To All the Vapes I've Loved Before

Okay, I have been promising for a minute to do this post. Now that it's been a year since I went cigarette-free, I thought it was a good time to sort of showcase my vape collection. Some of these devices I won (yay, me) or were gifted (because people were glad I quit cigs) or that I gifted myself (with money saved from not smoking). I have to say that I do NOT miss smoking even though I sometimes miss the smoking rituals. I do like vaping. I can vape without nicotine and I can vape without stinking. I dig it.

I know that there have been a lot of news reports of the dangers of vaping and, honestly, I agree with others who think the problems come from outside "normal" vaping. People who are using juices from any and everywhere might be getting bad additives in their eliquid. Also, a lot of folks are vaping weed and who knows what else. It's just like with the stories of people hurt by exploding devices. Usually, those are situations of people improperly using vapes or amateurs improperly using specialty devices meant only for the experienced. You will not soon - if ever - see me using something I had to build and set up myself. No thank you, ma'am. It took me a week to get comfortable just choosing juice to put into an easy-fill, off-the-shelf device.

These are the devices I love and what I think of them now that I have more experience vaping.

First, let me say that after I wrote this post, I realized that I forgot to mention the device that I tried and went back to cigarettes. This was probably 5 or 6 years ago when ecigs were getting to be really popular in Alaska. I wanted to quit (again) and a friend went to the corner cigarette store and bought me a Blu device. I was so hopeful. Then I tried it. Ugh. That was the worst ever experience of my life. I didn't understand why people preferred a "vape" over cigarettes. I stayed on cigarettes until I moved here to Iowa. I saw the friend of a friend vaping away on a tiny ecig. I asked if they really liked it and I told them about the Blu. They let me try their device (I think it was an Aspire or something similar). It was decent. It didn't make me cough or feel like I was inhaling sandpaper down my throat. That's when I knew that I could find an alternative to cigarettes. So...

The Juul was my first. I loved this thing. I was able to give up cigarettes with it. The vape was just as strong of a nicotine hit as the full-flavor cigarettes I smoked except the flavor and scent was Mango. How I loved the Mango pods. However...

Juul pods are so expensive that I wasn't saving any money. Also, eventually, Juul stopped selling the Mango pods. I rarely use the device anymore. The replacement and refillable pods I've found just are never as good as the original Juul pod.

Veneno

I had one or two other small cheapo devices like that amazing $9 Boulder that I eventually gave to my SIL. She loves and still uses it. I wanted something that gave me the flavor of the smaller pod Juul device. I was seriously over cigarettes at this point. Enter the Smok Veneno. Wow. This thing scared me a little at first. My nephew had to show me everything from how to fill it to how to change the coils. I still to this day never mess with changing the wattage except from up to down! I do love this though. It's a workhorse and it can handle being dropped (a couple of times) and tossed into purses and backpacks. I can also switch out tanks with the Caliber. I really do love this and will have til it quits on me.

After the Veneno, things get blurry as far as which device came next and when. Because I won or was given a couple of devices, I would pay it forward by giving them to someone else trying to quit cigs and wanting to try vaping. I at one time had at least 2 devices similar to the Boulder. Those went to friends and neighbors and I hope they helped them. As for the rest, here are some that I still have and I link to any reviews I might have written for them.

PockeX

This is the Aspire PockeX. I have learned that I'm not a huge fan of the smaller and less powerful mouth-to-lung devices out there. Even though MTL mimics smoking a cigarette, I have gotten used to direct to lung vaping since I don't use high nicotine (or, sometimes any nicotine) and like the clouds and flavor more than anything. I hope that made sense!

Overall, this PockeX is great for "ladylike" vaping. It a nice device for slipping into the purse or pocket for trips to the store or when you are around people who might not vape. I have literally vaped right in front of people who never noticed because this device is so discreet. However, I never got a lot of flavor with this. 

Pico Baby

 This little beauty is the Eleaf Istick Pico Baby 25W Kit. It's one of my favorites as far as how it looks. It's just cute and discreet and stylish. And it was under $15 believe it or not. It's a nice vape - much more powerful than you'd expect for such a tiny device. It didn't come with extra coils and I always burn through them quickly.

