More Vapist Ramblings – The Smokeless Image
Now that the long-awaited intro to my smokeless adventure has been published, it’s time to move on. I talked a little about the disposables and there isn’t much else to say. You can buy them at 7-11, pharmacies, grocery stores, poetry much anywhere. They usually cost between $5 and $10, and claim to be the equivalent of 1.5 – 2 packs of cancer sticks. The majority of them come in “regular” tobacco flavor, and some brands also have a menthol variety if that’s your thing. I think they’re a great way to test the waters without a big investment, but they’re not a long-term solution.
if, after trying the disposables, you want to move on, it’s time for a kit. I have no clue how many different brands there are out there, and many of the components are interchangeable, so the first purchase isn’t necessarily a make or break proposition, sine you can use your batteries with other cartridges, buy blank cartridges and full them with someone else’s liquid, yadda yadda yadda. For the sale of simplicity though, it’s a good idea to buy from a vendor that has most of what you think you’ll want. The companies that sell disposables also make kits, but they trend to be more expensive than the smaller brands, and much less compatible. If you want options, the little guys are much better.
The basic kits have a rechargeable battery, a cartomizer (looks like the filter on a traditional cigarette…it’s where the “smoke juice” goes and a charger (usually USB). From three, the options are endless…multiple batteries, wall chargers, portable charging cases, you name it.
As I noted in the opener, my starter kit came from Smokeless Image, makers of the Volt. I bought the basic kit, with a battery, USB charger and a 5-pack of carts. I added a second battery and 2 more packs of carts, just for variety.
I went with the short batteries (about the size of a regular cigarette) and opted for the sealed automatic variety, which are similar to regular cigarettes in that they have a sensor that creates vapor when you inhale…the manual kind are activated by pressing a button. I’ll cover those at another time.
Setup was simple…you screw the battery into the charger, pop it into a USB port (or a USB wall charger) and wait until the light turns blue. One the battery is charged, attach a cartomizer and puff.
Battery
Plus Carts equals smoke-free smoking
Given the limited options with the disposables, I wasn’t sure which flavors I’d like and didn’t want to get stuck with five of something gross, so I ordered a couple of sampler packs. Smokeless Image offers 3 samplers, with one of each of a “themed” flavor – the Smooth Sampler is traditional tobacco flavors, the Strong Sampler is mostly mint / menthol, along with grape and cappuccino (not sure how those fit in, but whatever) and the Sweet Sampler has three fruits, vanilla and chocolate. I’m not much of a menthol guy, so I went with the smooth and sweet samplers, and ordered a 5-pack of cappuccino since it seemed safe.
Smoooooooooooth
The Smooth Sampler includes 5 tobacco-inspired flavors: RY4, 555, Desert Joe, Country and Freedom
Here’s how they describe them:
- RY4: A unique caramel infused tobacco flavor that will keep calling you back. A new favorite among vapers.
- Freedom: New American Tobacco Flavor. It is a light, smooth and smoky flavor imitating a traditional tobacco cigarette. The perfect choice to achieve your FREEDOM from burning tobacco cigarettes!
- Desert Joe: A favorite among Volt users, Desert Joe is our rich Turkish tobacco blend
- Country: Our most Popular American tobacco Blend Flavor, the standard in tobacco flavors
- 555: The taste of the 555 is one of the more popular choices when it comes to tobacco flavors. It’s a sweeter tobacco that promises to please those who are looking for something on the milder side!
Here’s my take:
- Freedom: Tasted like an ultra light cigarette, but in a good way. It was subtle, but didn’t have that caustic chemical feeling that you get from a Marlboro Silver.
- Desert Joe: This probably had the most “authentic” cigarette flavor of the ones I tried in this first batch. Tasted a lot like a Camel Light, but I didn’t need to bathe in Purell to get the stench off of me when I was done.
- 555: Also really good. There was a very mild sweetness to it, but enough tobacco flavor that it still felt like a lung dart.
