APRIL 2016
Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Silver Beast by Beyond Vape
NEWS, BUSINESS & CULTURE VAPE Magazine is the only international vaping industry focused magazine with more than 35,000 readership in the United States, Europe and Asia, where vaping professionals find the latest news, products and trends.
letter from the editor:
EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Matt Schramel content@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x2 Managing Editor Corey Noles Social Media Manager Eric Vonheim News Editor Alyssa Stahr Art Director Van Avanzado
Spring is a great time to be a vaper! Now that it’s time to crawl out of winter, springtime is a time for new beginnings as a vaper, a company and VAPE Magazine! Take stock of your mod collection and do some spring cleaning, sell your extra mods on VAPE Magazine’s classified section by emailing classifieds@vapemz.com, or better yet, donate them to someone else less fortunate you know, or contact organizations like Vape-a-vet for resources to help your fellow vaper. Exercise your healthier lungs and get outside with your vape. Look in your home town for outdoor events and activities that are not only vape-friendly, but actually support the vaping lifestyle. Get out there and enjoy mother nature with a hike. Make sure you bring your good camera and take some #scenicvaper photos to submit to the magazine! As a company, spring is the perfect time to step back and take stock of your business. Get your staff together for outdoor team building and brainstorming. Look for ideas from within your entire organization, from your part-time cashier to your toplevel executive, you never know who may already be inspired to suggest a fresh new marketing message, or find a new efficiency in your supply chain. Be sure to read VAPE Magazine for great tips and best practices from industry trusted experts such as Norm Bour and Maria Verven.
Graphic Designers Joe Buehner, Laura Camp, Matt Ritzenthaler Director of Photography Ezra Zuniga Webmaster Axel Gillespie Contributors Steffanie Atkins, Nick Bessette, Norm Bour, Douglas Cambria, John Castle, Alex Clark, Dave Cross, Jenee Fowler, Jacob Gibernick, Nick Green, Patricia Kovacevic, Chris Mellides, Corey Noles, Leigh Oates, Susan Oser, Tony Ottomanelli, Matt Rowland, Julie Selesnick, Arvid Sollom, Maria Verven ADMINISTRATIVE Chief Executive Officer Matt Schramel Co-Owner/Vice President Jon Laverde Executive Assistant Erin Aly ADVERTISING Mike Schramel, mike@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x1 Jon Laverde, jon@vapemz.com 800-958-6427 x4 Jacob Barger, jacob@vapemz.com Tim Artz, tim@vapemz.com China-based advertisers contact Wingle Group Electronics LTD +852 51759256 dev@winglegroup.com CONTACT Advertising sales@vapemz.com News news@vapemz.com New Products newproducts@vapemz.com Employment jobs@vapemz.com
Vape on!
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table of contents Columns
Events
Mods and Tech
16 Let’s Ask GrimmGreen 18 Chicago Unwelcomes you
108 Bringing Soccer and Vaping together in Vegas
140 Mad Wiener Mods
By Jenee Fowler
21 Florida: VAPE Trendsetter By Norm Bour
24 A few rules to solve vape regs. By Julie Selesnick
27 Child Poisoning Prevention Act
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By Patricia Kovacevic
30 Provari’s Rise 34 Diacetyl Debate
112 Vape Shop Events
146 The Loch Ness Mod 144 Eddy LeBlanc, World Series of Poker
By Leigh Oats
Winner and High End Mod Owner
37 Do more to protect Vaping By Alex Clark
41 Extreme Vape Makeover By Julie Selesnick
47 E-liquid EU Lockout? By Maria Verven
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77 Are you waiving the white flag on TPD? 116 Vapin the Sun
By Dave Cross
Features 52 How to Design a Vape Shop
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116 121 St. Louis Vapor Expo
Departments
52 57 E-liquid with a cause 61 Possible Medical Value for Vape 64 The Battle Line is Drawn in Indiana 67 Fog Fluid Redux 70 Save a life before you make a dollar 74 The Twelve Vapor Zodiac 14
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152 Head to Head: DNA200 vs. RX200 156 Nephos Mech Mod 159 Dripping 101 162 How to rewrap a Battery
81 VAPE Fashion Pictorial 90 Mods on Mods 96 The Juice Judge 99 Vaporleaf 104 Vape Vixen: Vapor Hub’s Kelly Winther 127 #ScenicVapers 135 Just in Juices
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By Nick Green I have the FUhattan mod and I was wondering what mod is better. I’m kind of new to this whole thing, but I’m just not satisfied with the performance of this. Any suggestions? Hey There! I’ve never liked the term “better” or “best”. It’s kind of like asking “Hey, I have a Toyota Prius... what’s better?” I guess that depends what you want. For some people, a Toyota Prius is the “Best” and for others, not so much. No matter, without having to get a whole new mod, there are some things you can do to get the most out of the setup you currently have. First things first, take your mod apart and clean EVERYTHING! Mech mods need some TLC from time to time to keep things working at optimum levels. Clean and polish the contacts. Clean the tube and clean the 510 connection. The next thing you can do is get high quality batteries. Higher quality batteries will have a higher amp limit, which will allow you to build lower resistance coils safely and get maximum performance from your coils. There are LOADS of brands out there making sometimes misleading claims on their amp limit and mAh. Track down some Samsung 25r batteries. They are a very tried and true battery in the vape world. The last thing is to build some good coils in that atomizer. The Samsung 25r battery has a pulse amp limit of 35A and a continuous amp limit of 20A, which means if you build a nice 0.2ohm coil in there. You will be good to go. Building coils just takes practice. When it all comes together you should have a nice, warm, flavorful and, above all, safe vape. - Grimm You guys know your stuff. I’m new to cloud chasing and still new to all the juices, etc. I’m running a KBOX, an Aspire Atlantis Mega along with a Cherry Bomber and drip tip, but I’m hunting for a good juice to vape with something fruit. Any pointers? Please guys. Hey Jon! I absolutely agree with you. A good juice to vape is what makes the vaping experience so enjoyable. Because taste is so subjective it’s really hard to recommend a brand or flavor of juice. Some people want a bakery type flavor, others like fruity stuff, others like minty menthol juices. The absolute best advice I can give you is to visit a vape shop, and try the juice lines that they sell. Vape shops generally have an area set up for trying out new flavors and seeing what you like to vape.
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Photo by Metal Jeff If you don’t have access to a vape shop for the actual tasting of juices, then check on YouTube or different forums for people who have tried the juices you are interested in. Eliquid. com is a great site for checking out juices. You can find some you might be interested in, then search Google and YouTube for reviews of those juices. Hope that helps out! - Grimm Natalie Norris Miles Help! I am a newby. Long story short, I went from a vape pen to an Eleaf 30w and Kangertech subtank, which sucked, then to the Aspire Triton subohm tank. I have been told I need 18-22 mg nicotine e-juice, then told 3mg, then 6, now 12. I was just informed my istick 30w is not suitable for the triton. My local shop did not say a word about the Triton not being a good match for the 30w iStick, but another shop did and said it could overheat. I feel like everyone just wants to sell me new gear. I am getting pissed off and ready to abandon the whole idea. Help me understand. I am, or was, a pack-a-day smoker. I am running the 25w-30w coil on the Triton rated at 0.4 ohms Hey Natalie! Don’t lose hope. There seems to be a bit of confusion these days between store employees on what exactly they are telling the customers. As far as the juices goes, you should vape whatever satisfies you. The reason people drop their nicotine level when using tanks like the Triton is that most people find the higher nicotine juices irritating to their throat. The Triton is a “Sub-OHM” tank. Meaning the resistance is generally very low and will need a higher wattage in order to reach peak performance. In your situation running a 0.4ohm coil in the Triton, on the iStick 30w is a perfectly fine vape. If it’s working for you, then keep using it! Pick a nicotine level that satisfies you, and you are good to go. In the future a good thing to remember is that lower resistance (OHMS) coils will need more wattage, and higher resistance coils will need lower wattage. Happy Vaping! - Grimm
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$15.80
E-liquid Tax Chicago Unwelcomes You By Jenee Fowler
Do you enjoy selecting e-liquid at a fair price from your local vape shop? Do you like supporting your neighborhood brick and mortar by rewarding their convenience with your money? Is there a favorite employee who has walked you through tough vaping issues or made an effort to understand your personal story? If you happen to be one of Chicago’s 2.7 million residents, then that’s too bad. As Clayton Guse so eloquently put it in his article for Time Out Chicago, “This isn’t the first time [Chicago] has cracked down on vaping. In April 2014, e-cigarettes were officially banned in most public places in Chicago, much to the chagrin of the jerks who vaped inside bars and restaurants. The city forced them to go outside with the rest of the smokers, and the new tax will force them to pay up just like cigarette smokers.” I am still a big advocate for respectful vaping in public, but since my devices have been able to produce large visible clouds I have seriously reconsidered my definition of respectful. I still think the message can be spread anywhere smoking is acceptable, even in some instances where the law is broken, but no one is harmed. I vape while waiting on the L (Chicago’s elevated transit system, operated under Chicago Transit Authority, or CTA), as long as no one else is near enough to be bothered. I actually didn’t do that when I first moved to the area in January 2015, because I was accustomed to the subway system in Manhattan (where they don’t screw around). That changed recently when a few friendly CTA employees let me know that they
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COLUMNS didn’t mind at all. They even assured me that no one would bother to give me a citation as long as I wasn’t disturbing others. So far this has proven true, but I remain cautious and careful.
billboards and buses to reduce the traffic to business like Fisher’s. Warnings in bold colors proclaim “Vaping: Why Risk It?” and “Vaping, liquid poison!” from nearly every corner of the city.
Honestly, as much as they’d like to point fingers at indiscriminate cloud chuckers, I think the answer may end in zeros. “(...) the tax is expected to bring in some sweet, sweet cash to help plug the city’s colossal pension deficit (Chicago’s on the hook for $672 million payment to the police and fire pension funds next year),” Clayton continued in his Dec 2015 article for the Time Out Chicago (just before the tax law was made official).
While discussing the city’s appropriation of funds toward this massive campaign at Cloud Vapor Lounge, Donna, a regular there, offered her opinion.
Establishments outside the city of Chicago are off the hook for the tax, and some wording of the law does allow for completely legal loopholes. According to cityofchicago.org “This is a tax on the retail sale of Liquid Nicotine Product in the City. The rate is $.80 per liquid nicotine product unit plus an additional $0.55 per fluid milliliter of consumable liquid, gel, or other solution contained in the product. Some taxable examples are “E-liquids, e-juice, and smoke juice containing nicotine”.
“I think vaping is glamorous. Look I’ll show you” she said as she removed her phone and started scrolling through pictures. “I was married just last week”, a pause for congratulations, “and I insisted the photographer took this picture.” Donna hands me her phone and this beautiful image appears:
Not only did city shops in Chicago have to start charging an additional $.80 cents per bottle, they are now forced to add $.50 cents to every milliliter in that bottle that has any amount of nicotine in it. So, you end up paying an additional $15.80 in taxes per bottle of your favorite smoke juice.
Fortunately many establishments have been able to remain fair to their customers. At Cloud Vapor Lounge (a Chicago Gem off the Western Blue Line stop), Tom Fisher explained how he’s dealing with the crackdown. “If customers want to add nicotine to one of the hundreds of nicotine free e-liquids we carry, they can simply purchase that separately. We sell 1 milliliter nicotine solution packages and send them home with you in a child safe container, or you can take advantage of our ultrasonic mixer. The 1 mil will cost around four dollars, including the price of the nicotine pouch and the city taxes.” The city of Chicago isn’t just spending all that tax money on worthy items like retirement funds for it’s loyal employees. An anti-vaping campaign, replete with
“Some of my family members thought I was a little crazy for wanting this picture, but the photographer totally got it.” she said. “Local businesses make the city of Chicago a home. It’s a place that people from all over the world travel to see what separates Chicago from the rest. Local business tax money supports all of Chicago’s functions from snow plowing to street paving to building parks like the 606 that draws people to want to make a home here. This is what separates us from the suburbs. Suburbs have chains in every strip mall. In Chicago, local businesses know their customers and form relationships and makes people want to stay in Chicago and spend their money, which in turn, supports our municipality.” While many people aren’t rattled by the city’s scare tactics, some will fall prey to it’s baseless propaganda. Those people will most likely stick to what they know, cigarettes. And what does Chicago gain from this? Will the city find it’s missing $627 million by taxing the life out of local business and keeping smokers out in the cold?
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Mastering the Vape Space
In 1982, first-time-writer John Naisbitt penned the book “Megatrends.” Little did he know, it paints a microcosm of the vape industry’s deep roots in Florida. Megatrends discusses societal changes within the country and said that “The most reliable way to anticipate the future is by understanding the present.” He called himself a “social forecaster.” Fifteen years earlier, Naisbitt worked at the White House under President Lyndon Johnson and was tasked with gathering similar intelligence for the staffers. He and his team of two dozen analysts dissected 200 daily newspapers from all over the United States and looked for signs or indicators of what was to come. This was the core of Megatrends. Today, there are online tools that do the same thing, but 35 years ago this was innovative and tedious work. His studies revealed that many new trends in the US comes from just a few states which he called “bellwether states.” Among those were California and Florida. When it comes to innovation and leadership in the vape space these two states stand out more than most others. California, which is considered “Ground Zero” for vaping and where many things start, is an obvious choice. But “Why Florida?”
Moon Mountain Vape Bar
The Significance of Florida Florida pulls lots of money and talent from the colder Northeast area which accounts for lots of demographic immigration. The huge influx of senior citizens, retirees and snowbirds that escape the colder climes do the same. Since Megatrends came out there has also been a big increase in South American and Hispanic influence,
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especially in Miami and the surrounding Dade and Broward counties. Also since that time, the election debacle of 2000 has made Florida and Floridians noteworthy for the wrong reasons. For those that may not remember, the presidential election of 2000 was a virtual tie until the “chad” hit the fan in Florida. Were it not for a few winds blowing the other direction, we may have had President Al Gore instead of President George W. Bush in office. I recently spoke with Rich Peirce, Digital Marketing manager and T.D. Bowen,
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owner, from Moon Mountain Vapor, in Tampa, and asked the pivotal question: why Florida? “Florida is prevalent in retail, e-liquid companies and corporate locations because of the diverse culture of people from all over the country,” they replied. “Florida is a melting pot with few multi-generational natives here. Most are first generation born Americans or Floridians. “They all seem to bring ideas and ways of thinking from other areas. Since there are no state income taxes in Florida, it also appeals to those that want to avoid that expense.” As in California, there are a select few significant areas of actively: Broward and Dade counties, which cover Miami and the surrounding areas; Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which surround Tampa to the north, and Orange county, which is dead center and includes Orlando. The Tampa area appeals to many displaced middle class Americans, whereas Miami and the southern cities have a huge percentage of South Americans, Cubans, and immigrants from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Customers vaping in a Vapor Shark store V2, South Beach Smoke, VaporFi, and Vapor Shark.
Leidel brought up an interesting statistic about Florida. Florida has a very high number of alcohol treatment centers and former alcoholics. Many of them are also reformed smokers and have become vapers. Florida is a leader in advocacy, with their own state association, the Florida Smoke Free Association, FSFA, which was established in 2014. Bowen was one of the founders and continues to be actively involved.
According the Moon Mountain, “Florida is the largest vaping state in the eastern United States.” As a consultant, I echo that opinion as Florida is the number one state for VapeMentors clients, surpassing even California. Many recognizable name brands originate in Florida, including Halo,
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I caught up with Brandon Leidel, CEO of Miami based Vapor Shark, and one of the bigger players in the business and asked his thoughts. Since starting in 2010, Vapor Shark has grown to 37 locations, including one in Shanghai and Guatemala. They include both corporate shops as well as franchises, but have the largest retail presence of anyone in the state.
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Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also host of Vape Radio, a podcast series that interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.
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How to Solve the Vaping Regulatory Mess in a Few Short Rules By Julie Selesnick To say I solved vaping might be a tiny-bit of an exaggeration. In a perfect world, where vaping is embraced as the premier method of smoking cessation, and the mutual societal goal is to make it even better and even safer than it already is, there are very few federal rules and regulations that would be necessary to properly regulate the industry. Understanding vaping is 95% safer than smoking and is the cause of the unprecedented decline in the smoking rate occurring in the United States and worldwide, the following regulations would be more than sufficient to help people who want to quit smoking by vaping.
3.
4.
Restrictive Regulations
Some restrictive regulations are inevitable, and I am one of the vapers who would be ok with moderate regulations aimed at avoiding or limiting the most dangerous vapingrelated situations. This includes: 1. Requiring the caps on e-liquid bottles to be childproof. This is a no-brainer and I cannot fathom any argument against it. 2. Require e-liquid bottles to display the ingredients and carry a nicotine warning label. It is dangerous to ingest liquid nicotine, and people should know that, especially so they keep their e-liquids away from children and pets. People should also have
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access to the ingredient list for any e-juice they are thinking of purchasing, so an informed decision can be made of what products to purchase. Ban the use of Diacetyl in e-liquids. Do I think anyone is going to vape enough diacetylcontaining e-liquid to contract “popcorn lung”? No, I don’t. However, diacetyl is a carcinogen, and there is absolutely no need to ingest it. I know this might upset some vapers, but there are so many choices; why vape something that could lead to a deadly disease when it’s not necessary. I feel the same about formaldehyde and any other carcinogens or additives that cause additional health risks. Do something to regulate the batteries used in mechanical mods, box mods, and electronic cigarettes to minimize explosions. We cannot regulate away user error, but we can implement some reasonable standards that will ensure only high quality batteries that have been quality checked are used in devices sold to the vaping public. Establish a reasonable review process for new products. Perhaps the federal government could work with an organization like AEMSA to help all of the current e-liquid makers and future e-liquid manufacturers adhere to a set of standards and obtain certification. This should be done with an eye to preserving small business and helping those whose products do not meet the standards get into compliance.
Positive Regulations
I also believe there should be positive, pro-vaping regulation. Given the research to date both on the comparative safety of e-cigarettes to traditional cigarettes, and the unprecedented success people have seen by using vaping as a smoking cessation device, it might be appropriate to include federal legislation such as: 1. Taking the regulation of e-cigarettes out of the tobacco realm and into the same regulatory realm as other smoking cessation devices. This is something the pharmaceutical lobby will resist, a lobby that is hostile to the e-cigarette industry as a whole. The New York times reported last year that the makers of Nicorette gum, GlaxoSmithKline, and the manufacturers of nicotine patches, Johnson & Johnson, lead the strong opposition against e-cigarettes. The evidence, however, supports this, and the public health community and our elected officials need to be on the side of the people, not the side of the lobbyists. 2. Set a federal safety standard that, if met, allows insurance coverage for e-cigarettes to assist those who wish to quit smoking. This is the law in Great Britain as of January 2016, and it is the strongest way government can help people who have been unsuccessful in the past to quit smoking. 3. Fund a system devoted to the funding of research to increase vaping safety, instead of funding studies looking for ghosts to debunk it as a means of smoking cessation. Imagine what we could do if we actually had grants available to make e-liquids and hardware safer.
There You Have It
That’s it. Leave other rules to the states, who should be instructed (and have federal funding tied to) legislating e-cigarettes in a manner consistent with what they actually are: a legitimate nicotine replacement therapy option and the preferred method of smoking cessation for people who have failed in the past. Yes, it will be annoying if your state or municipality rules that you cannot vape inside of your favorite restaurant, but once there is a federal regulation declaring vapor products separate from tobacco, restaurants will have a strong argument that they should have the option of including a vaping section if they wish. More importantly, if federal health policy on vaping is made around the concept that vaping is the most effective technology yet introduced in the war against smoking, instead of treating it like a tobacco product, then the states will take the cue and make regulations accordingly. Before any of these common sense rules and regulations can come to fruition, the conversation needs a fundamental change. Instead of electronic cigarettes being considered counter-culture addictions like regular cigarettes, vaping advocacy must focus on changing the public perception of vaping. The public has to be made to understand how much safer vaping is than smoking, and how much more effective it is in helping potential quitters than any other smoking cessation device available to the smoking population. When we get there, we can easily solve the issues surrounding vaping regulation, and make everybody happy. Until that day comes, Keep Calm and Vape On.
Max VG • Dessert Line Just as the founders of this country came together in Philadelphia to fight for their Freedom and Independence, Liberty Vapor sought insight and to pay homage to the Great Minds that gathered to form the Liberty of this country. We support and fight our own bales to keep the Freedom of Vaping!
Hancock
Blueberry Donut ile known fact, Hancock was the wealthiest man of the Colonies, after inheriting a mercantile business. He gave it all up for Freedom, except his love for his Blueberry Donuts. Rumor has it he signed his name first and large to make sure he got another donut.
Adams
Rice Cereal Treat
Jefferson
Lemon Meringue Pie
Washington Strawberry Parfait
Henry
Peach Cobbler atrick Henry was known for being the biggest instigator, and thought it was important to keep the troops unified and motivated. at must be why he uered his famous quote, “Give me Li Liberty or give me Peach Cobbler.”
to get forefathers on your shelves, immediately contact wholesale@libertyvapor.net
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THE CHILD NICOTINE Poisoning Prevention Act By Patricia I. Kovacevic
Where do we stand at federal level with vaping products regulation? As of the end of February, the proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deeming vaping products (and other products) tobacco products appears to still be with the Office of Management and Budget of the White House. In fact, as late as mid-February, the Office of Management and Budget took additional meetings with interested parties, specifically with senators, on the so-called deeming rule. However, in response to general concerns regarding accessibility of nicotine-containing liquids by unintended individuals, on Jan. 13, Congress passed the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015, which was then sent to the President of the United States and was signed into law on January 28, 2016. The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) jurisdiction over anyone selling a “liquid nicotine container” in or into the U.S. and controls the packaging of such containers under the Poison Prevention Packaging Act. The act requires any nicotine, which is offered for sale in liquid nicotine containers, to be packaged in accordance with the CPSC’s standards and to pass testing in accordance with the method described below.