But when I say this device is tiny, I mean just that.




So, there's the cute, tiny Pico Baby and then there's the big brother...

Squeeze2

The Pico Squeeze is a squonk device. Listen, I had zero business getting this thing! I didn't understand what a "squonk" was. Now I know. Thank goodness I have a young (young adult, so don't freak out) nephew who was once so into vaping that he built his own devices (whatever that means). He came over and set everything up for me and told me to call him whenever I need to do anything more complicated than filling the juice reservoir.

I don't use this one often - because of my nephew's instructions - but when I do, it is awesome. I can't really describe how much more smooth and defined flavors are when using a squonk. Just freaking superb.

Now, believe it or not, between winning devices, getting them as gifts, and finding sales, I don't spend nearly as much money on vapes as I did on cigarettes. With cigarettes, I was sometimes going through over a pack of cigarettes a day. At the time I was in Alaska, a pack cost over 9 dollars and sometimes as much as 10 and change. Crazy habit. Now that I vape, a $7 bottle of
ejuice can last me 2 weeks or more. Of course, I don't use fancy juice. I also have found places like the Dollar eJuice Club. Mostly, I use VapeWild juice that I can find at Electronic Tobacconist (and skip the crazy shipping or club fees). So I do like finding devices that are no longer brand new on the market. Once the new device craze wears off, I can snatch up a 40- or 50-dollar device for 15 to 20 dollars. Don't believe me? Go back and look at what I paid for some of the devices compared to what they cost several months before my review.

Anyway, it did take me a while to learn what kind of vape experience I like. I'm not into a lot of bling-bling or alterable parts and stuff. I just want something that's decent-looking and gives a nice flavor. Okay, I do like my vapor too! Once I settled into my vape groove, I was more careful about falling for all the hype every time something new came out. And I was really happy with what I already had in my collection.


Then, because I remembered the joys of the Juul, I wanted to see if there was anything just as good. I especially wanted a more "able" device than the Juul - more affordable and definitely refillable. And along came the Uwell Caliburn.


I didn't immediately love the way it looks. The Caliburn is so much fatter than the Juul. As soon as I vaped the device I forgot all about the Juul. The one and only thing that Juul has on the Caliburn are those high-nicotine pods. I think that's what attracts newly-quit smokers. You get such a good taste and a super-hit of nicotine with Juul. But then you start to learn about things like salt nic and refillable pods. Yeah, no need to spend all that money on Juul pods.

Finic 20

I am now best friends with the Caliburn. Like the Pico Baby, it's small and discreet.  Because it's narrow and flat, it's nice to have when you don't want to carry a purse. This is a good pocket vape.

Another device that I wasn't immediately thrilled with is the Finic 20 from Voopoo. Since I won it in a giveaway, I was willing to get used to it. And I have to admit, it's a cute little device. When I was given a choice of 3 devices, I chose to wait a month for this one mainly because of the colors and design.

I had to use this for a few days and figure out that I could not only vape cigarette-style but also do DTL vaping. Then I was happy. I don't use this all the time but I like it.



I can't believe that I'm just now mentioning one of my fave devices. Well, it's my sort-of-fave. The first one I got went wonky and I had to fight my way through getting it replaced. Tedious. But so worth it because this thing is AHmazing. Behold the Voopoo Caliber.

Oh my my my! How I love this thing. It's beautiful and a vape- monster (if that's a thing). The one reason I use this mostly at home and don't pack it around is that it's freaking solid. It's too fat to tuck in a pant or skirt pocket and too heavy for a shirt pocket. I don't mean to say that it's crazy-heavy, but it's just a bit much for tucking away anywhere, in my opinion.

Uwell Whirl 22

No worries though. Just like the Pico Baby is the kid sister to the Pico Squeeze, I did find the adopted kid sibling to the Caliber. Adopted because it's got a different mother.

