mod/battery/vapouriser)
In a simple world a heat source could be anything, just like my above example, a blowtorch will do the job, but that’s not exactly efficient and definitely wouldn’t fit in your pocket!
In these modern times, technology moves very quickly and early on vapers decided that batteries would be the most efficient way to provide the power to heat our devices. Times change and technology advances, so there is always going to be a new battery, a more advanced circuit board or new “Mod” on the market that boasts the most features, but essentially, most vapers will have a battery providing the power for their equipment.
These batteries come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, and power output all dependant on what you are trying to get out of your vaping experience. For example, a new vaper may want something small and discreet, which will have quite a low power output, whereas a more experienced vaper may be wanting a lot of vapour, as well as be able to control many configurable properties that are mostly only available on more powerful devices (these tend to also be quite large).
The liquid (e-liquid)
The liquid that we use for vaping is known as “e-liquid” or “e-juice”. Often flavoured with fruit or dessert or even candy flavours, it is usually a blend of Vegetable Glycerine, Propelene Glycol, of course flavouring and nicotine if you use it. Different companies will use slightly different variations and mixtures, but that is generally all that you’ll find in an e-liquid, nothing more, nothing less.
The atomizer (atomisation environment)
Just like batteries and “Mods”, atomizers also come in a variety of different styles and configurations.
As I explained earlier, vapour is produced when your e-liquid is introduced to heat, and this is usually done via a wicking mechanism.
Typically, cotton wick will be soaked in e-liquid which then passes through a heating element (your coil) which heats up and creates the desired vapour.
It does not matter which type you have, everything I just mentioned, happens within the “Atomizer”.
Bringing everything together
So now that I’ve described each important step in a little detail, let’s put it all together.
The first step is to fill your device’s “Atomizer” with eliquid. Depending on which type you have, you might drip e-liquid into it, you may fill up the tank, you may even fill up another bottle that sits inside of your setup. Whichever you do, it’s important to get those wicks soaked with e-liquid first.
Once that is done, you’ll fire your device. It’ll probably be a button push, but could also be an automatic trigger that operates with air pressure. When your device fires, power runs from your battery, to the coil in the atomizer, warming it up, much like a heating element.
When this coil gets to an appropriate temperature, it will begin to vapourize the e-liquid that is in contact with it, and create vapour.
So that’s the basics of it all. Hopefully you’ve stayed with me all the way through this section.
There is a hell of a lot more information that I’d like to add to this, but since this is just a small introduction to what vaping is, I’m going to leave it here and create some more advanced, in depth articles later on.
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