As is probably expected with a name like VapeHQ, we will start with vaping.

Prefilled

The simplest option available to start your journey to quitting is a Prefilled device. These are more costly than other alternatives but they are a good springboard into vaping and away from smoking with many people using this as their stepping stone. This is because there is minimal set up, no mess, no fuss, and many of these devices are made to be more discrete which helps those who are a little self conscious about the image of vaping itself. These are devices like the ELUX Cyberover 6k, Lost Mary BM 6000 and the Elfa Pro kit. While they are a good springboard away from smoking, they do have the down sides. Generally speaking, they come in only 1 nicotine strength, 20mg. They are all nicotine salts. They are more wasteful as you have to throw away the whole tank when it has run out. They have limited flavours options available. 

Pods and Tanks

If you want a little more flexibility in your journey to quit, then we shall continue onto Pods, and Tanks. There are 2 key differences between these two options. Difference 1, a Pod is generally made to work with 1 device. For example, the QSeries pods work with the QOne, Q2 and Q2Pro, but they won’t work with an Elfa Pro. Tanks on the other hand generally have a standardised connector, which is a 510 thread and most device “mods” are compatible with this. The second difference is that while pod systems are refillable, you still have to dispose of the whole pod when the coil dies. A tank system on the other hand has a replaceable coil, which means the only waste is the tiny coil inside the tank when it reaches the end of its life. Tanks are more costly upfront, but in the long run they are often much cheaper as the coils themselves cost less than replacement pods. They do come with more mess, as replacing the coil means taking it apart somewhat, but if you are more eco conscious you will likely not mind this. 

Both tanks and pods come with a variety of coil types and resistances which can be one of the biggest helps in stopping smoking.

What are coils, resistances and how does resistance help?

An e-cigarette contains a “coil” or “atomiser”, and we categorize them by their “resistance” and coil “type”. You will see this by the box being labelled with things like 0.8Ω or Mesh coil. You may need to try more than one option to find which works best for you as they all have their own nuances. For resistance, the lower the number, the more vapour it will produce and the warmer the vapour will be. This means that you will get more nicotine with each puff, and more flavour. A higher number will result in a colder vapour but will also be a tighter draw. Imagine it like a straw, and the lower number is a thicker straw that you’re using, the higher number is a thinner straw. Some people, especially those coming from roll-ups, find that that tighter draw is something they need to get off of the smokes. So just because a lower resistance is more popular, don’t discount the higher number. The coil type, generally Mesh or BVC coil, describes how the coil was made. 1 uses a chicken wire like mesh while the other is more like a traditional bulb filament and looks like a coil of wire. There are many more options but these tend to be in the Subohm sections which we will get to a little later.

So why are there different types of coils?

Well, one, technological advancements. I could end it there but I’d be doing you a disservice if I did. Mesh coils are great at producing flavour but their flaw is that they struggle to reach higher resistance. They fit perfectly into the 1.2 and under range of resistances and while they struggle to go above that, due to how they are made they help to fix many issues in older coils. BVC (Bottom Vertical Coils) were one of the first major improvements in coil design for e-cigarettes and, due to its high resistance capabilities and great performance, it isn’t going away any time soon. You can find these mostly in tanks rather than pods but if you are looking for that tighter draw, you will find options up to and in rare cases exceeding 2Ω. Each tank does have its own coils that are made for it as each company attempts to improve on airflow, sealing and atomising, but some coils work across multiple devices such as the Cosmo coils working for Nautilus tanks. With BVC coils too, when you get to the higher resistances, you can find with some that the temperature of the vapour begins to go up again, offering a more accurate simulation of a traditional cigarette.

Okay, so that’s the coils.

E-liquids.

There are so many to choose from, and there are so many different types too. We will break them down here to help you understand what you’re looking at and what might be best for you.

First, e-liquid types. Generally these are split into 2 groups, Freebase (or standard) and Nicsalt. There are also shortfills but we will cover this later in the Subohm section.

