Beginners Guide to Vaping

The idea of alternatives to traditional cigarettes is far from new, and older than you might think. The first patent application for an e-cigarette or vaping device was made in the 1930s. It took another 70 years before the first successful vaping device arrived though, when Chinese pharmacist and inventor Hon Lik introduced a product that worked for nicotine delivery in 2003.

The development of heated tobacco products has followed a similar timeline with the earliest products reaching the market during the 1980s and 1990s before ongoing refinement during the 2000s. You can discover how Ploom has been at the forefront of innovation in this article, The History of Heated Tobacco.

Like any modern technology, the world of vaping comes with a language all its own and a huge range of products to choose from. If you are wondering about how to start vaping, then it’s good to know that vapes fall into three broad categories:

The classic e-cigarette or e-cig - the smallest and simplest of vapes, designed to be used once and then disposed of.

The pod vape – a device which includes a battery and a replaceable pod for ongoing use.

The box mod – known for its square shape, these are the largest and most powerful vape devices available and are made for more experienced vapers. They come with a refillable tank and often with a choice of power settings.

Whatever style of vape you choose, the prefilled, replaceable, or refillable tank carries a liquid containing ingredients such as vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, flavoring, and nicotine. The name of the liquid varies from brand to brand, but the most common are e-liquid, e-juice or vape juice – all the same thing, it’s only the name that differs.

The vapor is made in an atomizer that contains the heat source and a wick that carries the vape juice. When you inhale, the vape juice is heated and produces the ‘smoke-like’ cloud now so familiar with vaping.

By comparison, products like Ploom X, also produce a vapor for you to inhale but it uses a modern style heated tobacco stick. [brand] tobacco sticks look comfortingly familiar and are made from paper, a filter and tobacco. The stick is heated (without ever burning) inside Ploom X’s unique HeatFlow cup to produce the vapor.

How to vape is simple, you need only to decide which device and e-liquid you think will work best for you.

Before you begin though, it’s helpful to understand that vaping isn’t like smoking a cigarette. Keep in mind that nicotine is added to vape juice and so it comes in a range of strengths. So, depending on the type of smoker you are, you might want to choose your product and your liquid based on a combination of flavor preferences and nicotine strength.

This article,  Is Heated Tobacco Vaping, has more information about the differences between these two alternatives to cigarettes.

Another thing to think about, is how much does it cost to vape. That’s a short question but comes with a long answer if you were to work out all the possible combinations of vaping device – most of which have parts that need regular replacement – and vape juice that are available.

Like any smoking product, the cost also depends on your usage too. The Ploom website has a handy cost calculator for its heated tobacco products that you can use to quickly see how much money you might save using Ploom X and [brand] sticks . For example, if you currently pay £10 per packet and smoke 10 cigarettes a day, then you would save more than £1000 per year by swapping your cigarettes for Ploom X and [brand] sticks.

Whatever your motivation for making a change to your smoking habit, it’s always good to know that you can experiment without it costing you anything. If you are ready to take a step into the world of heated tobacco, why not take the Ploom X 14-day free trial today?