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.