Electronic Cigarettes
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An Electronic Cigarette is battery-powered device that vaporizes a nicotine or non-nicotine solution to provide the sensation of smoking and inhaling cigarette smoke.

What's It All About

• People are buying Electronic Cigarettes as a substitute smoking device to use in places and locations were they can't or do not want to light up a regular cigarette.
• People are using Electronic Cigarettes to cut down on the number of tobacco cigarettes they would normally smoke each day.
• People enjoy being able to use Electronic Cigarettes inside their homes without smoking-up their house and staining their clothes and walls as can happen when smoking regular tobacco cigarettes indoors.
• While Electronic Cigarettes have not been FDA approved or laboratory tested as a stop smoking product, people are using the E-Cigarettes as an alternative to smoking, or to reduce nicotine levels.
• Electronic Cigarettes can also be used without nicotine, so people can just carry them around to have something in their hand and something to puff on.
• And having an Electronic Cigarette around handy sure beats running out to the convenience store at midnight!

The new Electronic Cigarettes are gaining in popularity every single day, because they just flat make sense. Unlike nicotine patches and gums, E-Cigarettes use nicotine in a form that creates a sensation very much like smoking a regular cigarette, complete with a vapor that resembles smoke. The big plus over regular cigarettes is, of course, that Electronic Cigarettes have no tobacco. None. Zero. Electronic Cigarettes provide a vaporized dose of nicotine, or just a harmless vapor (if used without the nicotine), but without the use of tobacco. For years there have been cardboard facsimiles to cigarettes designed to perhaps help people stop smoking, but don't be confused, there is absolutely no comparison between those cardboard units and the new Electronic Cigarettes. Please note that the FDA has not approved Electronic Cigarettes as a stop smoking device.

Electronic Cigarettes mimic the look and feel and even the taste of a regular cigarette, but the tobacco smoke and tar are eliminated. No tar in your lungs, no second hand smoke, and no tobacco smoke to stain your belongings. You get the nicotine hit without the side effects of tobacco or no nicotine if you prefer.

The Electronic Cigarette concept has also been carried through to pipes, cigars, and hookahs and there are some units that resemble writing pens in that they are long and slender. Some new styles of Electronic Cigarettes are using Tank systems, which hold more E-Liquid, along with some other new options.

Electronic Cigar Picture Courtesy E-Lites

Electronic Cigarettes (also called E-Cigarettes, E-Cigs or ECs) are readily available from retailers on the Internet, but they are harder to find locally. Currently some of the most likely places to find E-Cigarettes locally are: Cigarette Shops, Truck Stops, and Mall Kiosks (key-osk - those little free standing retail booths you find in the aisle areas of the malls). Many chain stores and gas stations are starting to carry the disposable versions of Electronic Cigarettes. This web site has Where To Buy Locally pages. This web site also has a where to buy online page and comparison charts for Electronic Cigarettes and the flavor solutions and cartridges.

Disposable Electronic Cigars & Cigarettes Pictures Courtesy Smoke 51 & Krave

The cost for an Electronic Cigarette varies from about fifteen dollars, for a disposable Electronic Cigarette, up to about a hundred and fifty dollars, depending on the features and what accessories are included, but a starter kit is usually in the fifty to eighty dollar range. E-Cigarettes come in various colors including a cigarette look (white with a brown filter looking section), and fashionable colors and designs including, black, pink, green, red, and more. Getting a fun color may not prevent people from thinking that you are smoking, but it might make it a little easier to explain that it is not a real tobacco cigarette.

Most E-Cigarette Starter Kits come with a rechargeable battery, a charger, and pre-filled cartridges (mouthpieces).

There are additional accessories available, including the liquid refill solution, pre-filled nicotine or no-nicotine cartridges, carrying cases, and various styles of battery chargers. Some dealers also have replacement parts.

Picture Courtesy South Beach Smoke

E-Cigarettes are normally comprised of either three principle parts or two parts. The atomizer is the difference, it may be a separate piece or part of the cartridge (mouthpiece) and the atomizer, in conjunction with the battery, heats and converts the solution into a vapor.

Three part Electronic Cigarettes.

• The mouthpiece, which is hollow and has a pad inside for the solution.
• The atomizer, which uses the battery to heat and convert the solution into a vapor.
• The rechargeable battery cylinder, needed to power the atomizer.

