**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

About Vaping - Nicotine vs Tobacco

WARNING: This post has to do with vaping. If you are under age, please know that I do NOT encourage smoking or vaping for minors and this post is not intended for you.  I don't encourage nicotine use of any kind for anyone. This post has to do with my personal experience as I attempt to stop using nicotine.

I've been vaping for 3 months (or almost 3 months, I can't remember) and I'm hearing a lot about those who are against it.

Before I started vaping - while I was still unsuccessfully trying to quit tobacco for the umpteenth time - I tried to check out a lot of information about it. I'd had friends, both online and in real life, tell me that switching to vaping is the only thing that got them off tobacco. I first thing I wanted to look up was the difference between nicotine and tobacco. Basically, it's as summed up here:

Nicotine is the active ingredient in tobacco-derived products. Tobacco is the plant that contains thousands of potent chemicals, one of the main chemicals being nicotine. (source)

I knew that a lot of the harm of smoking came from all the things (other than nicotine) that's in cigarettes. I figured out that vaping provided the nicotine smokers like (or crave) without the intake of all the harmful stuff in cigarettes.

Okay, so I know that it's not good to be addicted to anything, but I also know that there are a lot of other addictions that aren't demonized. There are people who are addicted to alcohol or sugar or caffeine or salt or fat.

Some anti-vape folk claim that their concern is that kids might be tempted to vape. Kids have always been tempted to do everything they aren't supposed to. Going back to the sugar, caffeine, salt, and fat -  the first two being readily available and potentially harmful - I don't see the FDA or any other entity banning (yet) any of those things from kids.

Another thing mentioned when it comes to kids and vaping is that "vaping might be a gateway to smoking". That is so silly that I laughed when I first heard it. I can understand if people were to claim that vaping would lead to nicotine use, but I don't think that anyone would choose smoking cigarettes over vaping to get nicotine. I worry about kids vaping too - if nicotine is harmful. I don't want kids to pick up a bad habit but, how do you stop anyone from that.

Anti-vape folk are talking a lot about how the flavors used in vaping juices are what attract kids. So, is that like the fruity flavors in sugary, carb-laden foods attract kids? Is that what they mean? Or like alcohols flavored to taste like cotton candy or caramel apples? Like that?

Personally, I think that one of the worst products out there are those energy drinks that so many people love. There are some serious dangers associated with those things and yet they are openly sold - no I.D. required - in every grocery and convenience store in the USA.

Before vaping, there was cigarette smoking. A lot of underage people smoked. Parents were educated and advertising laws were passed and the rates of underage smoking declined. Also, I'm not convinced that teens are rampantly turning to vaping for the nicotine. I do know some teens are vaping marijuana. As a matter of fact, the very first time I saw someone vape, it was a 30-something year old with weed. Blew my mind.

There are some things I just don't understand when it comes to the conversation on nicotine use:

• If nicotine is the problem, why aren't smoking cessation patches/gums/etc demonized?
• Is nicotine a problem? More of a problem than caffeine or sugar?
• We all now know about the dangers of smoking cigarettes, but is nicotine by itself a problem?
• Why aren't more studies being done on the effects of vaping?

My take on the whole vaping versus smoking issue is that vaping obviously works to get people away from cigarettes. Isn't that a good thing?

Since I have quit smoking, I feel a bit better and I definitely breathe better. Vaping - whether using a nicotine or nicotine-free juice - helps with my anxiety and depression. Smoking cigarettes helped with the anxiety but I hated the way it affected me physically. I also hated stinking of the smoke. I wanted to quit so badly, but both the cravings and my mental state would pull me back. Vaping has changed my life.

There are a lot of articles online about the so-called hazards of vaping, but I found one that at least looks at the pros and cons of info from some studies. Just like with other news I've read about vaping, the "negatives" are always somewhat conditional or underdefined. Like I said, I think there need to be more studies done before everyone bashes people who switch from cigarette smoking to vaping.

Another thing to consider is that tobacco companies are not happy about people switching to vaping. Not just tobacco companies are worried, but "big pharma" could be shaking in their boots. I have to think about something the comedian Chris Rock once said about there being no money in a cure because the money is in the disease. Tobacco companies can at least get in on the game - and they have -sometimes, in a ridiculous way, in my opinion. I'm still shaking my head over that...

One other positive thing about vaping over smoking: I can vape inside and not inflict my vapor on anyone else. Smoking had to be done outside and was almost always offensive to someone.

Peace

--Free