I have tried several different e-cigarettes. Each model has it's own unique feel to it. Some are almost useless, others are more utilitarian, and then there are the ones that just feel right.

The first e-cigarette I bought was cheap and came in a convenient package that held all the pieces and had a built in charger. If you are curious, it was a Health E-Cigarette product. Despite the fact that it was almost impossible to take a drag from it, it was my first e-cigarette experience, and it convinced me that I didn't need to smoke tobacco anymore.

The next few were better than the Heath E-Cigarette, but not by much. One had no battery life at all, the other wouldn't make enough vapor to fill my mouth, nevermind a full inhalation. I was beginning to lose interest in electronic cigarettes.

Then I found the M401. I ordered it because I heard that an online seller was going out of business and had slashed all his prices. I ordered the starter kit and a boat load of cartridges. When it arrived, I couldn't wait to fully charge the battery before giving it a try. I knew from other kits that the batteries still have some residual charge in them from factory testing. I put the e-cigarette together, and began to draw my first drag. Wow, it was as easy as an analog cigarette (tobacco smoke), I could feel the vapor at the back of my throat. Then I exhaled, and exhaled some more. A huge cloud of vapor hung in the air in front of me. I was even able to blow a few "smoke" rings.

<sorry, I had to pause to relive that moment>

This was what an e-cigarette should be. An absolute pleasure to use, instead of something that sort of replaced analog cigarettes. As an added bonus, I figured out that the batteries from my first Health E-Cigarette, fit onto my M401. So now I have four batteries instead of just two. I am never without power for my e-cigarette enjoyment.

By far, the M401 is my favorite. It has a four hole atomiser which makes it easy to inhale. It makes a huge volume of vapor. Best of all, my old batteries from a low quality product fit this Rolls Royce of electronic cigarettes. If you are considering getting an e-cigarette, or upgrading to a better one, the M401 will serve you well.

For the most fantastic electronic cigarette experience, you must try the DSE 801. I keep my other e-cigarettes around and charged up in case I need them, but I always use my DSE 801. It looks more like a pen, than a cigarette. The performance of it makes the looks insignificant. This thing is a dream to use. Tons of vapor, enough to irritate the throat a bit, easy to draw on, easier than an analog cigarette. Even better than all that, I was able to get a USB passthrough for it. This means that anytime I am near a power supply (wall socket, car 12V, computer with USB) I can use my e-cigarette without worrying about the battery going dead.

If you are considering trying out an electronic cigarette, I hope that my insight has helped you to make a decision.

Be Well.

E-liquid is the only way to go for refilling electronic cigarette cartridges. Many vendors offer carts for a reasonable price but refilling is more convenient and is still more cost effective.

There are several recipes for making your own flavored e-liquid from unflavored liquid. I have tried this and it didn't turn out too well. That's probably because I'm not patient enough to accept failed attempts.

What I learned from reading about making your own liquid is that glycerin can be used to thicken the liquid. In my experience, adding glycerin to a strong e-liquid results in a milder nicotine strength and it produces much more vapor.

The trick is to only put enough glycerin in so that the liquid starts to get thicker. If it gets too thick it doesn't produce much vapor and can clog up the insides of your electronic cigarette.

I figured this trick out by experimenting with the little bit of liquid left in the bottom of one of my e-liquid bottles. I added a few drops of glycerin at a time. I found that adding about 15% glycerin to a PG based liquid gave me the best vapor production and didn't dilute the taste too much.

You can find glycerin at any craft store that sells cake decorating material. I found mine at Michael's. As well, you can find flavoring there if you want to try mixing your own flavored liquids.

My greatest realization while figuring this out was that by switching to e-cigarettes and refilling them myself, that my dirty nasty habit has transformed into a bit of a hobby. This is much better than the nagging thought about my health as I smoke an analog cigarette.

[This article is helpful to prepare one of my favorite e-cigarettes for use. The carts that some with that electronic cigarette taste horrible and don't have any nicotine in them. Its my favorite because it only cost $40 including shipping and it produces tons of vapor.]

