Tim Timblin – Up In Vape – Why Did You Start Vaping?

Greetings and salutations my friends, I pray all is well with all y’all, that this past week found you vaping, how and what, you like most.  I am going to need your help with this column on why you started vaping.

I want to know not just why, but how long, and what your favorite mod/s are.  Along with a favorite tank, RDA, RTA, and what your favorite juice is.  I’m gonna be takin notes so I REALLY need your assistance with on this column…please.

My Back Story

I’ll start things off, don’t think it would work the other way around, so…off we go.  For starters I don’t have just A mod that I like, I have a shitload of mods that I like.  I’ll narrow it down to just a few, along with the tanks and all the rest.

Geez, where do I start?  I think it started when I was 11 maybe 12 years old, a friend was dipping snuff, Skoal Wintergreen I believe it was.  I wasn’t really big on that flavors so I switched to Copenhagen fine cut soon after.  which led to me smoking cigarettes around age 18 quite soon after joining the Army.  Through the years I smoked cigars, cigarettes, a pipe, and dipped snuff.  I was without a doubt a big nicotine junkie, if it had nicotine and/or caffeine in it, count me in!

By the year 2000 I was medically retired from my job as a corrections officer, and I was also rated 70% or 80% disabled through the VA as I had been injured while in the Army.  Still dipping snuff by now my habit was around two cans per day.  Fast forward to 2013 I knew I wasn’t going to be able to beat the odds forever, I knew I needed to quit dipping, it was just a matter of how.  I quit smoking by just quitting, cutting down over a period of time.  With dip, that was NOT gonna be the case, with the number of times I had tried to quit in the past, it just wasn’t happening.

A chance meeting with a friend who had quit dipping with an e cig.  So I picked his brain a bit and came home and went online to do a search for an eCig for vaping.  I settled on a cig-alike, (didn’t we all), at first it seemed like it was gonna work, in 3 months’ time I had gone from damn near 3 cans a day to 2 cans per day.  Not much of a drop, but it was a start.  I wanted, no… needed something a lot stronger, so…back online I went in search of a more powerful device.

I found a vaping device on Vapor4Life, the device I bought was a 1300-mAh auto/manual device about as big as a cigar.  I also bought a 6 ml cartomizer tank and the tobacco flavored juice I bought was as high as I could go in nicotine level, something like 32, 34, 36 mg….yea it was high nicotine level.  Ya gotta remember I was dipping 2 cans of snuff every day the nicotine rush I would get first thing in the morning, and throughout the day was phenomenal, so I really needed a high nic level juice to keep me going until I was able to step down.

I was 56 years old had been dipping for 45 years, and I wasn’t sure this was gonna help me quit, but I was damn sure gonna give it my best shot.  Well the V4L device and the carto tank worked extremely well until…. I was in the hot tub and horror of horrors….my device got bumped and before I could catch it, it went for an unauthorized soak in my hot tub.  I quickly pulled it out took the tank off and set the parts out to dry. I think it lasted another couple of months and then it died completely.

After that fiasco I figured out that the vaping lifestyle is something I wanted to really be a part of. As a licensed amateur radio (ham radio) for the past 20+ years I have met a LOT of people who have become very, very close friends, most of whom I have never met face to face, but the amateur radio community is one where these guys and gals will go out of their way to help, be it advice, be it physical help, be it just about anything.

I have found that the vaping community is damn near the same.  I may not get help building a new antenna and sticking it in the air, but these folks will take the time and show you how to build a coil, or tell you about this fantastically delicious new juice, or may give you just some time to talk shop.  which juice is what and is it any good, or is it a waste of time due to it being nasty or whatever.  I have found that the vaping lifestyle or even if it only your hobby, if you give just a little bit of yourself, you will gain not only better health because…. hey you aren’t smoking, but you will make new friends, meet people who will become a part of your life weather you realize it or not.

I know what you are thinking…what does making friends and a new healthier lifestyle have to do with me looking a 1300 mAh all in one kinda vape device.  Let me tell ya….it was after that that a small kiosk opened in our local mall.  I had kept going down and talking with the owner/operator.  It was under Justin’s guidance I guess you could say, he would tell me what was what which device was better than others, what batteries to use, etc.

I took that knowledge and used, and used it some more whenever I was online looking at the many different mods, or buying new batteries, or…. just looking around, seeing what my newest mod or clearomizer would be next.  That was 3 years plus ago, Justin’s kiosk is no more it was replaced by a shiny new store front, where they have ALL these new devices, sub tanks, drippers, etc.  Not just that but Justin has branched out and is making his own eliquids.  He absolutely wants the best ingredients; he wants these juices to be compliant with the new federal regulations that are fixing to come about.  It’s just not about meeting the new federal guidelines, it’s about giving his customers the best, the best juices, the best devices at the best prices, it’s about his employees knowing the difference between a great customer, or someone coming in to jerk your chain, make all the accusations, or saying I want this, this, and this and then not getting anything.

Vero Vapor, in the Indian River mall, is one of those places where if you are a vaper, then this is one of the local places you can go to and sit, BS with the staff, get some new juice, fill your tank, then….go to the back of the store sit yourself down in one of the big chairs or the couch enjoy a tank, or a few drops onto you band new RDA, sit back and enjoy life for a few minutes, no kids, no boss, no nothing for that brief instant in time where you sit back and enjoy that new RDA or that new juice, device, whatever it is you can sit back and enjoy.  Just don’t sit too long we don’t want your boss calling asking us where the hell you are.  Really?

Don’t think so if is anyone it’s the boss who comes in to peruse our wares, and to sample some of our juices, not the other way around.  I am proud to be a vaper it’s been a long journey from dipping 3 cans of snuff per day to no cans of snuff per day.  Doing it in 6 months and a week or two, it may not be the fastest quit but at least I quit.  That is all any one can say about vaping…. I quit smoking, dipping, whatever it was that you needed to quit, be it chewing tobacco, cigarettes or snuff, the journey starts a bit different for everyone, but it always ends the same.  You put the time & effort in to it you WILL reap the rewards.

I would love to know your story!

What about y’all?  What is your story what did you give up for a better lifestyle?  I am interested to know; I would love to know your story!  Please let me know why you started, how long did it take for you to quit?

I know my own struggle with smokeless tobacco took longer than a lot of you, but after 56 years of this…. dirt into my mouth, I wanted to make double damn sure that when I quit it was gonna be for good. Which is why I am still vaping today.  Because I know that if I stopped vaping for any length of time…. I would be right back dipping again.

As always thank y’all so much for taking the time to read my columns, you have no idea how much it means to me to read and respond to the comments I receive to my columns.  As I bid you all a good day, I will say Aloha until next time when my column will cover the review of a couple of dry herb vaporizers I received.  Be well, stay safe, God bless, and….VAPE ON!

Tim