[TrollDragon]

Been dead for quite a while now, the vaping heyday disappeared many years ago, it's only us diehards that continue on. I miss the days of all the great videos by Busardo, Rip, Grim... and the new product being introduced on a weekly basis.

 

[iFi audio]

Been dead for quite a while now, the vaping heyday disappeared many years ago, it's only us diehards that continue on. I miss the days of all the great videos by Busardo, Rip, Grim... and the new product being introduced on a weekly basis.

True that, I miss that too. Now this hobby seems to be on a life support. I wonder whether most folks who vaped continue to do so, or have they returned to cigs.

 

[TrollDragon]

True that, I miss that too. Now this hobby seems to be on a life support. I wonder whether most folks who vaped continue to do so, or have they returned to cigs.

Once the government got involved with the industry here in Canada (flavour ban and nicotine tax), we lost the majority of our customers. Some continued to order online to avoid the taxes and others that I talked to either quit or went back to smoking as there was a lot less hassle. The tax from cigarettes funds our teachers pension plan, so it is in the government's best interest that people continue smoking instead of vaping.

 

[ufospls2]

I quit back in the summer of 2019. I was a week off nicotine due to a hospital stay and decided I may as well just stick with it. I don't miss cigs (though I only ever smoked them for about 1.5years to be fair) and I don't actually miss the nicotine at all or have any cravings (past the first two weeks off.) I ended up vaping for about 3.5 years in total. I do miss all the cool flavours and honestly the sort of....ritual aspect. Going outside, quiet time on my own. Those two parts of vaping aren't worth the expense vaping was and I always knew i'd stop eventually, as inhaling foreign substances into the lungs repeatedly in any form can't be as good as complete abstinence.

So yeah, just ended up being for the best to stop for me, though I do miss elements of it.

 

[TrollDragon]

The government made it hard on the vape shops as well. When the vape tax was implemented (juice and hardware) we had an auditor show up and do a full inventory of our store. This resulted in the shop owner owing the government around $30K in taxes for the products on our shelves. We had a large collection of obscure coils for many devices that were handy to have if someone was looking for them and the owner was not going to pay tax on a product that you sold once in a while. The end result was 90% of the products were pulled from the shelves, we only sold a limited selection of juice and coils. It was a sad state of affair but unlike other shops we didn't ignore the rules and continued to sell illegal juice or circumvent the hardware tax. All it takes is one random audit and your up to your ears in fines.

 

[TrollDragon]

So yeah, just ended up being for the best to stop for me, though I do miss elements of it.

Good on you for quitting both!

 

[GlenAppleton]

The tax from cigarettes funds our teachers pension plan, so it is in the government's best interest that people continue smoking instead of vaping.

Yep. That's what happened to the Tobacco Settlement Agreement here in the states. The funds went anywhere and everywhere else, except to help people with health issues caused by smoking or other addictions.

 

[TrollDragon]

Yep. That's what happened to the Tobacco Settlement Agreement here in the states. The funds went anywhere and everywhere else, except to help people with health issues caused by smoking or other addictions.

I read that some states used their MSA payments to borrow money for infrastructure upgrades. Now that it's 20 years later and the payments from Big Tobacco have decreased in amount due to lack of cigarette sales. A lot of those states are having to pay the loans off out of their working budget.

 

[GlenAppleton]

I read that some states used their MSA payments to borrow money for infrastructure upgrades. Now that it's 20 years later and the payments from Big Tobacco have decreased in amount due to lack of cigarette sales. A lot of those states are having to pay the loans off out of their working budget.

That's the same thing I've seen reported, and their state issued tobacco bonds are tanking on the market. There should be rules on these types of punitive taxes and other funds, and how they can be used.

 

[ehjie]

True that, I miss that too. Now this hobby seems to be on a life support. I wonder whether most folks who vaped continue to do so,

Because for the simple reason was stuck on the Nord 4, less hitting nowadays.
Folks who dropped by here, any suggestions, about the same price range and same "system" ?
I prefer the above due to portability, hard pass on disposable, thanks...

or have they returned to cigs.

This is a yes - but really controlled, ie 1 packet ev 3 days. Combustion smoke still a real hazard though, not to mention expensive...

 

[iFi audio]

Once the government got involved with the industry here in Canada (flavour ban and nicotine tax), we lost the majority of our customers. Some continued to order online to avoid the taxes and others that I talked to either quit or went back to smoking as there was a lot less hassle. The tax from cigarettes funds our teachers pension plan, so it is in the government's best interest that people continue smoking instead of vaping.

That is sad. Where I live (mid EU) we still get flavors, nicotine and bases, but by the looks of it the change to the vape industry here won't stop there. Many proper vape shops went bust, vaping now is more expensive than cigs and I see nowhere near as many vapers on streets as I used to say two years ago. Such a shame, it really was and still is a nice alternative to regular cigs.