Liquid nicotine container is defined as “a package […] (i) from which nicotine in a solution or other form is accessible through normal and foreseeable use by a consumer; and (ii) that is used to hold soluble nicotine in any concentration, but it does not include a sealed, pre-filled, and disposable container of nicotine in a solution or other form in which such container is inserted directly into an electronic cigarette, electronic nicotine delivery system, or other similar product, if the nicotine in the container is inaccessible through customary or reasonably foreseeable handling or use, including reasonably foreseeable ingestion or other contact by children.“ In lay terms, cigalikes and sealed refill cartridges need not meet the child-safe packaging requirement. The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act does not preempt the Food and Drug Administration’s future authority over vaping products or other nicotine-containing products packaging. The act, however, mandates that the Food and Drug Administration consult with the CPSC if the FDA “adopts, maintains, enforces, or imposes or continues in effect any packaging requirement for liquid nicotine containers, including a child-resistant packaging requirement […] taking into consideration the expertise of the Commission in implementing and enforcing this Act and the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 (15 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.).” One could wonder – is this recent law
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in fact contemplating an erosion of the Food and Drug Administration’s authority over the packaging of vaping products? An important consequence of this lawpre-empting requirements in place by state and local authorities. The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act does not specifically address the preemption issue, however it is well established that CPSC regulation will preempt state and local requirements applicable to the same product. Thus, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act specifically preempts state and local standards on child resistant packaging that are not identical to the Consumer Product Safety Commission standard. The broader issue of state and local preemption with respect to vaping products is addressed in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009. Certain state laws adopted to date with respect to vaping products manufacturing or specifications will become inapplicable if vaping products are deemed tobacco products. One could argue that states had affirmative knowledge of such future FDA regulation since the 2010 Sottera decision and should not have gone through the trouble of regulating the manufacture or labeling of vaping products, among other things, as this will fall under the FDA’s jurisdiction. In conclusion, the Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act is now the governing federal statute with respect to child resistant packaging for vaping products as defined and limited in the act itself. Manufacturers have 180 days to comply with the act, meaning until July 25, 2016. Since compliance may require the replacement of some existing containers that do not meet the CPSC’s standards, manufacturers should take steps to meet these requirements soon. Associated links: Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015 full text: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s142/text Consumer Product Safety Commission’s standards: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title16-vol2/ pdf/CFR-2012-title16-vol2-sec1700-20.pdf
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columns From Word of Mouth to Top Google Ranking
Crowd Chasers By Maria Verven
How to BLOW UP in the Vape Space
Marketing Pros Help ProVape Launch ProVari to #1 From its humble beginnings in 2009 to today, ProVape and its ProVari line of products have come a long way, baby. Manufactured in the U.S. and sold in over 68 countries, ProVari has grown into a top-rated personal vaporizer thanks to its dependability, durability, safety and performance – not to mention thousands of raving fans. “ProVari has a huge fan base,” said Phil Busardo, a popular reviewer. “If you were to post something negative, fans sense something negative and will come and vigorously defend it.” In other words, ProVari is blowing away the competition. David Flagg, ProVape CEO and a full-time vaper who hasn’t had a cigarette since he switched to vaping in 2009, said he and his business partner Phillip Schuessler weren’t happy with most Chinese devices due to their poor performance, lack of quality control and safety. “When we first got into the market, we saw a lot of poorly designed products,” Flagg said. “So we set out to improve on those designs. We didn’t just want to make a premium device; we also wanted to keep manufacturing here in the U.S. to support American workers.”
In the early days, there was very little marketing to speak of; word of mouth from customers was their only advertising. Even so, thanks to great reviews, sales were going well. In 2013, they hired Eventige, a full-service marketing agency, to update the website. “Our focus had to be on building and testing products and shipping orders,” Flagg said. “We looked around at several agencies, but connected with the Eventige team and their vision.” Eventige lists dozens of clients, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Ford Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott, Microsoft, Skype, Uber and The Wall Street Journal. Their client list also includes Logic and Ecig Caddy. Alexei Alankin, CEO and founder, is a vaper and passionate about the industry. Eventige was a key sponsor at SFATA’s annual meeting last year. Alankin and the Eventige team came up with several suggestions and marketing ideas, eventually honing their strategy and focusing on new product launches. They started by creating a unique look and feel for every ProVape product page on the website. As the relationship with ProVape grew, so did their engagement until eventually Eventige assumed responsibility for all of ProVape’s social media, website and marketing. Eventige created and implemented a global brand strategy that aligned all brand marketing activities into a cohesive and milestone driven roadmap. The goal was to increase brand awareness and global sales to smokers as well as current vapers. “We first focused on developing an online marketing strategy,
Flagg said everything – from engineering designs to circuit boards to the metal work on all ProVari products – is made in Monroe, Wash., a small town about 45 minutes east of Seattle. Since the release of the ProVari 1 in 2010, ProVape has released several different models, including the ProVari 2, 2.5 and 3, the ProVari Classic and the ergonomically designed ProVari Radius, launched last October. Starting with only four staffers in a 6,000 square foot facility, ProVape has grown to over 40 employees working out of a 24,000 square foot facility. “It’s nice having all the extra space,” Flagg said. “Having departments instead of everyone crammed into a small area really helps us be more organized.” ProVape Team in Las Vegas
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euroflavor.com
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columns and then created the materials needed to reach the mass market,” Alankin said. “Our experience in e-commerce and online positioning helped us navigate this difficult terrain and find unique ways to propel the ProVape message forward.” Alankin said they boosted online sales by focusing on inbound lead strategies that elevated ProVape’s organic ranking in Google searches. After implementing both on- and off-page proven SEO (search engine optimization) strategies, they then improved the website load speeds and user interface design and optimized the website conversion rate, turning more visitors into buyers and eventually fans. Thanks to these efforts, ProVape increased its search traffic by a whopping 1,600 percent. ProVape.com continues to hold the number one position on Google and other search engines for several important keyword searches used by people seeking high quality vaping devices. This is a critical strategy, since any business selling vape products cannot use Google AdWords or paid acquisition strategies to generate website traffic.
Quadrupling the Fan Base Eventige also developed loyalty programs, online contests and social media aggregate platforms to strengthen public opinion, increase sharing and optimize opportunities for the ProVari brand to build a following in the vape community. On the #VapeProVari fan board, they delivered a daily influx of user-generated content that continues to drive engagement and attraction. This helped quadruple the number of social media fans in a very short period of time. For example, in one campaign, they sent ‘Zombies’ roaming the virtual streets via digital media to promote the Zombie version of the ProVari. This unique design of the classic unit features a coating that looks like blood spatter, and the design was a hit with fans all around the world. When ProVape got ready to roll out its new ProVari 3, Eventige created custom packaging that emulated the brand’s sleek, elegant, modern look. They also created a campaign to promote the lighter, titanium version of the P3, which weighs 2.1 oz. vs. the 3.8 oz. stainless steel version. Advertisements
Zombie ProVari
ProVape Virtual Store promoting the Titanium P3’s unique selling features show the ProVari 3 balancing on a fulcrum with a feather. Retail distribution hit over 900 dealers worldwide with USB keys and loyalty cards included in their point of display promotional packages. Articles have also appeared in major print media such as Reuters, Forbes, and the Daily Caller as well as vape publications VAPE News and Vapor Voice. Today, ProVape continues to experience aggressive growth rates; even celebrities like Katherine Heigl are using a ProVari device. The partnership between ProVape and Eventige is also as strong as ever. “Four years ago when I started vaping, I was looking for that perfect product,” Alankin said. “Ever since I met David (Flagg), the ProVari was it for me. Over the years, I upgraded whenever a new model came out. I’ve also helped many friends and family make the switch.” Meanwhile, Alankin is always experimenting with ways to drive new customers to the ProVari brand. “It’s very much a rotating platter when it comes to what to try next,” he said. “We’re always trying to see what gets the most attention.” The original “Vaping VampTM,” Maria Verven is a 35-year P.R. veteran and owner of Verve P.R, a marketing firm focused on the vape industry.
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columns Until now, many vapers have been happily vaping away, without much concern over the contents of their E-Liquids. After all, E-Liquid is made from simple, safe, household ingredients — it’s gotta be better than the 7,000+ chemicals in cigarettes, right? As long as the juice is made in a clean fashion — there isn’t much to worry about. But then diacetyl reared its ugly head. Although knowledge of the chemical is not new in vaping circles, after all, informed vapers know that electronic cigarette researcher Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos warned us about the chemical back in 2014, with a study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. The study recommended then that diacetyl and acetyl propionyl (AP) be removed from E-Liquids, as they are an avoidable risk. The diacetyl story broke to the public in December 2015 when a study was published in Environmental Health Perspectives, by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that revealed the chemical’s presence was in up to 75 percent of vapor liquids.
Vaping Industry Tackles Diacetyl in E-liquids By Leigh Oates
But, why the concern? What potential harm can diacetyl cause? Diacetyl, when inhaled, can cause bronchiolitis obliterans, popularly known as popcorn lung. Inhalations of high concentrations of diacetyl can cause obstructive lung disease, which can be very severe. With popcorn lung, the bronchioles of the lung become scarred and constricted, blocking the movement of air. This was bad news for vapers who were turning to e-cigarettes as a way to reduce harm from cigarette smoking. If vapor liquids contained ingredients that would damage the lungs as well, then why not just smoke? A Daily Caller article then responded, pointing out important facts that had not been discussed by the Harvard report, and charging the study with selectively revealing information about diacetyl content in other substances — namely, tobacco cigarettes. Dr. Farsalinos has argued that cigarette tobacco also contains high levels of diacetyl — even higher than those found in most vapor liquids. He presented data showing tobacco to have much higher levels of diacetyl — on average 110 times higher compared to the E-Liquid samples he tested. Additionally, he observed that the threshold for the diacetyl content in the Harvard study was very low — inhaling levels of diacetyl this low were unlikely to contribute to popcorn lung. Cigarettes have not been linked to the disease, and if cigarettes contain higher levels of diacetyl than e-cigs, than how can we reasonably conclude that E-Liquids cause the disease? Even so, the vape industry had to respond. If harm reduction is truly the game here, when faced with this news, manufacturers had to act. E-Liquid producers then turned to their flavoring suppliers with questions. Some suppliers claim directly on their website that diacetyl is not added to any of their flavorings. Others have gone even farther to remove other questionable chemicals AP and acetoin from their formulations. How can E-Liquid companies handle the diacetyl question? Some companies try their best to have no trace of diacetyl or other known harmful chemicals in the juices. Their juices are tested by third-party laboratories and the test results are often proudly posted on the company website. Other companies
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COLUMNS have chosen to be transparent — acknowledging that the liquids may have some concentrations of diacetyl, AP, or acetoin — and that there is some risk taken by the consumer. Those warnings acknowledge the link between diacetyl and lung disease, while also noting that no adequate testing has been done on diacetyl in electronic cigarettes. After all, it has been pointed out that the workers who developed popcorn lung were breathing in high concentrations of pure flavorings at extremely high temps, and also that the levels of diacetyl in electronic cigarettes were less than diacetyl levels in tobacco cigarettes. Other companies have not said much either way — and still others have been accused of misleading their customers. What is the best policy for E-Liquid manufacturers? As Dr. Farsalinos has argued, transparency by the juice companies and removal of the chemicals are the only two viable ways to move forward. When companies hedge or refuse to answer tough questions about their E-Liquids, they seem uninformed at best and deceptive at worst. And of course, falsifying test results or making false claims is a completely unacceptable practice. How do vapers move on from diacetyl? Vapers should ask for test results as well as informing themselves of the risks associated with the product. But since vapers are moving away from the clearly toxic habit of smoking to a clearly less harmful habit of vaping — which no one has claimed to be totally safe, the risks associated with diacetyl seem minimal. Especially since an informed vaper can easily avoid it by choosing diacetyl free liquids. In the future, more extensive testing of E-Liquids and flavorings will be the norm. As electronic cigarettes continue to be studied, we hope that they will be studied in a way that is fair and balanced, not in a way that aims to stifle the technology. By and large, vapers are health conscious individuals. Many of them chose vaping in the first place as a way to move towards a healthy lifestyle. As research identifies the E-Liquid flavors that have the least health risks, and companies adapt to the changes, vaping will continue to be a good choice from smokers looking to quit combustible tobacco. Sources / Further Reading: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/12/chemicalflavorings-found-in-e-cigarettes-linked-to-lung-disease/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25180080 http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2010/consumer_booklet/chemicals_smoke/ http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/flavorings/default.html http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/09/how-the-media-totallyexaggerated-study-on-risk-of-popcorn-lung-from-e-cigarettes/ http://www.ecigarette-research.org/research/index.php/ whats-new/whatsnew-2015/236-da2
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CASAA What to Do When You Want to Do More to Protect Vaping By Alex Clark
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columns Most state legislatures have been in session for over a month now. In that short period of time, CASAA has identified multiple legislative threats to vaping and issued over 30 calls to action. Typically, the response rate to our calls to action is noticeably higher than some organizations see with other issues. Certainly this speaks to the passion that consumers have for vapor products and the level to which we are willing to be engaged. However, despite all of the opportunities that consumers have to be involved, some people are still hungry for more ways to participate. CASAA has attended several events already in 2016, and at each one, we were approached by people that want to know what more they can do; they simply aren’t satisfied with firing off an email or making a phone call to a lawmaker. The good news is there are absolutely more ways to get involved. First, Register To Vote! There are an estimated ten million vapor consumers in the United States (at the time of this writing, CASAA is close to counting 134,000 of them as members). Although most of the vapor consumers in the US are people that purchase or have purchased the cig-a-like or basic “ego” style devices from a C-store or gas station, there are still millions of consumers that purchase and use advanced devices from small specialty shops. Just imagine the voting power we would have if just that group of advanced users were registered to vote and actually voted. Yes, we are talking about determining the outcome of a federal election. Moreover, when you communicate with lawmakers, it is vitally important that you mention that you are a voter in their district. While it’s true that good ideas and passionate policy discussion come from nonvoters to a lawmaker, the prospects of losing or gaining a vote in the next election carries more weight.
to just one or a few shops and they seem unaware of the issues, take a moment to recommend some materials they can post in their store. CASAA has things that can be downloaded and printed out for free (bit.ly/casaamaterials). You can also find flyers that are tailored to specific states or issues here: bit.ly/casaaflyers. Finally, sharing calls to action and other bits of information is vitally important to getting the word out and are often overlooked as ways to get more involved. Some may naturally assume that information coming from a large organization is seen by many more people than one person can hope to reach. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I’ll refer back to the 9.8 million vapor consumers in the US that are seemingly unaware of the threats to their access to vapor products. The reality is that you have social and business networks that advocacy organizations are unable to reach on their own. Manufacturers and online retailers, especially, have large email lists that consist of vendors and consumers alike. While CASAA can send out one alert here and there to specific audiences, our message tends to get buried in all of the other exciting stuff happening in the vapor universe. It is vital that everyone who interacts with these products sees multiple reminders to take action or to generally be aware of the issues. It may seem like “doing more” requires some kind of heroic effort. However, it’s the little things that add up and can have a significant impact. Rather than strive for grand gestures intended to jump start a revolution, consistent and simple actions are what sustain a movement.
Second, when you make a call or send written communications to lawmakers, it is a great idea to take that opportunity to request an in-person meeting. It may take a while to set up the meeting and you may only end up speaking with a staff member, but any inperson meeting with a lawmaker or their staff sends a powerful message that you are serious about this issue. Once you’ve scheduled your meeting, take a moment to reach out to any of the organizations that have been doing this for a while. Someone there will be more than happy to share their experience and help prepare you for your meeting. Third, the aforementioned 10 million vapor consumers in the US need to know how to get involved. Maybe more importantly, they need to know that they should get involved. There are still hundreds of vapor retailers that don’t know about the regulatory threats to their businesses. Unfortunately, their customers are likely in the dark as well. As consumers, you have the power to influence retailers with your spending habits. Shop in stores that promote awareness and advocacy. If you are limited
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Alex Clark, CASAA Legislative Coordinator
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By JULIE SELESNICK For a variety of reasons, vaping has a particularly negative image with the non-vaping public. Let’s examine the five main reasons why, and what we, as a community, can do to rehabilitate that image.
Negative Media Coverage It isn’t surprising that the general public has such a negative perception of vaping, given the frequent media coverage devoted to only the most unfavorable news and shoddy journalism. Every day there are negative articles devoted to vaping with sensational or misleading titles. I saw this article today, titled “E-cigarette Use Increasing
Among Teens”. Why title it that way? Wouldn’t something like “Cigarette Use Plummets Among Teens” have been more accurate, since that is the direct effect of teens using e-cigarettes? Another example from this week’s news is an article entitled “Parents Get the Low Down on Substance Abuse,” announcing an upcoming presentation titled “Not My Kid: What’s Really Happening with Marijuana, Binge Drinking and E-Cigarettes in Wilton.” Equating the use of e-cigarettes with binge drinking and marijuana, and classifying e-cigarette users as substance
abusers is ridiculous. For crying out loud, cigarettes are NOT part of the topic, but e-cigarettes are? I call bullshit. The media coverage of vaping is so toxic it was even noted in an article written by Sally Satel, M.D., a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute — who is completely independent from the e-cigarette industry. Her article, “What’s Driving the War on E-Cigarettes?,” concludes that the fault lies with the Center for Disease Control (CDC). She argues the CDC should be embracing vaping but instead are taking the so-called “precautionist” approach; giving disproportionate weight to speculative evidence and minimizing the potential benefits. The CDC’s position on vaping directly affects and encourages the rampant negative media attention. As Dr. Satel noted in her article, this position harms smokers who have been unable to quit by other means, it is bad for the integrity of the field of public health, and will ultimately harm the CDC’s credibility as it is a major violation of the public trust.
Association With Traditional Cigarettes This reason irritates me, because it is the ultimate illustration of the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover.” That is
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exactly what the public does when it comes to vaping: it looks like smoking, so they react accordingly. When someone is vaping, there are clouds of vapor expelled that resemble smoke. The nonsmoking public is so conditioned to hate cigarette smoking that the knee-jerk reaction is to hate vaping as well — often just as much as they hate smoking. When combined with the public’s lack of factual knowledge of vaping (thanks again, mainstream media,) the result is basically a presumption against vaping as a viable alternative to smoking. I like to call this the “mom factor” – your mom just doesn’t want
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COLUMNS to see anything that resembles a cloud of smoke, no matter what you kids are calling it these days!
Health Concerns The public sees vaping as far too similar to smoking, and media coverage is too often skewed to the most horrible things that ever happen in the vaping world. Exploding batteries are an ever-popular topic, because the idea of your face or genitals being blown off by a vape battery is disturbing. While extremely problematic, this issue is far more rare than the public would believe, is most often the result of improper use, and is no more prevalent than it is in other types of technology that use lithium-ion batteries — such as cell phones. Outside of the immediate risk of a mod catching fire or being injured by explosion, there is no end to the news coverage of popcorn
lung, diacetyl, anti-freeze, and random chemicals found in batches of e-juice. Another popular story angle is the one of children being poisoned from drinking liquid nicotine. There are concerns related to expelled vapor, even though studies have shown it is no more harmful than air. Then come the concerns related to whether there is formaldehyde in liquids. There is no end to the amount of health concerns people seem to have about e-cigarettes.
Common Industry Marketing Tactics can alienate average or new vapers Sorry vape family, but some of the marketing tactics used in our arena are distasteful. If you have ever been to a vape convention, it is basically where Hooters waitresses go to die. Some strong connections have been made between vaping and a solely masculine subculture that is all about naked ladies and blowing sick clouds. This takes vaping firmly outside of what the mainstream is interested in. The second group the public associates with vaping are trendy “hipsters” — an association firmly rooted in images of people like Paris Hilton and Kylie Jenner vaping. One often hears the word “douchey” tossed around in description of the type of people who vape (don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just delivering the news). Outsiders who look at a vaping magazine or wander into a vape shop do not feel that they are part of the world that is being advertised; this is especially true for older females who may want to give vaping a try and are confronted with e-liquids with names like Monkey Jizz or Zombie Puss.
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Lack of Support From Any Major Group in the NonVaping World As already mentioned, the CDC is firmly against vaping as a means of quitting smoking. So is the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, and the majority of the public health field. Add the majority of Congress and legislators across the United States to the groups not on our side and we are left with a pretty sad little group of supporters, which basically consists of people who vape, Leonardo DiCaprio, those in the vaping business, Grover Norquist, and Representative Duncan Hunter from California. And don’t forget Kylie Jenner.
