The Dispergo Beginner’s Guide to Vaping
Want to give vaping a try but don’t know where to start? Our beginner vaping guide has everything you need to know!
Mods, pods, tanks, e-cigs, e-liquids… what do they all mean? If you’re new to vaping but you’ve been scratching your head over the terminology, fear not: we’re here to demystify the world of vaping for you!
Your first puffs on a vape will influence how you feel about vaping in the long term, so it’s important to be ready for this new and exciting world.
In this article, we’re going to cover the basics of the various types of hardware that are available, what e-liquids are, and what you’ll need to know to start vaping.
What is an e-cigarette?
An e-cigarette, or vape, is a device that heats e-liquid, turning it into vapour, which delivers nicotine and flavours. E-cigarettes were designed to help smokers transition from cigarettes and have helped millions of people around the world give up smoking.
Vaping allows you to inhale nicotine by heating the e-liquid to produce vapour. This satisfies the nicotine cravings, but also mimics the sensation of smoking, by providing a “throat hit” that many smokers have become accustomed to.
Your smoking habits will dictate what type of e-cigarette you need. If you are a heavy smoker, your vaping device will need a long battery life and good nicotine delivery. Many vapes mimic the feeling of smoking a cigarette with tight airflow, optimised for higher nicotine e-liquids, which are generally advised for new vapers. The amount of power used in these vapes is usually lower, offering an experience similar to smoking.
Types of E-Cigarettes
In our vape shop, you can choose from four main categories of vaping hardware. All of our refillable vapes come with a free eliquid included. The types available are:
- Disposable vapes
- Starter vape kits & pod vapes
- Sub-ohm vape kits
- Vape mods
Let’s discuss each type in order of experience level to help you decide which type of vape kits is best for you.
Disposable Vapes
Disposable vape pens (or disposable e-cigs) are single-use vapes with no buttons or prior vaping knowledge required—just inhale to vape. Disposable vapes are by far the easiest type of e-cigarette to use, though they’re also the costliest, and they’re harmful to the planet. They consist of an internal battery, a pre-filled tank, and a coil.
Unlike other types of vape hardware, they cannot be recharged or refilled. Each device is a single-use product, meaning when the e-liquid has run out the device is then discarded and cannot be reused.
They’re ideal for beginner vapers because all you need is a fiver and a desire to quit smoking to get started. Plus, they’re great if you have a long commute or you’re going travelling, since their compact size makes them easy to carry, and once you’ve used them up, you won’t need to bring them home with you again!
Starter Vape Kits and Pod Vapes
A starter vape kit is designed to provide everything you need to try vaping for the first time. Your vape will come with a battery unit, a refillable pod or tank, and a coil, unless the coil is built into your pod.
Nowadays, we see a lot of “pod vapes” on the market, which are designed with a simpler one-piece pod rather than a tank with a coil. As a result, a majority of these pod vapes extremely user-friendly, making them ideal starter kits. Many pod kits utilise pods with built-in coils, which means less maintenance and easier vaping.
All of our starter vape kits are MTL (mouth-to-lung) devices. New vapers prefer an MTL style of vaping because it most closely resembles the way in which you would smoke a cigarette: the vapour is drawn into the mouth, then inhaled into the lungs. They are also one of the most compact types of e-cigs (i.e. easily portable) and one of the cheaper options, making them ideal for beginner vapers.
Sub-Ohm Vape Kits
Sub-ohm vape kits are generally reserved for more experienced vapers who’ve done the whole pod vape circuit and are looking for more customisable hardware to meet their growing vaping needs.
These vape kits offer more settings and options, while also providing more power and battery life. Importantly, however, they require a different vaping style called Direct-to-Lung (DTL) vaping, which—you guessed it—requires you to inhale the vapour directly into your lungs.
As a result of the DTL vaping style and the higher power output, sub-ohm devices produce much larger clouds of vapour, so the E-Liquids used in these devices needs to be low on nicotine. Otherwise, you risk overdoing it. We don’t recommend anything more than a 6mg (0.6%) nicotine strength for DTL vaping, though most sub-ohm vapers vape 3mg.
The term “sub-ohm” refers to the electrical resistance of the coils used in the devices, which are below 1Ω (ohm). Sub-ohm coils are good at conducting larger amounts of power, which helps to vaporise thicker eliquids to produce those large clouds of vapour we mentioned.
Vape Mods
If you’ve ever seen a large vape kit—you know, the chunky, boxy-looking ones with the big glass tank on top—the “mod” refers to the bottom half of the device. Vape mods are essentially a skeleton for your vape: you pop in a battery and attach a vape tank of your choosing while using the controls on the mod to tailor your experience.
Buying a vape mod is like getting a new PC: it doesn’t come with a monitor, mouse, or keyboard, and you’ll have to purchase these separately.
Mods, also known as box mods, are extremely long-lasting, especially given that they take external vape batteries which can be replaced once they start to degrade. You can keep using a vape mod longer than any other device on the market.