Freebase

Freebase e-liquids are an older type of e-liquid that use pure nicotine, PG, VG, and flavourings. They give a strong “throat hit”, the sensation of the nicotine on your throat, and give a longer cessation period, the time between cravings, than salts. Due to the effects of this nicotine on something called the PH of the liquid, this type does affect the taste of the liquid a lot more than Nicsalts, which for some people really helps with their cravings. If you are coming from menthol cigarettes though, this option might not be for you, this is because the menthol masks the taste of the nicotine and the throat hit in the cigarette. The nicotine strength of this type of e-liquid ranges generally from 3mg up to the legal limit of 20mg. This can also be written as 0.3% to 2%

Nicotine Salts

A newer type of e-liquid and what you will find in almost all prefilled devices, and what was primarily used in disposables, has the same ingredients as freebase, plus the addition of a buffer. This buffer is used to help keep the nicotine stable and pure. One effect of it is the reduction of its effects on the PH of the liquid, which you will notice in 2 ways, 1 you won’t taste the nicotine as much, and 2, you won’t get the same throat irritation that the freebase nicotine gives. Another effect is that it causes the nicotine to stay more “pure”. The nicotine is pure in freebase e-liquids but over time it changes naturally, not into other chemicals but into a form that takes longer to pass through your body. The buffer causes the nicotine to stay “purer” resulting in a quicker hit for those that need it, which is actually more like what a cigarette gives, those that hit doesn’t last as long. It does have a downside though to, as nicotine salts have a drying effect on your mouth and throat. All e-liquids have this but it’s more pronounced on Nicsalts and can cause some people especially those new to nicotine salts to suffer a dry cough. One counter that has been done to deal with the irritation of the throat is to make the liquid sweeter. That’s because the ingredients used to make the liquid sweeter stick to the surface of your throat and are slowly absorbed there where they then prevent further interaction of the nicotine salt with the surface of your throat. Second to this, many nicotine salts are “icy”, meaning that they contain menthol which cools and soothes your throat. Unfortunately, if you don’t like menthol, you might be at a loss here as most nicotine salts have adopted the use of menthol and while some, like QLabs add varying levels based on the specific flavour, most have a set baseline that they stick to. The last downside to Nicsalts is that most brands don’t offer as wide a range of nicotine strengths. This has given the industry the perception that it only cares about keeping customers, though QLabs have differed from this, with an opening option of 5mg, half the minimum that most companies offer, because they want you to shake your addiction.

Nicotine strength

I have mentioned that there are different “mg” strengths of nicotine in these products, and I don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you guessing. The strength of an e-liquid is rated in its nicotine content, from 0mg or nicotine free, up to 20mg or 2%. This value is talking about how much nicotine is in each and every millilitre of e-liquid. The maximum allowed in the UK is 20mg per ml, and this is one of the things that is enforced through the TPD law. If you see someone selling higher than this, it’s an illegal product, report it to trading standards as this product has not been tested for all the other things banned by TPD law (the law that helps make vaping 95% safer than smoking) 

Generally speaking though, you will see products in either 3mg, 6mg, 12mg, and 18mg or 5mg, 10mg, 15mg and 20mg. At VapeHQ and QLabs, we use 5 - 20 as we know there are some very heavy smokers that would have used 35mg if it was still legally available and while 20 is not 35 (obviously), that extra 2mg helps those people. These levels are the standard for Freebase nicotine, while Nicotine salts are usually 10mg or 20mg. In prefilled devices, this is usually 20mg. At QLabs, we offer 5mg, 10mg, and 20mg.

SubOhm vaping

Before we go on to how flavour can help you, I think it’s best if we cover what SubOhm is. As when it comes to flavour, the SubOhm sector is always going to be king (or queen?) 

