StringDancer
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Posts posted by StringDancer
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I'm thinking of getting an additional charger to keep up with the batteries. EG:
http://www.lighthound.com/Ultrafire-36-volt-lithium-AA-or-AAA-Battery-Charger_p_2269.html
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Thank you, Jeso, I'll contact you soon.
Very good of you. I'm loving the VP1 otherwise, I hope I made that clear in my post. You've created a very strong product for us. It's just these batts that are frustrating, as I'm sure they are for you, as well.
Thanks again.
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I like my VP1, yes... but the quality of the batteries is no better than the stock e-cig batts, and probably worse, being unprotected batts that can suffer from being over-charged (and I, for one, can't always monitor the charging process that closely). I've had at least two crap out in a matter of days, and more showing signs of it. Yes, they're cheaper to replace, but the dependability issue still bugs me.
I had one stock 801 batt that lasted a good three months of heavy vaping, getting used and recharged probably three times a day. I'm not seeing that as even remotely possible with these 10440s. Makes me wonder if the VP series (which are top quality, its true) is really worth the extra investment when the crappy batts are factored in.
So there are no US makers of quality rechargeable lithium-ion batts, huh? Sheesh, all the Chinese would have to do to bring this country to its knees is stop US battery exports. That's just nuts.
--- end of rant ---
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Most of all e-Cigs are made in China, the VP1 and VP2 are made in New York State by VaprLife. They are well worth the money, hands down, bar none the best vape I have had yet. As for the e-Juice, I had hoped that there was someone making it in the US. I purposefully didn't order from eastmall because the e-Juice was made in China. I hope that someone here in the States is testing the e-Juice before it goes out to the consumer. I don't trust those little red bastards!
http://www.johnsoncreeksmokejuice.com is US-based (Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, to be exact). If there's another American e-juice plant, I'm unaware of it.
I like JC juice, but they tend to be a little subtle when it comes to the intensity of flavor.
I'm looking to try an alternative source for high-quality US-based wild cherry juice. Any info, anybody?
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That was one of the most pathetic displays of ignorance I've ever seen, and an indictment of our education system. Did this girl ever go to class?
Whoever had to sit through this and hold their tongues exhibited considerably more patience than I would have, I can tell you.
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510 atty's tend to get hot. But fortunately (I guess), performance of any ecig combo declines over time. Suggest that hubby gives it a break when the temperature rises.
Devices can be abused. Not that that's a bad thing, of course....
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For some reason, I've gravitated towards the VG base myself. Not that I had any allergic reactions to PG. It's just what happened in my case.
Reports suggest that VG (or reduced PG, as Johnson Creek now puts it) is a tad thicker than straight PG e-juice. Myself, I like that... thicker juice would mean less leaking. Anyway, it works for me.
As it is... we in fact can't be certain of the health effects of vaping whatever formula we acquire. Reliable studies have yet to be done on any of it to any significant degree. At present, we vapers run on intuition. Our collective instincts, informed by all data available to date, incline us towards the positive end of things. We feel vaping is relatively harm-free, and especially so when compared to analogs. We may well be correct in this assumption.
But proper studies, to date, have yet to occur. So we can't know for sure. Oh, what to do?!
For a phenomenon that has recently gotten California's panties in such a knot, we still know surprisingly little about vaping.
I personally think our preliminary assessment of vaping is correct. I should be surprised indeed were we proved wrong.
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Back when the Antis were first coming down on cigs, many tobacco users were going, "yeah, OK, smoking may be bad for you, and you're all up in arms against smokers... but just wait until the same intolerance you're promoting here comes back to haunt you. After all, if we can bust adult smokers, eventually we can bust anybody."
The warnings, of course, fell on deaf ears.
Now there's proposed bans against trans-fat and proposed bans against God knows what else popping to the surface... but are we hearing any "ya know, you were right. Bust smokers, set precedent, and eventually any personal liberty you can name is fair game for busting. Whoa, we screwed up.".... Are we hearing that? Not so much.
As usual, the Libertarians are correct. Limit the powers of the friggin' government... a LOT... or eventually pay the piper.
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Another excellent find, Chris.
We should be archiving in a link farm every such link we can find. Really, as some content expires after a specified time, we really should be archiving the actual text of these pieces when they when we find them. Never know when we may need a good quote.
Note to self... automate online archiving procedures.
