Quantum Entanglement?
By Julia Barnes with a guest appearance by Tom McBride

What a week! Dealing with a whole bunch of internal matters that I’m not supposed to talk about, the new and much improved forum (finally), our FaceBook project working with some terrific proofreaders (now I have to find the time for Dave and Jon Locke to actually get the proofed articles in place!), getting ready to head back to Boston at the end of next week, (and bringing the entire staff with me!), the new Spinfuel Toolbox project (sponsored by the awesome, “what would we do without this man” Jon at MyVaporStore, and a new project that I’ve been doing in secret… learning how to rebuild atomizers! (I’ll get to that shortly)

Today is Newsletter Day again. Issue #6. And they said it wouldn’t last! Seriously though, you guys are really awesome! What started out as a pet project for me, a way to get some content out to you without having to pass some sort of guidelines that we must adhere to, is quickly becoming a substantial source of information. There are now over 4000 subscribers to the Newsletter and there have only been 5 previous issues. I think that speaks volumes for the insatiable appetite vapers have for information and other types of content related to vaping. It’s such a good feeling to know that people seem to be enjoying the Newsletter and spreading the word.

So… as the editor of the Newsletter I’m adding a couple of new features that begin with the issue coming out at Noon today. I think you’re going to like them, and hopefully you will continue to spread the word so we can build up the subscriber base and become the biggest newsletter in the vaping community. Here’s what you can expect to see today:

Tweets: The Newsletter will publish the best tweets I’ve received during the 2 weeks between issues. This will give those of you that have not yet become Twitter users an idea of what’s being said in the Twitter-verse. I love Twitter, not because of the salacious crap that a lot of people post but because of some of the most inspiring snippets of information and the ability to communicate with every person that follows “@spinfuel_julia”, anywhere in the world in an instant. If you haven’t created a Twitter account I would love to hear why in the comment section below. If some of you have the wrong idea about Twitter this might be the best platform to have a conversation about how to benefit from this free service.

Dear Julia: We are getting so many questions on so many different subjects that we decided to expand it even more. But, because it takes up so much room on the Newsletter I’m taking the column to our subdomain: . I’ll continue to post 3 or 4 questions in the newsletter but the ‘best of the rest’ will be published, and answered, in the new website. Click the link after ‘noon’ today and you’ll see what I mean.

BestOfTheNet: There is more to life than vaping (I know, I know, but there really is!) so I’m going to post some great deals, information, and other things that I’ve seen on the Internet that perhaps you haven’t because you might be interested as well. Now, I know this may not be as interesting to you as I hope it will be, so your feedback about the Newsletter will help determine the content. If you don’t like the new section let me know. It will survive if you want it to, and only if you want it too.

Surprises… I’m going to save a couple of things that we’re doing with the Newsletter as a surprise for the subscribers, so if you haven’t yet subscribed you have until Noon today to get today’s issue. Use the sign up form on this page to subscribe.

The Rebuildable Project and Tutorial

Rebuilding atomizers is, or rather ‘building’ atomizers has become something I am really passionate about lately. All because of a conversation I overheard.

While I was visiting a vape shop in Massachusetts at the end of February there was these three people, two guys and a girl*, talking about rebuildable atomizers. They really knew their stuff too, talking all kinds of math, voltage, ohms, and other aspects of the intricacies of this marvelous invention. Then a fourth person showed up (no it wasn’t me) and this person listened for a while and when there was a lull in the discussion she put forth this question; “Aren’t these expensive rebuildable atomizers overkill? Do we really need to use one to get a great vape?”

Whoa. For the next 5 minutes they were all talking on top of one another, and getting louder and louder. She definitely lit a fire under the others. Finally, one of them put a stop to the conversation with this line; “Listen bitch, if you have to ask then you wouldn’t understand.”

Wow.

How rude! How arrogant and condescending, not to mention crude and insulting. Is it too much to ask that people treat people, especially like-minded people, better than this?

An Aside: I hate the word ‘bitch’. I hate it soooo much! That kind of attitude and language toward other human beings sucks. I hate it when anyone takes a superior attitude over anyone else. No one on the planet knows it all and there is always someone coming up behind you that know more than you do. No one learns anything unless there is someone there to teach them. I felt like going up to the guy and telling him that it wasn’t that long ago that he too was a noob. Electronic Cigarettes have only been around for a handful of years, its all recent history ya know? Oh, and knock off the sexist language. But I didn’t say anything at the time because I was a stranger there and everyone else seems to know each other. Still, it bothered me and I guess it stayed with me. How did calling girls bitches become okay?

The question does need an answer though. Is it overkill? Well, for some it is and for some it isn’t. If you’re happy with the vaping experience you’re getting then is there a reason why you should bother with any kind of rebuildable atomizer? “Ignorance really is bliss” and all that.

To me, trying new things is what makes life interesting. You may enjoy the results of using a Kanger EVOD atop a Vision Spinner, but if you haven’t experienced anything else then your enjoyment is limited to your current lack of experience. There is nothing wrong with that, per se, but you can’t possibly know if a better vaping experience awaits you unless you try other things. Many of us believed that the cig-a-likes we all used in the beginning was the ‘end all be all’ of vaping until someone turned us onto something different. So there is that to consider.

