This year’s VAPRIL make the switch to vaping campaign kicks off in a weeks time and the EcigClick reviewers are offering their top tips to quit smoking using e-cigarettes.
Every single one of us on the Ecigclick team was a smoker so we know all to well how hard packing up the fags can be.
Follow our advice and you, or family member or friend, will have a far better chance of making VAPRIL the month you stub out the lit cigs for good.
VAPRIL is a yearly event here in the UK and over time has helped over 72% of those taking part quit the killer habit. It’s NOT limited to the UK either, in fact the organizers are urging smokers from across the globe to get involved.
The idea is for the whole month of April, smokers make the switch to 95% safer vaping and the website offers support and advice.
VAPRIL 2021 will be:
- Providing specialist advice and support to help you make the right decisions about vaping and ensure a successful switchover from smoking.
- Giving you the facts on vaping to help you make an informed decision. Public Health England say that misinformation on vaping prevents smokers from switching to the less harmful alternative. We’re here to help change that!
OK follow the link above for more info AFTER you’ve read personal VAPRIL make the switch to smoking stories and tips from our reviewers, Michelle, Neil Cozens and Harley.
The VAPRIL website also offers your chance to:
- Download our Switch on to Vaping Plan, developed by vapers for smokers.
- Access wide-ranging advice from industry experts.
- Hear from ex-smokers who haven’t looked back since they took up vaping.
- Get the most up-to-date evidence-based facts about vaping.
- Find out how you can access expert vaping advice from specialist retail stores near you.
Incidentally, VAPRIL 2021 kicks off a week today on Thursday April 1st giving you plenty of time to buy that vape kit and e-liquid.
The campaign launches with a free webinar hosted by UKVIA and begins at 10am on April 1st – more details are in the link.
OK, let’s see what advice our reviewers have on helping you make the switch to healthier and safer vaping this VAPRIL…
VAPRIL Make the Switch To Vaping – Michelle Says: “Don’t Beat Yourself Up!”
After many years of trying I finally quit smoking in June 2019! I will admit I have not been totally cigarette free – I have the occasional Roll up when I fancy one – but I don’t beat myself up about it.
1 Roll up in a month is a tiny fraction of the 20-30 I used to smoke a day, and now thankfully I don’t really enjoy smoking much.
Sure the first few drags feel good, but after that I’m looking at putting the smoke out and it takes days to get rid of the taste in my mouth.
I think when you get to that point you have cracked it – the fact you don’t really enjoy smoking means you no longer feel deprived or resentful.
I would also add please don’t beat yourself up for having a ciggie – a lot of people take this as a statement of being weak and never being able to stop smoking which is totally not the case.
Just keep giving up – remind yourself that you smoked 19 less ciggies that day and praise yourself for the ones you didn’t smoke rather than throwing away all your good work.
If you can keep away from smoking altogether that is perfect but we are human and different life pressures can cause us to have the odd “blip” – it is normal. Just don’t start the next day with a ciggie!
Also I would say not to pressure yourself too much – pressure is one of the main reasons for craving a cigarette – and pressure when you are quitting really is not helpful.
VAPRIL – The Best Vape Starter Kit To Buy
I would buy a good vape starter kit (we tell you our recommendations in the Best Starter Kits and Best Pod Mods pages) – perhaps spend a bit more on finding an e-liquid you enjoy and once this combo is to your preference you will gradually prefer vaping to smoking.
It naturally happens – again do not pressure yourself.
I used Nicotine Salts at 20mg to keep the craving at bay initially so you will need a good Mouth To Lung vape kit (we tell you what this term means in our Guide To Vape Styles) and these are generally less than £30.
You don’t need a 200W cloud chucking box mod for high nicotine as to start with you may only want to stop the cravings.
When you are past the craving stage you can move up to bigger and more complicated kits.
So experiment with vaping before you quit, use a high nicotine or nicotine salts e-liquid to keep the craving at bay, find the set up you enjoy and a liquid you find more tasty than smoking and the urge to quit will come naturally.
If you prefer smoking to vaping – this suggests to me your set up isn’t quite right – that your aren’t getting the nicotine you need and the flavour or device are not ticking the boxes for you.
Even perhaps try a few disposables (pre-filled, pre-charged vape devices) to test what flavours you like.
My current set ups are the Innokin Sceptres and the Innokin Sensis with the 1.2ohm coils.