How Can We Rehabilitate the Public Vaping Image? Lest you thought I was only here to point out how bad things are for vapers in the current climate, I do have a few ideas on how to fix our image. I have one quick idea for each of the five areas discussed above, which, if implemented, would go a long way towards giving our industry the public perception makeover it desperately needs. First, respond to negative media coverage with positive media coverage. Vapers are always active in the comments section of anti-vaping articles, and should continue to be so, but in a respectful and informed way so that anyone reading it might actually learn something. The more of us that write positive articles about vaping, high-
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lighting positive research and the correlation between the rise in the use of e-cigarettes to the historical plummet in the use of traditional cigarettes, while always emphasizing the scientific study which illustrates that vaping is 95 percent safer than smoking, the more the public is presented with alternate viewpoints. The public cannot understand the whole truth about vaping and have an informed opinion unless we do everything possible to share what we know. Second, stop blowing your huge vape clouds everywhere. As much as I love vaping and want to protect my right to vape, I want to protect the rights of the rest of the world to quit smoking through vaping as well. To do this, it is helpful to try not to be an asshole. And people just don’t want to see you blowing huge clouds out of your 200 watt mech mod in the middle of a restaurant while they are eating lunch. Or on an airplane. Or in the mall, at movie theaters, in line at Target, or anywhere else they are indoors. It is very easy to adjust your vaping habits to not annoy the whole world. Discretion is a virtue; try it out.
and marketed. No deaths have been attributed to vaping, something that cannot be said of other FDA approved forms of nicotine replacement therapy, like Chantix. These are the truths we need to hammer home, and change the view of vaping from nothing more than a recreational drug to a serious and safe means of smoking cessation. Finally, we must find support outside the vaping community. As compelling as Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Louis-Dreyfus may be, we need more people like them. We need disinterested (non-vaping) members of the public health community, the government, and the media to help change the image of vaping, and give it the legitimacy it deserves. We need smart, disinterested people like Dr. Satel to tell it like it is, and present the entire truth about vaping, and its usefulness in the fight against smoking. We need members of the general public to embrace vaping the same way they embrace lozenges, patches and pills as useful tools that help people quit smoking. Until then, Keep Calm and Vape On.
Third, the vaping community must continue to put forth a harm reduction philosophy to compete against the “precautionist” model which currently governs. Our stance must be firm that vaping should be embraced as the premier means of smoking cessation, and anyone concerned about possible health ramifications should be devoted to minimizing those harms, instead of exaggerating them. Since we all know vaping is 95 percent safer than smoking, all health concerns must be reviewed in that context. What do I mean by that? If you are addressing people worried about the diacetyl in e-cigarettes and its potential to cause “popcorn lung”, after making sure the person or group you are engaging is aware there is 750% more diacetyl in a cigarette than in an e-cigarette according to a Harvard study, change the focus to the vast number of diacetyl-free liquids available. You don’t fix a sprained ankle by cutting off the head of the injured patient; we should respond to the actual nature of the “threat,” and encourage others to do the same. Fourth, we need to change our marketing tactics. The data shows that women are more likely to try e-cigarettes than men are in an attempt to quit smoking. If anything, get Channing Tatum and his group from Magic Mike on some advertisements! I’m kidding, and actually we must entirely reframe the lens through which e-cigarettes are viewed publicly. Of course they are used recreationally, but they are the most successful smoking cessation device known to mankind; THAT is how they should be advertised
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E-Liquid Makers Scramble to Avoid
EUROPEAN By Maria Verven
LOCKOUT
May 20 is the Deadline to Comply with the European Tobacco Products Directive (EU TPD) What’s Wrong with the TPD
EU TPD. Any e-liquid manufacturer selling in Europe must know what these initials mean, because it’ll be the law on May 20 this year. The European Tobacco Products Directive (EU TPD) has set reporting, guidance and restrictions on cigarettes since 2001 and in May, the TPD’s Article 20 will regulate e-cigarettes as well.
The main issue with Article 20 of the TPD – like the FDA’s deeming regulations – is it fails to recognize where vaping products fall in the risk continuum, according to Robert
“The TPD will affect every e-liquid or e-cigarette manufacturer selling in any one of the EU’s 28 countries,” said Dennis Moore, founder and CEO of Chemular, a full-service regulatory consulting firm that boasts the largest team of compliance, manufacDennis Moore turing software and engineering experts specializing in the U.S. vaping industry. Moore and the Chemular team are currently helping e-liquid companies gain compliance with the TPD while lowering their liability risk by following best-of-class quality practices. A former FDA investigator and regulatory expert, Moore is highly qualified to help companies negotiate the TPD’s quality standards as well as the labyrinth inside the FDA. What does complying with the TPD mean, exactly? The TPD requires companies to submit a dossier including detailed toxicology and emissions data on every flavor in every nicotine level that flavor comes in. A technical file must also be submitted on any new product at least six months prior to launch. While hiring an attorney isn’t necessary, most companies need the guidance of regulatory and quality professionals to help them prepare the technical file and registration dossier. The process can take several weeks, and if the deadline isn’t met, sales are banned for six months.
Robert Burton Burton, Chemular’s chief scientific officer and former head of regulatory affairs for White Cloud. “Cigarettes are the most harmful things on the tobacco harm reduction risk continuum,” said Burton. “But the way the TPD is written, it doesn’t support that.” Burton first started working with the TPD on the tobacco side over nine years ago. “Like many of these regulations, they’re not appropriate for vaping products,” he said. “E-cigarettes and vaping products have been inappropriately squeezed into these regulations.” Regardless, the TPD is a fact of life that e-liquid companies will have to live with. The only exception is zero nicotine e-liquids or e-cigarettes; if they don’t contain nicotine, they don’t fall under the TPD.
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Remember: 20-20-10 A simple way to remember three key hallmarks of the TPD is 20-20-10. May 20 is the deadline. 20 mg is the maximum nicotine concentration. And 10 ml is the maximum bottle size. With May 20, 2016, as the final compliance deadline, each of the 28 European member states may adopt some or all of the TPD guidelines – or come up with its own. So far, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and the U.K. have fully adopted the TPD’s guidelines, while the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland have partially adopted them.
E-liquid bottles must list all ingredients in descending order as well as indicate the exact nicotine concentration. Nicotine levels are restricted to 2 percent or 20 milligrams per milliliter. Bottles and containers containing nicotine e-liquids must be child- and tamper-proof. Plus, the TPD restricts the size of e-liquid bottles and tanks; bottles may not be larger than 10 ml and the device chamber size, including coils, may not exceed 2 ml. “This, again, is counterintuitive,” Burton said. “Vapers, and especially those who desire higher nicotine concentrations, will have to carry around more liquid with them.”
Gaining Favor with Flavor Companies Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden have yet to adopt any guidelines, although Moore expects these countries to simply adopt the TPD rulebook, as it stands. “When you’re dealing with 28 member states, it’s quite a complicated matrix,” Moore said. He explained that the format of the dossier varies from member state to member state, depending on their sophistication and ability to deal with proprietary information. For example, some countries require an electronic ingredient disclosure while others ask for password-protected CD-ROMs, he said.
Perhaps the greatest burden on e-liquid manufacturers is that the TPD demands they provide detailed specifications on each flavor and flavor ingredient. A technical file, which includes a list of all ingredients, is much like a medical device file, Moore explained. The final dossier would include a toxicology assessment and emissions test on each SKU and ingredient along with the artwork, instructions for use and disclosure requirements for each member state.
In another example, member states can demand the full health warning on e-liquid and e-cigarette packaging: “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance. It is not recommended for use by non-smokers.” A simpler version is also allowed: “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance.” The TPD also demands that companies include a leaflet with instructions for use and storage of the product, warnings against use by young people and non-smokers, and contra-indications for specific risk groups such as pregnant women. Information on the product’s addictiveness, toxicity, potential adverse effects as well as contact details for the manufacturer or importer is also necessary.
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COLUMNS Moore said they’re doing preliminary emissions testing to see which flavors may be of most interest to regulators. “Some flavors such as cinnamon and licorice contain aldehyde molecules have raised some concerns,” he said. The biggest hurdle may not be the time or money to complete this dossier, Moore said. The main sticking point could be with flavor companies that may be reluctant to divulge their flavor ingredients because they’re literally their secret sauce. Moore said Chemular is working with flavor shops to create a third-party repository process where flavor shops submit detailed flavor compounds under a very strict non-disclosure. Since it’s likely that the FDA will be on the same regulatory trail, Chemular is working to gain the confidence of flavor manufacturers to give up this proprietary information. “If the flavor facilities won’t divulge molecular information on their flavor compounds, they’re simply not going to survive in the newly regulated environment,” Moore said.
Getting Ready for REACH Finally, the TPD will also require e-liquid companies to use REACH-registered chemicals. REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) is a program initiated by the European Chemicals Agency to ensure the safety of major ingredients used in consumer products. Going beyond U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) and European Pharmacopoeia (EP) standards, REACH will apply to nicotine, propylene glycol (PG), and vegetable glycerin (VG). As of this writing, only two nicotine manufacturers meet REACH standards – CNT and Nicobrand, Europe’s oldest producer of nicotine. While not enforced until 2018, the TPD will require that these chemicals meet REACH standards. So every manufacturer not using REACH-approved nicotine, PG and VG will eventually have to reformulate their flavors and then resubmit files to the TPD. The original “Vaping VampTM,” Maria Verven is a 35year P.R. veteran and owner of Verve P.R, a marketing firm focused on the vape industry.
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Something that hasn’t been done. Since I have the most experience in the design area I was tasked with giving Vapeworx it’s look and feel, but I didn’t want to copy the same vape shop format. I knew that in creating something so different there would be those in the vape community that would either love it or hate it.
By DOUGLAS CAMBRIA The decision to open a new shop was not an easy one, and neither was the process. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to create a place that is both unique and functional. Before creating Vapeworx I opened my first Vape Shop, named Xhale, in Ronkonkoma, New York, about two-and-a-half years ago with my then partner, Steve Smith. We opened our second store about a year later. I learned a lot in my first few years as I cut my teeth in the vaping industry. Eventually, Steve and I decided we wanted to branch off and each do our own thing. He was planning to open his own shop, and, at first, I had no plans to open another.
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That being said, I wanted Vapeworx to be for the vaping enthusiast that wanted something different, “an experience,” per se. We wanted a place where there is no pressure to buy, where a person can come in alone or with friends, hang out, play pool or just sit around at the bar with no pressure.
My boss, Marc Piacenti, and his girlfriend were thinking about opening a new one and eventually asked me to come on board. We decided we would do something original and what we believed could be used as a multi use space for public or private events.
I went through many design changes and almost drove my partner crazy, but in the end, I think I got to do exactly what I wanted. The space took almost five months to complete. After signing the lease in April, It was two or three months before we touched the space because I kept changing the design.
There are some truly great shops on Long Island that offer great service and competitive pricing — so, when it came time to design Vapeworx we had to create something different.
With the store now open, customers can drop by seven days a week at 6300 Jericho Turnpike in Commack, New York. Hang out if you want. Buy some juice, or don’t. It’s all up to you.
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THE BUILD
The flooring was badly damaged with cracks throughout the shop. The floor was grinded and the defects filled and flattened, after which the multi-colored epoxy floor was poured. This process starting from a black base and adding red, orange and silvers took days. After the base coats were dry they covered the floor in three high gloss clearcoats.
The new shop is approximately 1,750 square-feet and has no ceiling — just raw metal and exposed steel painted black. We tore out all the interior walls, the drop ceiling, the ducts, electrical wiring, and carpet.
It then took almost two weeks to prepare the walls for paint.
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The pre-opening tests of our light and sound systems — which are key to the new design
Since vape shops are often filled with a thick cloudy fog, we installed 2- 96” ceiling fans and started all the electrical
The gears were fabricated out of sign foam and cnc’d at Highland mounted, then painted by Buster
The millwork was all fabricated and installed by Highland Organization Corp. in Deer Park where I am the general manager and engineered all the design work
A good friend, Buster from Ink By Buster in Holbrook, New York, added some graffitti
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This rich, sweet tobacco blend’s complexity is produced by 9 different ingredients that are brewed and blended to perfection, creating velvety caramel and vanilla tones as well as a complementing toasted almond note.
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Features
By Norm Bour
In this wild world of vaping, collaboration is a rarity. The idea of competitors working together is rare, but the idea of several of them teaming up and dedicating their skills, talents and money towards advocacy may be rarer still. Cosmic Fog Premium Vapors, Ruthless E-juice, and KILO E-Liquid Company have recently partnered on a new venture called Hall of Fame. Each company developed and is launching their own eliquid under the collective name of Hall of Fame. Each is responsible for all costs associated with marketing and selling their line, yet each manufacturer is donating a portion of the profits to advocacy. Their goal: One million dollars donated during 2016. They are marketing that goal using #Quest4AMillion and their first donation of $60,000 has been sent to R2B Smoke-Free.org. The idea was conceived in Paris, France, while all three were attending a trade show. From that initial conversation, the idea took developed into a plan and eventually became a reality. The Hall of Fame lines are due to launch in the first quarter of 2016. Each flavor was developed specifically for this program. Each month all three companies will report how much was donated and to which organizations. Currently targeted for receipt of these contributions are CASAA, SFATA, Not Blowing Smoke and R2B Smoke-Free. Also in line for donations are several state organizations. “We all believe in 100 percent transparency, so nothing will be hidden,” said Rob Crossley, CEO of Cosmic Fog. “We have no set percentage to donate and each company is donating what they can.”
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Features
The idea was initiated by Alan Querido of Ruthless who shared it with James Kim, CEO of KILO. Since they knew that Crossley was a big supporter of advocacy, they brought him in to complete the trio. Each company developed their own line and they are sold individually. The signature line from KILO is called Donutman, which is a strawberry glazed donut flavor. Gummy Snakes is the offering from Ruthless, and Cosmic is contributing Cosmic Razz to compete the group. KILO was founded by former Army soldier James Kim and his partner, Jon Lee in August 2014. The name KILO is the military designation for the letter “K.” They initially started with two flavors and recently added number five. Cosmic Fog was founded by Crossley and his partner, Brant Peto, in October 2013. Both came from a background of digital marketing and have used many of these concepts to grow their company which now offers ten flavors. By the time of publication, these flavors should be available at most shops and wholesalers. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 million downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.
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Mayo Investigates possible medical value for e-cigarettes By COREY NOLES
A recently released study conducted by Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has found positive results among patients using e-cigarettes instead of traditional cigarettes following surgery. The study, published January 31, 2016, in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, was trying to determine the feasibility of using electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) to help patients lower the risk of postoperative complications. It cites cigarette smoking as a known factor for an increased risk of such complications. All of the 67 individuals involved in the study were smoking adults scheduled for elective surgery between December 2014 and June 2015. Each was given a supply of ENDS to
use prior to and for two weeks following surgery. The patients’ use of the devices was recorded and compared with their normal smoking behavior. At the 30-day follow-up appointment, 51 percent planned to continue using the devices with their average daily cigarette intake falling from 15.6 per person to 7.6. A total of 17 percent reported that they had completely ceased smoking cigarettes. Dr, Brian Carter, member of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) Board of Directors and the organization’s scientific communications director, said that while the study’s focus was quite narrow, its addressing an issue that has plagued surgeons for years.
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Features Carter, who is a former faculty member in the Department of Behavioral Science at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, said that surgeons will not typically operate on cancer patients as long as they continue smoking because of the additional risks that are created. “It’s just kind of a given the smoking slows the healing process,” Carter said. “If doctors can find a value in using electronic cigarettes as a means of harm reduction before and after operations, that could be of value throughout the profession.” He cautioned that more research would still need to be done, given that the focus of this study was only on elective surgery. Surgeons with Mayo seem to agree. The results intrigued Mayo doctors enough that they encourage further exploration of ENDS as a means of helping surgical patients reduce, or possibly eliminate, cigarette consumption around the time of an operation. The doctors added in the study that the devices were “well-accepted in surgical patients, and worthy of exploration as a harm reduction strategy” in such patients. Being a feasibility study, the goal was essentially to determine if there was potential value in further, more long-term research on the subject — which they found to be the case. “It’s interesting that (Mayo surgeons) are investigating this issue, because that means they acknowledge what’s found in e-cigarettes to be far different from what is found in combustible cigarettes,” Carter said. “The people in the surgical department must already recognize this or they wouldn’t have decided to investigate it.” He cautioned that the feasibility study is a very preliminary part of the process. Feasibility studies are typically conducted to determine whether there is justification for further investigation. The data recorded can then be used to help apply for grants or other means to fund the study.
Brian Carter Carter suggested a larger trial could be performed to establish what sort of reduction in cigarette smoking is desired and achievable; also can e-cigarettes reach that goal? No information was shared regarding what devices were used by the patients. It is, however, implied that they were not allowed to select their own devices, which is one of the factors that is believed to play a role in the success of e-cigarette use as a smoking cessation device. Carter explained that using a standard device with similar settings and nicotine levels would be necessary to follow established research measures.
Carter said Mayo could take its continued research in several directions, but suggested that a larger, more broad study could determine what level of reduction in smoking is desired and achievable. Whether e-cigarettes could help make that goal attainable, is of particular interest to Carter. “The next step is to determine what does this actually do in terms of promoting healing in post-operative patients,” he said. “Data of those patients using electronic cigarettes would then be compared with individuals smoking, as well as those who do not smoke or vape.”
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The Battle Line is Drawn in Indiana
By Norm Bour
In April 1775, the Battle of Lexington marked the first time blood was shed in a war that changed the world: The American Revolution.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed bill HB142 last May which is due to become law on July 1, 2016. Among other things the law says:
Until that time, since 10 years prior, there was dissention, including one of the most famous protests in history: The Boston Tea Party. That first battle in Lexington, Mass, soon moved to neighboring Concord and set the stage for a new country and a new form of government called Democracy.
● E-liquid manufacturers must obtain a permit from the alcohol and tobacco commission before bottling e-liquid or selling e-liquid to retailers or distributors. This applies to manufacturers both within and outside the state. As of this date there is no process to issue such a permit. ● Manufacturing facilities must have a security firm certification that the manufacturer meets security requirements. These requirements are not identified yet. ● Retailers who distribute e-liquid manufactured by a company without a permit are fined, which could effectively eliminate all products. ● No one listed on the permit can have a felony or controlled substance offense on record and the state can conduct criminal background checks on anyone distributing liquids. ● Three ten milliliter sample bottles from each batch of two liters or more must be saved for three years and secured in a location with video surveillance.
Just 77 Americans took on over 700 British soldiers in those initial battles- and they won. This proved that sheer numbers can be overcome for a just cause fueled by passion. Fast forward 241 years and you have a similar battle taking place in Indiana, the 19th state to become part of America.
The Battle of Indiana It’s not called that, but Indiana may be a catalyst that will become significant in the vaping freedom movement.
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Features There are many more specifics just as bad as these. The problem is, no company has the ability to adhere to all these requirements, which means that effective July 1, 2016, the state of Indiana may be a No Vaping Zone. The dilemma of Indiana was initially brought to my attention by Vaporz Vault from Hobart, IN., a VapeMentors clients. We discussed the implications of the law in May, 2015 and doubted if the governor would sign it. Though it appeared unconstitutional, monopolistic and wreaked of Anti-Trust, the bill was signed and due to go into effect. It also should be noted that these new guidelines apply only to open tank systems and seem to exclude e-cigarettes.
Enter the Right to be Smoke-Free Coalition
can join the coalition and any legal will not be a class-action case, but anyone can be involved. “This must be an industry wide fight and cannot just be one big name taking on the FDA like we have seen in the past.” To get involved visit www.r2bsmokefree.org. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com
R2B Smoke-Free (http://www.r2bsmokefree.org), as they are called, “is a non-profit, industry-led trade association of e-vapor businesses dedicated to promoting the interests of the industry by advocating for reasonable and responsible laws and regulations, and fighting for the right of vapers to be smoke-free.” That quotation is direct from their site. Founded by e-liquid company leaders from Cosmic Fog Premium Vapors, VaporShark and Mount Baker Vapor, this grass roots movement is leading the charge in Indiana. Cosmic Fog CEO, Rob Crossley, when asked how this all started, replied: “The situation in Indiana started the conversation since we were involved with a lawsuit to oppose the bill. We had interest from fellow liquid manufacturers that wanted to join us and next thing you know we had a good sized organization.” As of Q1, 2016, there are almost two dozen participants, including NicQuid, Ruthless E-juice, KILO and Vapor Bar, and more are coming on board. The fight in Indiana has not been cheap and about $250,000 has been spent in the courts. The organization is open to anyone in the vaping community and contributions are based on what is affordable to each member. “The battle in Indiana is just one area of focus,” Crossley said, “and there are more fights to take on.” It should be noted that this is not just a fight of vapers against regulations and goes much deeper. It actually speaks to the Constitutionality of some of the proposed rules that have been proposed. These battles will continue and the only way it will succeed is through collaborative efforts like R2B Smoke-Free. On Vape Radio show #68 which posted Jan. 14, 2016, I had an interview with noted legal expert Azim Chowdhury from the Washington, DC law firm of Keller and Heckman, LLC about the coalition. “The Indiana case is just the start,” Chowdhury shared, “and is merely a way for us to develop a launch plan.” He was also clear in stating that anyone VAPEMZ.COM
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Features
Wacky Vapors:
FOG FLUID R
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By Susan Oser John Castellano (aka wacky vapes, host on VULive’s Dripping Wet and Cropdusting) and creator of Fog Fluid, has been involved in vaping for over 3 years now. When he began mixing, he still had his day job at Kraft Foods as an electrical Technician. Working nights left him wanting something to do during the day time. With a passion for Cooking, and aspiring to be an amateur weekend Chef; Juice making was a logical choice as a hobby for him at the time. Just like other vapers and e-juice company owners, he began to research and soon took to DIY. Soon after, He introduced his coworkers to vaping and his creations. They loved it so much, that he was encouraged to create his first line. Better yet, when others in the company got word of his creation (including a few higher ups), they too loved his juices and soon supported him with finances. Soon, John was selling bottles for at least $10 at work, and soon after his first local vape meet. This Blossomed into the first 2 lines that began selling locally in Dallas, and was eventually picked up for a short time under the Wacky Vapes label via the Vaping Watch website. They were called the Zombie line and Symbiance line, which included such flavors with such names as Teflon Don, Redemption, and Scarface. From there, John connected with various Facebook groups, which is where he became familiar with the Dripping MiSpFiTz. Shortly thereafter a partnership was formed, and so became the Dripping MiSpFiTz Fog Fluid Line of Max VG Liquids. It was around this time that John wanted to expand his creations more. While his line on the Vaping Watch website was selling, it never really sold the way he had hoped. He was also getting more local clientele than the national one he was hoping for. Thus, he started a national campaign to push the product nationally on his own; with the help of friend and sales rep Kevin Haynie (formerly of Vape Dispatch) and currently of Craving Vapor and Pelican Designs, which is a 3D printing company started by Haynie in 2015.