- Country: A little too strong for my taste, but not bad at all. Unless I was bumming from someone, I tended to stick with lights and ultra lights, but this was more like a full flavor (Marlboro Red probably)
- RY4: I really had no clue what to expect here, but it was my favorite of the bunch. There was just enough tobacco flavor that I didn’t feel like I was inhaling candy, but the combination of the “burnt” caramel flavor and what I thought was a hint of vanilla made this a stand out. I ended up buying a 5-pack of RY4s and as I got more advanced, a bottle of the RY4 liquid…it’s that tasty.
Sweeeeeet?
The Sweet Sampler contains our Delicious; Cherry, Vanilla, Chocolate, Grape and Watermelon!
- Cherry: Sweet to the tongue, aromatic, and nice smoke vape.
- Grape: Our new grape flavor is subtle and smoky and will be a pleasant surprise to anyone who has not liked grape in the past.
- Vanilla: Vanilla fans this flavor is for you! A savory flavor that is creamy and sweet.
- Chocolate: Just like an old fashioned cup of coco, the chocolate will satisfy those indulgent cravings.
- Watermelon: A sweet and light fruit flavor that hits the spot just like on those hot summer days.
Here’s my take:
- Cherry: Like a cherry lollipop from back in the day. Totally artificial, and a bit of a weird sensation, but good.
- Grape: Same sensation as the cherry, but in grape flavor. Thankfully, those were my two favorite candy flavors as a kid.
- Vanilla: I love vanilla and was excited about this one. The vanilla flavor was definitely there, but it was a little too artificial for me. I wasn’t expecting Tahitian beans or anything like that, but the flavor was more Turkey Hill than Ben n Jerry’s. Not my favorite, but I’ve tried other brands’ vanilla varieties and Smokeless Image blows them all out of the water.
- Watermelon: I’ve always hated watermelon and everything it stands for. The smell is awful and the taste is even worse (to me). I don’t eat cherries, grapes or oranges, but love them in their sugar forms. With watermelon though, it’s a struggle to figure out whether I like the real fruit less than the candy flavor, or vice versa. Needless to say, my expectations were low, but I didn’t want to waste one, so I gave it a shot. It tasted a lot like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. I wasn’t a fan, but if you like watermelon flavor, you’d probably enjoy this.
- Chocolate: I had the highest hopes for vanilla, but was looking forward to chocolate too, and this one lived up to its billing. I didn’t get the hot cocoa vibe, but it did taste / feel like a good piece of dark (70%) gourmet chocolate. Given this whole diet thing, sweets are limited, but a few puffs on this made me forget how much I wanted a cupcake.
Like Starbucks without the obnoxious baristas…
I’m not really sure what to say about the cappuccino. They were really good. It wasn’t the burnt “gourmet” coffee flavor, but much milder, almost like a coffee ice cream. I’ve re-ordered these too.
That takes care of the starter kit, but there have been many subsequent orders from SI. I’ll review that stuff another time, because this is already way too long, but I’ve expanded my collection with:
A portable charging case (PCC), so I’ve always got at least one full battery
An x2 “Fat Batt” – it’s another type of battery that has some very nice benefits over the traditional ones.
This has gone on long enough, but I have to say one other thing about this Company. Their customer service is AMAZING. After my first order, I got a follow up, not to try and sell me more stuff, but to see if I liked the product. One of the batteries in my first order didn’t work that great, and they sent me a new one free of charge. My PCC broke after a few days. I sent an email asking if they could recommend a way to repair it, but instead, they shipped a replacement right away. They’re always running specials, coupon codes, etc. and just seem like a nice group of people. When it came to “real” cigarettes, I had no loyalty…I’d just smoke whatever was on sale. I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never ordered from anyone else (the upcoming reviews would seem kind of silly if I did), but I do order from SI pretty frequently.
If you want to try them out, the code “voltsave” gets you 16% off. They also have specials around the holidays with bigger discounts, but if you’re still smoking the old school cigs and want to quit, I suggest giving these a try.
**In the interest of full and fair disclosure, the replacement battery and case are the only things I’ve gotten from them for free** I’ve placed a total of 7 orders with them, and spent around $175 so far.
Healthy for the Wedding 
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