Olympian Tank

Well all is going well with the gripper mod, first of all I have a couple of new batteries, only had one before and this meant the power was getting a bit low in the evenings. Now with 3 it’s full power all the time and I am fairly whizzing through different flavours of e-liquid. Dropped all the tobacco flavoured ones though, also more and more sticking to fruit flavours. Ordered more of the ubiquitous RY4 though as this was the flavour that I took on holiday, I liked the flavour but as I mentioned previously, the high nicotine content made me feel quite ill, so lower nicotine content on the one I have ordered.

Last time I updated this, I was contemplating several different mods. I felt that I would have a much better vaping experience with a variable voltage mod, such as the lava tube or with a tank system, perhaps even both. At the time I was under the impression that I couldn’t get something like the puff daddy or Olympian tanks to fit the gripper mod. Until, that is, I came across a site selling an extension to the gripper mod, this is a great wee bit of kit. Basically I had to buy a certain kind of cartomiser for this mod as it has to fit inside, the extension fits into the gripper and has another 510 connection which sits on top of the mod, I am not explaining this very well am I? Well here is a picture.

This is the gripper with the extension and an Olympian tank on top.  This does make it bulkier and less able to fit in your pocket but have been using it with the tank in the house and putting in the usual cartomisers when I am out and about.

I have to say I am really pleased with this; it’s so much easier and more satisfying vaping with the tank system. Easier because instead of dripping liquid into the cartomiser every five minutes, I just fill the red tank thing you see there, the liquid is then drawn into the cartomiser as it needs it. This means I’m not drip feeding it and it has just the right amount of liquid in it all the time. The drip feeding and getting the level of liquid right has been a learning curve, too little and you get a horrible burnt taste in your mouth, too much and you run the risk of sooking  up some of the liquid (not good!!). More satisfying, well you have that liquid balance right and the flavour is awesome.

I mentioned ecigwizard in my last post and although this is not where I got the extension from, I thought I would give them another wee mention as I am developing a bit of brand loyalty. I am going to recommend them because: they helped get my batteries sorted out very quickly; their orders to dispatch times are excellent (I have received some orders the day after I placed the order, can’t say fairer than that); they have great community involvement, check out their Facebook, frequently updated with new stock and special offers along with competitions (fun and maybe one day I’ll actually win something lol

Well that’s about all for now, will post a flavour/liquid review soon, looking into making my own as I am desperate for an Irn Bru flavour and I have a wee idea of how I might be able to do that.

I’m also still interested in the whole variable voltage thing so may purchase another mod soon, will let you know how that goes.

The Gripper Mod

Well it is now 14 weeks since I started this little journey, there is a bit to catch up on as I have neglected this blog a bit but this was due to: a frozen shoulder and a wee holiday.

I suppose I should start by saying that I gave up on the faux cigarette things, in favour of what they call a mod, it doesn’t wear a Parka and it doesn’t ride a scooter but it is a mod none the less. My main reason for doing this was the lack of reliability with the batteries of the faux cigarettes, I felt that with something bigger that took commercially available batteries then I wouldn’t be going through them at quite the same rate of noughts as I was.

This has proven to be the case but the mod world- like its parka wearing, scooter riding counterpart- is a world unto itself. It has its faces, they run forums and post reviews on youtube, every single one with a link to their latest affiliate program, we used to call that sort of thing, selling out but that is the world we live in today. It is also extremely unhelpful as I have yet to find a bad review of any “vaping” product, you will find the occasional moan about some tank systems leaking buried deep in the forums. Each review, however, promises that the product will dramatically improve your life and vaping experience. The jargon is also quite bewildering, you have: cartos, atomisers, cartomisers, drip tips, tank systems, variable voltage..... The list goes on.

So how did I decide on my first mod? Well I wish I could tell you that I set a budget and shopped around but I didn’t. I did look at a few sites and a bewildering array of mods until I chanced upon the gripper mod, it seemed very cheap and quite compact. I have a few wee gripes here; firstly it is a “body only” mod, which meant I had to buy all the necessary accoutrements separately, once I had added batteries, charger and cartomisers, the price almost tripled. This brought it in line with the cheapest starter kits though, so it’s no big criticism.  Also, I bought the recommended cartomiser for the mod and only after I bought it did I discover that you had to buy a drip tip to make it in any way practical to use, I have since upgraded to a knucklehead drip tip, which I find so much easier to use and more aesthetically pleasing (see photos).