Two part Electronic Cigarettes.

• The mouthpiece, which has the atomizer built in, and uses the battery to heat and convert the solution into a vapor.
• The rechargeable battery cylinder, needed to power the atomizer.

The atomizer can be located in the cartridge (the mouthpiece) or the E-Cigarette may come as a separate atomizer which screws into the battery cylinder section (which is the long cylinder portion similar to the tobacco section of a cigarette). There are different opinions about which is the better choice. Cartridges with atomizers generally cost a little more, because each cartridge comes with a new atomizer, versus the cost of replacing the screw-in style atomizer if it goes bad (check the brand that you are considering to verify if the screw-in atomizer is replaceable, the cost is usually about six to twenty dollars).

The battery cylinder section normally has a LED light on the end to simulate a cigarette's fire. These lights vary in color and include red, orange, green, and blue. Some people like the blue and green color tips that do not resemble a real fire.

Variety of Battery Colors and Skins Pictures Courtesy Premium Electronic Cigarette

The solution for the refillable Electronic Cigarettes comes packed in two ways. The solution, called e-liquid or e-juice, can be purchased in little bottles and the user simply applies a couple of drops to the pad or wick located in the mouthpiece cartridge. These solution bottles vary in price from about fifteen to twenty-five dollars.

Picture Courtesy E-CigarettesChoice

E-Liquid Picture Courtesy E-Smoke

The solution is also available in pre-filled mouthpieces, regular cartridges or cartomizer cartridges (cartridges with atomizers). The pre-filled cartridges generally come five cartridges to a pack at a price of around ten to fifteen dollars a package or around twenty to twenty-five dollars a package if each cartridge has a new atomizer.

Cartomizers Picture Courtesy Cigarti

The bottled solutions or cartridges come in different strengths such as strong, medium, light, ultra-light, and no nicotine. The solutions or cartridges are available in various flavors such as tobacco, menthol, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and many more flavors.

	E-Liquid
Pictures Courtesy Electronic Cigarettes Inc	Tank Systems	Pictures Courtesy Vapage VMOD

The new Tank styles offer new variety, with larger E-Liquid capacity or tiny E-Liquid bottles, some have wicks rather than pads, some allow mixing cartomizers and atomizers to change strengths, and some offer a double battery system.

Cases & Chargers Pictures Courtesy Smoke 51 & Krave

The reusable Electronic Cigarettes normally come with a battery charger for the rechargeable battery. There are wall outlet chargers, USB computer chargers, and auto chargers. It varies by manufacturer as to which charger comes with an Electronic Cigarette starter kit. There are even charging units that resemble a package of cigarettes. Additional chargers are usually available for purchase separately. The chargers are generally priced in the fifteen to twenty-five dollar range, but the cigarette package style chargers may be more.

	Case Picture Courtesy Electronics Cigarettes Inc.
	Case Picture Courtesy Green Smoke

Neck Strap "Lanyard" Picture Courtesy EverSmoke
Carry Pouch Picture Courtesy HaloCigs

Electronic Cigarettes are also available as disposable units and single USB Passthrough units. The disposables are obvious, when the power and solution are used up, they are finished. The USB Passthrough E-Cigs are handy for people working long hours at their computers, and normally come with a long USB cable, so the battery can stay plugged in and charged.

	Disposable Electronic Cigarettes Picture Courtesy Smoke 51 & Krave

USB Passthrough	Disposable
Pictures Courtesy Green Smoke

This is not a medical site. The pros and cons discussed here are the convenience, cost, and functionality of E-Cigarettes.

Picture Courtesy South Beach Smoke

The convenience of E-Cigarettes is great. ECs are easy to carry around, but they are a tiny bit heavier than a regular cigarette. Because the battery is only activated when the user takes a drag, the battery might stay charged for a day or more, depending on use. It varies by manufacturer, but a general rule of thumb is a battery charge will last about equal to smoking a pack of cigarettes. A heavy smoker might want to have a spare charged battery to start the day. There is no real fire, so the E-Cigarette can be handled and put away without any concern for burning or starting a fire.