By now he was connected with some big vape names in the industry, and had gotten word about the lack of a competition juice for the Dripping Mispfitz’s first Meet; this was an opportunity to feature a juice in front of a Plethora of southern California juice makers and Modder’s; and The Mispfitz themselves. When he asked the organizers about needing juice, and asked if it was alright to create a flavor for the event. He was given the green light, to which he only produced 50 bottles of the flavor which was a hit amongst the Group Admins and contestants alike. Shortly after, he was asked to produce 3 initial flavors for the group and agreed, and another 3 flavors to follow up. flavors called Balls Out, Poundsign and Handcheck were becoming increasingly popular, with Muff Diver and Daddy Issues rounding the line off at 5 instead of 6. With Pending FDA regulations yet to be announced, but vigorously predicted. John Received continued pressure from other vendors and distributors to change the way they had gained any success. The names were too abrasive for a conventional approach to marketing, and the continued decline in interest of the group due to Internal issues; left John with no other choice but to split from the group and do a complete rebrand of the product names, and the name of the company as a whole. However, at the time the flavors were released. John was very active in the group, and the group was based as an anti-authority, antiestablishment type of group. So hence the names Handcheck with a middle finger pointed up, or Balls Out, or Muff Diver. But with the Industry tightening up on advertising he wanted to be proactive, to try and set a precedence in the industry. This was unfortunate since the popularity of Balls out was increasingly getting larger, but it was done anyways for the betterment of the community. Balls Out was one of the first cereal flavors to come out during the big cereal craze last year, in good company with others like ANML’s Looper, 9 South’s Cereal Killa, and Aisle 7’s Nora’s Dream. All coming out within a month of each other. After they set this trend it was nothing to see every juicemaker creating a fruit cereal flavor thereafter. That was not the only issue that John was dealing with. Some people thought that his labels were too confusing and just a bit too busy. Once he heard about the FDA and their issues with the labeling of all eliquids, he became a bit concerned as he began talks with Jason Henshaw from Vapor shark, who was willing with his team at Vapor Shark; to help him commence the rebrand for not only the company Logo but individual labels and flavor names as well, at no cost. Which, as a random act of kindness, was greatly appreciated. The process for this change took at least two to three months. Of course, John was pretty excited and started telling people of his plans. In hindsight, John felt that those announcements were a bit premature causing some customers to walk away and stop ordering entirely. This cost John dearly to the point that he had to take out a loan of $40,000 to totally rebuild and rebrand his company.
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Features John also had to act fast, because soon ECC 2015 would begin and he had to push hard to get everything ready in time to meet the deadline in Pomona. Luckily, with the Vapor shark backing (along with a few other supporters), and some fast acting maneuvers from him and his team. He was able to get it all done, and not only welcome returning customers but attract new ones. If one looks at the label, they are now much cleaner, more professional, and they have different colors to identify each juice from one another. John figures that once the official FDA regulations kick in, the generic, less Controversial look will more than likely be the way to go in the future of the industry. The way he sees it, cartoons, fonts, and what most companies thought they could get away with can’t anymore. This even includes advertising at big vape events such as ECC where the pomp and circumstance of a stripper pole (for example) could take away from the actual product; and more importantly hurt the Industry. Which we are beginning to see every day. John is just one of the few juice makers in the industry who has not only rebranded because of its product implications, but also because he feels like he has a responsibility to uphold the reputation of the Industry he chose to jump in with, with both feet. To him, Fog Fluid is more than just about making money. It’s an art form and a passion; An expression of his love for food, and life! It is something that has become a part of his moral fabric and a career. As John sees it, like a lot of people when they get into the business. Vaping looked like a goldmine, but later realized it was a lot of hard work and sacrifice. “Just like anyone else chasing the American Dream.” “It isn’t as easy as it looks” John said, “People think because you make a lot of posts on Instagram or Facebook, or because you go from city to city; that you are rolling in the dough. Sadly, nothing can be further from the truth. However, I’m going to have fun trying and keep on plugging!” He loves the fact that not only has vaping saved his life, but that he can now save other lives. These days he is busy as a co-host on two shows on the VULive Network on vapers.tv called Dripping Wet (Monday nights at 10pm EST) and Crop Dusting on Thursday nights with Kevin Hayne at 10pm EST. He also has become an activist for vaping rights supporting groups like SFATA and Vaping Militia as well as make charitable donations to auctions and fundraising (as long as it goes towards the cause or for those in need). For more information on Fog Fluid you can log on to http://fogfluideliquid.com/e-juice/, http://Instagram.com/fogfluid, https://twitter.com/fogfluideliquid, and https://www.facebook.com/ fogfluid/?fref=ts. To catch one of John’s Shows on VuLive, you can go to http://vapers.tv/vulive or http://www.vapingundergroundlive. com/schedule.html (for schedule times and more information).
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So what specifically are the changes that John has made to his Fog Fluid line? Hand check is now F.O.G. (First Original Gangster). This is a strawberry white chocolate cream. Under the original label it was quite popular. For a while it died out as a flavor but is on the comeback. Balls Out is now Tricked Out. This flavor that was originally supposed to be a lemon coconut sugar cookie became lemon Trix Cereal. It is definitely one of his happier accidents. Poundsign is now Mulligan. This is a minty crème Brule. It is John’s personal favorite because of its complex combination of flavors. It was decided to change this flavor to make it more appealing to the masses, so it is now a pomegranate and lite strawberry crème Brule with a toasted Brioche wafer. Daddy Issues is now Shattered. This is a combination of banana, strawberry, coconut, and toasted almond. It’s a pretty popular dessert vape from the line. Last but not least is Tainted, which is Formerly Muff Diver. As you can imagine, this juice truly needed a name change because of the name alone. It is butterscotch, double peach cream filled donut. It is John’s second favorite of the line.
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Save a Life Before You Make a Dollar: Sociological Discourse with Bethesda Vapor Company
Photos and Words by Tony Ottomanelli II
“Vaping is not about Money-Making. Vaping is about LifeSaving!” That is the philosophy of Rod Santos, one of the owners of Bethesda Vapor Company, the only vape-shop in Bethesda, Maryland. This is significant to reflect on because Bethesda Maryland is no ordinary “Small-Town-America.” Besides being one of the larger bordering towns of Washington D.C., it is quite unique for many reasons. In fact, many reasons which are unique in relation to the vaping movement. So how is Bethesda, Maryland, unique in relation to public health? Bethesda is the location of the headquarters of the main campus of the National Institute of Health (NIH), home to the National Library of Medicine and of the National Naval Medical Center — one of the leading biomedical research centers, as well as serving as the premier healthcare facility for our Commander in Chief. Bethesda has repeatedly ranked as one of the most educated and affluent areas in the nation — including a first place rankings on the 2014 Forbes List for America’s most educated small towns and on Time’s list of top earning cities. Bethesda Vapor Company is located on the top floor of a former language school in the heart of downtown Bethesda. VAPE Magazine recently sat down with owners Rod Santos and Reza Noroozi for more than three hours to discuss their own business, the state of the vape scene in Washington, DC, and the vaping industry as a whole. Santos and Noroozi shared the story of how they became involved in the brick and mortar vape business, as well as their deepening involvement in the industry as a whole. The pair, tiring of their former jobs, wanted to do something more
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meaningful. At the time, Noroozi, who also owned (and still owns) a sign company, had made signs and banners for more than 30 vape businesses throughout the Washington, DC-area. Noroozi suggested to Santos and some other friends that the vaping industry might be just what they were looking for as a new venture. The business became a reality in 2014. In short order, Bethesda Vapor Company became one of Sicboy M.B.Y.C.’s top retail sellers in the nation. The pair credits a quality staff as one of several keys to their success. In fact, a pair of employees, William Bandy and Logan Thomas, volunteer their time at the shop despite both being members of the U.S. Navy. Being able to attract employees who are willing to work as a volunteerhat is quite impressive to say the least. Where else do people volunteer to work during their time off from work? Most volunteer work is done in order to help those who want and need serious help. It just goes to show how much Vaping has become a united movement and passionate cause. A movement of caring for others which categorizes Vaping as one of the most empathetic forms of cultural expression, a blend of consumption and compassion. A cause that millions of people around the world truly believe in, religiously.
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Features That is why people want to regulate and enforce restrictions on Vaping, because others genuinely feel it is an honest, truthful path to follow. Others become skeptical when they begin to notice a new behavior that is widely embraced and appears to be slightly foreign or unfamiliar to them, they immediately pass negative judgment and assume the worst. Rod states, “vaping is so controversial right now because we’re taking away business from Big Tobacco Companies which is saving lives and it’s shocking that more people don’t support it. They don’t support it because they don’t understand it...yet.” He proceeds by saying, “what Tobacco companies do is say hey you wanna kill yourself slowly towards a soon-tobe painful death? That’s fine, good for you. I just need to make sure we get paid while you’re doing it, now how is that okay? Why are people okay with that?” Reza follows ths up with a good point, by saying, “they’re going to be prescribing eCigs medically in England, so all these ridiculous studies full of misinformation are going to have to stop eventually. How can they continue to fight and battle against vaping if medical professionals are going to be prescribing electronic cigarettes?” For Vapes sake, I hope Reza is correct, hopefully, all the vape hate will subside once everyone opens their mind’s eye to see the truth. However, of course the company who has signed onto to be the exclusive eCig manufacturer for those who need it prescribed is a Big Tobacco company, but England is still making steps in the right direction. Throughout the conversation, Rod and Reza kept communicating their anxieties and concerns surrounding the effects that the deeming FDA regulations could eventually have on the industry, especially small-business vape shops, which makes-up a major portion of the industry as a whole. “The thing that scares me the most are the FDA regulations” Rod says. Rightfully so, they pretty much bother me as well, and I’m a mere consumer, I can not begin to imagine how vape-shop staffs are feeling. It sounds like this could be really bad.
We as Vapers must realize that we’re competing against Big Tobacco, which is a 40 billion-dollar (40+) per year industry. Not to mention, the other major player in the game, Big Pharma, which makes over 300 billion-dollars per year globally. Those statistics are outrageous and makes the vaping industry’s 3-4 billion per fiscal year seem miniscule. Most pharmaceutical companies pay more than that in fines each year. We need to approach this attack on vaping with patience, respect, and facts. The educating of those who don’t know anything about vaping must be studied and shared. These are important times, if we truly wish to make a positive difference in harm reduction within public health, then we must remain united and passionate by providing individuals and other groups among our social citizenry of the proper information. When I inquired to them what is it exactly that concerns you the most, Rod states, “If the FDA controls vaping the way it controls our food, our medicine, and tobacco, then YES, I’m very concerned!” He goes onto highlight some key concepts that are necessary to reflect on. Rod goes onto to say, “the FDA oversees all the things that kill us, medicine, tobacco and even our food can be fatal.” With a passionate demeanor, Rod asks, “Why do we have higher amounts of blood and pus in our milk than most Third World Countries?” At this juncture of our sociological discourse, I almost regurgitated after mentally picturing what Rod was describing. Regardless, Rod sticks to his guns by then asking, “What are they really doing? They control everything that kills us, vaping hasn’t killed a single person! They allow some things to go on that shouldn’t and they restrict the things that they should leave alone.” I must admit, as graphic of a picture that Rod painted, he certainly had made some intriguing points to reflect on. Luckily, many others are embracing this technological breakthrough that could soon prove to this society that it must be recognized for its benefits in preventing tobaccorelated illnesses. Vapers are just ordinary people who found something to help themselves and now they want to pass what they discovered to be greatly helpful onto others, in order to assist them with avoiding smoking cigarettes. However, Rod Santos informed me that some shops in the DC area have disappointed him a great deal, “they are not geared towards weaning people off of nicotine, nor do they provide the proper information.” BVC has a consensus that they are there to tell customers the truth. “We get people off of cigarettes!” says Reza, as Rod shakes his head in agreement. Rod then goes on to recall a situation he experienced at another vape shop where he had just began using an RDA, yet he was typically vaping 12mg of nicotine out of his vape-pen tanks (obviously this was near the beginning of
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They weren’t discouraging her at all, they were helping her. Now she won’t be nearly as dependent on nicotine as she was prior to her visit to BVC. This was a great social interaction to witness and it was perfect timing for it to unfold because I was able to truly witness their mission come to life. After the interaction transpired, Reza told me “I know a number of vapers who drip anything from 12-24mg of nicotine and it is only because of misinformation they have been given.”
his vaping transformation). Considering this, the vape-shoptender suggested he use an 18mg e-liquid for dripping onto his RDA since that shop was all sold-out of 12mg juices. At the time, Rod was not aware that this was definitely illadvised information to provide someone who just wanted to vape off a Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer. Rod states, “the highest nicotine we (BVC) would ever suggest for dripping is 6mg and most of the time we don’t even like doing that...I drip a combo of 0mg and 3mg nowadays, so it’s a smooth 1.5mg. For so long, I thought dripping with RDAs was absurdly harsh until Reza let me try the 3mg he was dripping and I realized how much better it was. I know people who drip 18mg, but that’s not the route you wanna take as a Vape Shop owner in regards to suggestions for customers. We’re here to see people consistently reduce their nicotine intake.” Taking this into account, Reza and Rod both agree that at the Bethesda Vapor Company, they follow the belief that vapeshops, especially the local small-business shops need to focus on harm reduction, guidance and educating customers. Of course, the entire industry needs to remember this notion and live by it because that is truly what the vaping community stands for. Reza declares, “these other shops should never recommend 24mg and should be turning away customers who have never smoked before. The industry has to be 95% feedback, information, education, knowledge and 5% merchandise.” Literally, as we sat there discussing such issues, a customer came into the BVC for a visit who was currently vaping 24mg nicotine. Reza and Rod both instantly tended to her needs but also talked her down to trying 12mg, simultaneously admitting that they never recommend anything above 6mg, claiming there was no need for all that nicotine she was previously vaping. “It’s seriously unnecessary for anyone to continue with 24mg” they both told her. The customer did admit it had been somewhat strong at certain times and seemed to alter the taste of the flavor. Rod admitted to his 1.5mg concoction of juices that he continuously vapes, the customer laughed and seemed to understand what they were doing for her.
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Overall, within, around or near the Bethesda area, mainly Montgomery County, the BVC has seen 4 other vape shops come and go, as they remain the last vape business standing in that region. Some of these vape Shops were Studio Vapes and Static Vapes, in which each one closed for multiple reasons. One shop was inside a mall, so they could longer test vapor indoors, another shop was connected to a cigar shop, clearly not in the business for the right reason, others simply were only in it for the profit possibilities, ultimately falling short. Rod says “this isn’t a money-making machine... it is a life-saving machine.” Clearly, referring to operating as a business within the vaping industry. The BVC Staff understands and can see the effects vaping is having on human life, on a global scale and even in their own neighborhood. According to Rod and Reza, you will never see people smoking on the streets of Bethesda, but you will certainly see a number of people vaping (as long as their 20 feet from a business entrance). Rod says that “it’s all about education and customer care...if you remember the true advocacy and change, then everything will fall into place, I believe that.” Reza states, “we offer all of our customers the best option for their vaping needs, we talk to them and ask them questions to find out what kind of smoker they were or are and then we make our best informed decisions.” In regards to this, Rod says, somewhat sarcastically, but also still serious enough, “We’re not car salesmen. We’re educators on vaping.” Then I immediately asked if they viewed their staff as more so a team of counselors and advisors? Without hesitation, they said “Absolutely!” Rod adds, “Most definitely! And we always are straight with our clientele. Honesty first and foremost. We’ll tell customers, look, we’re NOT doctors, scientists, or public health officials, but we are indeed professionals, so we have the ability to inform you of how to operate the perfect set-up for your vaping needs and/or preferences.” Rod had to break off from the conversation momentarily to assist a customer. As Reza and I continued discussing the potential dangers that the FDA could be creating, we still agreed that this industry is unique and strong due to our unity and passion, so no matter what they choose to enforce, we thought perhaps there will be some mass protests or some type of peaceful gathering to promote the beneficial nature of Vaping and the advantages vaping has to offer smokers.
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As a result, Vaping is preventing the creation of future cigarette users/tobacco abusers, which is great in retrospect, but not for the capitalist economic structure we practice nor our social system. The U.S. government relies heavily on all that revenue generated by Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. We were clearly concerned, yet not all hope was lost. I think that is what will help us in the long haul, not getting discouraged and standing up to speak out about how we have a right to continue to vape. Big Tobacco is not getting anymore of the thousands they’ve made off of me/us in the past. Rod returned after providing another display of customer care, sending another satisfied guest out their doors. He points out that they’re able to remain in business due largely to their loyal & caring customer base, which is full of a long list of gracious “regulars.” When I asked if they were genuine in their efforts to remain hopeful by ultimately avoiding the anxiety brought on by the FDA and simply continuing to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities, they were eager to speak up. As our sociological discourse concluded, Rod tactfully reminded me, “This is our sacrifice, this is our dream.” Reza comments, ”If we didn’t truly believe we were helping people, we would be doing something else.” Furthermore, BVC is the real deal, another smallbusiness vape-shop full of life, with a comfortable vibe throughout their entire business operation. That’s why we tend to worry so much about these regulations that could pass at any moment, because these are exceptionally professional, greatly ethical, emotionally invested, expressive with honesty, genuine human beings with passionate attitudes doing their best, the best they know how, all in the name of helping others. Why would we want to put these kinds of people out of work? It would be outlandish to attempt to dissolve the vaping industry, as it represents so many great features of the human condition. Choosing to assist others to switch from smoking to vaping is literally one of the most empathetic careers you could pursue nowadays. All in all, I believe their mission statement was summed up by Rod Santos, when he said, at one point during our discussion, “We’re just a couple of guys, trying to save more than a couple of lives.”
Basically, Vaping is proving to be far more safe for consuming nicotine and much less dangerous than smoking tobacco cigarettes. Coincidentally, these attributes are providing more than just a fraction of hope among Vapers, more accurately, as Vaping is swiftly becoming a historical breakthrough for drastically improving the state of Public Health. With their top-selling item being the premium e-liquid from my state of residence, Colorado, Sicboy M.B.Y.C., in which they were informed that their one of the top sellers of that e-juice flavor nationwide. Bethesda Vapor Company sells a variety of products whether that being e-liquids, tanks, batteries, clothing, mods,e-cigs, RDAs and other accessories. Just to for an example as to why and how this particular shop is so meaningful what kind of ambiance this shop has, it must be noted that two of Rod & Reza’s best employees are literally volunteering their time to work at Bethesda Vapor Company. William Bandy and Logan Thomas both have other full-time jobs working for the U.S. Navy, yet choose to be volunteers at a Vape Shop and not just any shop, the passionate, pivotal BVC, naturally of course. Attracting volunteers is no easy feat.
Tony Ottomanelli II
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Features Making It Personal
TWELVE Vapor Succeeds by Connecting with Vapers on a Personal Level: Their Zodiac Signs
By Maria Verven
The idea isn’t novel in the retail environment, but it was new to the vape world. The basic concept: develop a brand around the twelve Zodiac signs. While the devil is in the details, Twelve Vapor got them all right. Twelve Vapor has amassed a huge following in the vaping community, where it’s sold in over 800 vape shops in 18 countries, including China, France, Indonesia, Malaysia and the U.K.
My flavor? “A perfect parfait. Fresh raspberries give way to a smooth vanilla yogurt encased in a cinnamon crumble finish. Hints of granola appear throughout the inhale, resolving in an inventive flavor profile.” Now I’m thinking: how do they know me so well? I eat yogurt every day, and raspberries are my favorite fruit.
Packaging with a Punch The first thing you notice is the packaging: the 20 ml glass bottles are packaged in metal tubes decorated with handdrawn graphics depicting each Zodiac sign, birthstone and one of the four basic elements – air, earth, fire or water. Each package also lists the sign’s core characteristics and offers a brief horoscope. “We wanted to create a brand that’s personal, that really stuck out and that people would want to look at and grab,” said Paul Michalski, one of three company owners and head of marketing who created all the artwork. To make it personal, they needed a theme. “We thought: wouldn’t it be great for people to have a personal connection with their vape liquid? Eighty percent of people know what their Zodiac sign is,” Michalski said. “A lot of people check their horoscopes every day.” For example, I’m a Leo, so my characteristics, printed on the package are: “Kind-Hearted, Energetic, Optimistic, Loyal, Straightforward.”
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My horoscope reads, “Leo, we will let you run through our life and we know you will always be there for us. Keep your eyes on the horizon while you reach for all your goals. We will be there to watch your magnificence.” Now I’m hooked. Flattery gets me every time.
And that’s how you get hooked on Twelve Vapors.
Matching Zodiacs with Flavors The first step in developing the flavors was to hold a blind taste testing. The event took place in December 2014 with about 100 vapers to get their feedback on around 110 flavors. Each participant filled out a card with their birthdate and gave feedback on each flavor. When they put all the data into an Excel worksheet, the owners noticed patterns in the types of flavors that people with the same sign favored. Lo and behold, “each Zodiac sign actually did have a preferred flavor profile,” said Jon Glauser, another company owner. “So if someone tries the e-liquid for their sign, we know that statistically they’ll like their flavor. And after trying their flavor, people then will try e-liquids that match the signs of their significant other, their family and their friends.”