Gripper Mod no drip tip

Gripper Mod normal drip tip 

Gripper mod with knucklehead drip tip 

I love this mod (here we go another gushing review). Well I am sure there are bigger/more expensive mods out there that give you better throat hit and hold more smoke juice but if you are riding on L plates a 50cc Piaggio will get you from a to b as quickly as a 125 Vespa and a 250 Lambretta is no good to you at all. It all comes down to personal choice though: I had a limited budget and wanted something reasonable small, that would fit in my pocket, the gripper mod fits the bill perfectly and the fact that I can now say I much prefer vaping to smoking speaks volumes. It’s not for everyone though. I have been trying to persuade my Dad to give electronic cigarettes a go for a while, without much success. He likes the sensation of using the gripper mod and the taste (when I put some of the tobacco flavour in) but not the mod it’s self, so he has decided to try the pipe – a mod designed to look, feel and smoke just like a real pipe. It costs about the same as the gripper mod but comes as a complete kit. My nephew on the other hand has been trying out the electronic cigarettes and has now decided that he wants a gripper mod, personal taste.

I have rambled on again but there are a couple of other things I would like to mention. Firstly a big mistake I made: I ordered smoke juice to take on holiday and decided that instead of the 18mg strength I had been using I would order 32mg and only use half as much for the same price.... WRONG, actually made me feel not well and not after vaping for a while, I mean straight away. As a consequence, though, I discovered that you can buy electronic cigarettes (disposable and starter kits) in America almost anywhere you can buy tobacco cigarettes. If it was like that here in the UK a lot more people would be giving up tobacco.

Can’t go without mentioning Juice quickly, I have a wee spreadsheet now, with prices and comments etc. I might publish that soon but for now just want to mention my favourite Mango from Dekang, very cheap and well I love mango but for a range of flavours I can’t see past Titan/Tornado e-liquid, cost a bit more than Dekang but worth it (if only they had mango).

The Gripper mod is available at ecigwizard.com, thought I would mention that as I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

A few weeks in

Ah I have neglected you dear readers but it has all been good news on the electronic cigarette front. That really doesn’t make for as good reading as my usual moans now does it?

So first of all out old friend’s Skycig, well they are replacing my batteries, so that’s good. Been thinking a lot about Skycig v Liberro and they both have their good and not so good points. I have been trying out a few flavours with Liberro liquid, more on that later, but the only two flavours I can compare with Skycig are vanilla and “original” (basically cigarette flavour) and I have to tell you that I prefer the Skycig on both counts. Should point out that the vanilla flavour that I am comparing is not Liberro’s own brand but an American brand called Johnson Creek, sold in the UK by Liberro but again more on that later.

The other thing that most electronic cigarette reviews go on about is “throat hit”, don’t know why they bother though as every single review states that that particular brand is “among the best”, funnily enough the same reviewer will use the same phrase on every review and provide a nice wee link for you to order the product. I am beginning to realise the extent of affiliate advertising that goes on, on the internet. I think what I am trying to say is that if you read a review of an electronic cigarette (or anything else for that matter) and there is a link for you to go to a website and buy it, please take it with a pinch of salt. I won’t be providing links, let’s face it we can all use search engines to find any brand/product on the net.

Sorry, back to my point about “throat hit”, this I take to mean, the sensation of smoke going down your throat as you inhale. I have to admit that as a smoker I had never given this a second thought but I guess it is part of the smoking experience. Anyway, have to say that, once again, Skycig is better, as in closer to the sensation of smoking, although there really isn’t a huge difference between the two on this count.

So why am I going to give my Skycig away, when I get the new batteries? First of all a desire to spread the word, my nephew has been toying with the idea of electronic cigarettes and I think giving him a starter pack will be just the little push he needs. That’s not the question though is it? Why am I keeping Liberro and not Skycig? A couple of things really: Firstly, it feels more like a cigarette, it is slightly smaller and lighter but this allows me to use it just like a cigarette, holding it in my fingers as I type or have it dangling from my mouth. The Skycig is just slightly too big and heavy to make either of these actions feel “natural”; secondly, you can refill the Liberro cartridges and this makes using them so much cheaper.