If you are already familiar with the basics of electronic cigarettes then you already know that once a cartridge is empty, your only choice is to put on another one. Once all your carts are used up you have to find more. For me, this means searching through all the internet vnedors for compatible carts at a reasonable price and, hopefully, with a good selection of flavors and strengths. Even if I do find a good vendor, they may be out of stock of what I really want.

The solution is to buy e-liquid (or e-juice) and refill your carts. A 20ml container of liquid will outlast 50 cartridges by far. You can purchase all strengths and flavors that you can imagine.

The process to refill a cartridge is pretty simple. Your most important tool is..... a paper clip. Take the cartridge off of the atomizer. Push the paper clip into the hole that you inhale through. This will push up the inner part of the cart that holds the liquid. In this piece, you will see some packing that looks a bit like fluffed up wool. At this point all you have to do is put 6 or 7 drops of liquid into the packing. Finally, push the inner part back into the cart with your paper clip and you are ready to go!!

Advanced tips:

If you want or need to clean the packing material. Just remove it and rinse it with warm water. Pat it dry with some paper towel. Once it is dry put it back in, fill the cart and you are ready to go.

Also note that pure nicotine is toxic and it can be absorbed through your skin. It's a good idea to wash your hands after filling carts, just to make sure you don't absorb too much nicotine through your skin.

E-cigarettes have be featured in the news recently, and advertising for them is not difficult to find on the internet. If you have seen the news or advertisements and are unsure about what they are, how they work, or how safe they are then continue reading.

What is an e-cigarette?

An e-cigarette is, simply, an electronic cigarette. Instead of using tobacco, it uses nicotine in a liquid solution (sometimes called e-liquid or e-juice). This solution is heated by an element to produce vapor which is inhaled. Many models closely resemble regular cigarettes in appearance. However, the part that looks like the filter is the cartridge which contains the e-liquid. above the cartridge is the atomiser, which heats the e-liquid. The rest of the body is actually the battery which usually has an LED that lights up when you take a drag.

How does an e-cigarette work?

When you take a drag on the e-cigarette, air enters the atomiser between the atomiser and the battery. The air pressure, as it enters the atomiser, activates a pressure switch that connects the battery to the atomiser. With electrical power, the atomiser heats up and vaporises some of the e-liquid. As you continue to inhale, the vapor carries nicotine into your body. When you finish inhaling, the pressure switch turns off the power.

The heat generated by the atomiser stays inside the body of the e-cigarette. You can feel some heat with your fingers, but it isn't enough to damage anything when you put it down.

Unless you buy a disposable e-cigarette, the batteries are rechargeable either via a wall charger or a USB charger. The charge lasts for about 200 drags. One battery usually lasts me a whole day at work. The cartridge usually lasts for about the equivalent of 7-10 normal cigarettes. How long they last depends on the user. On a tough day I can go through three cartridges at work.

How safe are e-cigarettes?

I am not an expert in all the details of e-cigarettes but I will share what common sense and a bit of internet research tells me.

The most important aspect of using e-cigarettes is that there is no smoke. The by-products of smoking tobacco are horrible when you look at them in detail. They include: carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, cyanide, and many more. The vapor produced from the e-liquid comes from either propylene glycol or glycerine. Both of these are used in food products and both are used in fog machines. If you have ever been to a nightclub that uses a fog machine, you have already inhaled the vapor that comes out of an e-cigarette.

In my mind, getting away from tobacco smoke is a huge health benefit. Inhaling a substance which I have inhaled at nightclubs, and is used in food products seems to be a more than reasonable substitute for toxic tobacco smoke.

Because there is no approval from the Health authorities in the western world yet, it comes down to making a personal decision. If you search the internet for detailed information about the safety of e-cigarettes you will find two main opinions. On the negative side the opinion will state that the effects of inhaling nicotine and propylene glycol (or glycerine) are unknown. The positive opinions will be similar to what I have shared already.