That's the Uwell Whirl 22. How cute is it? For a $20 device... I'll say that if I could, I would have paid twice that. It's not as powerful as the Caliber, of course, but it's a nice substitute for taking around on the go. It's smaller and much lighter in weight.


 Look at them together. Just kind of amazing that I found something like the Whirl. It's one of the devices that I liked the minute I got it.



I'm just now discovering that, for some reason, I never did a review of the Smok Priv V8. Huh. Well, I will have to do that. For now, here is what it looks like and I can tell you that it's another device I was a little slow to fall in love with.

There are some pros and cons with this one and I promise to do a short review soon.



The Innokin Endura is one that I started out liking and then... things have been going downhill. I listed the pros and cons when I reviewed the device but those negatives have become very annoying. The other day, it tipped over again and then started leaking. When I tried to see what was up, the whole top part fell apart. So... yeah. That thing was too much trouble to fill and then, with the constantly tipping over, it just went into a drawer somewhere. At least I got an extra drip tip that fits a couple of the other small devices...



You can probably tell that I tend to like Smok devices - even though I don't know if I'm pronouncing Smok correctly. I say "Smock" but some other people say "Smoke". Whatever. Maybe because a Smok was my first serious device after the Juul, I feel comfortable with them. I will say one thing though: When Smok gets it right, they nail it, but when they get it wrong...

The Smok Infinix was a device I raved about for a long time. Then, recently, I could hear light hissing after I finished taking a hit. I changed to a new, clean pod and the same thing happened. I'm going to have my brother or nephew take a look at it the next time they are over. Ugh

By the way, in a battle between the Infinix and the Caliburn, the Infinix gets its butt kicked. For flavor, vapor, and reliable hits, the Caliburn is the champ. Also, next to the Caliburn, the Infinix looks and feels a little cheap.  I have to admit right now that Uwell and Eleaf are becoming my favorites. Sorry, Smok.

Looking at this list, I'm thinking that I have a lot of devices! In reality, it has been a year since I quit cigarettes and with contests, giveaways, and sales, I haven't done too badly. If you didn't believe me when I told you how long juice lasts me, just look at how much I accumulated over a 4 month period. I won't be buying juice again for a very long minute...

I took this photo 6 months ago for a post and I still have about 5 full or nearly full 30ml bottles and I think I still have all of those 10ml bottles.



So, if you didn't doze off somewhere before this, I might as well tell you about a fun app I've signed up with called Vaffle. It's social media for vape enthusiasts. I am not that into it yet because it's not very user-friendly. However, it is an awesome place to look at very cool and unusual devices. I love that part.

By the way, here is a post I did about some of the shops I frequent. And remember, I am a broke cheapskate so...

I hope you had fun looking at the different vapes and, hopefully, reading some of the linked reviews. And remember, as a vaper, be cool, not annoying.

Peace
--Free

I think this young man in underappreciated

**VAPING** PockeX Pocket AIO Vape Kit by Aspire

STOP: this post is ONLY for those of legal age for nicotine use.

See the guide for state-by-state regulations

state-by-state regulations

Remember the other day when I mentioned getting 2 new devices? Well, the Pico Baby is sweet, but I also want to talk about the PockeX by Aspire that I got around the same time.

I will tell you right up front that the only thing I don't like about this vape pen is the name. You know how I am; I get all creeped out by that large "X" at the end. Why not just the Pockex? Or even the Pockx, if they wanted to be cute?

Amway.

The PockeX (yeah, I'm going to do my own thing and just call it the Pocket from now on) arrived within a day of the Pico. I was much more excited about the Pico - because of the shape and style - and was just kind of 'meh' about the Pocket. The one thing I liked about it sight unseen was the rainbow shade. When it arrived the first thing I did was compare its appearance against the Pico.

Well. Looks are one thing and performance is another, right? The Pocket has a lot going for it and the price is the first thing. It was 20 bucks and came with some nice features.