SubOhm, is usually reserved for those that are "enthusiasts" of the vaping industry. Those people chasing the next big thing. These people used to be called cloud chasers though not everyone that uses these devices use it for this reason. Some people have more of a habitual craving, and the use of a 0mg liquid and a Subohm device could be what you are actually needing. The key section of these devices that are most helpful hear are ironically some of the most heavily invested enthusiast devices, the “dripper” type devices, which require you to add the e-liquid only when you are going to use the device. Sounds like a lot of work right? But if you are not actually addicted to the nicotine and more the habit, then the act of dripping your liquid fills in the light up process of the cigarette, giving you a full habit replacement. Once your body has become accustomed to the lack of nicotine, you will find it much easier to replace this with something like an occasional candy, or if you want to look like a western fan, a toothpick. To get the best understanding of these devices it would be best to talk to a vape advisor as the overall contents of this blog post is already going to be too lengthy to give a full depth on these devices. But, if you have more of a habit around the act of smoking and not the nicotine itself, this could be the thing for you.

Flavour

Now, I said Subohm was the king or queen of flavour, so I think its time to talk about flavour. Part of the reason I’m using Subohm as a spring board onto this topic is because flavour is a big part in what helps people quit smoking. Every few years the UK government talks about banning flavours and every time customers from across the UK to all vaping customers come out to tell their story and how it wasn’t just the fact that they got nicotine, but a specific flavour that helped them quit smoking. One of the most prominent in my memory was in the early days of the industry when a man said that he’d tried tobacco flavoured vapes and found he constantly went back to cigarettes, until he started vaping a bubble gum flavour, one of the flavours the government would have banned. There are many stories out there like this.

There is good reason for this working too, if you are given something that’s not quite what you are wanting, it doesn’t get rid of you wanting the thing, especially if you can still have that other thing. So giving something made to taste “like” a cigarette when a cigarette is a 5 minute walk to the shop away doesn’t work. It’s like going to a pub, asking for a coke and they say “is Pepsi okay?” You always feel disappointed right? Designated driver and can’t even have a coke. You end up buying coke the next time you’re in the shop. But, if you instead go “They don’t have the coke I want, I’ll take cranberry juice”, you completely replace the craving with something else that is strong tasting, and you associate the craving with something else. Over time, this can completely replace the thing you want and in the terms of vaping and smoking, you can reduce the nicotine, and then eventually just start eating gum, or cherries or something else that your vape always tasted of, not just getting rid of the cigarettes but the whole habit! 

Please don’t think that these flavours are made to attract young users just because sweets are marketed at kids. Because they are not, they are genuinely helpful to those quitting smoking. Anyone who is honest with themselves knows cigarettes taste bad and being someone who grew up before vaping was a thing, there were a lot of kids that smoked… So it’s nothing to do with the taste that gets kids to buy them. It makes them more approachable and easier to hide from parents sure, but if we just stop the people willing to give them to kids we’ll deal with that problem!

Okay, little rant over, onto the next bit.

Heat not Burn

The Heat not Burn option. This is something that a lot of the vape industry doesn’t like to acknowledge as it’s mostly a tobacco product and a lot of companies think it’s bad to continue giving tobacco companies any money, but whether we like it or not, some people are addicted to more than nicotine or the habit. Which means that maybe they need the tobacco plant to be present. Also, some people do genuinely just like the taste of tobacco, there is a reason why tobacconists used to be a thing with specially curated tobacco blends. 

Heat Not Burn is ultimately “healthier” than cigarettes, though it’s not really a way to quit as you are given 1 strength, and unlike vaping where almost all of the nicotine is absorbed by the user, heat not burn devices still create passive smoking, helping tobacco companies to increase the likelihood of future sales. While we offer them for people looking to quit smoking to adopt a healthier lifestyle, if you are looking to quit completely, this probably isn’t the option for you. 

For those that are looking to use this though, HNB devices use something like IQOS Terea, which are small cylinders of specially rolled tobacco which is heated to with a heating element to cause the nicotine to evaporate off for you to inhale. If you want to use this due to believing chemicals like PG are bad, products like IQOS Terea use PG infused into the tobacco leaves to help with the carrying of the nicotine. Similarly, if you are looking to use these to avoid the flavourings, 1, tobacco has chemicals in it that cause it to taste of things, 2, take IQOS Terea Pearls Riviera as an example. Notes of Raspberry, Rose and Menthol. They don’t get that by telling it to taste like that, they add the flavourings to it, likely the same ones we use in QLabs, but also, as a tobacco product it doesn’t have the same testing we have to go through, meaning those chemicals might not be quite as safe as the ones used by the vape industry…

What are Alternatives?

