Vaping 101

If you’re new to vaping then it can feel a little overwhelming - when there are so many vapes, how do you choose the one that is right for you? Luckily, we are here to help! Every staff member at VC Pharmacy is an ex-smoker or a vaper, so we have been where you are and we want to make this as easy as possible for you. 

 

What type of vape would suit me best?

First of all, there are two main paths for vaping - Mouth to Lung (MTL) or Direct to Lung (DTL). 

Mouth to Lung or MTL vapes aim to replicate smoking a cigarette as closely as possible - so when you draw on it, there is resistance, and it forces you to draw the vapour into your mouth then push it down into your lungs. This is how most people smoke a cigarette. MTL vapes tend to have narrower mouthpieces to help replicate that tighter draw. They are also considered lower wattage vaping. MTL vapes are suitable for use with either freebase nicotine or nicotine salts. 

Direct to Lung or DTL vapes have little to no resistance, so you simply breathe the vapour straight down into your lungs and then out. These tend to produce more flavour and more cloud as they run a lot hotter than the MTL vapes. Because they are much higher wattage vapes than the MTL, these are recommended for use with freebase nicotine only, as nicotine salts aren’t suitable for high wattage vaping. 

If you're new to vaping, we suggest starting with MTL vaping - it's the style of inhalation that you are used to and - as a bonus - it's also a cheaper price point to get set up.  There's plenty of pod devices that are MTL and very user friendly, so it's a good starting point.  

 

Freebase Nicotine Freebase or Nicotine Salts* 

*commonly abbreviated to nic salts

We often get asked what’s the difference between freebase nicotine and nicotine salts. If you aren’t sure what the difference is or which one might be best for you, then read on.  

Tobacco leaves naturally contain nicotine in its salt state. This is then chemically modified to produce freebase nicotine.

Now, first things first - Nicotine Salt contains NO Salt and will not influence your sodium intake.

Nicotine salts is nicotine that retains its natural salt protons and has been enhanced with either Benzoic and / or Citric acids so that it can be much more quickly absorbed by our bodies. This also reduces the temperature the nic salts vapourise at, which makes it perfect for MTL or low wattage vaping. 

In addition, it decreases the pH level which culminates in a much smoother experience for the throat when vaped. If you’ve been using the disposable vapes, this is the type of nicotine that you are used to and you can find e-liquids with nicotine salts here. 

Freebase nicotine first came on the market in the 1960s, when research conducted by a certain tobacco company found that freebasing nicotine could make a purer and more addictive product. This process also increases it’s potency and gives a greater ‘throat hit’ without needing to increase the dose and this is why it’s very popular in cigarettes, nicotine replacement products (including gum and patches etc) and freebase vape e-liquids.

 

Is there any difference in safety?

Chemically speaking, there’s really only one major difference between having nic salts  and freebase nicotine, which is the added Benzoic or Citric acid in nic salts. Since both naturally occur in our bodies, for most people there's no real difference in safety when comparing salts to freebase. 

The World Health Organisation's renowned International Program on chemical safety  advises that humans consume no more than 5mg of these acids per kilogram of bodyweight per day. To put this in perspective, based on a weight of 84kgs, this would be a rough amount of 420mg per day. Given that 1ml of nic salt vape juice contains just a few milligrams of Benzoic or Citric acid, it's almost impossible for anyone to be able to vape such a dangerous amount. (That‘s not a challenge, by the way!)

So, in short - 

What Amount of Nicotine Should I Choose?

As a general rule of thumb, if you are using freebase nicotine, we recommend not going any higher than 6mg to start. The reason for this is that over 6mg can be harsh if you aren’t used to it. Even if you smoked a higher mg cigarette (say 10 or even 18mg cigarettes), remember that unless you are having a Really Bad Day, most people don’t use one cigarette to light the next one (we've all been there).

A cigarette ends but you can keep dragging on your vape until you get the nicotine hit you need. If you find that you're hitting your vape too much on 6mg though or it's not delivering the throat hit you're looking for, you can try a higher dose. If you don't want to increase the mg you're using, definitely get in touch and have a chat to us about other ways to get the throat hit you're looking for. 

 

If you are using nic salts, there’s a lot more flexibility. Nic salts are so much smoother that you can go a lot higher without feeling the throat hit anywhere near as much as freebase. If you've been using disposables, you've probably been getting between 50 - 60mg, so you're going to need to start a lot higher before tapering down.

 

Regardless of which kind of nicotine you choose, remember one very important thing - do not ever feel like needing a higher dose of nicotine is some kind of moral failing - it's not. It's better to start on a higher dose and taper down slowly at a pace that suits you than it is to start low and then, because you are not getting the nicotine that you crave, you fall back into smoking cigarettes or the disposables.  Quitting smoking isn't easy, there's no need to make it harder than it needs to be. 

 

 

That's it for the Vaping 101 at this stage. We hope this has helped! If you still have questions please reach out! We promise vaping is a lot easier than it may seem when you first start.  

We will update the page based on your questions and with new information as it becomes available, so check back every so often to see what's new.