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Features The trio continued to work on the flavor formulations from April 2014 until late that year. “We didn’t want to rush anything; flavor is what people attach themselves to,” Glauser said. “We spent a lot of time on reformulation after reformulation. We love mixing flavors; it’s a passion of ours. We might be testing 30 to 40 flavors on any given day.” Glauser said they always use NicSelect nicotine in their formulations. “We did a lot of trial and error and tried several different brands of nicotine but we were blown away by NicSelect. “The quality of nicotine has a great impact on taste,” he said. “Your goal is to not taste the nicotine. With NicSelect, the purity is there. It leaves the least stamp on your palate. As a vaper, you get the throat hit, but you don’t get the taste. They have a very consistent product. We have complete confidence in them.” Twelve Vapor launched in February 2015 at Las Vegas vapor shows to what Glauser said was an “awesome response. We’re really happy because we put so much time, effort and sweat into it,” he said.
In fact, they just launched another new line of e-liquids in January 2016 called Culture Vapor. Michalski also did all the artwork, which is based on a graffiti theme. “A lot of vapers are physically active and always on the go; we pay attention to what vapers want and we wanted to appeal to this evolving market demographic,” Glauser said. For the Culture line, they packaged the three e-liquid flavors in a long wide-mouth ‘unicorn’ bottle with a plastic dropper tip that you can turn over and drip right out of the bottle. “These bottles are really convenient, but hard to present well. We want it to stand out on shelves and be convenient. It’s the little things that make a big difference in this industry. Everything we make is with the end user in mind,” he said. “We know so many vapers, it’s pretty much our livelihood,” Glauser said. “Every time we make a flavor, at least 60 to 70 people try it. With Culture, the development time wasn’t short. It’s not an easy thing to do and it’s the most important aspect of a product.” Glauser said Demand Vape is gearing up to be regulated by the FDA and Europe’s Tobacco Products Directive.
“Vaping Saved Our Lives” Glauser, Michalski and the third owner, Alex Alarshi, grew up together in Buffalo, N.Y. All heavy smokers, they discovered vaping around seven years ago at a local street fair when they passed by a booth selling cigalikes. “We were intrigued by it; it was a step in the right direction,” Glauser said. “All three of us started vaping. I never thought I could quit smoking; I thought it was going to kill me someday. That little e-cig helped me quit. “We wanted to get a business going based on the mere fact that vaping saved our lives. When you start a business based on something you’re passionate about, you know you’re going to succeed,” he said. All three men, now in their late 20’s or early 30’s, had prior business experience. Both Glauser and Alarshi owned retail and commercial properties; Michalski had started a graphic design business when he was only 17. Twelve Vapor is one brand under their parent company, Demand Vape, LLC. The main hub and distribution company, Demand Vape employs 46 people in Buffalo, N.Y., primarily working in manufacturing, shipping and sales. Wholesale customers connect to Demand Vape through its online portal to purchase Twelve Vapor and other brands that the three owners are developing.
“We’re really confident that whatever they come out with, we’ll be able to change and adapt,” Glauser said. “We’re always willing to bend and do what’s necessary to come out on the other side; that’ how important this industry is to us.” Members of SFATA, Demand Vape and its owners have been very involved on the national, county and local level. “It’s important, because people making these laws don’t know or understand these products. It’s our job to educate them,” Glauser said. “We take this seriously because it’s our livelihood. “I can’t think of another industry I’d rather be involved with,” he said. “This saves lives. What’s great about this industry is we know how to work together. We’re not really competitors; we’re friends. We all want to put our own footprint on it and leave our own legacy. “We want to be thought of as the guys who push the envelope and bring things to market that haven’t been thought of yet.” The original “Vaping VampTM,” Maria Verven is a 35year P.R. veteran and owner of Verve P.R, a marketing firm focused on the vape industry.
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Features
ARE YOU WAVING THE WHITE FLAG ON TPD? By Dave Cross
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I like choice. A frost is lying on the ground now, it’s the nearest thing we’ve come to a semblance of winter this year. One of our tabloid newspapers loves to tell us (on an annual basis) that we are set to become bit part characters in snowstorms of Hollywood proportions – but it never happens. The puppy breaks thin ice covering the puddles on the airfield. The dogs love coming back to this walk due to the proliferation of foxes and muntjac leaving a myriad of scent trails. Me? It sits on top of one of the rolling hills straddling the border between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. It means I get to look down on traffic on its way from somewhere less important than to where it’s all heading. While the Springers race each other into another bunch of trees, I let loose curls of vape into the cold air and feel small in the landscape. If one of the drivers were to look up they might spot the dark stretch of trees breaking the space between the risen ground and blanket of grey permanently hanging over us. At 70 mph, they’d not pick out the little fat man clutching his Hellsir box, a spiral of strawberry-flavored cloud bearing no import. There’s nothing like feelings of insignificance to give you a sense of perspective. The commuters and delivery personnel won’t see the Stars & Stripes rippling over the abandoned carpetbaggers home. They won’t grasp the historical significance that their journey pales in comparison with the ones made by the B-24 Liberators during World War II. The traffic need not worry, the dogs don’t get it either. Climbing back into the car we could, if we were stupid enough, opt to join the madness on the A14 instead of venturing home for tea and cake. I could mesh with a world where I would be visible to the other road users, a world where I could be just another target for their frustrations and inadequacies and rage; a place where we can’t make out the decaying Thor missile silos and crumbling concrete runways above us. I could engage in meaningless confrontation but I’ll be found drinking a cup of Darjeeling and pounding down something covered in fondant icing. Again, I like choice. The mug steams as it sits adjacent to a box packed with various E-Liquids, bottles shipped over the Atlantic and following the route to USAAF Station 179. From the Cold
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War to the war on vaping — both are now a part of history. There is still one battle being fought in the European court, but its outcome is inevitable: the Tobacco Products Directive and Article 20 will be implemented as written. It’s as certain as our puppy not knowing if it wants to be inside looking out or outside scratching to come in. It’s something the British online community is struggling to come to terms with and it’s like watching children attempting to pair up in kindergarten for group work. Most of us look back at our early years of education with fondness, but truth be told, it’s a visceral environment. Friendship groups spurn individuals just for having the wrong music act on a backpack – we don’t tolerate dissent, we look for subservient adherence to a hive mind. Just look at poor old Rip Trippers: while many believe his review videos are only made in order to be used during the interrogation and torture of suspected terrorists, he’s still amassed over half a million subscribers on YouTube. At the time of writing, there is no hard evidence that these subscribers are all non-English speaking, but the comment sections would give this impression. Mr. “The Trippers” mentioned that he may have experienced some intolerance to the propylene glycol in E-Liquid. British vape Facebook groups and online forums hit meltdown within hours of him uploading the audiovisual feast. The vilification and abuse seemed a touch excessive considering the wonderful thing about the Internet is that you can turn it off. It seems that rather than opting for the peace and tranquility of an online dog walk, we rush down the hillside to stand at the roadside of a highway to conflict.
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Features We have a binary attitude to the use of electronic cigarettes: You have to say nothing but positive things about vaping or you stand with those trying to ban it. You are either Doctor Konstantinos Farsalinos or you are Professor Stanton Glantz, there is no tolerance in-between. But I like choice. The Totally Wicked court case, challenging Article 20 of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), sought to block the imposition of 10ml bottles, 2ml atomizers and a maximum 20mg for nicotine strength. The company ran, and still does, a petition to collect signatures of people who supported their action – but woe betide you if you wondered aloud about the motivation behind the compilation of tens of thousands of vapers’ names and addresses. To have questioned someone’s driving ability or question the appearance of his or her mother would have received a warmer reception.
So, some wave the white flag and consider how they will subvert the incoming legislation while others hoist their colors high to continue a futile fight. But most will roll with the punches. I’ll be walking down the runway in twelve months time, behaving like a child and breaking puddle ice crusts. The memory of any vape drama will pale against a backdrop of a real conflict. What gets often overlooked is that the online communities of British vapers constitute nothing more than a tiny percentage of the 2.8-Million ecig users on the island. The frenetic angst of social media activity stands in contrast with an ambivalent, yet happy majority. My choice is not to let single-issues color my life. Most users of vaping products haven’t the first notion who or what a TPD or a Rip Trippers is – a definition of happiness to rival that of taking the dogs for a walk.
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FASHION PICTORIAL
Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Silver Beast by Beyond Vape
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Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Silver Beast by Beyond Vape
Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Top Tank Nano by Kangertech
Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Silver Beast by Beyond Vape
Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Silver Beast by Beyond Vape
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
EZRA ZUNIGA @EzraZuniga MODEL
ALENA SAVOSTIKOVA @liforsash PHOTOGRAPHY
EZRA ZUNIGA & JEN ZUNIGA @135fotografiks www.135fotografiks.com STYLIST
ALAN MONTES A&D Styling @Amontes4659 MAKEUP ARTIST
HENRY RASU @henrys_portfolio HAIRSTYLIST
CARINA TAFULU @hairbycarina VIDEOGRAPHER
BRYAN GATEB @bgateb MODS PROVIDED BY
CALIVAPERS @calivapers WARDROBE
PATTERN BOUTIQUE @patterndtsa ACCESSORIES
SOPHISTICATED STONES @sophisticatedstones SPECIAL THANKS TO
Bill Buerge at The Mountain Mermaid
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Mod: Rialu by Lash Creative Atomizer: Silver Beast by Beyond Vape
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A D/FFERENT TR/P D/FFERENT FORA THOSE WHOTR/P DR/P FOR THOSE WHO DR/P
13THFLOOR FLOORELEVAPORS ELEVAPORS 13TH WEB / WWW.13THFLOORELEVAPORS.COM WEB / WWW.13THFLOORELEVAPORS.COM INSTA / @13THFLOORELEVAPORS INSTA / @13THFLOORELEVAPORS PHONE / 714-887-8121 PHONE / 714-887-8121 CONTACT / VAPEMAG@ELEVAPORS.COM / VAPEMAG@ELEVAPORS.COM CONTACT
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by Jan Halili (@janhalili) and Bryan Gateb (@bgateb) of CaliVapers (@calivapers) Photos by Roy Mananquil (@vapingroybot)
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Pico RTA by Yellowkiss / The Vape
Cloud One by Cloud Mods
Gepetto Elite on Steroids v2 and v3 Country of Origin: Poland Modder: Pawel Mikos Battery: 26650 Chip: DNA40
Mini Vengeance Tank by Council of Vapor
Mini Volt Country of Origin: U.S.A. Modder Council of Vapor Battery: 1300 mah lithium ion Chip: 40 watt
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Aeronaut by Aeronaut Vapes
Mellody Box 26650 Country of Origin: Poland Modder: Loud Cloud Modz Battery: 26650 Chip: DNA40
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Stillare Mark IV by Cartel Mods
Pip Squeak Country of Origin: U.S.A. Modder: Chump Modz Battery: 1500 mah lipo Chip: DNA40
Mozaic Mod Country of Origin: Indonesia Modder: RNV Design Battery: 26650 Chip: DNA40
Thump Atty by Thump MFG
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Superleggera GT
Chi Box v2
Country of Origin: Malaysia Modder: Ahmad Faiz and the Stickman Team Battery: 26650 Chip: DNA40
Country of Origin: Korea Modder: Style of Mojo Battery: 18650 Chip: DNA40
NarDA by Nar Mods
M-Atty w/ black AFC by Meb Mods
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THE
JUICE JUDGE Words and photos by Steffanie Atkins
The Holler “Ramblin’ Man” 3mg VAPE - 4 THROAT HIT - 2 TASTE - 3 First, I want to give some creative props to whoever came up with the packaging. It’s pretty rad. I will say, though, that it may not be conducive to more humid or moist (man, I hate that word) atmospheres. One of the bottles leaked inside the barrel and it was a pain to get the lid off. But it looks super cool. Anywho, onto the meat and potatoes. The flavor is a maple, pecan blend. It reminds me of the south or what I envision the deep south to taste like. It’s oak barrel steeped which is a cool concept, but it made the throat hit a bit harsh, almost spicy like. The flavor is there, but light. I’d appreciate a bit more flavor and a little less time on the packaging. It just needs more. Vapor production was pretty great. One hit and my family room looked like a vape shop.
Voluptuous Vapors “Ohm My God” 3mg VAPE - 4.5 THROAT HIT - 3 TASTE - 4.5
The Juice Judge Judges are picked from respected members of the vaping community to give unbiased reviews of e-juice. The VAPE Verdict is reached by an initial blind taste test, and the review is written afterward. Want to have your juice judged? Email jj@vapemz.com. Reviews do not reflect the overall opinion of VAPE Magazine Steffanie Atkins is the self-proclaimed most pickiest vaper she knows. She has to be head over heels in love with a juice before she vapes it regularly. A baker and a foodie, Atkins is particular when it comes to taste and flavor. She loves long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, tattoos, art and rocking her face off at concerts. She is forever on the search for the perfect Oreo flavor.
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“Ohm My God”, I see what you did there. Very punny! Ha, sorry I just couldn’t help myself. If you follow Juice Judge regularly, you know that I am hard to please. I rarely give a juice a 4, much less anything higher than that. This e-liquid is amazing. It’s a mango fruit (I’m guessing another member of the melon family) flavor and it’s really pretty amazing. A lot of times mango flavors are tart or candy-like, but this one is nothing like that. It tastes like mangos. It’s a great all day vape. I let my fiancé try it and he’s already stolen the bottle from my collection, and that says a lot. Vapor production is far above average with very thick clouds. The throat hit was about average, but that was the only thing about this juice that was average. Good job Voluptuous Vapors!
Inner Vapor “Wake n’ Bake” 3mg VAPE - 2 THROAT HIT - 2 TASTE - 2 Can I just take off points for the unoriginality of the name? We get it; it’s a breakfast blend. There are dozens, probably more with the same name. I get it. I always get excited for breakfast blends, especially when the picture on the bottle is a great looking cinnamon bun. But most of the time, I’m very disappointed in the flavor
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itself. Nothing different with Wake n’ Bake. It’s a cinnamon flavor and that’s about it. They are a dime a dozen and it doesn’t have anything that would cause it to stand out above the rest. I will say that sometimes cinnamon is kind of spicy, and this one is more of a bakery cinnamon. So at least there is that. It needs more depth, an added oomph, something. Vapor production and throat hit were below average. I was very underwhelmed with this version of Wake n’ Bake.
Vape E-Liquids “Strawberry Shortcake” 3mg VAPE - 2 THROAT HIT - 4 TASTE - 1 Again with the unoriginal names, Vape E-Liquids, really?! Ok let’s get passed that for a second. I’m going to assume that I got a bad batch of Strawberry Shortcake. There was no flavor. None. It tasted like I was essentially vaping straight PG. They sent me several bottles of different flavors and I did try another one just to see if they all tasted like nothing. The other flavor I tried did have a taste, but not what it indicated it would taste like. No, I didn’t write a review on that one because the scores probably wouldn’t have been much different. Maybe I did get a bad batch that somehow missed the flavor process of the bottling. If I did, maybe Vape E-Liquids would like to send me another bottle just to see? I thought it would only be fair to continue with the review as I had started it. I will say that it had a very solid throat hit. I’m assuming because it was straight PG.
3rd Rock Organic “Blueberry Air” 3mg VAPE - 3.5 THROAT HIT - 4 TASTE - 3 I love blueberries. I eat them in pancakes and bagels and anywhere else I can get them. I was super excited to try a new blueberry flavor and once I did, I was a sad panda. The flavor is okay, but honestly more air than blueberry. It just didn’t have enough flavoring. It’s very light with no depth, not like the blueberry pie it claimed to be and that I was promised. It didn’t taste bad, just not enough. But it did have some decent vapor production and a pretty solid throat hit.
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Vaporleaf:
Staying the course as a vapor shop By Tony Ottomanelli II
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In a previous issue of VAPE Magazine, Denver named was among the top vaper friendly cities in the country. The second vape shop in Denver was actually the second Vape shop in the entire state of Colorado to open its doors and it is none other than the illustrious Vaporleaf. Vaporleaf, which was actually this writer’s first vape shop, has a simple philosophy on why vaping is so popular — because it works. Owner Greg Thompson, along with his management team of Krista Turnage, Austin Carpenter, and Paul Dakan (3ohm3 Industries Co-Owner - “Wild Card Gourmet E-Liquid”), recently shared some of his thoughts on Vaporleaf’s success. Remaining focused on nicotine-vaping products only in a state where many shops have brought in THC-related products, Thompson is relentless in making the shop’s only goal known — to help tobacco smokers switch to vaping nicotine.
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One of their regular customers was literally needing an oxygen tank 24/7 with blood vessels in his face physically scattered all over, so it was noticeable that he had been a multiple pack daily smoker. “He could barely speak,” one of the managers said. “He sounded like there were rocks in his throat.” Now this customer is a full-time vaper and his oxygen saturation levels have risen back to 98 percent — with the natural color returned to his previously harmed facial area. “If you can’t take pride in that, if you can’t feel good about saving someone’s life...then you’re in the wrong business,” Thompson said. It’s for that reason that Vaporleaf is not a shop set up only for the advanced vaper, with only box mods and RDAs. While they sell these items as well, Thompson and his staff see it as important they they remain focused on the new vaper as well.
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DEPARTMENTS ”Don’t sell a newbie a sub-ohm starter-kit simply because it costs more and you’ll make a lucrative sale,” one of the managers said. “Sell them what they truly need to help them quit smoking for good. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. “We’re not in this business to create more and more vapers, we are here to decrease the amount of smokers in our society.” Thompson and his crew stand firmly committed to their approach of running a vape shop for the right reasons. He said they feel that the industry is at its strongest when all vape shops seek to eliminate a person’s dependence on tobacco cigarettes. To numerous shops nationwide and abroad where marijuana is not legalized for recreational use, this may seem like just an ordinary approach to the vaping business, but when you’re surrounded by pot dispensaries and head shops as well as fellow vape-shops who carry THC-related merchandise,
focusing strictly on the basis of nicotine-delivery products becomes a valuable asset to the vaping movement, an active attempt at diminishing cigarette smoking. Vaporleaf’s staff is not just a family of vape shop worker bees, they are a collection of exceptionally passionate leaders full of compassion and empathy, largely in favor of educating the non-vapers and avid vapers as well. They believe educating and giving the public the facts on vaping is crucial for the survival and maturation of the industry. “We are as successful as we are because we treat our customers like people, as human beings...we pride ourselves in customer care,” Thompson said. They are all very sincere when expressing their attitude of gratitude for their customers, especially their regulars who have been there since day one; their oldest customer is 96 years old.
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The store works to keep its prices competitive, for beginners and advanced vapers alike. Thompson said they still often direct new vapers to vape-pens or newer entry-level devices. The goal is to cater the service and setup to the customer, not to the bottom line. The fact of the matter is that Vaporleaf is no ordinary money-making faction focused solely on making the sale.
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By CHRIS MELLIDES
helped take Royal High School to the Southern Division IA Quarterfinals during her junior year.
What would blossom in recent years as a well reputed and recognizable brand in the vape industry, Vapor Hub International started out as a small operation. Then called Smokeless Delite, the company was established in 2008 as an online retailer and was operated by Lori Winther and her son Kyle, now Vapor Hub’s CFO and CEO, respectively. Smokeless Delite was one of the first American online retailers specializing in e-cigarette products and accessories, and at the time of its launch the e-cigarette industry had just a fraction of the presence it does today. In 2008, when the Winthers’ online company entered the market, the vape industry earned approximately $20 million in world-wide sales by year’s end, and nearly doubled in sales the following year earning roughly $39 million, according to Statista Inc. With this increased interest among consumers seeking a viable smoking alternative and the inevitable uptick in profits that followed, Smokeless Delite joined other retailers in recognizing the need for expansion in order to keep up with a fast-growing industry. In 2013, the Winthers were approached by Jake Perlingos, an entrepreneur who came onboard as a business partner and eventually became the president of Vapor Hub. That year Perlingos and the Winther family opened their first brick and mortar, and a second would follow. Concerned with the company’s rapid expansion and the need for better organization, Lori Winther reached out to her daughter Kelly, who at the time was living in San Diego where she worked as an event planner. “I had my life down there and was touching base with my mom and she was informing me on how crazy this industry is and how quickly everything has kind of evolved for them,” Winther said. She added, “They were opening two retail stores, and it was just kind of blowing up so quickly. It was a little frightful for them on how to manage it.” The 28-year-old was a student at the University of San Diego where she played for the college’s basketball team, after wowing the USD athletics department when she
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Winther decided to travel back to Simi Valley where her family was based, and became manager of the Vapor Hub Simi Valley storefront. When first establishing Vapor Hub, Winther said that the publicly traded company experienced growing pains like any other business, with one of the challenges stemming from the need to regularly seek out e-cig distributors and manufacturers to ensure that her family’s company could provide a wide variety of products for their customers. Early on the Winthers relied on ordering products from China, but it wasn’t long before they realized that getting into the business of creating American-made products to bolster their brand was the next logical step. “You know, we were getting all of these products from China and we were basically supporting that market,” Winther said. “We thought, why don’t we start building up the USA market and start providing our customers with top quality USA-made products.” Out of that desire the AR Mod by Tac Mods USA was born. Released in 2014 and designed to look like a component of an AR-15 rifle, Winther says the mod was a “phenomenal success” and that Vapor Hub’s “military followers and supporters loved it.”
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Kelly Winther uses her Limitless Mod and vapes Binary E-liquid in all photos.