I use 11mg Nicotine Salt e-liquid and am still a heavy vaper but this all keeps me off the smokes and like I said I actually prefer vaping to smoking now!
I never thought I would ever give up having smoked for 30 odd years, I tried prescription quitting aids – patches, tablets, lozenges you name it – and they all worked for a week or two but I still felt lost and resentful I was missing something I enjoyed.
Not to mention the vile Side Effects I suffered.
Replace smoking with vaping and when you prefer a vape to a smoke you know you have cracked it.
Never stop giving up even if you have a “Blip” pat yourself on the back for the smokes you didn’t have.
Good luck!
VAPRIL Make the Switch To Vaping – Neil Cozens Says: “Don’t Listen To the Scaremongering…”
I’ll have been a non-smoker for seven years in October. For the previous twenty-nine years of my life I’d been busy filling my lungs full of smoke and slowly but steadily clogging my arteries.
Let’s consider that period of time. Then consider how little time it took to make the transition across to vaping. Suddenly its effectiveness leaps right out.
Yet when I made the switch I was completely wet behind the ears as they say even going as far as to chastise a colleague mincing around the workplace on a CE4 clearomiser.
At the time it looked like nothing more than a placebo. Very much a gimmick and one that would take only a few days to tire of.
You see, I was something of a chain smoker. Completely addicted to the nicotine within a cigarette.
I had tried several times over the years to quit, mainly on the grounds of finance and health.
Not once did I see the benefits of using pharmaceutical products such as gum, sprays or patches. I’d also heard the nightmare stories of using powerful medications such as Champix and Zyban.
As for hypnotism? Let’s leave that to all the anti-vaping establishments out there. Seems they’re very good at altering the mindsets of those thinking of moving across to vaping!
– And rather than being a gimmick I would tire of in days it took only days to start making a successful transition away from the dreaded C sticks.
Now I’m not suggesting making the transition is going to be that easy for you! I did have problems along the way.
These hints and tips are the ones I picked up along the road to making the switch. I honestly hope they may be of help to you.
My Top Tips for making the Transition
- Be realistic. Be honest to yourself. How strong is the desire to quit smoking, and what are the primary reasons for doing so? By focusing on these, the transition can be much easier.
- How long have you been a smoker? How frequently do you smoke? These two factors alone can dictate what kind of starting device is more suitable to you.
- A throat hit is often associated with the pull from a cigarette. For someone starting out both the nicotine level and PG ratio should be relatively high. Combined they will emulate the inhale experience of smoking.
- The draw from a cigarette is very tight. Begin by looking for a starter device that can replicate that draw. These are known as mouth to lung vaping products. Vape is first drawn into the mouth before being inhaled into the lungs, very much the same way a smoker pulls on their cigs.
- Check out devices that offer an auto draw feature for simplicity and ease of use. As a new vaper you won’t necessarily be ready for fire buttons and flashy screen displays.
Two fine examples have been reviewed on our site. The Vaporesso Barr Pod kit and the Wotofo Manik Mini Pod Kit.
- Keep the weight of the vaping device down to a minimum. A pack of ten cigs weighs next to nothing. Neither should your first vape set up.
- Seek out E liquid flavours you’re likely to enjoy. There are literally thousands to try and much of the fun is in experimenting.
- If you’re a chain smoker, there’s every likelihood of transferring this habit across while vaping. It doesn’t always follow that the strongest nicotine content is the best. It’s very easy to “over nic” while chain vaping which in turn can cause some adverse reactions such as diarrhea, dizzy spells and stomach cramps.
- If you experience the above symptoms try to lower the nicotine level. I suffered with the physical complaints mentioned above (to the point of almost giving up giving up) but they abated when I reduced the nicotine strength. A good starting place for the regular smoker is 12 mg.
- Don’t try to run before you can walk. Just because your mate has a cloud chucking beast it’s not going to be for you when starting out. Those devices rely on a completely different style of vaping and as a new vaper, a sure fire way of having you reaching for that half smoked screwed up pack of fags at the bottom of the bin.
- There’s nothing wrong with being a dual user in the early stages of making the transition across to vaping. In fact, you may have much more success by replacing key smoking moments with your new device. It’s one way of observing the effectiveness of vaping as a smoke cessation aid.
- Make yourself familiar with the ingredients used within E Liquid. Vegetable glycerine (VG), propylene glycol (PG), nicotine and flavour concentrate. That’s it! You won’t find any of the 4000+ harmful substances contained within a cigarette. Take time to reflect on that and feel good about yourself for having removed them from your blood stream.