If your tank breaks, get a new tank. If your battery degrades, pop in a new one. Mods are the most sustainable, enduring devices on the market for this very reason.
What are e-liquids?
E-liquids (sometimes called vape juice) are the liquid used inside your device to make vapour. Eliquids consist of three or four ingredients: propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), flavourings, and nicotine (though not all eliquids have nicotine). These ingredients come together to create a food-grade base which your coil will vaporise into a cloud to be inhaled.
All vapes use eliquid, though disposable vapes come pre-filled with juice, so you may never see the liquid inside.
Every refillable vape kit is compatible with specific types of eliquids—and no eliquids are universal—so before making a choice, you should always check the product description for your vape kit to ensure compatibility and avoid disappointment.
Eliquid Ingredients
Each eliquid ingredient plays an important part in your vaping experience—particularly the base mixture of PG and VG. When you buy an e-liquid, you can choose different ratios of these ingredients depending on what effect you’re going for, but again, you should always ensure that your eliquid is compatible with your device before making a purchase.
Propylene Glycol (PG)
Propylene glycol is used as a flavouring carrier in food products, as an ingredient in food colouring, and also as an additive in various medicines. You’ll find PG present in everything from soda to asthma inhalers to ice cream to hand sanitiser. In vaping, PG provides the “throat” hit sensation and is thinner in consistency than Vegetable Glycerine. A higher PG ratio means more taste but thinner vapour clouds.
High-PG e-liquids (including any juice with a ratio of 50% PG or more, like nic salts), are best suited to low-powered starter vapes and pod vapes because they’re thinner overall. Low-powered vapes like these tend to use high-resistance coils (above 1 ohm), which are great at vaporising thinner liquids but would struggle with thicker juice.
Vegetable Glycerine (VG)
Vegetable glycerine is a semi-sweet substance derived from vegetables with a thicker, syrup-like consistency. Outside of vaping, you’ll find VG present in food and cosmetics as well as pharmaceuticals and even pet food. In vaping, VG provides greater cloud production, though it’s not a great flavour carrier compared to PG.
VG is much thicker than PG, and it’s often used to balance out the viscosity of vape juice. The more VG there is in an e-liquid, the smoother it will be to vape. A higher ratio of VG means bigger vapour clouds but less taste.
High-VG e-liquids (60% VG or more), including most shortfills, are generally much thicker than high-PG liquids and will require high-powered vape hardware with sub-ohm vape coils (below 1 ohm) to work properly. If you’ve been reading carefully so far, you’ll know this means that you’ll need a sub-ohm vape kit or tank to use high-VG eliquids.
Flavourings
There are literal thousands of different e-liquid flavours out there, and for many vapers, that’s all part of the fun! With vaping, it’s all about the taste, and at Dispergo, we offer hundreds of eliquids in an array of flavour profiles, from desserts to fruits to florals to sweets.
Your initial choices may be based on your favourite foods or drinks, but we’re confident that once you get the hang of things, you’ll be branching out into new taste sensations!
Nicotine
Depending on your previous smoking habits, choosing the right nicotine strength in your e-liquid is essential. One of the options with e-liquids—and one which makes them so perfect for anyone wishing to give up smoking—is that you can vary the level of nicotine in your e-juice.
The best way to work out what nicotine strength you need is by looking at how many cigarettes you smoke in a day. If you are a heavy smoker then we would recommend purchasing e-liquids with a higher nicotine strength. If you are a light smoker then it is best to go for a lower nicotine strength, then if you find that it isn’t resolving your nicotine cravings you can try a higher strength. The same logic applies if you think the e-liquid has too much nicotine; you can reduce it. Ultimately, you could move onto nicotine-free juices and celebrate that you’ve finally kicked the habit!
More than anything, if you’re making the switch from smoking to vaping, it’s absolutely imperative that you get enough nicotine from your vape to stave off cravings, which may mean choosing a higher strength than you think you need. If you’re a pack-a-day smoker, a 3mg strength eliquid simply won’t cut it, and you’ll be back on the smokes in no time. We suggest starting with a high strength and slowly titrating as needed to ensure you’re getting enough nicotine to kick your deadly habit.
What nicotine strength should I get?
We cover more on the various nicotine strengths in our other article on how to choose an e-liquid, but let’s quickly break down how much nicotine you’ll need.
Social Smoker
0.3% or 3mg
Light Smoker
0.5% – 0.6% or 5mg – 6mg
Moderate Smoker
1% – 1.2% or 10mg – 12mg
Heavy Smoker
1.8% – 2% or 18mg – 20mg
E-Liquid Types
Now that you’re familiar with the ingredients in an eliquid, we should discuss the different types available to you. The different e-liquid types can be broken down into two main categories—10ml eliquids and shortfills—and further broken down into several subcategories.
Each type has its own pros and cons, as well as its own compatibility with various devices. Let’s break it all down.
