WWV Part III (page 4)

PG vs. VG

The nicotine and flavoring are the ingredients that make our world go round, but what gets vaporized is the base liquid. In most cases, this is PG. But some people are allergic. You’ll know soon enough and it’s usually nothing serious. Symptoms vary, but can include: dry or sore throat, muscle cramps and aches, diarrhea, night sweats, and rash (usually not all at once or in the same person, thank goodness). If you experience any of these:

• Consult with your doctor (I ain’t no MD), certainly if it is anything other than mild discomfort and/or it continues for several days. [Sounds like the back label of a bottle of over-the-counter meds, doesn’t it … but there is a good reason they do that, you know.]

• Explore VF’s Medical/Health and Safety subforum, especially such threads: as Symptoms of PG Alergies and Health effects of vaping/quitting smoking. The latter is recommended for all new vapers. There are lots of “interesting” symptoms (some of them really nice) often associated with stopping smoking and starting vaping, only a few of which are PG-related.

• Try VG-based liquid or ECOpure (brand name of a UK-manufactured mixture consisting of VG, ethyl maltol, and nicotine … and no PG, purported to be very pure).

Even if you are not allergic to PG, you might prefer VG. Conventional wisdom is that PG packs more flavor and throat hit, but VG generates more vapor. [Many of the mixicologists listed on the previous page combine the two.]

• VG juice was not as prevalent as PG, but there now is much more of it than there used to be. I’d venture to say that more suppliers carry VG-based e-liquid than don’t.

• ECOpure suppliers include Intellicig (UK), Intellicig-USA, Cignot, and SmokeJuice.co.uk.

Evaluations

E-liquid is evaluated – in numerous text and video reviews (and during the past year, there has been a plethora of both) – using many of the same factors as hardware reviews, e.g., vapor production, flavor, and throat hit … all three of which are dependent on both the hardware and software. Such reviews and evaluations of juice, however, are necessarily more subjective. For example, my evaluation of banana-flavored juice (whether from supplier X or supplier Y) is … meh (a word I picked up from Gen Y members on the forums). However, you may think it’s the cat’s pajamas (an expression from my parents’ generation).

Check out the reviews, but take them with many grains of salt. See if you can identify the reviewers whose “taste” (both literal and figurative) is simpatico with yours. For example, I happen to be very comfortable with GrimmGreen’s,  igetcha’s, and AllAboutTheVapor‘s demeanor … and I think hifistud is a hoot! You might prefer MoobyGhost, Mr. Smoke, or smokie, etc., etc. [NOTE: bigicedog‘s video reviews are so unique they deserve special mention.]

E-liquid 102

(i.e., second semester: independent research in the field)

To learn more about the lavish land of ‘lectronic liquids, explore ECF’s E-Liquid Reviews and Forum Suppliers forums; VF’s E-Liquid Reviews and Vendors forums; and nu-vapor’s Platinum and Gold Suppliers forums. [NOTE: Some suppliers specialize in e-liquid. However, virtually all suppliers (even those focusing primarily on hardware) also carry e-liquid. And I hope you realize that e-liquid purchased from a supplier of, for example, the JOYE line of models (510, 302, 306, eGO) can be used in any e-cig.]

Next page: The Process

Previous page: Suppliers and China vs. US/UK-made