Rather than resting on their laurels, the company decided to continue innovating with the hope of reaching other demographics comprised of vapers with different tastes in hardware. Winther said that “with that idea evolved the Limitless Mod.” “The Limitless Mod was designed to be an affordable mod for consumers while still having a sustainable life,” Winther said, crediting the concept of making interchangeable sleeves available for the mod to allow for user customization. “I can confidently say Limitless is probably one of the most sustainable mech mods in the market,” she said. “We released that in November of 2014 and we still to this day have people inquiring about them.” Winther is currently the vice president of Vapor Hub and has watched her company and the industry it caters to grow exponentially since she came on in October of 2013. One aspect of the vape industry she’s noticed and said is particularly striking is just how male-dominated it seems to be. “I can think going back to 2013 when we really started doing our first shows, just working the show and walking
around, I was dumbfounded,” Winther said. “I was really taken back at how few females are involved, and how few females were really behind this evolving industry.” The Vapor Hub vice president says that she’s glad to see that the industry is beginning to shift, with more “female business owners popping up,” but that she’d like to see “more women advocating for vaping and getting behind it and what it really stands for.” Another challenge Winther sees the vape industry facing is how misinformation and a basic lack of understanding can sometimes paint companies like Vapor Hub and the larger vaping community it serves in a negative light. Particularly because a segment of the general public sees no distinction between the vape industry and Big Tobacco. “I typically try and educate people to let them know the difference of e-cigs and of vaping and…how much less harmful it is for your body,” Winther said. “With these impending regulations, if they do decide to classify e-cigs as [tobacco products] it’s going to really hurt a lot of these small business owners and their employees,” she continued.
VAPEMZ.COM
In the end, Winther believes that vapers need to better educate themselves, engage in the political process by attending government hearings and supporting vape advocacy groups while becoming better advocates themselves in order to benefit the community as a whole. “I think a lot of these organizations like SFATA (Smoke Free Alternatives Trade Association) and Not Blowing Smoke are doing a wonderful job in supporting us and trying to fight for our rights,” Winther said. “But we need to try and do everything we can to also help to support the industry and help fight for those rights as well.” As for Vapor Hub, going forward Winther is confident that her family’s company will continue to lead the industry in innovation and provide its customers with well-made and affordable products that carry with them unparalleled customer service. “Our whole goal here is to keep innovating and providing customers with top quality USA made products at an affordable price,” Winther said. She added, “I’m just extremely grateful for this industry and I’d love to see it evolve and hope that we can continue to fight for our advocacy.”
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Event Coverage
Sin City Brings Together Soccer...and Vaping?
By Norm Bour
In an unusual collaboration between youth soccer, legendary soccer heroes and vaping, Las Vegas hosted the first of what could become a seminal event. Nathan (Nate) Coccimiglio, CEO of Cash Vapes, and his team were parked off the Las Vegas Strip in their notable (and tricked-out) armored truck, enjoying the beautiful Las Vegas afternoon. It was late February and all around were amateur soccer players vying for a hefty grand prize and the chance to go to Dubai for the championship finale.
Over 50,000 World Soccer Fives players participated throughout 2015, and the winner in each state went to Chicago for the US Finals followed by a chance to play in Dubai. Team Illinois represented the US at the World Finals, and the event was broadcast on ESPN to millions of viewers worldwide who were captivated with the two-day event. That is significant exposure.
World Soccer Fives, as the series is called, is the largest amateur football (soccer) tournament in the world. The field of play is smaller than a regulation pitch, about 120 feet by 80 feet, and includes just four outfield players and a goalie. The reference to “fives” is due to the limited number of players on the field at any one time. “Small-sided soccer” is very fast since the area is much smaller and also differs in the length of regulation play, with no offside rules, no headers, and other restrictions due to size. With smaller fields of play, as many as five or six games were in continuous motion. These tournaments are open to any sex player over the age of 16, and since this is an amateur event only, several were disqualified. In Las Vegas, the prize pool totaled $125,000 — with $30,000 for first place.
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U.S. soccer icon Landon Donovan is shown at a Global Legends Series exhibition soccer news conference at the Thomas & Mack Center
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Event Coverage
Who are the Global Legends?
Cash Vapes is supporting this series along with World Soccer Fives as the only vape company sponsor.
Football (aka soccer, as we call it in the US) is the largest spectator and participatory sport in the world with an estimated 3.5 billion fans. This easily surpasses the popularity of American football with less than 500 million fans. But the passion that soccer fans have for their players is beyond anything we experience in the United States. Fabio Cannavara, Luis Figo, Andriy Shevchenko and Paul Scholes. These men are Gods to their followers and just a few examples of the quality of players in the retired Global Legends series. These former players travel to Dubai, Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul, and Las Vegas, to the delight of their fans. In order to be a “Legend” the players must have: • Won the World Cup • Won the European Championships • Won the Champions League • Played 50+ times for their country
We in the vape industry are sometimes accused of being too myopic and not venturing outside our business. This Las Vegas event exposed vaping to a whole new crowd, but there was also a benefit to the attendees as some of them needed product! “The response here has been good! Some people traveled from overseas and wanted to try American liquids and many ran out of their own product,” Coccimiglio said. Cash Vapes, which also owns Tronic Vapes, brought a full line of liquids including a sub-ohm mini by Amigo Vape. “It’s all about value,” said Coccimiglio. “Any time you can get out there and give the public the correct message, it’s a wonderful opportunity. In an industry that is constantly pounded from one side or the other, we’re just here to share the facts.”
The Power of Collaboration How Cash Vapes got involved with this soccer event is an example of the benefits of being open to new opportunities. Since football (soccer) is the most popular sport in the world, this seems a logical market. Kinnon Sandlin, head of World Soccer Fives US, and also a Salt Lake City resident, was a personal friend with Coccimiglio but saw no obvious crossover in their businesses. Until Sandlin shared the distribution network he had available in Europe, China, South America and many other locations. That casual conversation eventually turned into a new joint venture: Current Vape, an e-liquid line which will be available in six flavors. That product will be manufactured by Cash Vapes and distributed through the new collaboration, primarily in the UK and throughout Europe. They have tens of thousands of potential outlets available. VAPEMZ.COM
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When asked about the differences between the US and European markets, Sandlin shared, “We know the rules and regulations in the countries where we plan to distribute. The labels and disclosures are all different, but that is all behind us. Now it’s time to launch.” Coccimiglio added that the level of sophistication in Europe varies quite a bit. “We plan to offer hardware, but start with the most basic equipment for now and keep it affordable.” Last year VAPE Magazine covered the 24 Hours of Daytona car race where Molecule Labs CEO Michael Guasch won his series in a car sponsored by Cuttwood. That race was seen by millions of fans worldwide and was one of the most noteworthy efforts to take vaping to the masses. From a successful e-liquid company, to involvement with advocacy, Cash Vapes is now taking the next step: their own retail shop in Draper, UT. This 3,000-square-foot retail spot will have a commanding edge over the competition since
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there is very little. Salt Lake City is not anti-vape, but it don’t embrace the industry either. Coccimiglio, a successful entrepreneur even in pre-vape days, has been fortunate enough to “know the right people” and their new shop will be open in March 2016. We will be visiting and reporting on that shop in the April edition of VAPE magazine. For more information, go online to: www.cashvape.com or www.currentvape.com for info. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than 1.2 M downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@VapeMentors.com.
#VAPEMAGAZINE
Event Coverage
There’s a
New Vape Shop Event
in Town
...and you’re
probably not invited By Norm Bour
It’s the smallest vape show that you will never attend. If you are a consumer and not in the business, you won’t even be invited. It’s called Vape Shop Events and the second iteration of this new-style show took place in La Jolla, CA. the end of January. This highly-personal, invitation-only affair brings together 27 sellers/ manufacturers and 20 buyers, and over two days puts them together one on one for a 20-minute closed door session.
To be a seller is a rare privilege for which manufacturers and distributors pay, but the investment gives them an opportunity to present to a captive audience. Their fee also includes all travel expenses during the multi-day event. Meanwhile, the buyers, also limited and pre-screened, have their travel, lodging and food costs covered as well. The net result: “I’ve gotten more orders in my hand in two days than I would have done at any other vaping event,” said one attendee. It’s all about relationships… Even in the impersonal world of online business, it’s all about relationships. That proves itself endlessly in this vape space. It’s who you know and trust; and much of that is due to the lack of trust in this still immature industry.
There are no distractions from music, vape clouds or half naked models to interrupt the meeting and the net result is that business gets done. “Even though we’re new to the vape industry we’ve been doing these style events for over 10 years,” said Mike Sessoms, co-owners and founders of Ohio-based Vape Shop Events. His company also offers this concept in the pet food, tobacco and promotional industries and have found that almost 90 percent of attendees return for future shows.
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The day and a half long event took place mostly on the third floor of an Embassy Suites hotel, but even after hours, business got done. Many met for early meetings before the day started or had drinks after dinner.
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One of the attendees, Keith Nash, Vice President of Sales for JSPR and its related arm, The Council of Vapor, is a pro at events and making them effective. “I found the event exceeded our expectations from a buyer’s perspective,” he said. “The organization and team has proven to manufacturers and buyers the seriousness of this industry and I think this format will be around for a long time.” He plans to attend as a seller for future shows. The Canadian Dilemma Kurt Huhn with Valor Distributions out of Quebec, Canada, was a font of great information, especially regarding the process of importing e-liquids into Canada. The country has clamped down on the
border but sly innovators have been able to circumvent the restrictions. Is it even worth the effort? “A lot of Canadians want to vape on American products and not use some inferior junk made in someone’s bathtub,” Huhn said. “We use that term in jest, but there’s a lot of fact behind it.
“Everyone wants to be the ‘next big guy’ in juice so they want to get the best stuff from the US to learn from.”
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The importation rules were unclear about nicotine restrictions and even legal experts were conflicted. Health Canada is the Bad Cop here and “advised against nicotine,” in 2009. That also included importation of nicotine from outside the country. Huhn and his team concluded that it was in fact, illegal, and a specific license was required. The problem is that Health Canada has not issued a nicotine import license since 2007. The situation is complex and many American companies do not understand its intricacies. This one on one event configuration was ideal for Huhn or anyone else that had an unusual situation which may be too involved to explain in just a few moments. When asked if he was happy with the conversations he had and whether they would result in new business, he gave a hearty thumbs-up. Vape Shop Events hosts quarterly shows, with the next one coming up April 24-26 in Park City, UT, followed by La Jolla again in July and Scottsdale in October. For information visit www.VapeShopEvents.com. Norm Bour is the founder of VapeMentors, which offers online educational programs, services & resources for anyone in the vape space, including vape shops, online stores and e-liquid brands. He’s also the host of Vape Radio, the largest vaping radio show in the world with more than one million downloads. Norm interviews the masters of vape and thought leaders in the vape space. Contact him at norm@ VapeMentors.com.
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#VAPEMAGAZINE
Strawgurt A perfect pairing of sweet and tangy A delightful blend of Greek yogurt and fresh strawberry, these two flavors are impeccably balanced to create a vape that is neither too creamy nor too heavy.
Pixels Sweet and tart, plain and simple
Conjure up memories of old-time candy shop sweets with this light vape featuring a hint of tart.
Scoops Sweet, smooth, rich, and creamy
A wonderfully wicked blend of mixed fruits and frozen cream. Some compare it to tutti frutti, others simply to a sweet vaping dream.
Earl East Coast Liquids is proud to announce our new product line featuring
Hip Hop Artist
BLIND FURY
A delightful Earl Grey Tea, with honeysuckle and cream. A truly unique, and delicious vape experience.
Overboard Enjoy your catch of red candy fish that nobody would mind going “Overboard� for.
Purple Fury A lemon-lime soda with a bubblegum hint. This is one flavor that will have you leaning sideways.
Red Vines Get lost in the sweet vines of your favorite red licorice candy.
(803) 851-4198 info@eastcoastliquids.com
www.eastcoastliquids.com /eastcoastliquids
@eastcoastliquids
We are...
Event Coverage
By JOHN CASTLE Photos by DJ CORDERO PHOTOGRAPHY Vapin The Sun was my first major vape convention to attend — and my first to cover. My original thought, when it came to gathering information for this story was how to handle it. After much contemplation, I decided to share the things I would want to know. But above all, what was it like? Who was there? As I strolled the aisles in the Pavilion, it was easy to see familiar names — both national and local. I saw brands both national and local, from Suicide Bunny,
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Halo, and Cyclops Vapor to local Valley brands like Butt-Out, Bradley’s Brand, and Valor Vapor. Additionally, at least one online distributor for multiple brands put in an appearance — Giant Vapes. Giant Vapes’ booth spanned a massive corner displaying the liquid lines under its umbrella, such as THRST, G2 Vapor, and Nerdcore. On the hardware end of the consumer space, brands such as Hohmtech were on hand to show off the ultra-portable Skillet and ultra-powerful Wrecker G2 kits, while Fate Mods displayed their high-end Muertos mod. #VAPEMAGAZINE
Beyond the consumer-focused exhibitor presence, however, was the business-to-business presence at Vapin’ The Sun: Best Rate Merchant Services was on hand, as was Flawless Vape Distribution and the aforementioned Giant Vapes. Vapin’ The Sun was dedicated entirely to the cause of vaping. From advocacy groups like Vaping Militia, NotBlowingSmoke.org, and CASAA, to the primary beneficiary of the entire event, the Vape-A-Vet Project, Vapin’ The Sun 2016 was centered around supporting vaping and vapers, both current and future.
Event Coverage
In over 16 years as a resident of the Valley of the Sun, I had never visited to the Old West town themed attraction known as Rawhide before. The Rawhide Pavilion is a 50,000 square foot indoor space, and it was at full capacity shortly after the doors opened to the public. Fortunately, while the crowds were thick throughout the day, the venue also featured an additional 175,000 square feet of lush green lawn, complete with concessions including a full bar, and a concert stage.
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Event Coverage
While the event’s primary purpose to support and strengthen the vapor industry and businesses, it also had a very natural purpose — fun! Fun and focus were both in good supply, as Vapin’ The Sun concluded with a free concert for attendees on the Pavilion lawn. There’s nothing quite comparable to kicking back in the soft, cool grass on a warm February evening in Arizona with a cold brew, a delicious vape, and some smooth licks from Candlebox or the raprock slammin’ jams of Saliva. It was the perfect cap to the best experience in the perfect venue.
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#VAPEMAGAZINE
Event Coverage
From the generosity of the exhibitors, to the intrigue of spotting a lovely young lady dressed like Mad Moxxi from Borderlands, to the friendliness of both vendors and attendees, to the 20 minutes I spent roaming the 1880s-era streets of Rawhide, Vapin’ The Sun has absolutely and irreversibly made me a vape convention junkie. I hope to see you at Vapin’ The Sun 2017 — or, just maybe, sooner.
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Event Coverage
By COREY NOLES
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The St. Louis‑region, home to more than 100 vapor shops, countless e‑liquid manufacturers and two major distributors, has long had one glaring absence — the city has never hosted an expo. Finally, in January 2016, that absence was filled. In 2015, John Huck, owner of E‑Cig Mania’s brick‑and‑mortar shops as well as e‑liquid line Baker Vapor, Firehouse Premium E‑Juice and Atomic Premium Vapor, started a discussion among some local shop owners about the possibility of a St. Louis vapor convention. The idea was tossed around for a while, and then Huck decided the time had come to make it happen. He began looking into potential locations and ran into the typical roadblocks — places were either too small or wouldn’t allow indoor vaping at the event. Putting together a national caliber expo is no easy task — as Huck learned quickly. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it’s a full‑time job in itself,” he said. “Getting manufacturers and distributors to come for a first time expo isn’t always easy. I’m very pleased with the crowd we brought in.” With 3D Vapor, Pinup Vapors, Cloud Chasers International and VAPE Magazine all headquartered in the St. Louis‑region, Huck managed to sign all of them on as sponsors. A solid list of well more than 100 vendors included Mod Fuel, Vaperz Cloud, Fogwind, HexOhm, Daily Dose, Premier Liquids, Elevape, Villain Vapors, Beard Vape Co., Boosted and dozens more. Huck said the event, which saw at least 6,000 through the turnstiles on Saturday, was long overdue.
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#VAPEMAGAZINE
“St. Louis deserves its own event,” Huck said. “With so many manufacturers, store owners and such a busy vape community, they deserved it. I wanted people outside of the region to see what’s happening here.” While exposure for local businesses and manufacturers is a key element to any convention, Huck said spurring advocacy among the vaping masses was very important to him. “With an industry under attack, we need more people aware of what’s happening and ready to fight for their right to vape,” he said. Huck, with the help of A.J. Moll, vice president of media relations for the Bistate Regional Advocates for Vaping Education (BRAVE), a solid advocacy panel was on hand to answer questions and speak about the state of the vaping industry. On the panel was Greg Conley, President of the American Vaping Association (AVA); Stefan Didak, founder and president of notblowingsmoke.org; and Julie Woessner, executive director of Consumer Advocates for Smoke‑free Alternatives Association (CASAA). In addition to the federal advocacy portion of the event, the event was also used as an opportunity to highlight the newly VAPEMZ.COM
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formed Missouri chapter of the Smoke‑Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA). The group, which recently raised $15,000 to hire its own state lobbyist, operated a booth explaining some of the fights ahead to vapers and also helped them register to vote. Members, activists and shop owners operated the booth. Huck said he considers the event a resounding success from all angles — enough so that he is already in the process of planning the sequel. He declined to share the dates or venue, as the final contract and approval is still pending. “Rest assured, we’re doing it again,” he said. “Sooner rather than later.” Corey Noles is a writer for VAPE Magazine and owner of Inked Up E-Liquid Co. He has worked as a journalist for 12 years covering business, professional sports, crime and politics.
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#VAPEMAGAZINE
Cream of the Crop Always Rises to the Top
Organic Strawberries with Milk
All Natural Blueberry Muffins in Milk
All Natural Chocolate with Milk
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ARRAY
SIREN
Array is a very complex mix of raspberry, sour apple, kiwi, lemonade, and one other final secret ingredient to complete this very intriguing flavor that taste like your favorite Sweet & Sour Candy!
Siren is a tasty mix of blue raspberry with a hint of juicy grape, and a final subtle ingredient that gives you a superb mix of fruit flavors that taste like popular hard candy.
BYTE
VIRUS
POW
LAB PRODUCED
Virus is a mango guava mixed with a secret ingredient to give you an exotic mix. Virus is a good mix if you like exotic flavors.
Byte is a cereal flavor from Binary E-Liquid. This is not your typical cereal flavored e-liquid. Byte is a complex mix of crunch berry cereal, froot loops, and a milky extract.
Pow is a refreshing blend of pomegranate, watermelon, a hint of marshmallow, and a final secret ingredient to give you a fruity, yet fluffy flavor.
Have the assurance and confidence of true lab produced e-liquid. Our facilities are ISO and GMP certified to ensure the best possible product, as well as to ensure regulations wont leave you stuck with inventory on your shelves.
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DEPARTMENTS
Scenic Vapers #CloudCheck Promotes Vaping in Nature By Chris Mellides
Photo by Ian Silver (@Yogi_Wan_Kenobi_Sov), 25, of Sedona, Arizona, Tyler Price (@Dripping_Balls) is pictured vaping in the open air at Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
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Hailing from West Virginia, photographer Tyler Price (@dripping_balls) has a passion for the outdoors. Whether focusing his camera lens on bustling cityscapes or tranquil forests, Price’s strong attention to detail and knack for photo composition is evident in his ever-growing portfolio. When it comes to capturing nature shots, it seems that that’s when Price is at the top of his game. His body of work will often depict sprawling green forests and rocky terrain, the occasional waterfall, or a large riverbed with its shushing water coursing along the still landscape. It wasn’t until about two years ago that he discovered another passion that quickly became a hobby: vaping. After years of smoking cigarettes, the seasoned photographer’s curiosity towards smoke-free alternatives seemed to get the best of him. Starting with a basic e-cigarette and cartomizer, Price eventually graduated to mechanical mods and rebuildables thanks to the guidance he received from friends and online forums. It wasn’t long before vaping became another focus for his photography, with the West Virginian taking Instagram by storm and posting portraits of vapers with picturesque backdrops, which seemingly serve as the fundamental foundation for this aspect of his work.
Photo by Phiton Nguyen, 29, of Washington DC, and California. Eugene vaping atop a building admiring the wilderness bordering a Hong Kong suburb.
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#VAPEMAGAZINE
In July 2014, Price found a kindred spirit in another photographer named Ian Silver (Yogi_Wan_Kenobi_Sov), who was also inspired by nature and incorporated much of the same elements into his own work. Like Price, Silver became curious about vaping, and as a yoga practitioner and healthy lifestyle promoter, smoking cigarettes began to feel counterintuitive when striving for wellness and maintaining a healthy body and mind. Roughly two years ago that all changed when Silver and his girlfriend Aimee, plunged into the vaping world after visiting a local shop and walking out of it with a SMOKTech Magneto and an IGO-W RDA from Youde Tech. Since then the Sedona, Arizona resident found himself promoting and shooting videos for vape companies on the Internet; and working as a sales representative at Magic Mist, a local vape shop.
With Scenic Vapers, Price and Silver encourage other photographers, whether they be professional or amateur enthusiasts, to show their appreciation for nature and vaping in photos that they can submit for inclusion on the @scenicvapers Instagram account. Work that excels expectations will have the possibility of being featured in a future print edition of VAPE Magazine. To be a true scenic vaper, it is paramount to find the motivation to get out and explore all of the beautiful places around you while being active and enjoying life to its fullest. Given the right push and putting forth the right amount of effort, we can all be scenic vapers.
With a similar photography style, and a shared admiration for creative portraitures, Silver crossed paths with Price on Instagram, where the two were regularly uploading photography. Their shared passions and mutual respect led them to create Scenic Vapers, and almost one year later the two continue their vision of offering viewers a different look at vaping while encouraging a more active lifestyle that begs them to explore nature and the great outdoors.
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Photo by TJ White (@RenegadeRevival), 26, of Redding, California. Austin Mote is pictured here vaping Gummy Glu by Lost Art Liquids (@LostArtLiquids) halfway up El Capitan at Yosemite National Park.
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#VAPEMAGAZINE
Photo by Rudy Puente, 29, of Chicago. Kari (@dollfacevape) takes a moment to vape outside during a Chicago snowstorm. VAPEMZ.COM
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To submit your photo to Scenic Vapers #CloudCheck for VAPE submission consideration, follow @VapeMagazine @ScenicVapers @Drippin_Balls and @Yogi_Wan_Kenobi_Sov and #VapeMagazine #CloudCheck and #ScenicVapers on Instagram.