Ok on to the flavours I have been trying, I have only tried two of Liberro’s own flavours, these are: Original, which the cartridges come pre-filled with, this is an ok tobacco flavour but it has a kind of sweet aftertaste that was not to m liking. The other flavour is DK Tab and if you are looking for a genuine tobacco taste, then this is the one, at least in my opinion, although they do say on their website that this is a favourite of roll up smokers, so that could explain my liking for that one. I also got a sampler pack from Johnson’s Creek. This is ten 5ml, enough in each for a few days vaping. Giving you plenty of time to evaluate every flavour:

J.C. Original: Pretty average tobacco flavour

Black Cherry:  I really like this one, strong flavour that lasts, a bit like tunes though

French Vanilla: Weak flavour that doesn’t last very long

Chocolate Truffle: Mmm again weak flavour, I find this one difficult, I guess smoking chocolate is just not my cup of tea.

Arctic Menthol: Another one that I like, never really liked menthol cigarettes but the crispness of this has a certain appeal to me, also flavour tends to last

Tennessee Cured: Think Marlboro, enough said, again not my cup of tea

Espresso: I was so looking forward to this, coffee and a cigarette, what a combination, well yes if you drink straight espresso; I don’t so found it a wee bit bitter for my taste

Mint Chocolate: This just seemed like a weaker version of the menthol, that didn’t last as long

Spiced Apple: My favourite, flavour lasts better than any other and well it’s nice, a hint of cinnamon and cloves, almost Christmassy. Love it

Summer Peach: Very close second favourite, it has a flavour that lasts but is also very subtle and quite refreshing.

Each of these flavours from Johnson’s creek has a tobacco base, so when I say a flavour doesn’t last long; I mean the tobacco taste takes over relatively quickly.

So how have my cravings been? Well, still feel like a cigarette now and again, generally a bit of vaping sorts this out, but it does get quite distracting sometimes. I think this may be down to my reluctance to stop thinking of myself as a smoker and I haven’t quite got to the stage where I prefer vaping to smoking. 

Sometimes, walking down the street and seeing people smoking, I want to walk up to them and tell them how stupid it is to be smoking when they could be having an electronic cigarette instead. Other times I want to walk up and ask for a cigarette, to date I have done neither. Although, I have to admit, I did steal a cigarette of my, aforementioned, nephew, the other evening. Smoked about half of it and, to be honest, the taste wasn’t that appealing and I felt a wee bit queasy afterwards, maybe I am getting there after all.

Less moaning from e-cig land

So here we are again and my good friend, Grace Perechinsky, tells me that I need to talk more about giving up smoking and less moaning about ecig companies, so here goes

Well , I’m approaching the end of my second week of my electronic cigarette experiment and it has gone a lot better than expected. I immediately cut down to about four or five roll ups a day, I’m quite impressed with that, since my usual was about 30 a day. By my fifth day I had cut it down to just the 2 and on the 6^th and 7^th I had none at all, but on the 8^th day (cue Hazel O’Conner song) I had that little hiccough with supplies. I have to admit that a few cigarettes were smoked that day, sorry but needs must and I am, after all, still a nicotine addict. The next day, however, I knew there was at least one parcel, full of supplies, making its way to my door and I did not rush out to the shop to purchase more cigarettes. Instead, I waited, rather impatiently for my cartridges and, as it turned out, a whole new starter kit. 

I probably felt less temptation to have a cigarette, that morning, than any other morning before or since. Mornings are the most difficult, maybe that’s because my nicotine levels fall throughout the night or maybe it’s because, for me, that first cigarette of the day, along with my first coffee of the day, was the most enjoyable. Why though, on that Wednesday morning, with no nicotine at all, was I not climbing the walls? I’m not claiming to have been a picture of serenity, my sister paid a visit that morning and I am sure she will bear testament to my rather impatient demeanour that morning, but it was not a clamouring for cigarettes, rather a craving for nicotine. Is there something in me that craves what I can’t have, is that why I wake most mornings craving the cigarettes that aren’t there and thinking I have to put up with the poor substitute, whereas on the morning in question, I could easily have nipped to the shop and acquired some tobacco. I suppose better minds than mine have wrestled with such questions and in the end I’m just fairly satisfied that I did not smoke that day, nor have I smoked since.

There are other times during the day when I feel a yearning for a cigarette surge up inside me but there seems no rhyme or reason to these times. There is, of course, the clichéd after dinner cigarette, but I have found myself reaching for the vanilla flavoured variety at this point. It’s a bit like having your pudding and cigarette at the same time, bonus there. I have a few flavours on order and I can’t wait, I’m now thinking that I could have different flavours throughout the day, maybe a cheeky wee espresso, first thing, will help me over that morning hurdle. I could have afternoon vanilla and, after dinner switch to cherry for dessert. Late night has to be reserved for chocolate, or perhaps orange or mint, to compliment a wee hot chocolate drink. Possibilities are endless and definitely beat smelly old cigarettes any day.