 

[CoryGillmore]

Just checking whether this thread is dead or not

I'm still a raging nicotine addict but I've been buying disposable devices now for a good couple years. And to be honest they taste incredible now. I used to turn my nose up at them. Now I'd never go back to an RDA or building coils.

 

[Ghoostknight]

nice thread, first time seeing it

i started smoking around 2008 cannabis and ocasionally cigarettes, tho i mostly just mixed a little tabacco into my cannabis so it burns better

then around 2012-2014 after really feeling the negative effects of smoking i switched over to vaping cannabis and really liked it, the taste is miles better than smoking, the high is really different and it actually is kinda scary how much the other compounds of smoking alter the cannabis/nicotine effect if you can compare it with vaping
i was really start feeling the lung benefits of vaping a few weeks in and around 1 to 2 years later it felt like i gained "normal" lung function again

2015/2016 i got into ecigarettes because i wanted a substance that can get me "high" without relying on cannabis all day so to speak (i wasnt hugely addicted to cannabis i would say but i "regularly" vaped cannabis), at the time disposables and pod systems were kinda crappy so i started to make my own coils with a RDA, tho it always felt like a hassle to me and it wasnt always "perfect" like probably most of you know... burned coils/cottage and trying around tho i never really was happy even after trying a few RDA`s / devices
im not sure why but im someone who doesnt really get addicted to nicotine, i do it because i enjoy the effect but i have little problem with stopping so i started/stopped vaping nicotine a few times with a few months long pauses

unfortunaly, and i really regret this, i started smoking again around october 2022, mostly because of the hassle of ecigarrete maintanance (and lazyness to be honest) but i tried recently "elfbars" and thought to myself i really should get into vaping again before i damage my lungs -again-, so i looked for cheaper alternatives to disposables ( 5-10€ a day is just too much, too much in the sense that i dont wanna spend that money) and read that pod systems (and disposables) improved hugely the last few years (i guess mostly because of mesh coils)

so last week i ordered a "Aspire Flexus Stik" which seems overall getting good reviews, specially in taste, many also say its better than caliburn`s which seems kinda popular too
and i actually really like the idea of pod systems (if they work well)
1. auto draw function
2. no battery hassle
3. reliable coils and because of mesh coils less likely to get hot spots and (maybe) a bit better taste
4. smaller and lighter designs
5. good vape production, its actually around the same amount of vape i got out of my DL RDA`s (tho i never was a fan of huge wattages because of even more hot spots and burned cottage etc)
basicly all the benefits of disposables in regards of convencience but its cheaper and you can use your own liquids, i probably wont look back to make my own coils etc either

THO regardings liquids.... this is also a point that got me into smoking cigarretes again, im not sure if im the only one but i just like a very few liquids... trying out new liquids is most of the time a waste of money for me, either they taste terrible or i even get a itching throat from them or its straight up "painfull" to inhale (i look at you "Dinner Lady - Lemon Tart" and many really like it)
this is also what surprised me about elfbars, they really taste good and i get way many people say they just wanna vape disposables

unfortunaly here in germany we got now huge taxes on all things related to eliquids, longfills are about 60% more expensive than a year ago and nicotine shots cost 4€ for 10ml with 20mg/ml nicotine where a year ago you got 5x 10ml for 5€, even VG/PG got now taxes if they are sold "for ecigarretes" (100ml cost now 35€ instead of 1L for 12€ a year ago), this is overall a huge hit for the vape market i think.... im gladfull i bought 3L base and around 150 nicotine/nicotine salt shots last year for around 10-20% of the current cost
im kinda curious of where the decline of vaping comes from, even now where its way more expensive than smoking (i would say i pay around 3x to 5x now in comparison to getting cigarretes) i would rather pay it for health reasons, kinda still baffled of how much bullsh*t around vaping floats around "how dangerous" it is, yes breathing air is more healthy (tho im not too sure about that if you live in a big city) but it still is 90-95% more healthy than smoking and inhaling 4000 dangerous compounds

 

[iFi audio]

I'm still a raging nicotine addict but I've been buying disposable devices now for a good couple years. And to be honest they taste incredible now. I used to turn my nose up at them. Now I'd never go back to an RDA or building coils.

I was wondering about disposables now. They've been around for a while, so I guess that they're popular for a reason. I'd still like to have the option to change a battery as per my needs, though.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

While almost all vape shops now carry mostly disposables, mostly 70-80% of their inventory, I am the total opposite of that number.

While I respect everyone’s needs I just find disposables to be a step going backwards as far as nicotine consumption. Disposables are 50mg nic and some go ans high as 65mg. They are also environmentally unfriendly and not cost effective.