Photo by Allen Nguyen, 24, of Houston, Texas.
For the VAPE pictorial column, photos must be in high resolution, but for the IG page everyone has the chance for a feature.
A self portrait of Nguyen enjoying a vape at the place where he goes to escape the world.
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DEPARTMENTS
Compiled by Chris Mellides
Strawberry Roo from Cloud Thieves Vapor Company
This 80 VG/20 PG e-liquid is the newest offering from CTVC and is a strawberry frosting dip with sprinkles, which was inspired by their original and keystone flavor Kangaroo Kustard—a vanilla frosting dip with sprinkles on top. 120 ml pricing is available. http://cloudthieves.com/
Purp from Dank eJuice
Dank’s best-selling flavor by far, Purp is the perfect mix of berry punch, melon, raspberry, strawberry, and the wildest cherries that will leave your mouth watering and begging for more! http://dripindustry.com/
Mighty Scimitar from Dead Shriners
This max VG e-liquid from Dead Shriners takes the perfect blend of apple and adds just the right amount of spice to create a fresh and flavorful, all day apple cider vape. http://deadshriners.com/
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DEPARTMENTS
Big Foot from Decoded
Baked Blue from LabRat Liquids
The warmed sugar covered mini donuts sprinkled with notes of cinnamon you enjoyed on those summer days at the fair comes to you in this spot on and savory e-liquid. http://instagram.com/decodedeliquid/
A delicious blend of fresh blueberries topped with a warm graham crust, just a touch of cinnamon, and a hint of brown sugar make this max VG dessert vape one that shouldn’t be missed. http://labratliquids.com/
NayNay from Lower Class Liquids
Penthouse Dream from Gallery
A clear departure from the common candied fruit flavor, NayNay takes aim at capturing authentic banana notes combined with flavor elements plucked from the most decadent baker’s confectionery. Enjoy an 80 VG/20 PG e-liquid that’s a delightful and fluffy banana cheesecake smothered with a light, yet sweet chocolate drizzle. 120 ml pricing is available. http://lowerclassliquids.com/
Hatched from the maker’s absurdly odd obsession with cream brûlée, this sweet and salty caramel treat will leave you dreaming of notes of vanilla, bourbon and custard. Penthouse Dream e-juice is unique in that it steeps in hand crafted Kentucky bourbon barrels giving it greater depth and balance. http://galleryvape.com/
1910 from Epicurean Reserve
Specifically designed with sub ohm lovers in mind, Epicurean Reserve considered what a food connoisseur might look for while eating a meal: flavor, body and aroma. And in doing so produced their 1910 e-liquid— a devilishly decadent strawberry ice cream swirled with rich Greek yogurt. http://x2ovapes.com/
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Vanilla Almond Milk from Moo e-Liquids
Handcrafted in Orange County, California this 70 VG/30 PG blend is going to blow you away! Enjoy the smooth, rich and creamy taste of fresh almond milk with a gentle softness that’s bold, yet supple. This flavor is delicious and downright decadent with every inhale and exhale. http://liquidguys.com/
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DEPARTMENTS
Lunar Harvest from King of the Cloud
Since its release over two years ago, Lunar Harvest has been the most popular flavor in the King of the Cloud line. With hints of sugary candy on the inhale and a smooth berry taste on the exhale, this flavor is very reminiscent of blueberry rock candy or cotton candy. http://vapersknoll.com/
M.B.Y.C. from Sic Boy
Like a mouthful of rich, creamy and decadent praline ice cream, M.B.Y.C. blends praline with creamy sweet ice cream, and just a touch of vanilla custard to round out the richly bold flavor. http://sicboy.net/
Banzai from Ronin Vape
The war cry of all fruit menthol enthusiasts. On the initial inhale, a mouthwatering array of fresh strawberries, peacherine and tropical undertones will conquer your taste buds, preparing them for the cool, soothing climax of menthol and mountain mint. http://roninvape.com/ VAPEMZ.COM
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DEPARTMENTS
Lemon Bomb from Sour Vape
The inspiration for Lemon Bomb came from the desire to deliver the perfect mix of tart and sweet lemon candy. The result? A perfect balance between tart, sweet, lemony goodness and a heap of sour that will simply blow your mind! http://sourvape.com/
Peanut Butter Parfait from Simply Vapour
Peanut Butter Parfait is a unique blend unlike many other peanut butter vapes currently available. Just the right amount of peanut butter mixed with banana, caramel, and vanilla crème creates a flavor that is irresistibly delicious. http://simplyvapour.com/
Agnes Peach Cobbler from VaPOUR Distribution
This 80 VG/20 PG blend takes a stab at homemade cobbler with fresh baked, sweet peaches peppered with a hint of cinnamon in a warm flakey crust. This e-liquid will have you saying, “Oh that Agnes, she’s a peach!” http://vapourtap.com/
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For Zac Daab of St. Louis, Mo., maker of Mad Wiener Mods, the road from early plastic box mods to high-end stabilized wood mods has been one of art and hobby. Mad Weiner Mods, named for Daab’s dachshund, Harold, are all Evolv Inc. DNA200powered and sold only via private auction on Facebook. Each individual mod is oneof-a-kind and made from personally selected pieces of exotic woods stabilized with tinted Alumalite (a two-part epoxy resin) giving them an almost galactic appearance. And unique is the way he likes it. “I really have no desire to just crank out hundreds of the same box over and over,” he said. “I like working with the wood and being able to always look at it more as an artist than as an electrician. Wood is never the same, it’s more free to work with.”
Mad Wiener Mods brings art to mod building By COREY NOLES
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An early enthusiast of the DNA200, Daab began putting them in devices in early June 2015 — with prototypes a bit earlier. “I was impressed with its info, its power and the fact that it had a built-in balancing charger for a lipo battery,” Daab said. “Evolv also has excellent customer service. The EScribe software for the DNA200 makes it very customizable and unique to the industry.”
“Sure, I could mass produce and make a lot more money, but for me this is about the enjoyment of the process,” he said. “I love watching a rough block of wood grow into a beautiful piece of technology.”
HexOhm mods, he said. The Mad Weiner 120 grew to be his most popular production model — and his last. As time went on and Daab bored with making the same mod again, he discovered stabilized woods. He began learning about the process and looking for pieces to use in the future.
As the DNA200 rose to popularity, so did the value of Daab’s Mad Weiner mods. Today his boxes are selling at auction for as little as $400 or as much as $1,200. All are auctioned through a private Facebook group with about 850 members. Daab was first introduced to electronic cigarettes by his girlfriend, who is now his wife, in mid-2013 when she heard of “this Blu thing.” The couple visited a kiosk in a St. Louis where they purchased one to try out. Never having been a heavy smoker, Daab wasn’t sure about the technology, but found it fascinating. Being an artistic individual with a passion for learning how things work, it was no time before mod building grew a hobby, then a business. It was a clear plastic mod with LED lights using 14500 batteries that got him hooked.
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“I saw them selling on eBay and thought, well, I could build those,” he said. “I built one pretty quick and it took off from there. I’ve never bought a device or even owned a tank.” In November 2013, Daab launched Mad Wiener Mods, beginning with plastic enclosure parallel boxes. In a short time, he transitioned to making simple wooden mechanical mods. He enjoyed working with the wood, but an everchanging industry led him another direction.
What’s he vaping? Mad Weiner Mods DNA200 #1 CNC aluminum G+ enclosure 1300mah 35c 11.1v lipo Velocity Dual 22g coils at .31 at 90 watts Vevo by Ritual and Lana by Pinup Vapors
“What people want in the vapor industry changes so fast,” Daab said. That’s when he began playing with aluminum enclosures, eventually building a line of parallel and series boxes that were sold through a handful of local shops. Around that period builders were using a variety of chips in their mods. Daab researched a number of chips, but settled on the 120 watt Naos Raptor chip. The chip is similar to the 110 watt OKL2 used in
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“Sure, I could mass produce and make a lot more money, but for me this is about the enjoyment of the process,” he said. “I love watching a rough block of wood grow into a beautiful piece of technology.” For that reason, the stabilized wood mods became a labor of love for Daab. With 10-plus hours in hands-on labor in each device, he said he’s as attached to them as a painter would be to their own work. “I wish I could keep them all on a shelf, but it’s not a cheap hobby,” he said, noting that the specialty wood often costs $100 or more on it’s own. Such a hobby can also lead to many failures along the way. In 2014, Daab developed a 120 watt regulated box that ran dual tanks. He worked it for a while but decided not to move forward with it as a production model. “I run the hell out of my prototypes — several never made the cut,” he said. “I like to have some time to work out the bugs before I make a decision like that.” As far as what the future holds for Mad Weiner Mods, it’s still up in the air. Daab said he’s always looking for the next cool idea and to see what people are into throughout the industry. “It’s always changing and everyone wants to be the innovator — like Henry Ford and car,” he said. “But, it’s about that time.” For more information, check out Mad Wiener Mods on Facebook.
45ml for the price of a
30ml
Liquid Art inc. maryland - usa #410.582.8035 sales@liquidartinc.com
#g2vapor @g2vapor facebook.com/g2vapor www.g2vapor.com
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Eddy LeBlanc
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Jackpots, high-end mods and activism
The Poland made mods retail for around $600, but getting your hands on one can often cost much more. To pay between $5,000-$6,000 or more is not unheard of. LeBlanc’s new juice line, which launched March 24, 2016, has seen some early success, with more than 20,000 pre-orders placed by midMarch. The line is a group project of LeBlanc, his brother Troy LeBlanc, Ken Siverman, Kyle Ezzio and Jacob Giverink. The parent company is Dark Market Vape Co. with a distribution company under the same name launching now.
By COREY NOLES Eddy LeBlanc knows how to make things happen. He turned a childhood love for poker into a career with the World Series of Poker (WSOP), a passion for vaping into a chain of five stores and a new juice line — Split. LeBlanc, born in Toronto but an early Atlanta transplant, has won more than $190,000 through WSOP — most of it since December 2015. His biggest win to date was at a WSOP Circuit match in Cherokee, North Carolina in December 2015 where a second place finish out of 1,010 players landed him $173,286. “That last one multiplied my career earnings times 10,” LeBlanc said. “Basically, my poker life started at about age 5,” he said. “I grew up in a motorcycle family, dad was an old school poker player and biker. So we didn’t play the conventional games at our house.”
Following his big win in December 2015, LeBlanc gave the dealer quite the gift — a G Reverso Titan Mod valued at more than $600. “I had seen him vaping during the event and saw he was using an 30 watt iStick,” LeBlanc said. “I figured he could use an upgrade, so I gave him mine.” Of course, it’s not LeBlanc was without a mod. His replacement, a $6,000 Gepetto Titan V3 on Steroids, is now his go-to mod. The device, made in Poland, sports a single 26650 powered by an Evolv DNA40 chip. With a burled wood body, the Titan V3 on Steroids features a stainless steel front plate and a MiTech anti-vandal switch.
The juice is a smooth banana split milkshake blend, described as having “oceans of cream mixed with light bananas, strawberries and a hint of chocolate drizzle on top.” LeBlanc credits his brother, Troy, with turning him on to vaping in 2013. “He had been selling vaping products online and decided he wanted to open a shop,” LeBlanc said. “We got together and opened up a 1,000-square-foot store. It was the first of five that we operate now in Kentucky and Indiana.” He said they hope to have eight Derb E Cigs shops open within the year. Being a shop owner in Indiana has created serious difficulty in recent years, but LeBlanc, through Derb E Cigs and Dark Market Vape Co. (which is the parent company for Split) are leading the fight against Indiana’s controversial new vaping law. “We’ve pumped a ton of money into this and managed to get Vapor Shark and others on board in the fight,” he said. “We also require all of our vendors to give to the project as well.”
That love of the game followed him through life — all the way to his first WSOP event in Sept. 2012 at West Palm Beach, Florida. To date, he has completed in six WSOP events and placed in the top two three times.
Some have done it in a percentage of profits he said, others in a flat donation — but everyone is on board.
In August 2014, LeBlanc took first place at the same Palm Beach event where he started, winning almost $10,000 and a championship ring.
“If they want their products sold in Indiana, they have to get involved,” he said.
“That was really a big deal to me,” he said. “I’m still proud of that ring.”
It’s the same philosophy he takes to the poker table — put your money where you mouth is. VAPEMZ.COM
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STATS Single 18650 battery Stabilized wood body Evolv DNA 40 gold chip Choice of a spring loaded Varitube 14mm 510 or Gepetto adjustable “catch cup” 510 12mm Mitec on/off switch Stainless steel battery tube, brass positive contact and a stainless steel/wood “no tool” battery cap Stainless steel front plate (this particular mod has a limited damascus steel front plate) 100 percent hand made, hand drilled (drill press), hand sanded and hand polished stabilized wooden body All mods receive multiple coats of hard wax (polished. not clear coated) Loch Ness is 4” (101.6mm) tall, 1 3/4” (44.45mm) deep and 1 1/8” (28.575mm)
OPENING THE WORLD
Should companies not focus on the US market first before they export?
Q&A with Mr. Derek Dodge, the Principal at International Commence Development. First of all Mr. Dodge, can you tell us about your company? Sure, first of all, call me Derek. International Commerce Development helps companies with their international sales while still maintaining control. In a nutshell, we help become your export department and save you time and money in growing your business. ICD has been around for over 25 years. Founded by of my father, Chris Dodge, who is now the Secretary General of the Global Vaping Association. What's your story? Before my grandmother passed away from cancer and she asked me to stop smoking. It was hard until I found Vaping. Together, my father and I are now deeply involved with
the vaping industry on both a personal and business level. What is your opinion about TPD and can you explain it for our readers? Gone are the days when anyone can come up with a Brand and sell whatever they want. The EU is a 500 million person market that loves US made products. If a company does not have any sales before May 20, they will be banned from selling until they do the paperwork and then wait 6 months.
That is a big mistake. The United States is a great market but it is a very fractured market and tough for new companies and small companies to know where they can sell and how they can deal with the local governments that do not understand or want this industry. Europe is a single market, a friendly market. The Prime Minister of England has said in Parliament that it has helped over one million Britons stop smoking and Public Health UK has endorsed it as a smoking cessation product and even given a medical license to an e-cigarette. If any company wants to grow their US sales, they should think about selling into this market so they can offer any US partner more. If you can get easy sales and build your business, improve your cash flow and lower your costs because you are making more, you can then use those tools to develop the US. The US is a harder market right now to develop and more and more companies are seeing the success in Europe. We at ICD are giving them a hand .
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What about all those Rules and the TPD? The Global Vaping Association is the only Trade Association in the world that is working with governments to lower barriers. I am aware that when TPD hits, everyone will still get a year (or more) to be complaint. I know in some markets, it means that they are now opening up to 30ml because they are required. Again, think of Europe as the opposite of the US. In the US, any local government can do more then what the Federal government says and that is why we have these local cities imposing bans. In the EU, they don’t have that kind of authority. One reason why England is thinking about leaving is that they feel they do not have authority over the EU. Again, Europe is one big fat single market looking for good US companies and we want to help everyone make money. You email Derek directly at ICDDerek@gmail.com
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A Vape Journey of Inevitability By Tony Ottomanelli II
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So what is it exactly that I have to share about Mods. Well, at this juncture in my vaping lifestyle, I actually have much to report onisthe matterthat at hand. have recently switched over So what it exactly I haveI to share about Mods. Well, at from strictly Vape pens to using primarily Mods with RDAs. this juncture in my vaping lifestyle, I actually have much to This is on mythe story aboutatthat transition. report matter hand. I have recently switched over
from strictly Vape pens to using primarily Mods with RDAs. IThis think the story best place begin with the story of my journey of is my abouttothat transition. becoming a vaper is to simply start from the very beginning of my days where I was first exposed to tobacco I think the best place to begin with the story of my cigarettes. journey of After all, most vapers are former smokers. becoming a vaper is to simply start from the very beginning of my days where I was first exposed to tobacco cigarettes. Taking this intovapers account, very smokers. first time I smoked a cigaAfter all, most arethe former rette, I was in Middle School and I was doing it to be cool, or so I thought. I wanted to look olderfirst thantime I was, becausea when Taking this into account, the very I smoked cigayou’re beingSchool an adult “cool,” adults rette, I that was age, in Middle and seemed I was doing it tosince be cool, or had more freedom than teenagers. Now when I look when back so I thought. I wanted to look older than I was, because on it, Ithat wishage, vaping wasanaround rather than justsince the deadly you’re being adult seemed “cool,” adults tobacco cigarettes. Could you imagine if vaping were around had more freedom than teenagers. Now when I look back back the early to was mid-90s? That would have my on it, in I wish vaping around rather than justchanged the deadly lifestyle over the past 20 years a great deal. tobacco cigarettes. Could you imagine if vaping were around back in the early to mid-90s? That would have changed my Given how much evolved, I’m still impressed with lifestyle over the vaping past 20has years a great deal. the technological advancements. I can not even begin to imagine what thevaping market would be like vaping had been Given how much has evolved, I’m if still impressed with around for more than 20 years. the technological advancements. I can not even begin to
imagine what the market would be like if vaping had been Not onlyfordoes market continually evolve in technologiaround morethe than 20 years. cal features, we, as vapers, also evolve. For example, I was a smoker for more than 15 years. Sure, I enjoyed it, but Not only does the market continually evolve in technologiIcalbegan chain smoking while living in Chicago where features, we, as vapers, also evolve. For example, Icigawas rettes werefor literally per15 pack. That is quite a bit of wasted a smoker more$10 than years. Sure, I enjoyed it, but money consider I smoked than a where pack a cigaday; I beganwhen chainyou smoking while living more in Chicago that’s $100 a$10 week. rettes nearly were literally per pack. That is quite a bit of wasted money when you consider I smoked more than a pack a day; At thisnearly point,$100 you may be thinking “seriously what does this that’s a week. have to do with mods?” Don’t worry I’m getting to it.
When I finally gave into switching from tobacco cigarettes to participating in the art of vaping, I first started using e-cigs, or cigalikes, such asinto VUSE or BLU.from Those were the very first When I finally gave switching tobacco cigarettes to two brands I tried for almost two months, but of course, like participating in the art of vaping, I first started using e-cigs, most vapers,such I didn’t want to Big Tobacco products. or cigalikes, as VUSE orsupport BLU. Those were the very firstI needed better flavor with more vapor production. two brands I tried for almost two months, but of course, like
most vapers, I didn’t want to support Big Tobacco products. I So, like abetter parallel entity of the evolving vape industry, I too beneeded flavor with more vapor production. gan my vaping evolution. As suggested in the title, it is inevitable, a vaping journey surely willevolving evolve no matter what the case. So, like a parallel entity of the vape industry, I too began my vaping evolution. As suggested in the title, it is inevitaTherefore, switching toevolve strictly vaping,what I upgraded ble, a vapingafter journey surely will no matter the case. to vape-pens. At first, it was just the basic eGo set-up — 600mah battery a cheaptoknock-off in which Therefore, after with switching strictly top-fill vaping,tank, I upgraded Itoonly vaped tobacco flavored Basically, vape-pens. At first, it was E-Liquids. just the basic eGo slowly set-upbut — surely, learning to vape. Correctly. 600mahI was battery with ahow cheap knock-off top-fill tank, in which I only vaped tobacco flavored E-Liquids. Basically, slowly but After slightly device for a couple surely,using I was this learning how unsatisfying to vape. Correctly. weeks, I moved onto something better. A device with variable power,unsatisfying the Vision Spinner with NauAftervoltage using battery this slightly device IIfor a acouple tilus mini tank, Vaping more fruitybetter. flavors. quickly became weeks, I moved onto something A Idevice with variobsessed with collecting Vape-pens, one II with different able voltage battery power, the Visioneach Spinner with a Nauflavored accompanying tilus minijuice tank, Vaping more each fruitytank. flavors. I quickly became
obsessed with collecting Vape-pens, each one with different Everyone urged me to at least a device that was subflavored juice accompanying eachget tank. ohm, but I vaped 12mg, and vapers know you don’t want to be caught dripping or vaping any nicotine strength Everyone urged me to12mg at least get a device that was subabove 3mg or 6mg with today’s mods. I guess it depends on ohm, but I vaped 12mg, and vapers know you don’t want how you are, because a friend who vapes 18mg to betough caught dripping 12mg Iorhave vaping any nicotine strength out of a sub-ohm tank box mod setup. Perhaps some on do above 3mg or 6mg withand today’s mods. I guess it depends drip withare, an RDA, but Ifor most vapers, just far how 12mg tough you because have a friend whothat’s vapes 18mg too Furthermore, for box about a year I preferred highout harsh. of a sub-ohm tank and mod setup. Perhaps the some do er nicotine so Ibut continued tovapers, use pens exclusively. drip 12mg strengths, with an RDA, for most that’s just far
too harsh. Furthermore, for about a year I preferred the highAll of my vaping friends urge to me topens get aexclusively. real mod, er nicotine strengths, so Iwould continued use but I could never give in because I didn’t want to give up the
At this point, you may be thinking “seriously what does this All of my vaping friends would urge me to get a real mod, have to do with mods?” Don’t worry I’m getting to it. but I could never give in because I didn’t want to give up the VAPEMZ.COM
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MOD TECH stronger nicotine. Taking this into account, I came across a Sigelei 50w Box Mod for only $30, what kind of a vaper would I be to pass up that deal? My time had come, the evolution of the vaper was beginning to take hold. My next purchase was an INNOKIN iSub APEX Tank. Using the APEX tank, I was getting great flavor and producing large clouds of thick vapor. Oh boy, watch out now, I’m a pro. Next thing you know I’ll be blowin’ some Os. I wish I were kidding but I have been practicing and let me tell you, it ain’t easy to make O rings, yet practice makes perfect. After buying that Sigelei Box Mod, it was all over for my vapepen obsession from there. My 12 mg preference was now a 3 mg preference. I began searching far and wide for the perfect RDA. I got lucky and I found that perfection in a Royal Hunter RDA. Nowadays I don’t leave my house without at least three mods at all times. I typically now carry my Sigelei 50w box mod with either an RDA or my Aspire Triton tank as the top piece. The funny thing is even though the Sigelei was my first mod, it’s not even close to my favorite. That title goes to my iPV D2 mod with a Royal Hunter RDA. Quite the change for the pen-addict. The other device I carry is my Tribus Alpha TC made by Royaltech. This particular device is somewhat special to me due to the fact that it was free. I did a review video of the mod, and fell in love with it.