Wee picture of me with electronic cigarette

Just one wee moan about skycig afore I go though, sent them an email, telling them that one of the batteries had failed, they sent me one back suggesting that I hadn’t read the instructions properly. Customer service at its best! What else can you expect from skycig though? I have waited 24hrs, in order to calm down a wee bit and I am off now to reply to them in a calm and courteous manner.

Hello Liberro

Ok, today I am a happy bunny, just thought I would start of like that as it’s been a bit of good news bad news day.

Well let’s get skycig out the way first, because you know I’m going to have a good moan don’t you? Who am I to disappoint you? Last time I updated, I was waiting, impatiently, for my order to appear on the Post Office’s tracking service. It duly appeared yesterday evening at the Edinburgh sorting office, local to skycig; shortly after midnight it was in Glasgow and arrived at Paisley delivery office before eight, this morning. This afternoon a nice man delivered it to my door, I signed for it and logged into the PO tracking service and, yes you guessed it, there it was, notification of delivery, minutes after I had signed. NOT 48hrs because, I reiterate, what would be the point of a tracking system that did not update for 48 hours? I’m not finished with skycig yet though, I was more than ready for this delivery and had a battery all charged up. I put the other battery in to charge and eagerly opened the package; attached a new cartridge to the battery and, oh I have been waiting for this, long draw, on the ecig.... nothing, nada..... harder.... nope, soon I’m sucking on this cigarette like I am trying to sook  up the dregs of an extremely thick milk shake, the LED light, lights briefly and there is a wisp of vapour, but to say it is disappointing would be a huge understatement. I decide it is a dodgy cartridge and try another, same thing. I do my best Victor Meldrew impersonation, even though there is no one to hear my incredulous exclamations. I would phone skycig’s customer services but, surprise, they don’t have a phone number. I decide to try the other battery before sending them an angry email. Lo and behold it works, but doesn’t last long as it is not fully charged. I’m putting it back on to charge, when another parcel arrives, oh, I haven’t told you about that have I?

Well let’s go back a bit, just after my last update I, as you know, was feeling slightly frustrated by skycig. I had already found other companies on the internet who were cheaper and seemed to offer a better customer service. My problem was though, that I had invested in the skycig starter kit and was unsure whether the cartridges from these other suppliers would fit.  I tried to research this but every site I went to seemed to contradict the previous one. So my choices seemed to come down to: Get another starter kit; order some cartridges from another supplier and hope they are compatible or stick with skycig. I am, as a lot of you know, not the most decisive person, so I was quite prepared to leave a decision for a couple of weeks. That was until I came across the Liberro website with a special offer that ended that day. Actually the offer had already ended as it was 1am and technically the offer ended at midnight. I thought I would chance my arm though and went ahead and ordered a new starter kit, with free 30ml of liquid, which I can use to refill the cartridges. All the websites/forums that I had visited advised that this was the cheapest way to enjoy vaping (techno speak for smoking e-cigarettes). They also advised that one should get used to vaping before going down this road but hey, what can go wrong..... Famous last words ;-)

So there I was a full 108 hours (four and a half days) after ordering from skycig, making another order and they arrive within an hour or so of each other. 1:0 to Liberro, I’d say and with a free bottle of liquid and refillable cartridges 2:0 maybe even 3:0, whatever, it’s pretty much game over for skycig before I even have the Liberro out of the box.

Initial impressions are important though and the Liberro doesn’t disappoint. First of all it is slightly smaller than the skycig, feels more natural. Taste is something skycig make a big thing of, closest thing to a real cigarette they tell you. Wrong. Liberro wins that one hands down, although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing as I want to wean myself of the taste of tobacco. Also, having gone back onto the Liberro site, I find that the flavour they sent me is very popular with roll up smokers, which might explain why I think it tastes more genuine. Throat hit is another thing all the electronic cigarette advertising goes on about and I have to say it’s another area where Liberro beats skycig, hands down. Finally and probably most importantly, Liberro is not just taking the edge of, it is satisfying my cravings, although I will admit this could be down to me not having had a cigarette in a while and getting used to the e-cigs in general. 

Goodbye Skycig?

OK confession, I had Sunday dinner not long ago and I REALLY need a cigarette.