10ml E-Liquids
10ml eliquids are—as advertised—10ml bottles of eliquid. The reason these are sold in 10ml bottles is because the laws in the UK limit all nicotine-containing eliquids to 10ml bottles. So, if your vape juice comes in a 10ml bottle, it’s safe to assume it has nicotine.
These eliquids are usually high-PG, which—as mentioned earlier—means that they are best suited to low-powered pod vapes and starter kits. They also tend to have a higher concentration of nicotine compared to other eliquid types.
There are 2 main types of 10ml eliquids, dictated by the type of nicotine used in the e-juice: nicotine salts and freebase 10ml eliquids.
Nicotine Salts
Nicotine salt e-liquids—also known as nic salts, salt nic, salt nicotine, and variations thereof—are 10ml e-liquids which use a special formulation of nicotine that’s smoother and absorbed into the blood stream faster. These eliquids are best suited to low-powered vapes, including most starter vape kits.
Nic salts are a fairly new innovation. There’s a lot of science jargon behind this, but essentially, in nic salts, the nicotine has an added acid (usually benzoic or salicylic) which lowers the pH of the nicotine, making it a “salt.” As a result, nic salts are smooth on the throat, and they’re absorbed into your blood stream in seconds.
For this reason, we recommend nic salts for all new vapers transitioning away from smoking. Nic salts offer the fastest, most satisfying nicotine hit, and they’re also compatible with all of the easiest kits on the market.
Freebase 10ml Eliquids
Freebase eliquids are very similar to nic salts, except they use “freebase” nicotine as it is derived from the tobacco plant. Freebase nicotine is the original type used in the earliest days of vaping, and it’s stayed around for a long time for good reason.
However, when put into liquid form, vaporised, and inhaled, freebase nicotine isn’t absorbed as quickly or effectively as it is from a cigarette. This is why nic salts were invented—to make vaping nicotine more like smoking a cigarette.
Freebase 10ml eliquids have a number of upsides, including more nicotine strength options and a stronger throat hit. With freebase eliquids, the vapour is stronger (and sometimes harsher) on your throat the higher your nicotine strength—while nic salts are smooth on the throat regardless of the strength.
Shortfill Eliquids
Shortfills are a type of eliquid which come nicotine-free in large bottles. They’re “short filled,” leaving space in the bottle for you to add your own nicotine, if you wish. We stock an array of 10ml nicotine shots to add to your shortfills. The most common shortfill sizes are 50ml (in a 60ml bottle) and 100ml (in a 120ml bottle). Because shortfills contain no nicotine, they can legally come in any size, but they’re usually 50ml or 100ml to make it easier to calculate how many nic shots you need to achieve your desired strength.
Shortfills were created because sub-ohm vapers tend to consume a lot more eliquid per puff than a vaper using a starter kit, so the 10ml bottle rule meant a sub-ohm vaper was going through one or two whole bottles a day. Shortfills were invented as a result, offering nicotine-free e-liquids in much larger bottles for sub-ohm vapers to enjoy, allowing them to tailor their nicotine strength to suit their preferences without limiting them to a 10ml bottle.
Shortfills usually have a higher ratio of VG, making them ideal for sub-ohm and DTL vapers using higher-powered devices and vape mods.
Vape Coils and Pods
All e-cigarettes have something inside called a coil (also known as an atomiser), and for refillable vapes, you’ll have to replace this part regularly—usually every 1 to 2 weeks, though this will vary based on usage. Some devices use vape pods with built-in coils; in these cases, you’ll need to replace the entire pod once the coil starts to degrade.
The coil conducts electricity from your battery and turns it into heat to vaporise your liquid using a small piece of metal mesh or coiled wire.
Vape coils have something wrapped around this piece of metal inside called a “wicking material” or simply a “wick,” which acts like a sponge to soak up the eliquid from your tank or pod so the heat from the coil can vaporise it. A kitchen sponge is a perfect analogy: the longer you use it, the dirtier it gets. You can’t keep using the same kitchen sponge forever.
Over time, the wick inside your coil starts to wear out, and as the sweeteners from your eliquid are heated up, they crystallise around the coil and will eventually cause a burnt taste. This burnt taste, or a general drop in flavour, tells you it’s time to change your coil.
Every vape kit (or tank, if you’re using a mod kit) is only compatible with one type of coil or a series of specific coils, so you’ll need to make sure you get the correct type for your vape.
If your vape uses pods with built-in coils, it’s the same rule: there’s usually only one or a few options for your vape when it comes to buying pods. Always be sure to read the product description or user manual for your specific vape before buying replacement parts.
Summary: Vaping Made Easy at Dispergo!
This has been a very brief tour of the world of vaping, but we hope it’s given you a good idea of the basics. Our Customer Service team are always happy to answer any queries (there’s no such thing as a stupid question!), so please contact us if you need help finding the right vape set-up.
We’re always happy to help a smoker make the transition to vaping—it’s what we do!