E-Cigarettes appear to function like a regular cigarette. The user draws on a cylinder shaped object and if the pad has nicotine, the user receives a nicotine hit and there is a smoke effect (vapor) that is created by the atomizer. The actual use of an Electronic Cigarette is slightly different from a regular cigarette and it may take a little getting used to. A slow, light draw is best with most E-Cigarettes and three to five puffs is about equal to smoking one tobacco cigarette. Another difference is that the user cannot puff and puff on an E-Cigarette that is loaded with a strong nicotine solution or the user may experience a rush and some dizziness. If too much solution is applied to the pad it can cause the atomizer to sound like you are blowing bubbles in water, until it dries out a little.

Kit Picture Courtesy E Cigarette Solution

The cost of an Electronic Cigarette starter kit might sound high initially, but seriously, E-Cigarettes are extremely reasonable in price compared to regular cigarettes (due in part to the government's high cigarette taxes). Consider a user who smokes generic cigarettes, if they only smoke one package a day they are probably spending over a hundred dollars a month. A brand name cigarette smoker's expenditure may be much higher. People will use E-Cigarettes for different amounts of times and for different purposes, but if a user replaces much of their cigarette smoking with an Electronic Cigarette, the E Cig could pay for itself in a couple of months and begin saving the user money. After the initial purchase of an Electronic Cigarette starter kit, the user only needs to purchase the cartridges and/or solution bottles, unless the user wants additional accessories or needs replacement parts such as a new atomizer.

Kit Picture Courtesy Green Smoke

The biggest drawback to the price of an Electronic Cigarette is that like most things now days, it may not be economical to repair one, so if the atomizer stops working or the rechargeable battery fails, the whole unit might need to be replaced, but maybe not, because, depending on the brand, many Electronic Cigarette companies have thought ahead and designed their units so that the batteries or the atomizers are replaceable. The replaceable parts situation varies by company, so this might be a good thing to consider when buying your Electronic Cigarette.

Electronic Cigarettes are still new enough that there is not a lot of user feedback yet on how long the units are actually lasting in real, day-to-day use. However, rechargeable batteries have long been known to generally last for around a thousand charges. That's a lot of charges, even if the user had to recharge their E-Cig every day, that would still be close to three years of use.

For people who really enjoy smoking, their first Electronic Cigarette will probably not be their last, there are so many colors and styles to chose from, so don't let the E-Cig differences confuse you, take a leap and learn. As well as disposable Electronic Cigarettes, there are now even very inexpensive little starter kits at around $30.

Mini Starter Kit Electronic Cigarettes Picture Courtesy Smoke 51 & Krave

From observation, when someone is using an Electronic Cigarette in public people still tend to think that it is a tobacco cigarette, even with the bright color E-Cigs with none red tips, so there is still some stigma to overcome when using an Electronic Cigarette in public. That will probably change in time as people learn what they are.

Electronic Cigarettes may have some of the look and feel of a regular cigarette, but they are different and require some minor adjustment to get used to them. If you grab and E-Cigarette and take a long, hard drag you will probably come away coughing and sputtering, and thinking that is the worst thing you ever tried. An Electronic Cigarette seems to work best with a long, but very light draw; if you do it correctly, it will be a nice sensation - a good puff!

If your Electronic Cigarette is not giving a good draw, it is usually one of three things: the battery needs charging, the pad is dried out and needs more solution, or the cartridge needs switching out. The cartridges are really only good for about three refills before the little pad dries up to where it does not hold the solution well. An additional tip for refilling the solution pad is to squeeze the little plastic sleeve around the pad when you are filling it so that it absorbs the solution better.

If you are having a problem getting adequate vapor try using the "double clutch" or "priming the pump" technique. Simply take a short, hard drag followed by a long, easy draw. This will usually produce a satisfying amount of smoke.

In today's world, it might be best to protect your E-Cig tip from germs, both lying around and sharing with friends. Some companies have disposable protective tips.

Rubber Tips Picture Courtesy Green Smoke

Disclaimer: There are a huge variety of Electronic Cigarette style products. This short article in no way attempts to cover every shape, style, color, price, etc. This article is a general observation to give the reader a basic understanding of Electronic Cigarettes.

Disclaimer: While E-Cigarettes do not contain tobacco, they are generally used with nicotine and the FDA has issued warnings about nicotine and Electronic Cigarettes. Here is a link to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's web site. http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/default.htm

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