- When starting out, pay close attention to the VG and PG ratios of your E liquid. For the starter kits you’re likely to use they should be in the region of 50VG/50PG or 60VG/40PG. This will provide the best throat hit, flavour reproduction and the most satisfying vape experience all round.
We’ve an extensive reviewer base and examples to look out for include Urban Chase, IVG and Dinner Lady. They all offer great flavour while ensuring the correct E liquid ratio for your new device.
- This one is important. Do NOT listen to any of the scaremongering surrounding vaping. Do some research (avoiding any political angst!) and read some data collected by pro vaping groups. One place to start is with the dedicated reports and lab results from Public Health England. Those guys honestly know what they’re talking about.
Get Help and Advice From Your Local Vape Shop
Finally, one of the main reasons I’ve found budding vapers to give up is in their desire to find the perfect tobacco flavoured E liquid.
After all, it’s natural to replace like for like, blend for blend.
That’s just not going to happen.
Vaping is the act of heating e-liquid, nothing is burned so there will never be an ideal replacement.
Manufacturers such as Riot Squad has come close by offering alternatives such as their Sweet Leaf tobacco, but even they know it fails to replicate the combustible alternative.
If you want to try the very best tobacco flavoured e-liquids checkout our guide. There’s also one for the best menthol flavoured e-liquids too.
So you don’t need to set yourself up for failure at the first hurdle, and that’s where dedicated vape shops come into their own.
They can answer any concerns or questions you may have. Until you gain enough confidence and commitment avoid cheap corner shop E liquid and devices. Even the well known supermarket chain stores won’t be able to offer you the advice you need.
Once you start delving into the multitude of benefits not least to your health and wallet it’s then just a case of a resolved mindset.
Yes, you may well falter but don’t you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to at least try a smoke cessation aid known to be 95% safer than smoking?
VAPRIL Make the Switch To Vaping – Harley Says: “You CAN Beat the Cravings!”
Vapril is actually the marks of the second anniversary of Vapemill (as a brick and mortar shop).
So it seems pretty fit I discuss my method of getting people of the cigs, which has about a +95% success rate.
It’s important to find out what’s right for you, some people (like me) have to use DTL – known as sub ohm vaping – to quit but the method I’m about to go through works for the vast majority of people.
The most important aspect of success is your mindset.
If you really want to quit you will, if you’re doing it because you think you should, you’ll give in to your cravings far too easily, so keep quitting in your mind and let the motivation build. Because if you try half-halfheartedly you are more likely to fail and therefore less likely to think you can do it.
Next up, you need a simple, easy to use kit. It’s better if it doesn’t have variable power or if you just set the power and leave it be. The original Smok Nord is perfect for this method.
Next you need a NICE (favourful) 20mg Nic-salt.
Salts don’t give you that horrible nettle feeling at the back of your throat though, that makes you cough, like ‘old e-liquids’ used to, plus they absorb into the bloodstream faster.
20MG is the highest you can buy because of the tobacco law (TPD). It’s important that the vapour taste good, it will give you a really good incentive to use it more.
Yes you need to use it more, because that first week is hard.
Week One IS the Hardest…
Now we’re set, and off. It’s the first week that is the hardest. Although it varies, for the majority of people if you can get through 1 week without a cig, the cravings will disappear.
It’s the association you’re trying to rewrite, your body wants nicotine and your brain thinks it comes from a cigarette. After a short time your brain will change that association.
Don’t be afraid to use it in your home. Many people screw up because “I usually smoke in the kitchen so I pause Netflix and go to the kitchen to vape”. NOPE!
That’s a mistake, vapour doesn’t change the colour of your walls, it doesn’t forever damn your sofa to a smell, there is still no evidence of 2nd hand vaping, there is no reason not to vape in your house.
And you should, because when you keep going through the lit cig routine, 1 you’re not getting smoking out of your routine and 2 you’re brain that wants nicotine will eventually say:
…hey look, I want a cig and we’re here now, let’s have one…
And when that thought comes you’re fighting an up hill battle. By vaping while you watch Netflix you’re staying ahead of those cravings.
That leads me on to my next point, when i ask people how it’s going, if they have had a cig, their answer is:
“YEahhh I have that one a day…”
“Let me guess, it’s in a morning?”
“..yesss..”
“ok, when do you start vaping?”