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And by the way,SJR 8, requesting that the FDA ban e-cigs until proven safe, isn't dead yet. It's actually in the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization.
We aren't out of the woods yet, as much as I wish that we were!
A sober reminder, that. There's certainly reason to celebrate the Governator's decision, but this is but one salvo in the coming battles. We should turn attention to the next threat, eg SJR 8... and just such boneheaded measures in whatever state, whenever they arise. Pharma won't go easy into that good night.
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Stumbled across a wiki site dedicated to e-cigs, thought you might be interested:
http://www.e-cigarette-wiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
As with most wiki sites, people can register and then contribute to the archive of info.
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She looks like you couldn't drive an 8-penny nail up her... atomizer.
Sorry. It's late, I'm relieved the ban in CA got put down, and I'm in a dismissive mood when it comes to e-cig ban enthusiasts at the moment.
Ellen, you lost. Go ply your trade in Nevada, it's legal in most counties.
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So...Whats next?
We kick Hoosier ***, of course, and defeat the Marion County initiative! You game, Lacey? Mwaa-ha-ha
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I hooked up with Johnson Creek very early in my vaping career (and it certainly feels like one), mostly because of their fastidious quality standards and the fact that they're the only US-based e-juice maker. I like supporting American business, given a choice. I find their concoctions very satisfying, though I agree with some critiques to the extent that I think their flavor intensity is more on what you might call the subtle side. I would like to see stronger flavor in their juice... but then, I'm in it for the nic, after all, so all things considered, I'm good with JC.
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As a former Californian, I dutifully wrote the Governator about this issue... twice. I'm so encouraged by his action for the future of e-cigs in America!
As Chris mentioned, thank-yous are in order. Here's what I wrote the Gov just now:
Gov, I want to applaud your recent decision to reject SB 400 as it was written, and especially for specifically citing your objections to the electronic cigarette provisions contained therein. You have done a great good, sir, by keeping the doors in California open to an unbiased, practical and thoughtful handling of the e-cig phenomenon.By rejecting precipitous ignorance and the obvious agendas of the anti-smoker crowd and the Big Pharm lobby, you have helped set the stage for appropriate study and (if justified by the results of such studies, which we e-cig advocates confidently expect) eventual propagation of e-cigs as the best thing for smokers since the invention of the Zippo.
Thank you for your diligent consideration of this bill and your smart, forward-thinking choice in the matter.
What do ya think, Lacey... do we have precedent for defeating the measure going on up in Indy now?
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Confirming what Chris said. I like the 510s a lot, their atomizers are very durable. But I've yet to get the throat hit from a 510 that a tuned-up 801 gives. With an alternative battery system, the 801 atts are real workhorses. Plus they're relatively cheap.
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Pilot Truck Stops sell a penstyle for what... $69? From my own searching of wholesale deals, the cost of a penstyle kit is typically somewhere between 20-30 bucks (assuming small to average buy numbers, and before shipping charges from China), thus a price tag of around $70 is essentially a 100% markup. So the many online distributors we all know and love selling penstyles at $50-55 are making very little money per unit, actually, and depend on volume business to turn any real profit.
Passed on to outfits like Pilots at "low-retail", and you can see why the average cost of a penstyle is nearer a C-note than not.
I might disagree with Chris on the price of kits not dropping if the FDA ever signs off on e-cigs. Economies of scale and all that. Were e-cigs to get the FDA nod (for all that's really worth in terms of credibility), there would be massive campaigns develop to promote them, and I think the price could well drop... but probably not by much. Tobacco stores will be the first to stock them, and I would think we'd see massive numbers of smokers converting in just the first few months.
What concerns me if e-cigs ever become "sanctioned" is the government coming along wanting to tax the living daylights out of them. Now, a modest tax is appropriate, maybe, but if they try to apply our massive tobacco taxes on a product that neither contains tobacco nor has the litany of health threats associated with it, I'm gonna cry foul. Tobacco tax monies that actually go to moderating the social costs of smoking is one thing, but to dump exorbitant tax burdens on e-cigs (especially if further studies substantiate our belief that e-cigs are more or less health-neutral) would be totally inappropriate... sin taxing taken to an extreme.
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No offense taken, Sin. Yeah, the faring is kind of lame, but it does control the wind nicely.
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Well, being kinda old-school myself, my bike is an antique... a 1981 Moto Guzzi 1000 iConvert. Bought it from my brother a few years ago, and it's been a great bike.