Decided to catch up with the blog, instead of going to the shop and change the cartridge in the skycig, from the medium strength menthol, which I have been using for the last twenty four hours, to a full strength tobacco flavour.

Calming down a bit. Now that I have been puffing away on the stronger flavour, for a good 15 minutes, or so. 

Have to admit to being a wee bit worried about this, as I have ordered three packs of the vanilla flavour, to do me for the next fortnight.  I am not sure if it’s the tobacco flavour or the amount of nicotine, which seems to work better. I am sorry to bang on about this, but why do skycig only offer their medium strength cartomizers  (and why do they all spell it like that, seems very American to me). Clearly I would have liked a variety of the strongest ones they have and I do not believe I am alone in this. Well I have ordered the strong vanilla ones now so fingers crossed, I know you are all thinking, instead of sitting there worrying and boring us all with the minor complaints, why not, just order the **** (fill in whatever cuss word you thought of ;)) tobacco flavour? Well, I have good reason for that. Cigarettes taste and smell horrible. Those of us that smoke have acquired a taste for this foul smelling stuff and become immune to the smell.

I have carried on having the odd cigarette, while “vaping” (oh the jargon you learn while ploughing through ecig sites). Today I have had none, major victory there. Another major step forward was when I was out at William’s 21^st (my nephew for those who don’t know) I went outside for a fag, stole one of William, had a couple of draws and thought “I don’t really want this”

Stubbed it out. Did smoke one when I got home though and had, had a couple during the day.

Rambling again, back to my point. The day I tried the vanilla flavour, felt quite a lot of craving for cigarettes but I think this was down to the strength of the cartridge.  When I did have a cigarette, however, it tasted quite bad. I am assuming, rightly or wrongly, that a couple of weeks of smoking something that actually tastes quite pleasant will result in me being as abhorred by the taste of cigarettes as your average non smoker. We will see, if I ever get the vanilla flavoured cartridges.

It's now Monday and something else is bothering me, my choice of the skycig. I did do a fair bit of research into electronic cigarettes prior to purchasing the skycig starter pack but in the end my choice came down to two factors: Initial cost and convenience. The initial cost was helped a great deal by the fact that I found a code which gave me £38 off (quit38, if anyone is interested).  The convenience came down to the fact that skycig starter pack comes with 2 batteries and a cigarette pack type thing to charge them in, meaning you can charge up while out and about, as long as the pack is charged. What I didn’t look into much was customer service. My fault, I know, but customer service and timely delivery of things we order over the internet is something we take for granted these days. Not in skycig’s case though.

Where do I start with these people, let’s forget the starter pack, after all any delay there just meant I put using them for a bit, so wasn’t that concerned. Now, however, I sit here typing with no nicotine available. Easiest way to solve this is to go buy cigarettes but I am determined not to do that. The local Morrison’s apparently has some compatible cartridges and I will be off there, first thing, to purchase some. How did I get into this predicament and was it my fault? I don’t think so, Skycig advertise on their website that, if you order before 2pm, they will dispatch your order the same day; I also pay for first class postage. Since Skycig are based in Scotland, I do not think it unreasonable to expect delivery the next day, or the following day at most. Hasn’t quite worked out that way, I placed an order Friday at 12:31, I have their confirmation email, time stamped, so I know this is correct. I get another email, Saturday at 11:31am, saying my order has been dispatched and giving a tracking number, to track the package on the Post Office site. I duly head over to the PO site input number and receive a message that they have no information on the package. Now the PO says this is because they haven’t received the package, which to me means it hasn’t been dispatched, four days after they promised it would be!!! Skycig, however disagrees, they claim they have dispatched it but it can take 48hours for the PO site to be updated. I have never heard so much manure in my life. We live in an age of instant information, whenever a package moves from one location to another it is scanned and the website is instantly updated, otherwise what would be the point?

Anyway I am sure you are fed up reading this by now, just one more wee moan afore I go, I would have had enough cartridges to do me till tomorrow but one of skycig’s cartridges was all but empty!!

Conclusion, need to keep going with electronic cigarettes but going to do a lot more research and change brands, will keep you all updated.

To cut down or give up?

To cut down or give up? That is today’s question. On Monday when I started using the skycig, I had roughly 10g of tobacco, or just less than a day’s worth.  It is now Thursday and I have none left, I am quite proud of myself for making it this far on such a small amount of tobacco, without too much effort, but do I go and get some more or just try to stop altogether?

To the non smokers amongst you, I presume this is a fairly straight forward question but to a helpless addict, like me, it is a huge decision. On a positive note, it is a decision that I never thought I would be contemplating at this early stage.