“When I sit down with my coffee…”
You know what I am going to say, it’s the previous point again. BEAT THE CRAVING!
Start vaping before you would start smoking, in this case, on the way down the stairs or while you’re waiting for the kettle to boil.
If that method didn’t work for you, you are in my minority.
If that type of kit doesn’t work for you, the chances are it’s because you’re not getting the right sensation, so you need to try ‘free-base’ nicotine, basically the same juice but as 18mg nic without the ‘salt’.
Be careful, this will be a lot harsher on your throat and might make you cough. If it’s too harsh lower the nicotine down to 12mg or 9mg.
OR try a DTL device at this point people think they wasted £20 on a kit that wasn’t right for them.
Well that’s OK because the MTL kits are cheaper than DTL kits but more importantly you now have a back up kit.
When I say backup kit, I don’t mean in case your DTL kit breaks, I mean a kit to back you up.
VAPRIL – Use the Right Nicotine Strength
DTL vapes kick out a lot more vape, so a puff on a 3mg MTL will give you less nicotine per puff than a puff on a 3mg DTL vape, because you’re using more vapour, (imagine a small mouthful compared to a big mouthful of the same strength beer).
But it’s still not equivalent to 20mg nicotine. So you can still use the MTL device with 20mg nic-salts and a fast nicotine boost in your moment of need.
Because 20mg is the highest nicotine level we are allowed to sell under the current UK TPD law. I have had numerous arguments with other shop owners and other reviews amount it being too high.
But the way I see it is, if you only smoke 1 cigarette a day this will reflect on how much you use the vape, and not on the nicotine level. Not starting at 20mg will make it harder to break the habit. In the first week your vape needs to be dominant in your nicotine providing.
And the way I see it, if you do end up consuming more nicotine because it’s 20mg, it doesn’t really matter, because in the next 6-12 months you will be nicotine free anyway.
Whoop, by this 99.9% (100%) of you will have made your first week without a cig! Congratulations, although about now you will start to be able to smell cigarettes when somebody walks past, and learn how awful it is.
Trust me the first time this happens it’s super weird!
Your Nicotine Strengths WILL Drop Dramatically!
But you don’t want to be a vapour forever right, I mean why not click the addiction. This is the point people really really worry about.
“I’ve done so well, I don’t want to relapse”. It’s cool you’re not going to. After 1-2 months drop the nicotine down from 20mg to 12mg. You will not even notice!
If you do notice anything you will notice that you are now vaping a little bit more often, but as you get used to this level you will vape less again.
At this point (1-2 months again) you come down to the next level. It won’t be long until you are on 3mg, and 3mg with a MTL device is next to nothing.
At this point you just slowly try to use it less and less, until you are completely free of the nicotine addiction.
WhooooooW FREEDOM!!
Oh and one last thing…
“Vapers always have it in their mouth, they vape more than they smoked”, no they don’t.
If you smoke a cigarette you have how ever many puffs in the space of a few minutes, with a vape you don’t do that, the puffs of spread out though out the hour/day.
And as I just mentioned the more you are craving the nicotine the more you will puff one it, hence why when you drop nicotine level you will vape more, but then gradually vape less as you get used to the nicotine level.
Final Thoughts…
There you have it – top tips on making the switch this VAPRIL from the folks really in the know.
Just remember, every single one of the EcigClick team was a smoker and each of us has made the switch to vaping in our own way and time.
If we can do it – you can too.
We know from our own personal battles with lit tobacco just how hard it can be.
However, the advancement of e-cigarette technology and the improvement of e-liquids means now is one of the best opportunities for smoker to quit and switch to vaping.
If you have any questions, worries or concerns please let us know in the comments below and get advice from those of us really in the know.
Don’t forget to spread the VAPRIL make the switch to vaping message far and wide – especially to your friends and family that smoke – you could be saving their lives!
Good luck this VAPRIL making the switch and let us know how you’re getting on!
VAPRIL Make the Switch To Vaping – Useful Guides
- 12 Best Pod System Vapes – Simple, Compact Vape Pods
- What Is The Best E Cig Kit? 12 Vape Kits For Beginner Vapers
- 11 Best E-liquid / Vape Juice Brands From The UK & USA
- 5 Best Salt Nic Vape Juice + Guide To Nicotine Salt E-Liquid
- 11 Anti Vaping Arguments | How To Win With The Facts
- Blowing Away those Vaping Health Myths
- 7 Vaping Questions – Answered