Okay, onto the last section, what are the alternatives that can help you quit smoking?

Anyone that has an addiction, whether it’s smoking, coffee, or something worse, knows the pain of not being able to get your fix for some reason. Flying away on holiday and sitting in a metal tube for 5 hours? Looking after kids and not able to go outside for 2 minutes? In a job that doesn’t give you that little break you need to get away quite when you need it. We’ve all been there, and the vaping industry have been trying to figure ways to deal with this. 

These are referred to as “Nicotine Alternatives” and at VapeHQ, they currently come as Pouches, Strips, Pix and Lozenges. In the past we have also stocked CBD vapes which some people have found great success staving off their nicotine addiction with though we no longer stock these and they are generally frowned upon being used in the same places as nicotine vapes for the fact that, you can’t definitively prove it’s not nicotine. Pouches however, work well for those long periods where you can't grab a vape as the nicotine absorbs slowly into your bloodstream via your gum, and when done with, you just throw the pouch in the bin. Strips are similar but you place it on your tongue and wait a few moments for it to dissolve. This absorbs a LOT faster and gives you a quick hit but they are not so good for long stints. Word of warning, if you are going to try this one, try not to stick it to the roof of your mouth. It can hit a bit too hard if you do that. NicPix are a novel new addition to the roster giving you something to take away some of the habit and giving you something to fidget with as it is a nicotine infused toothpick you chew on. 

If you are looking to quit and want to get something more from your venture into a healthier life, head on down to your local VapeHQ and we can demonstrate the devices available, explain the difference between the liquids and help you make the right choice for you.

Tips to make your journey easier

To round all this off, I’ll give you a few pointers on how to maximally use your products to make moving down through your nicotine levels the easiest, using the Q2 Pro as the standard for this.

First, and the most obvious choice, when you feel comfortable switching to a lower nicotine level is a good step, but some times, a 5mg jump can feel a little daunting, for that reason, you can buy 30ml bottles from VapeHQ where you could mix different strength liquids together to reach the level you feel more comfortable with. Moving from 20 to 10? Try mixing a 20 and 10 together to make a 15mg. Still too far? Add a second 20mg to bring that up to 17.5mg, much more manageable.

Second option, look at the pod you are using. If you normally use a 1.2Ω pod, lower the nicotine level, but also move to a 0.8Ω pod at the same time. The increased vapour will lower the distance between the nicotine strengths, making it easier to switch. 

If you still need something else to bring it closer, for example if you normally use a 0.6Ω pod, then we can move to option 3. Try switching the power mode on the higher nicotine to “Cold”. Get used to that, change to the 0.8Ω pod and change the power mode to “Hot”. When you reach “Cold” on the 0.8Ω pod, you should be ready to change to the next strength down and return to the 0.6Ω pod.

Dropping the Disposable?

So, you either started quitting when disposables were a thing and stocked up when the ban was coming in, or maybe you got caught up in the wave and started vaping due to their ease of access and maybe a little curiosity, no judgement, people started smoking, drinking alcohol, doing drugs, all for the same reason depending on their circumstances and stuff. But now they are banned and you’re in a rut. Going cold turkey isn’t for everyone and you’re looking for something that can replace the disposables.

Prefilled

Prefilled vapes, made by the people who brought you the disposable, forced to add a recharge port onto their devices because they never should have been disposable in the first place… Your easiest solution is to move to a prefilled device by your preferred manufacturer. If however, the ban has made you re-evaluate your choice to use them, maybe it was that you found them so convenient that your use only increased? Or maybe it’s that you’ve realised that they are all 20mg, the maximum available nicotine strength, whatever it is, there are people trying to go against the addiction and offer you a route back down the ladder so you can feel grounded again.