This is a real cruiser. It has a torque converter instead of a transmission, so the only time you need to use the clutch is when you start the bike. From then on, you just give it the gas, and off it goes, with no shifting of gears at all. Come up to a stoplight, and you just brake... you can stop it with only the right hand on the bars if you want.
The Guzzi is a classic design, and I can say that even hard-core Harley owners (who can be rather dismissive of anything that isn't a Harley) show respect for the machine. It isn't a lightweight, so popping wheelies isn't its forte. It's designed to cruise comfortably and efficiently, and does the job well. The downside is finding parts and techs who know how to work on Guzzis.
If I were to go to another bike, I don't know... I like the Shadow, I like the Victory, love BMWs and almost like Honda Goldwings (my brothers' bike of choice these days). I like the idea of a Goldwing, they just don't look like motorcycles anymore, which kinda turns me off, I guess.
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This just in from Johnson Creek Smoke Juice:
http://news.johnsonc...uice.com/?p=147
Senate Bill 400 is currently on Governor Schwarzenegger's desk. This bill originally called for the sale of electronic cigarettes to be restricted to those 18 and over. Such a restriction would be encouraged by our company and has already by voluntarily imposed by many retailers – including us. Instead, the bill was amended to ban all sales of electronic cigarettes and their components. While tobacco cigarettes, agreed to be a major health issue and something of a public menace, will be sold as per usual, this bill sets the precedent: "Ban it if you don't understand it". Because of California's constitution, this bill will be law if not vetoed by the Governor by October 11 – what this means in practice is come January 1, 2010, every electronic smoker would leave this innovative, helpful product behind and pick up a pack of smokes at their local gas station. Sound backwards? We think so, too.They also posted on Facebook:
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I'm down in the Bloomington area, Lacey, and have PM'd you a letter you may include in your efforts. Feel free to contact me if you want.
I might also mention I have a domain, VaporFreedom.com, which is currently a front-end for my own modest e-cig marketing (done entirely one-on-one, no sales via the web as yet). If the site might serve as a focal point for fighting an Indiana e-cig ban, I'd be happy to adapt it to that purpose.
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A few weeks ago, I copped a few 510 kits and a few more penstyle kits (separate suppliers in China). The 510s have been OK (actually, I've yet to have a 510 atty burn out), and the penstyle atties have been OK, but have had a lot of batt failures for the penstyles.
Quality control is not a strong suit of Chinese e-cig manufacturers. I'm guessing there was a bad week at the factory, and we've all suffered along with them. Next batch should be better.
With the Vaprlife (and similar) battery advancements, all we need is an American maker to come out with a solid, robust atty. If we can avoid the ban, the e-cig market will continue to grow exponentially, and some clever American will devise something soon, I'm sure.
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Well, the so-called "war on drugs" being such a resounding failure, I don't think there's too much to worry about as far as acquiring hardware or juice... IF you're willing to risk it. A legal ban in CA is certainly bad news, and could set the movement back years.
On the other hand, I can think of no product ever threatened by a ban which is, in point of fact, so benign and harmless in nature. It would be a stinging indictment of our loss of liberty in this country if the powerful few manage to ram this ban down our collective throat.
This thread could get my rant going about how the America we grew up in is no longer a reality, that we may have already lost the essence of what "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is all about, thanks to the machinations of the monied. But I'll restrain myself at the moment.
I can tell you this -- if e-cigs and/or e-juice become impossible to acquire, I will NOT go back to smoking, I'll quit instead (I believe it would be much easier now that I've lost my taste for tobacco). I'll never again pay their goddamn sin taxes, nor allow the manipulations of corporations to force me back into that habit.
Canada is looking better every day.
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I think an e-cig news of the week program would be an excellent project to take on, guys. I could just see you two bozos dressed up like TV anchors, presenting straight up e-cig news (with commentary) in your own inimitable style.
Another Group That Needs To Be Informed
in General Vape News
Posted
I'm thinking it's more like the third+ coming of prohibition, pot being the second. Fact is, government can't legislate behavior completely, or even moderately well... and when we're talking about relatively benign activities such as moderate and sensible drinking, smoking dope or vaping (IOW, there's no guaranteed, de-facto victim), then to try to ban something people enjoy doing is ultimately futile and foolish, and counter to the principles of liberty upon which blah-blah.
If we ban anything, let's ban the concept of nanny government.