** I have to pause here and do a side note. While writing this post, I just now glanced over at the product page for the Pocket and noticed something for the first time. The device has a "child lock" feature. I don't have kids but how did I miss that? I do a chat with VapeWild to ask about this and... the "child lock" is the same thing most vapes have. You click 5 times to lock and unlock the fire button. So all my devices have this feature. Nothing special to see here. folks.**

Here is what I like about the Pocket:

• The top fill is super easy. Because the coil lifts off with the cap, there's no avoiding leakage into the tip.
• It charges pretty quickly and the charge holds up most of the day with moderate use. I think of moderate as hitting the vape for a few minutes every ever hour or so.
• The slim build is a bit lighter and easier for smaller hands than the Voopoo Caliber. 
• It has one of those narrower drip tips that I love. 
• The liquid level is completely visible through the partial glass tank. 
• The firing (aka child safety lock) button is perfectly placed.
• The USB port is in a decent place.
• The device vapes very nicely. 

By the way, I know that type and quality of juice has a lot to do with the vape experience but, using the same liquids, some of my devices just give off a better taste. My SIL had one device that just made our juice taste too harsh. I hacked and coughed every time I tried to use it. From listening to other vapers, I know this has something to do with coils and wicks. All I know is that, out of the box, certain devices work better for me. This Pocket is one of them.

Other than the name, there are two other slight annoyances I have with the Pocket. One is that when you remove the top to fill the tank, the coil lifts out with the lid. That's great because, like I said, you're not having to avoid spilling juice into the drip tip. On the other hand, you do have to be careful to let some of the juice run off of the coil before you set the top aside. Juice will sweat down from the coil and onto the table or whatever while you're filling the tank. There is actually one more thing: there's no airflow adjustment. A YouTuber did point out that you can restrict the flow a bit by covering the USB port when inhaling.

Fill line is at the black arrow

The only other issue also has to do with the tank. Because you will be fitting the coil back in after filling the tank, you have to be mindful of not overfilling. Thankfully, there is a fill line as a guide but I wonder if that affects the 2ml capacity. 

The coil lifts out with the top for filling

When I was telling an acquaintance about the Pocket and the Pico, she mentioned liking both of them over her most expensive device. Although my most expensive vape was a gift and is in the $40-some range and I agree with her assessment. I guess for most of us vaping is a bit of a journey because you start out not knowing much about the different devices. If I could go back, I would have chosen either one of these two pens or the Caliber.

Bottom line, this is a great device and the price makes it so much sweeter.

Speaking of sweet, my next review will be on juices. I have 2 orders coming. One is from ECBlend (they let you design your own juice) and the other is from VanVal (they had a sample pack deal) and I'm pretty excited about both. Both places got raves from online acquaintances and the prices were super good.

Peace

--Free

**VAPING** Eleaf Istick Pico Baby 25W Kit

STOP: this post is ONLY for those of legal age for nicotine use.

See the guide for state-by-state regulations

state-by-state regulations

UPDATE

Forgot to be specific about how this device vapes. I am using 50/50 and 65/35 juice in it and it vapes wonderfully. Very smooth hits and good flavor.

I just got 2 new devices, both under $20. This is the Eleag Istick Pico Baby 25W:

We'll just call it the Pico. And, boy oh boy, is it cute. I had heard about them and my brother has one in silver. I wasn't looking to get one, but I saw that Breazy had it for $14.99 and... well.

I should probably get devices in different colors, but I usually go for rainbow or red. The Pico came in a nice set of colors and I was tempted by the green and silver. My brother has the silver and, IMO, the red looked more feminine than the green.

Remember, I said that the price was the big grab for me. When I was checking the Eleaf site for information to share with you, I saw t the price was double at $29.99 for the "regular" colors (down from $46.99). If you want the really cute "dazzling" colors like those below, the price hikes to $32.99. So... dang! These are gorgeous, but so out of my price range:

Notice that the Eleaf site had my rainbow color...

These are freaking CUTE tho!

So, let's get to what I personally like and dislike about the Pico.

