What Is Vaping? A Beginner’s Guide to Vaporizers

So, you are wondering “What is vaping?”

Well, vaping is fun and exciting, but it may overwhelm you at first.

Don’t worry, though, I’ve got you covered. Today, you are going to get acquainted with the marvelous world of vaping. Let’s wait no more!

What Is Vaping? A Brief Intro

Now, in order to vape, you need a specific device and some e-liquid (also known as e-juice or vape juice). Vape juices come in hundreds of different flavors. They are the reason many users start vaping in the first place: they want to enjoy the nice flavor and the delicious taste of their vapor. You can find almost any flavor out there, including fresh, sour, and sweet ones. There are also crazy cocktail combos and desserts. Seriously, the choice of flavors is impressive in the e-liquid market.

Vaping for beginners might seem like a complicated process. However, in reality, it’s not that complex.

So, what is vaping exactly? Basically, it’s the process of e-juice vaporization. The liquid gets heated up and vaporizes, turning into those thick flavorful clouds we are supposed to exhale. It’s that simple.

Now, in order to vape, you need a specific device and some e-liquid (also known as e-juice or vape juice). Vape juices come in hundreds of different flavors. They are the reason many users start vaping in the first place: they want to enjoy the nice flavor and the delicious taste of their vapor. You can find almost any flavor out there, including fresh, sour, and sweet ones. There are also crazy cocktail combos and desserts. Seriously, the choice of flavors is impressive on the e-liquid market.

And here’s the kicker:

When vaping, you can control the nicotine intake. The e-juices come with different nicotine concentrations, with 42 mg being the largest one available these days.

You can also enjoy the nicotine free vape since there are e-liquids containing 0 mg of this substance.

This actually helps many people quit smoking. They start with e-juices, which are high in nicotine concentration, and gradually reduce the amount of nicotine until they hit that desired 0.

“The main ingredient in any vape juice is either Propylene Glycol or Vegetable Glycerin. There are different combos available on the market, including 100% PG or VG juices, 80/20 ratio, 50/50, and so on. PG and VG have a bit different properties and influence the quality of the vape differently. Therefore, before buying your first e-liquid, you should figure out what exactly you want from it. For instance, if you want bigger clouds, you should go with a VG-concentrated vape juice.”

Alt text “What Is Vaping? A Beginner’s Guide to Vaporizers and E-Cigs”

Types of Vape Devices

If you don’t really know how to vape, you should first figure out what device to use. Actually, your vaping style will depend on your device. Or vice versa: the device choice will depend on the vaping method you are interested in.

Now, the array of the best e-cig vaporizers (or simply electronic cigarettes) is quite wide. Some models are more simplistic, others don’t even resemble a cigarette and offer an improved functionality. And in this Vape 101 guide, you are going to learn about them all.

Here are the main types of vaporizers, which you certainly need to know in order to learn how to vape:

• Cig-a-likes. This type of vaping devices is the oldest and the simplest one. Cig-a-likes were introduced years ago and were aimed at people who wanted to quit smoking. Cig-a-likes even look like regular cigarettes, with a yellow filter section and a light (electronic) at the other end. They contain a battery, a heating element, and an e-juice cartridge. Typically, cig-a-likes are draw-activated, which means you don’t even have to press any buttons to start vaping. You just inhale, and the e-cig does the rest of the job. Some cig-a-likes feature disposable pre-filled cartridges, others allow users to refill the cartridge.
• Vape pens. Vape pens are the next step of the evolution. Representing the new generation (after the simple cig-a-likes), vape pens offer more customization options and a more controlled vaping process. They have a cylindrical shape and come in tons of different styles. They are larger than regular e-cigs but offer an improved battery life and a better performance overall (flavor- and vapor-wise). Vape pens include a battery, a firing button, an atomizer with a coil (a heating element), a tank (which contains the e-juice), and a charging port. Some vape pens allow users to control the temperature or the voltage, which offers a more customizable experience.
• Vape mods. Thanks to their powerful performance and great customization properties, vape mods are among the top devices these days. More and more users switch to vape mods, even the most experienced ones. Vape mods are typically styled in a box shape. They feature a battery (either a built-in or an external one), a power button, an atomizer connection, and, in the majority of cases, a display. They can be paired up with pretty much any atomizer, offering countless customization options. Many vape mods also allow for temperature or voltage control and offer a longer operation time (thanks to more powerful batteries).
• Pod Mods. Pod mods are relatively new devices. Designed mainly for the nicotine salt e-liquids, pod mods contain a built-in battery, a heating element, and, of course, an e-juice pod. They are low-wattage devices and are presented as an improved version of the good old cig-a-likes. Pod mods are very user-friendly and super portable. They are ideal for smokers who are only starting their vaping journey.

Now, being more complex, vape mods also differ in their design. And while vaping for beginners might only involve simple cig-a-likes, let’s look at the main types of vape mods too:

• Regulated. Regulated box mods have an electronic circuit, which allows users to control the voltage, the temperature, and other vape settings. Oftentimes, such devices have pre-programmed modes. Moreover, they always have the necessary safety features.
• Unregulated. Also called mech mods(), unregulated devices do not feature electronic circuitry and do not allow users to fully control and regulate the vaping process. Moreover, they don’t have those advanced safety features. At the same time, mech mods deliver a more powerful performance and can work with different atomizers and coil configurations, offering great customization for more experienced users.
• Squonk-enabled. Squonk mods allow the users to keep the e-juice not in the atomizer tank but in the squonk bottle, which is placed inside the mod. By pressing on/squeezing the bottle, users make the e-juice go up into the tank atomizer. Squonking isn’t that popular among beginners but is famous in the vaping world thanks to the flavor quality that it offers.