Liquids made for you

QLabs QSalts being one of those brands. 1, they were made off of the backs of disposables, with their first set of flavours aiming at the popular disposable flavours to give those people an option for something cheaper, with a variety of nicotine strengths so they might eventually quit the addiction. 

Others have also gone with a similar run at it, though they have gone with slightly more on the nose naming conventions such as “Bar Salts” which attempted to piggyback the name of some disposables such as Elfbar.

The Right Device

Next to the liquids, we also have devices that are made to be just as simple as a disposable, to try and give you the convenience of not having to fiddle with buttons, settings or coils, such as the QLabs Q2. Not only does this device give you the simplicity of draw and go vaping just like a disposable, but with its slide top pods, refilling is fast and simple, and the only time you need to remove the pod is when it’s time to replace it! No need to remove the mouthpiece like with XROS devices, or remove the pod itself like the Gotek X in order to get at the fill port.

Better than a disposable

Now, it’s not just the liquids and the devices themselves that are better, but the pods themselves add an improvement. Always wanting that extra kick and found yourself hunting for that extra hit when you had disposables? Well if you like a pod type device, they almost always come with a range of pods you can use. If you want that extra hit, 0.6Ω pods will give you that hit. Trying to quit and struggling to move down in nicotine? Use a higher resistance pod next time you replace it and leave your nicotine strength the same. With a higher resistance, you will get less vapour, reducing your nicotine. Pair that with dropping your nicotine level and you have more options to get yourself back on the ground and feeling the grass beneath your feet again!

A Cheaper Alternative to Prefilled.

One of the first things vaping was marketed as to help convince people to get off of smoking was its cost effectiveness as an alternative. With laws however, that can’t actually be advertised any more which isn’t very capitalist of our capitalist society, but, I’m not talking about tobacco. I’m talking about vapes to vapes. So you quit smoking, or disposables or something else maybe and you’re looking at how much your prefilled kit costs every time you need a refill. Yeah, it’s, it’s actually getting quit pricey isn’t it? 

Well, that’s because that section of the market is mostly dominated by the same people who made the disposable vapes and put them all on the market with 20mg of nicotine. If you want something a little more cost effective I have an easy alternative for you.

The All new Q2

The Q2, at 11.99, comes with 10ml of liquid. This pits it against your prefilled and undercuts many of them. But what about refills? Well, a bottle of QSalts cost 3.98, which another 10ml, and you can get bundles of them for a bundle price, 3 for 10, or 5 bottles for 15, making it only 3 quid each. With the BM6000 costing 6.95, and having 2 for 12 offers, that gives you the choice of 50ml of QSalts for £15, or 24ml of Lost Mary for £12. It’s almost half the price! And I can promise you, you will find better flavours out there if you move away from the prefilled pods. 

In it for the Experience…

If you don’t vape for the nicotine or don’t want to vape for the nicotine, then your best bet if you still want to vape (because you just like it) is a Subohm type device or a brand that provides 0mg such as Pure. The reason I’m saying a Subohm device rather than picking up a pod system or similar is that, Subohm devices use something called a Shortfill. Shortfills are liquids that come with no nicotine as standard and use a nicotine shot to add in the nicotine after sale. Meaning you don’t have to use any nicotine at all to enjoy them! There are also a wide range of products that have been made for this sector such as the VooPoo Drag kits, and Smok Beast coils. It’s can be a bit of a maze to find what you’re after, but if you’re in it for the experience, you’re probably not looking for a quick fix and are willing to try quite a few options before you settle on your final choice. Personally, my favourite pairing when I used these types of devices was a version 1 Voopoo Drag mod (sorry but they discontinued this model) and a twisted messes dripper tank. I used to find it quite calming sitting and making the coils back then, almost like meditative. While that was my personal favourite, I recommend picking up a kit, something that lists a coil resistance between 0.2Ω and 0.6Ω in the box, and explore outwards from there. Any liquid listed as “high VG” will be supported by these devices too.