PROS:

• It's cute and, yes, that's important to me.
• The shape means it doesn't topple over.
• The power USB port is in a nice spot (near the bottom of one side).
• The indicator light shows the condition of the battery after each hit.
• It's super compact and a great fit for my tiny purse and the pocket in my backpack.
• Because of the size and shape, it's discreet. I can palm it and vape without being so noticeable.
• It has a screw-down lock so it won't fire when stashed in a purse or pocket.
• The tank drops in and is held magnetically and securely. This protects the tank glass.
• The threading on the tank is really smooth. No struggles there.
• I love the narrow drip tip.

The discretion factor is important to me because I personally don't feel like a lady while smoking in public. I feel the same way about vaping. So... I like to vape indoors or if outside, I try to do it on the sneak! Yes, I'm a bit repressed.

CONS:

• Though it fits in a purse, backpack or jacket pocket, it's too "bulge-y" for a pant or skirt pocket.
• It's not a top fill. You have to pull out the tank and unscrew the bottom.
• It's easy to over-fill.
• To adjust the airflow, you have to remove the tank to get to it.
• There is a slot "view" of the tank but I still have to remove it to check the liquid level.
• The indicator light is oddly placed and I have to turn the device to see it. (This could just be because of my hand dominance or the way I hold the vape to use it.)

I like the device enough that I can handle the negatives. Here is some photographic detail.

compared to an 18650 battery

Opened to fill

By the way, now that I'm more than 6 months cigarette-free...

...I have to wonder if and when I will give up vaping. Now that I'm off tobacco, I have started using nicotine-free liquid to vape with about half the time. Honestly, I don't see myself totally giving up vaping because I do enjoy it and it's calming. When I smoked, having a cigarette jacked my anxiety up like crazy - even though I smoked more when I was anxious, mad, or depressed. Now, I can vape some nic-free and still satisfy some part of my habit.

I've saved a ton of money by not buying cigarettes (around $1200 according to the Smoke Free app) but I have spent about $120 on vape devices and juice. But that is over a 6 month period. I've gotten a couple of the devices as gifts and I think 1/4 of my juice collection are samples that get thrown into my orders. The thing is, I can see myself becoming a product junkie if I don't curb myself.

I actually gave one of my vapes away to a friend who is wanting to quit tobacco. The latest additions to the collection are gifts to myself. I said that for every 50 miles I put in on the exercise bike this winter, I would treat myself to a new (inexpensive) device. Both these were under $20. I don't want to talk about what I was spending on cigarettes, even after I moved out of Alaska where you damn near had to take out a second mortgage to finance a tobacco habit...

This is the slim designed Aspire PockeX next to the tiny Pico.

To go even further cutting back on what I could be spending on my vaping, I have learned to steep my own eliquids. I was already buying discount juices (between $3 and $7 per bottle)  from VapeWild, but was once tempted to spend $10 on "steeped" juice. I couldn't bring myself to do that but the website explains how to steep my lower-priced juice and get the same result. So I am prepping my first bottles now. Also, my brother is going to start making juice for us to use so there's that.

I have to tell you about something that happened when I tried changing the coil in my Voopoo Caliber. What a disaster. The device came with one coil pre-installed and a second coil of a different - whatever it is when coils have different firing ranges or... you know. Yeah, I have zero clues about coils but the thing came with 2 coils and that's all you need to know. So, I wanted to see if there would be a different flavor or experience with that other coil. And I swapped them out. Big mistake. The device would not fire. I was sure I had broken it. I went on a mad dash through YouTube and different forums, trying to figure it out. Finally, there was one video - one - of a guy who had the same non-firing issue with a different device. He had stumbled upon a fix when he was fiddling with the device. He found that twisting and re-twisting the tank worked. It didn't work for me. My brother happened to come over and I asked him to look at it. He did, then he twisted the tank, clicked the firing button and... that worked. 

You know how you can't decide whether to be pissed off or happy? That was me. My brother fell out laughing at the look on my face. He said that you have to twist (or screw on) the tank just right sometimes. Apparently, I am too stupid to do this so I will be calling him every single time I need to change a coil!

Anyway, I'm happy that I got both these new devices at such great prices and I'm don't collecting for now. Just waiting on that juice to finishing steeping before I report back.

Peace

--Free