Having answered these three questions, you should have a better understanding of e-cigarettes and what they can do for you. If you are interested in looking at some e-cigarette products, click here. There are some cheap starter kits if you are still unsure and curious. There are also some higher quality starter kits if you are ready to take the plunge and change your life.

Be well.

Choosing a first e-cigarette is not an easy task. There are so many choices out there and not too many people have enough money to try them all.

My first e-cigarette was the Health E-Cigarette. It was priced low enough for me to order one "just to try". The package is quite elegant. The cartridges, atomiser, battery and charger are all contained in the box. The battery screws into the charger and the plug prongs come out of the side. There was no greater thrill than when I put the e-cigarette together and took my first drag. The LED tip lit up, I could hear the air going through the atomiser, and I could feel the vapor in my throat. When I finished inhaling, a few whisps of vapor went in front of my eyes, I could hardly believe it was real. When I exhaled and was blowing "smoke" out, I was hooked.

As I continued to use the Health E-Cigarette, I began to notice some of the finer points of this particular product. Taking a drag required a lot more effort than normal cigarettes. That was the only non-positive experience. The fun part was being able to smoke while sitting in my living room. There was no smell, and I didn't need an ashtray. I just set the e-cigarette down on the coffee table. Absolute freedom.

It's bad enough that I'm addicted to smoking. However, that first drag from an E-Cigarette was infinitely more exciting than my first drag from a Winston when I was 13 years old and hiding in some bushes with my friends. Today, I am able to smoke my e-cigarette when and where I want to. My co-workers don't mind, my house doesn't stink and I don't miss the real smoke at all.

There are so many reasons to absolutely love e-cigarettes. The three most important reasons are increased productivity at work, freedom to smoke whenever I want to, and health benefits.

As with most places in the Western world, my workplace is completely smoke-free. That means going outside to have a quick cigarette. The only problem is that it is never quick. Stop for a cup of coffee, look around to find someone else who is going out for a smoke, chatting, maybe have another smoke, go back in, fill up the coffee again... it usually ends up being almost a half hour from start to finish. When I am using my e-cigarette, I stay in my office and get a lot of work done. The benefit is that my stress level at work has gone down and my productivity has gone up.

Related to smoking at work, is smoking just about anywhere I want to, whenever I want to. I can smoke inside my house again. I can smoke around other people who don't smoke. I can smoke in a restaurant or bar. I can even smoke in bed and fall asleep while I do it!!

So I can smoke at work or anywhere else I want, not really a big deal. The best part of using an electronic cigarette is that I am not inhaling toxic smoke anymore. The tar that sticks to the inside of your lungs is gone. The poisonous gases are gone. Even the Carbon Monoxide is gone. That's HUGE!! Carbon Monoxide (CO) isn't really toxic, it just suffocates you. The CO molecules stick to your blood when you inhale it, just like the Oxygen. The difference is that the CO doesn't let go of your blood cells to allow more oxygen in, it stays stuck for a long time.

It just occurred to me that there is one other benefit. I don't stink like cigarettes any more.

I absolutely love smoking my e-cigarette. My life is so much better because of it. I have less stress at work, I can indulge in a smoke whenever I want to, and my body is no longer being damaged from tobacco smoke.

I sincerely hope that you will look into trying an e-cigarette as a smoking alternative.

This is exciting!! We have a few Manual Switch DSE 801 kits in stock. As well, we have some conversion kits for people who already have a DSE 801. Another option is the Manual Switch USB passthrough, which works without the need for an extra switch between the battery and the atomizer.

If you don't already know, the DSE 801 is one of the premiere models of e-cigarettes. It has a long battery life, and has the easiest draw (about the same resistance as smoking an analog cigarette!!)

Have a look at the newest products here

Just a quick update to let you know that some new models of e-cigarette have been added to the store. These improved models have a longer battery life, and are easier to take a drag from. For more experienced users, this is an ideal product to try refilling your own cartridges with. We will be adding e-liquid products very soon!!

Have a look at the new products on the E-Cigarette page in the Emporium.

Be well, don't smoke, just vaporize....