Rebuildables

Because Tom is the rebuildable atomizer expert around here these days I decided to pick his brain about them. We talked a bit and then he let me “play” with an AGA-T rebuildable. Such weight, such glass, such precision!
I had to try it. I thought if anything could deliver the best vape possible then it had to be one of these babies. (lol, now I write like Tom!) I realize that it doesn’t make much sense to base the quality of vaping on the look and feel of something like an atomizer, but it looked like a serious-as-hell atomizer and I was intrigued. I wanted to not only vape with it but I also wanted to learn how to wrap coils and build wicks.

Well, to make a long story short I begged him to teach me a few tricks so I could get into rebuilding my own atomizers.

Tom learned a trick about wrapping coils from a YouTube video. The idea is to use a drill bit to wrap your coils around nice and tight, and then lifting out the drill bit and inserting the wick, pre-oxidized if possible. That method worked like a charm for him, and for me as well after he taught me how to do it and before long I was wrapping coils and making stainless steel wicks from stainless steel mesh (another lesson from Tommy Boy).

After several days of doing this and winding up with some very good coils that were rated at 1.7 – 1.8ohms every time I was ready to take on a bigger challenge. Again, asking Tom, I inquired as to what he thought was the absolute best rebuildable atomizer currently on the market, at any cost.

He didn’t know.

But, he suspected that it was ‘probably’ the one made by ProVape… the Z-Atty Pro. The cost? $150.00. Was it worth it? We decided to find out. Yay!

I’ve written something I’m calling “The Z-Atty Pro – What I’ve learned” and it will be published today as well. It’s too long to include here so look for it if you’re interested in taking the mystery out of this intimidating vape monsters.

And Finally… What I’m vaping this week…

I didn’t have any new eLiquid flavors to vape this week so it was strictly my normal, everyday flavors. The eJuice flavors below are the juices I’ve chosen as my personal favorites.

In our reviews we talk about what we will put into our “rotation” and by that we mean which flavors make it into our normal, every day vaping. What we will spend our vape money on consistently, what we keep in our Toolbox, the flavors we take with us when we travel.

Here are just a couple of the flavors I vape everyday, when I’m not on a 72-hour review phase.

Johnson Creek Vanda – If you’ve vaped Vanda I’d love to hear your thoughts about it below. For those of you that haven’t tried it if you like vanilla eJuice this is one you should definitely try. It’s a 100% PG-Free juice that delivers a really smooth, but deeply rich vanilla. The vapor is thick, with a very pleasant scent of vanilla. I vape Vanda at 1.1% nicotine so when you combine that with being PG free the throat hit isn’t very big (but bigger than you might think) and the vapor and flavor make up for any lack of a throat hit in a big way. This is one of Johnson Creek’s best flavors to date.

FanceeJuice Mellow Mango – I never would have believed that a mango-flavored eLiquid could ever be an all-day vape for me. And I never would have thought it would be an eLiquid I would gladly pay for. But it is, and I have, and I will again.

It is also a flavor that needs some extra steeping when you get it. FanceeJuice does this thing where they insert a couple of notes inside the cardboard tubes that the bottles are shipped in (with a lovely wax seal too!) and one of them includes a “Best used after” date and a “Best used before” date. (Honestly, isn’t that a great bit of information to know?) While many of their flavors are great straight from the mail carrier to your APV others benefit from being stored away for a week or two. Mellow Mango is a decent fruit flavor straight from the mail carrier but after it has steeped for a week or so the mango flavor really blossoms. It has become one of my “go to” flavors. Definitely worth a try. (If you order a bottle tell them it’s a Julia Barnes suggestion)

Lastly, this week I’ve been vaping a lot of Mountain Oak Vapors “Heavenly 7” again. This one has been in my rotation off an on for many months. Heavenly 7 is a very rich flavored eJuice that tastes like nothing you’ve ever had before. Mountain Oak Vapors says it’s a “silk chocolate pie nestled in a thick graham cracker crust”, and that is pretty much as accurate as you can get.

Heavenly 7 is a flavor to reach for when you’re tired of everything else, or when you need something to kick you out of the rut you’ve accidently gotten yourself into. I speak from personal experience here 😉

I haven’t vaped Heavenly 7 for several weeks so a few nights ago I couldn’t find anything to satisfy this deep urge to fill my lungs with thick, flavorful vapor so I reached for the Heavenly 7 that I’ve had since December and it was so good I pulled it from my eLiquid collection and kept it by my bedside, where I keep all the vaping items I use constantly. Keira and I will sit in bed in the morning on evening and while watching TV or playing a videogame we fill up our tanks, cartos, and clearos that we will vape that day or the next, so the nightstand is the perfect place to keep them. Where do you guys keep your ‘go-to’ vaping stuff?

And that was my week. Next week is going to be extremely hectic for everyone here at Spinfuel. On Friday we ALL (except John and Lisa) leave for Boston/New Hampshire. I’ll be there for a week and everyone else, will be there for the weekend. One of our dearest friend/couple is getting married so they are heading up to go to the wedding. I will attend as well, but I have to finish the stock photo project too, or at least get to the three-quarter mark before heading back down here to sunny Florida.

I sincerely hope all of you had a great week. If you want to tell me and our fellow vapers about it we’d love to hear it. Feel free to post in the comments.

Julia Barnes

*I have always preferred the term ‘girls’ to ‘females’ or ‘women’ for some reason. I’m not sure why, but a few people have mentioned that I use that term a lot so. And if someone uses the term ‘bitch’ in front of me they are liable to get a smack upside their head. (we’re guessing you’re not pleased with Beyoncé’s new song then; ‘Bow Down Bitches’? – ed.)