“The great thing about vaping is the fact that it can offer you even a nicotine free vape. If you are a smoker who wants to quit, you can gradually reduce the amount of nicotine you take in. Or, for instance, if you are not a smoker and simply want to try vaping (for fun or any other reason), you can buy a zero-nicotine e-juice and enjoy!”

Types of Atomizers

Now that we’ve answered the question “What is vaping?”, we can move on to the more fun parts of our Vape 101 guide. Let’s talk about atomizers first.

I am not going to bore you with details. At this point, the only thing you need to know is that an atomizer is a device that turns the e-juice into vapor. In other words, it’s a coil (or a couple of them), which warms up and makes the e-liquid vaporize.

There are different types of atomizers, each of which has peculiar properties and characteristics. They include the pre-built and rebuildable ones. The pre-built models (as you’ve probably already guessed) come with already built and wicked coils. Once you’ve used the coil head to its maximum, you simply toss it away and get a new one.

With rebuildable atomizers, things are a bit different. You are supposed to build and wick your own coils, and regularly replace them. Now, this obviously gives you a lot of customization options. However, the coil building might be too complex for beginners, so it’s better to do a thorough research first.

You might want to know that there are different types of rebuildable atomizers. They include:

• RDA. An RDA (or Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer) implies a wide mouth tip, through which you are supposed to drip the e-juice straight onto the coils and the wicks.
• RTA. An RDA stands for Rebuildable Tank Atomizer. This type involves a tank, which holds the e-juice. The coils are protected by the chimney, so the e-juice does not overflow them.
• RDTA. An RDTA is a combination of the two previous types. It’s a Rebuildable Dripping Tank Atomizer. Obviously, it features a tank and allows for dripping as well. Whichever you choose on any given day.
• Squonk RBA. Squonk Rebuildable Atomizers feature a bottom-feed system. They receive the e-juice via a special connection pin, which delivers the e-liquid up from the squonk bottle.

Is Vaping Safe?

New vapers always ask these questions. Is vaping safe? Is it better than regular smoking? Is vaping bad for your lungs? It’s perfectly fine to worry about those things.

Let me just tell you right away:

Vaping hasn’t been studied well enough (yet) to allow us to make any certain conclusions about its safety.

However, here are some things we know for sure right now:

• Vaping is 95% safer than smoking. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of dangerous components and carcinogens, while the most dangerous component of any e-juice is the flavoring.
• E-juices usually use food-grade ingredients and flavorings, which means they are relatively safe for your health.
• Some e-liquids can cause occasional allergies.
• Chain vaping leads to dehydration, so you really need to be careful.
• People cannot give a certain answer to the question “Is vaping bad for your lungs?”. Some say that buttery flavorings can lead to the respiratory problems and lung issues, but the recorded cases linked to vaping are extremely rare.

To sum it up, vaping is considered safe in general. New studies come out almost every day, and we are moving towards discovering the world of vaping more and more.

“When vaping, you should also take the battery safety() into consideration, especially if you are using an unregulated mod. Batteries tend to misbehave occasionally, especially if you don’t use them properly. Therefore, always read the manual carefully before using your device. It is also a good idea to research the battery safety online, just to be more informed.”

Why Is It So Popular?

To be honest, there are many answers to this question. And if you ask 10 different people, chances are you will get 10 different answers.

The thing is, vaping offers a lot of benefits, and people enjoy this “smoking” method for various reasons. The most common are:

• People love the flavor;
• Users enjoy the thick, large clouds;
• Some people vape to relax;
• Many smokers use vaping devices to get rid of their nicotine addiction();
• Some users vape to socialize;
• People also use vaporizers to take in medical marijuana;
• Some users turn vaping into a competition (cloud chasing).

“One of the best things about vaping is the options the modern market offers. There are devices for everyone’s budget. You can buy a beginner’s starter kit for around $30-50 (or even $20, can you imagine?), which will include everything you need to start vaping right away. At the same time, there are many luxurious, super powerful and functional models, which can cost even $500-700. So, with vaping, you just need to decide how much you are willing to spend, and you can easily control your budget.”

Many people think that vaping is just a trend, a mainstream thing, which will soon disappear. However, you and I know the truth. Vaping is a lifestyle for so many people around the world that it cannot just disappear. And each vaper chooses why he or she finds vaping so appealing.

Who Is It For?

You may still be wondering: “Is vaping really for me?”

The truth is, no one can answer this question except you. However, I can give you a couple of hints.

You are really going to love vaping if you:

• are a smoker but want to reduce the amount of the nicotine you consume;
• are curious to try different flavors;
• are tired of the regular tobacco scent;
• want to blow out those huge, thick puffs of vapor;
• feel like experimenting with different devices and coils;
• want to pick up a new hobby.

So, are you ready to start your vaping journey? Will you try to find the best e-cig vaporizer and the perfect e-juice flavor? Right now you might be standing at the door to a new life. So, don’t hesitate. Come in!