I still have a few issues with skycig, firstly; why do they insist on giving you medium strength cartridges with the starter pack? It’s not just skycig though, I did a lot of research into electronic cigarettes before embarking down this road and they all seem to, only, offer medium strength cartridges with the starter packs. I had the foresight to order an extra pack of the full strength cartridges and thank god I did, because if I hadn’t I would not have been making this decision at all today, at best, I would have been telling you that they are ok if you want to cut down and, at worst, they are useless.  You see, these medium strength things are a bit like smoking silk cut.  How come, the last person to have cigarettes at any party was always the numpty with Silk Cut? At this point you had a few options: Option one, you had usually already be considering, get the skins out and raid the ashtrays; option two, accept the kind offer of the silk cut, get the skins out and break up the cigarette, usually good for two or three roll ups; option three, accept the silk cut and get skins out, rip the glue bit off, lick it and wrap it round those stupid holes in the filter; option four, hall your hung-over ass out to the nearest shop and get some baccy. I’m rambling, where was I? Oh yes, issues with electronic cigarettes, sort of covered a couple there but here is another thing. Thirty cigarettes, that’s what every manufacturer of electronic cigarettes claim that each cartridge is the equivalent to. Let’s stick with skycig, comes in three strengths: Bold, 16mg; regular, 12mg and light, 6mg. Let me do the math for you here, skycig, average cigarette contains 0.8mg of nicotine, that means Bold equivalent to TWENTY cigarettes, regular = 15 and light = 7.5. Why lie? What’s the point, as a smoker, I am predisposed to be mistrustful of anything that claims to replace cigarettes, so why make it harder to trust a product with false claims. I think it is to try and back up that claim that they are 75% cheaper than cigarettes. Well they aren’t so stop lying and no, Cindy, I am not going to use this as a feeble excuse to go buy some cigarettes, they are about 60% cheaper after all and about 30% cheaper than tobacco.

This photo shouldn't really be here should it, well I like it and it might be one of the last photos you see of me with a fag in my mouth.

I’m a bit grumpy today, can you tell, but I’m enjoying life without that nagging cough, I am enjoying the reawakening of my taste buds and being able to smell, although I have now realised how much this room smells of stale smoke. Going to invest the money that would have gone on cigarettes today in some air-fresheners, to try and sort that out and I’ll get back to you all soon.

Day 1

Well it arrived today, my neatly packaged e-cigarette, I must admit to having mixed feelings as I unwrapped the box and had a look at the contents. I had envisaged, using the e-cig to cut down, gradually, on my smoking, something I have to do financially and for the sake of my health - really bad cough almost every morning and late at night and some fits of coughing during the day, these are not signs of healthy lungs. I'm rambling already, the point I was trying to make was that I had thought, this will help me cut down a bit BUT people close to me seem to think this is a big attempt to give up altogether. It may be my fear of failure is preventing me from going along with this view and for now I am making no promises to myself or anyone else.

So to the box and it's contents:

        A Rechargeable Case containing 2 batteries on the right and 5 empty slots for cartridges on the left

2 Cigarette Batteries (1 is a spare)

5 Cartridges in assorted flavours (equivalent to more than 7 packs of traditional cigarettes)

A USB battery charger with a Mains Adaptor

A practical Travel Case to carry all your SKYCIG items

So first I have to charge up the case, small tip here, do not push the "spare" battery down into the case, had to use pliers to get it out after I did that.
I'm thinking well it will take a while, probably start this tomorrow, cue coffee and cigarette after I have plumed in the charger, cue coughing my lungs out as a reminder of why I need to do this. Good news is it only took about 30 minutes for the blue light on the charger to go out, indicating that case was fully charged, so now I have to screw in the battery, less than a minute before the indicator light is flashing indicating that it is charged. I assume the batteries must have been charged before, now assuming I have a pack that has been returned.
Never mind, all charged and ready to go, but first a wee cheeky roll up. Right that smoked, no real need for the e-cig now but i'm going to try it anyway.

Ok now end of day and how has it gone, well ok really, went through 4 batteries, don't know if this is usual but it was just a case of charging one, in the case, while using the other, case is still charged and I will put that on to recharge overnight. Have to admit to having had 3 roll ups today but that is a huge reduction on my usual intake and I am not feeling any cravings just now as I "puff" away on the e-cig

So here is hoping for a healthier, cleaner, fresher smelling future