Vaping: A Beginner's Guide

Thinking of making the move to vaping? We're sure you have a lot of questions.

Have more questions? Get in touch with our friendly customer service team.

If that's your goal, yes. 76% of our customers no longer smoke* and just vape instead. You can also progress from high nicotine strengths to lower ones over time, or go nicotine-free. Getting the right vape kit for your habit is key though, so let us help and set you on the right path from the start. (*poll of 10k+ customers, 2016 )

Vape juice typically contains nicotine (but nicotine-free versions are available) but not tobacco. Nicotine is a stimulant which raises your heart rate, much like caffeine.

Public Health England declared that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than traditional cigarettes in August 2015. They contain around 16 chemicals as opposed to over 4000 in cigarettes (73 of which are known carcinogens). You should, however, always check your hardware is TPD-compliant, has a CE mark and comes with a suitable warranty, and check that your e-liquid is supplied in CLP-compliant packaging and does not contain diacetyl. 

Yes!

In a word, yes. Over the past 5 years, I’ve gone from smoking and vaping together, to just vaping, to not vaping at all. Giving up vaping wasn’t even my goal, I just wanted to break my smoking habit, which I’d previously thought impossible. I’d tried everything to give up my 20 year, 20 a day habit to no avail before trying my first e-cigarette.

With vaping, there’s less pressure because you’re not giving up, you’re switching. When I fancied a cigarette, I’d have a vape first and if I still wanted to smoke, I would. After a year of doing that, I didn’t want a cigarette at all. I’d broken the habit. Then I worked down nicotine levels from 24mg to 0mg and then simply stopped vaping without even thinking about it.

Ready to make the switch? Get a starter kit which works for you:

Small and discrete? Check out our V3i kits starting at £19.99.

More power, flexibility and battery life? Take a look at our SERIES-S kits - just £24.99!

All the bells and whistles? That'll be the SERIES-B DNA 75W then - starting at £79.99.

How long is a piece of string? What you can save will change based on your habits and kit. What we can say though is that for users with a Mouth-To-Lung vape kit, 2-3ml of e-juice per day is about average. With a 10ml bottle of e-liquid available from £3.99, that’s 3+ days of vaping for less than half the price of a packet of smokes.

Again, this will vary from person to person, but our average customer spends around £40 a month. Sounds a bit better than the £160 per month the average smoker spends, doesn’t it?

We’ve got starter kits available from as little as £24.99, which will at the very least include a battery and a tank. Add some more e-juice or some coils and you’re looking at around £30-35 to get started (more expensive kits are available too).

The regular consumables you’ll need are liquid and replacement coils. E-liquid usage varies, but most will get by on around 15ml per week (or 6 x 10ml bottles per month). Most people will replace their coil around once per week, so a pack of 5 will last a month (packs of 5 coils are available from £9.99).

Almost certainly. As a father of two young kids, I made the choice to switch to e-cigs both for health reasons, but also because (as anyone with children will appreciate) I needed to save some money.

It’s no secret that the cost of smoking has risen astronomically over the past couple of decades. In the UK, tobacco is taxed heavily, meaning that the average smoker is now spending more than £2000 every year.

Vaping is a much cheaper alternative. Yes, there can sometimes be a relatively high cost of entry, but running costs are low. All but the most occasional of smokers can expect to see substantial savings.

Most of the issues we deal with are a loss of performance – caused by a problem either with the vape battery or the clearomiser. 99% of the time, these problems can be resolved very easily by simply checking everything is assembled correctly, giving the battery a clean, or replacing the coil.

A small number of vapers may experience an allergic reaction to one or more of the ingredients used in vape juice. Also, nicotine is a stimulant which raises your blood pressure and pulse. If you have a history of high blood pressure or heart problems, speak to a doctor first. We don’t recommend using e-cigs while pregnant either.

There can be, but while some of the more advanced hardware can take a little getting used to, many devices have been designed with new users in mind. If you’re able to operate a modern smartphone, you’re not likely to have any problems (and if you do, you can always speak to us!)

Definitely our SERIES-S17. We designed it ourselves, and from the start we wanted to produce a device which is simple for new users, but flexible enough for more advanced vapers if you want to try out sub-ohm at some point down the line. Simply swap out the coil in your tank and you’re away.

As an electronic device, it is possible to occasionally experience a fault. Thankfully, though, problems are relatively uncommon and can normally be resolved very quickly as we’ve designed and built our products to the highest quality standards

For the most part, we're all vapers or former smokers here, so we know how frustrating it can be to run into difficulties but we pride ourselves on our customer service and aftercare. If you do have any issues, our team are always on hand to sort things out and can troubleshoot not just our own hardware, but probably most other brands out there as well.

We also back all our hardware with great warranties, so if we can’t fix your issue, we won’t hesitate to arrange a replacement instead.

Think about your own tastes. Are you a gadget lover, who can get to grips with new tech relatively easily? Are you interested in the hobby aspect of vaping, or do you just want to get off the cigarettes?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Am I looking for maximum power and vapour, or would I prefer a smaller, more portable device?
2. Do I want a simple device, or one with lots of features?
3. Will a tobacco flavoured e-liquid suit me, or would I rather take the opportunity to try something new?

I’d hesitate to say that there is one perfect device out there to suit all types of vaper, but our SERIES-S17 comes very close. It’s easy to get to grips with, but has plenty of power and flexibility too so that it can grow with you.

Most vapers tend to choose a tobacco flavour to start with, and our menthol e-liquids are also very popular. But what we’ve found is that many vapers very quickly switch to fruitier or sweeter flavours.

Choosing the correct nicotine strength is key. We’ve heard from customers who gave vaping a try but turned back to cigarettes because their cravings weren’t being satisfied. There may be some trial and error involved in finding the right strength for you, but we can make some suggestions.

One of the biggest advantages e-cigs have over any other smoking alternative is the wealth of choice that’s on offer. Whether you want a device that has all the bells and whistles, or fancy a particular flavour of e-liquid, there’s a product out there.

When I first made the switch, I wasn't prepared for the variety that's out there - an e-cig is an e-cig right?

What I found helped was to take the time to think about exactly what I wanted, and to do my research which meant I didn’t waste time and money on devices which weren’t ever going to be right.

Simply put, you need to get out and kiss a lot of frogs but the freedom to experiment with what works can be a lot of fun. Think about the kinds of flavours you enjoy eating and see what options are out there.

I’d say to be adventurous. There are loads of unique blends out there which might not sound like your thing, but you never know unless you give them a go.

As long as you stick to responsible vendors, you’ll be fine. Post-TPD, all vape companies have to carry out specific testing of their e-liquids. All our e-liquids are tested in UK labs for consistency and quality – we know everything which goes into our flavours, and they can be fully traced back to source.

Make it for yourself! We created our picNIC DIY e-liquid range just for vapers like you. We’ve got a huge range of flavour concentrates available which can easily mixed to create your own unique e-liquids.

When I first switched to vaping and as a long-time smoker, I immediately gravitated towards tobacco flavoured e-juice – and I tried a lot of them.

JAC's Real Tobacco Silver was the first one I found which offered a realistic tobacco flavour - it really hit the spot.

What I found though is that over a couple weeks my sense of taste came flooding back, and I was keen to put my taste-buds to work, so I branched out. Now I love super-punchy fruit flavours like blackcurrant and strawberry. I haven’t used a tobacco e-liquid in years.