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Regardless, no matter how or when you begin vaping, eventually you will work your way up to the world of mods. It may take a while — at least it did for me.
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Of course I’m going by my own personal experience. However, most of the vapers I know or talk to tell me they began with the tobacco or menthol type flavors and then transitioned to fruity or custard flavors. For all of you who are just beginning your journey or those of you who are hesitant to make the move to a mod, give it some time — it’s inevitable.
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By Chris Mellides Do you remember the Tobh rebuildable dripping atomizer? It was highly sought after for a time, with pre-order waiting lists tearing at the seams as anxious buyers waited their turn to own the version 2.5 following its announcement in 2014. Myself included. Manufactured in the U.S. with its simple three-post design, nicely milled kidney shaped juice well cutouts with just enough airflow for a restricted lung hit, the Tobh was pretty great at the time of its release. Even if you haven’t heard of this atty, you’ve probably heard of its creator, Jay Bo. An American modder, Jay Bo has since partnered with Chinese company Wismec in releasing hardware he designed, but that is manufactured in China to keep the cost of his products competitively low for consumers. I won’t be discussing the Indestructible or Bambino RDAs, nor will I focus my attention on the Noisy Cricket, which are all Jay Bo-designed products that are fine in their own right. Instead, I’ll be discussing one of the most well-received mods to date: The Reuleaux. The Reuleaux takes its name from the Reuleaux triangle, a term in geometry defining the centermost triangle created when three circles intersect. This is also what gives the mod its unique shape. Originally fitted with Evolv’s DNA200
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board, the Reuleaux was an amazing entry in the high-wattage/temperature control market and came with the asking price of $169.99. While that may seem pricey at first glance, given their scarcity and average cost of about $80 per unit, early adopters of the DNA200 board priced their mods at $200 and above to offset the cost of Evolv’s expensive chipset in order to turn a more favorable profit. Additionally, these early DNA200-powered mods were also limited to utilizing internal battery packs, which offered little to no user serviceability and often gave way to less than stellar battery life, particularly for users who prefer high-wattage vaping. This is precisely why the Reuleaux DNA200 was so special. It was the first DNA200-powered device to ditch the internal battery packs and grant users the ability to use three removable 18650 batteries of their choosing wired in series, and outputting a true 200 watts of power with the three cells providing a total of 11.1 volts. At under $200, this device quickly grew in popularity and increasingly became the obvious choice for those vapers who wanted a longer lasting DNA200 vaping experience, with the benefit of user serviceability and a price point that beat out much of the competition. Enter the Reuleaux RX200. Utilizing a 200-watt temp control chip created by long-time e-cigarette manufacturer Joyetech Enterprises, this
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iteration of the Reuleaux has just about the same functionality as the DNA200 version, but comes at a much cheaper price point. Where its predecessor is priced at about $170, the Reuleaux RX200 can be purchased for about $65, and in some cases, I’ve seen it sell for a little over $40. The physical specs are virtually identical between the sister devices. As is the build quality. Both variations make use of an OLED display, both have spring-loaded 510 connections, a magnetic battery cover and USB charging capability. The devices are 84mm tall, 50mm wide and 38mm across. The main difference here are the guts of both devices. While the DNA200 and RX200 chipsets are firmware upgradeable, and can do temp control when using nickel, stainless steel and titanium wire builds, you do get more for your money with the DNA200, but that depends largely on whether you need the extra features. The most notable difference is Evolv’s Escribe PC software. With it you can customize just about anything you like. From adjusting display brightness, to inserting custom graphics when the device boots up, or simply substituting images or text for system prompts or custom presets. What is particularly useful is the board’s ability to allow users the option of creating system profiles. In other words, the DNA200 allows you to save and select between eight groups of output settings.
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of the battery. This could just be an issue affecting my review product, but I’ve heard others complain about torn wraps due to the design of the indentation rings. The RX200 model, on the other hand, has different battery terminals that provide reverse polarity protection without the need for indentation rings and thus battery wraps do not get ripped, the batteries are easier to remove and they fit securely inside the mod. The only gripe I have with the RX200 is that from time to time when not in use and powered on, my selected wattage drops down to 20 watts, no matter what it had been set to previously. The same happened to a friend’s device, and while this occurs infrequently enough, it should be mentioned. Additionally, there’s a delay when firing the RX200 after sitting idle that might bother some people, but at least the RX200 model can be powered on and off with five clicks of the fire button, unlike the DNA200 version. Having used both devices, the clear winner in my book is the Reuleaux RX200. The model’s chip might not be as accurate as the Evolv DNA200, particularly with lower resistance builds operating at higher wattages, but the functionality of the Joyetech board compared to Evolv’s is strikingly similar. “Each profile contains an output power setting and a maximum temperature setting. These can be adjusted on the device, and will be saved when a different profile is selected. Additionally, the resistance lock setting and value for each atomizer is saved in the profile, which can alleviate temperature inaccuracies stemming from attaching atomizers before they have completely cooled,” according to Evolv. While better in terms of customization, the DNA200 model isn’t without faults. The mod makes use of indentation rings inside the battery housing
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to ensure reverse polarity protection by allowing only the correct battery terminal to come in contact with the mod. That’s all fine and good, however, the outermost battery tends to loosen when the mod is rattled or set down with force, which prevents the device from functioning properly, unless the magnetic battery cover is removed and that battery is repositioned. For whatever reason one of the innermost batteries is hard to remove from inside the device and each time I attempt to break it free, the battery terminal likes to tear the wrapping #VAPEMAGAZINE
In the end you’d be getting the same feel and fit as the DNA200 model, but at a significantly cheaper price point if you went with the RX200. If you’re not concerned with customization and profile settings, I think the choice is pretty clear. *A special thanks goes to Jake Riccardi of the Long Island Vaporium in Ronkonkoma, NY for loaning me his Reuleaux DNA200 mod for the purpose of writing this article.
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The Nephos mechanical mod, manufactured by Nephos Cloud, is an imposing mod that is as beautifully crafted as it is stout. 156
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The Nephos stands 76mm in height, boasts 3mm thick walls and features a unique button housing measuring 11mm tall. The tube itself is 24.5mm in diameter and tapers to 22mm at the top cap making drippers and tanks with elongated 510 connections look the part. At its core, the Nephos is constructed out of C101 grade 100 percent oxygen free copper, and is available in two distinct styles. The first is the Copper Nephos, which has a glossy copper finish that will need an occasional polish to maintain its luster. The second is the Silver Nephos Elite. The Elite requires less maintenance, as the tube, top cap and switch have been plated four times over with .999 grade silver. The product I received for review was the Copper Nephos, and as far as mech mods go, this is a nice one. The tube is emblazoned with very deep engravings of Greek characters spelling out “Nephos”, which roughly translates to “large dense cloud” in English. A name that’s certainly not lost on this device. As you can expect from most high-end American made devices, the build quality of this mod is superb and with an 18650 battery and atomizer installed, it’s got a hefty weight that feels very substantial — making the device comfortable enough to hold, but solid enough that it could survive a drop and continue to perform just as it did the day it was purchased. The term “hard hitter” is one used more often than not to describe exceptional performance. So much so that it’s lost a lot of its meaning. However, make no mistake about it, the Nephos does hit hard, and for a number of different reasons. The Nephos makes use of a hybrid 510 connection, where the 510 pin on your favorite atomizers make direct contact with the 18650 battery housed inside the mod. This minimizes voltage drop for optimal performance and is a feature you’ll see on many of today’s mech mods. Unlike many of the current mech mods on the market however, the Nephos hardly has any threading, which further reduces voltage drop and allows the mech to preform that much better. In fact, the only threading you’ll find is at the 510 connection and the mod’s firing pin. The top portion of the Nephos is press fitted onto the body using six tons of pressure, so the odds of those two pieces separating are slim. Additionally, rather than screwing onto the tube, the mod’s switch is also press fitted and is held in place by a durable fluorocarbon O-ring, which the manufacturer claims can withstand higher temperatures and is more durable than traditional O-rings. This design also makes it easy to remove the switch and swap out batteries on the fly, which is great. A sturdy, silver plated beryllium copper spring provides a good amount of resistance in the throw of the switch, which was not at all hard to push. The fire button is very responsive as well. I didn’t experience any misfiring whatsoever, nor were there any hot button issues and there was no crunchiness experienced when firing the device either. As far as adjusting for battery rattle, a removable ring of what I wager is made of acrylic, surrounds the copper contact and can be adjusted in and out to get rid of any slack in the mod—much like the Limitless mod. What I did find was that when the Nephos is cool, say it hasn’t been used in a while, the switch assembly doesn’t feel very secure when press fitted into the tube. It’s a little odd, but I found significant play in the switch.
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Just like any other mech, through continued usage the device tends to heat up a bit, and it’s at this point that the switch on the Nephos seems perfectly secure and there’s no play or wobbling to speak of. As with any copper mod something you’ll have to remember with the Copper Nephos is that your hands will likely smell of pennies following repeated use of the device. The good news is that you’ve got a mod that’s highly conductive, given its
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copper construction, and I’m betting if you’re a fan of copper already you probably wouldn’t mind the scent anyway. I would well imagine that the Silver Nephos Elite will not have this issue since it is plated copper, so there’s always that option if you’re willing to fork over the extra cash. While we’re on that topic, the Copper Nephos retails for $175 and the Silver Nephos Elite sells for $250, which is a lot of dosh, but depending on your
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budget and tastes it may be well worth the cost. According to the manufacturer, the Nephos will soon be available in a variety of different colors. They include: black, red, blue and white and are appropriately dubbed “Midnight”, “Ares”, “Poseidon” and “Zeus,” respectively. I received this mod for review from Matthew “Grim” Elliott at Vapeworx in Commack, NY. The Nephos is available for purchase online directly through the manufacturer at: nephos-cloud.com.
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DRIPPING 101
E-liquid doesn’t grow on trees. It costs money. Dripping might be a better alternative to tossing that bottle of e-liquid in the trash. Luckily, dripping also tends to produce bolder, richer flavors. It’s like heating a Krispy Kreme in the microwave before eating it. The donut still has the same combination of tasty ingredients, but the chocolate-covered delight always seems to taste even better with a good zap of high heat. Now, the donut-lover can heat the circular pastry in the microwave, roast it over an open flame, or place it in a convection oven. Different heating methods tend to produce slightly different overall tastes. Dripping works in very much the same way.
Dripping Defined
When many beginning vapers first hear about “dripping,” some rather interesting images often come to mind. The terminology seems to imply a process of placing tiny drops of e-liquid directly onto the wick or coil instead of filling a tank. While this process sounds simple enough, why would anyone want to do this in the first place? Vaping is already fun and easy. Just fill the tank, and vape away until the battery needs recharging, right? Well, not so fast. Dripping opens the door to a whole new world.
Dripping and Donuts As newbies transition into more experienced vaping enthusiasts, many quickly turn into a kind of e-liquid connoisseur. They love experimenting with different flavors, blends, and brands, and may even begin creating their own. While this is all part of the fun of vaping, buying ten bottles of e-liquid every week can quickly wreak havoc on the wallet. • So what happens when the e-liquid doesn’t live up to its marketing hype? • Is the manufacturer simply trying to pull a fast one? • Why doesn’t the e-liquid taste as great as the Vlogger or Facebook post suggests? • What if the bottle lists the perfect combination of impossibleto-find flavors, but the e-liquid still tastes bland? • What is the buyer supposed to do next? Should she simply pour the e-liquid down the drain?
Dripping, in its purest form, requires nothing more than applying e-liquid directly onto the coil/wick. Beginners might start by pulling out the polyfill material in a simple 510 cartomizer before hitting the firing button for a few seconds to burn off the residue, but most choose to purchase something called a dripping atomizer, which can cost as little as $20. An RDA (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer) component uses a “deck and posts” to achieve the drip effect. There are hundreds of different options on the market, allowing the ability to build single, dual, or even quad coils, depending on the brand. All RDAs involve heating the juice directly from the coil and wick located on the deck and posts. However, every RDA alters the overall dripping experience in a slightly different way, depending on the model, its individual features, the selected wicking materials, the type of coil wire, and the personal dripping techniques of the vaper. The unlimited number of possible combinations is what makes dripping so much fun.
Dripping Pros and Cons Once vapers learn that dripping tends to boost the flavor of their favorite e-liquids, the next likely question becomes, “Why isn’t everyone doing it?” The simple answer is that dripping is not for everyone. It comes with its share of interesting advantages while offering some rather compelling disadvantages at the same time. Some people drip all the time. Others drip only certain brands of e-liquid. And some vapers use the drip method to taste-test lots of different flavors in a single sitting. Before newbies consider dripping as an alternative style of vaping, they first need to learn some of the pros and cons.
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Pros • Bolder, Richer Flavor: A more direct heat applied to the e-liquid only enhances the flavor. • More Massive Cloud Production: Dripping tends to produce bigger clouds, making this style of vaping very popular among competitive cloudchasers. • Economical: As long as the vaper is careful when dripping the e-liquid onto the coil, then dripping can be very cost-effective. Instead of constantly losing tiny amounts of e-liquid during every tank change, vapers only vape what they drip. • “Lung Hit:” Dripping allows the user to inhale the vapor directly into the lungs without the temporary delay of holding it in the mouth. This slightly different inhaling technique is popular among dripping advocates because it provides a more robust experience, commonly called the “lung hit.” • Taste-testing: When checking out your local vape shop, dripping is a quick and easy way to taste-test a variety of interesting new blends.
Cons
Direct Dripping: Step-by-Step Dripping is not a new invention. Long before the invention of the RDA, vaping enthusiasts were using dripping as a way to enhance the overall vaping experience. The basic method, also known as direct dripping, is not an overly complicated process to learn. The most challenging part of the entire process is keeping the hand steady to avoid wasting valuable and pricey e-liquid. 1. Open the atomizer of the personal vaping device. 2. Look inside for the coils and the “bridge,” which is usually a small piece of V-shaped wire mesh sitting directly above the coil. 3. Place three or four drops of e-liquid directly onto the coil. If the coil is not visible, perhaps due to the manufacturer’s design of the vaping device, place the drops onto the bridge instead. 4. Attach the drip tip. 5. Inhale, enjoy and repeat. Remember, direct dripping usually only provides a few hits at a time.
• Time-consuming: While vaping with a traditional tank tends to last for the length of the device’s battery charge, dripping generally requires a re-dousing of the wick after every few hits (there are certain exceptions though). • Messy: Direct dripping requires a steady hand. Otherwise, the vaper is at risk of wasting premium e-liquid. When it comes to dripping, less is more. Only three or four drops does the trick in most cases, especially for beginners. • Inconvenient: Dripping requires the vaper to be constantly carrying at least one bottle of e-juice at all times. Therefore, dripping while on a cross country road trip is probably not the best idea. • Takes Practice: Perfecting the Art of the Drip takes a bit of practice. Newbies to dripping can easily become frustrated before ultimately finding their groove. • Can be costly...at first: Until the vaper perfects his or her dripping technique, expect to go through e-liquid at a much faster rate.
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RDAs, RBAs, RTAs, and RDTAs One of the primary reasons that newbies often get so confused is the strange terminology that the vaping community tends to use. Learning the lingo is an important and essential step in the learning process. While each term refers to a type of vaping equipment, the most important thing for newbies to remember is that all of these acronyms can be used for dripping. • RDA or Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer: Sometimes called a dripper, an RDA lacks the standard tank that holds the extra e-liquid. There is a system of deck and posts that offers the ability to build customized coils that the vaper eventually uses to catch and burn the dripping e-liquid. The number of posts will vary, depending on the model and the maximum number of coils that is possible to build. But all RDAs work on the same concept regardless of the number of posts. All RDAs have one “positive” post (usually located in the center of the deck) and one or more “negative” posts (located on the sides). Most posts contain a tiny hole near the top. The user threads the wire through these holes before screwing down the bolt on top of the post to hold it in place. If the posts have no holes, then the wire remains in place by sandwiching it between the post and the bolt. If the device has more than one negative post, this means that the unit has the capacity to house multiple coils. In some of these cases, the middle positive post might even have multiple holes to allow for easier manipulation of the wire.
Vaping technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and new equipment is consistently flooding the market. When entering into the world of dripping, newbies should remember that just because an RBA costs more doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the better choice. Veteran vapers usually recommend purchasing a simple, inexpensive RDA or RBA with only two or three posts in the early stages of learning to drip vape. Take the time to experiment with different dripping techniques and e-liquids. Do you like the harsher lung hit? Does dripping give you too much cloud production? How much do the tastes of your favorite e-liquids improve with dripping? Before going on a shopping spree and purchasing hundreds of dollars in different coil wires, wicking materials, and dripping attys, take a little time to learn if dripping is something that you really like. Dripping can be a great deal of fun, but remember, perfecting the Art of Dripping takes patience, practice, and more than a little creative experimentation.
• RBA or Rebuildable Atomizer: The RBA has a deck and posts just like an RDA, but the RBA also comes with a tank. This device offers the best of both worlds: dripping and standard vaping. Users still build individual coils, but the inclusion of a tank allows the vaper to transition the device instantly from a dripping atomizer to an everyday vaping device. • RTA or Rebuildable Tank Atomizer: RTA and an RBA have exactly the same meaning. The two terms are interchangeable. • RDTA or Rebuildable Dripping Tank Atomizer: Sometimes called an auto dripper, an RTDA offers the unique ability to self-drip the e-liquid onto the coils, reducing much of the muss and fuss of traditional dripping practices. In general, the user achieves the dripping effect by pressing down on the drip tip, which initiates the device to drip the e-liquid onto the wick. VAPEMZ.COM
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& How to & How to
By Nick Bessette Most of us use our batteries day in and day out with little thought about what happens to the most delicate part of them when we put them in and take them out of our A slight tear here, a nick there, no big By Nickdevices. Bessette deal right? Wrong! The thin outer skin of our batteries is the of only protecting them shorting onwith the Most us thing use our batteries day from in and day out metal casings of our mods. Keeping an eye on your little thought about what happens to the most delicate battery wrappers something is not overpart of them wheniswe put themthat in and takeonly them out looked by many; it is downright by ano good of our devices. A slight tear here, aignored nick there, big percentage of vapers. deal right? Wrong! The thin outer skin of our batteries is the only thing protecting them from shorting on the metal casings of our mods. Keeping an eye on your battery wrappers is something that is not only overlooked by many; it is downright ignored by a good percentage of vapers.
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Essentially the outer wall of a battery is just a big negative terminal hence why the positive terminal is isolated and the wrap covers the battery except on the negative terminal itself. If you have a tear near the top of your battery wrapper it can potentially arc with the top of your device and cause short. “It’s I useisa just regulated Essentially the aouter wall ofokay, a battery a big mod,” negaItive canterminal hear some of you saying. It doesn’t matter what hence why the positive terminal is isolated typethe of mod you have,the your battery can still contact and wrap covers battery except onmake the negative with the itself. battery doorhave andacause a short not of toyour mention terminal If you tear near the top batwhen you have thepotentially batteries outside your tery wrapper it can arc withofthe topdevice. of your device and cause a short. “It’s okay, I use a regulated mod,” I can hear some of you saying. It doesn’t matter what type of mod you have, your battery can still make contact with the battery door and cause a short not to mention when you have the batteries outside of your device.
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MOD TECH Battery wrappers are dirt-cheap and easy to install so there is no excuse to walk around with dangerous batteries. Grab your batteries and go over it top to bottom, can you find any nicks? What about small tears? If so it’s no big deal, just get yourself some battery wraps and follow these easy steps: 1 Remove the old wrapper by getting under the edge with your fingernail and tearing it off. The reason we don’t use tools is because we don’t want to damage the cell. 2 Prepare the new wrapper by trimming it (if necessary) leave it about ¼” long on both ends so that it will cover the top and bottom properly. 3 Slide the new wrapper onto your battery leaving an even amount of room at the top and bottom. 4 Take a hairdryer on high setting or heat gun and run it over the battery until the wrapper shrinks over the battery. 5 That’s it! Now your battery is like brand new again. Don’t forget to label it with the date it was purchased so you know when it’s time to replace it.
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Batteries are not very volatile when used properly; usually it’s what we do to them as vapers that makes them more likely to malfunction. By reading these safety articles I hope to prevent accidents that end up on the news and put vaping under the microscope of the public and government leading us ever closer to being regulated. That being said another thing I see is vapers putting their batteries in their pockets with other metal objects like their keys or loose change. THIS NEEDS TO STOP IMMEDIATELY! I can’t stress enough how dangerous that is as we’ve seen with the latest case of a battery exploding at a Kentucky gas station. One of the easiest ways to keep yourself safe is to store your batteries properly when they’re not in your device. Our devices would be nothing without the batteries so why not keep them safe and sound? There are a number of products on the market that are designed to keep you and your batteries safe. One would be a simple plastic battery box. These usually sell for about $1 and normally hold two batteries, which make it the perfect companion to your average daily vaper. Another great
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product is the silicone single battery sleeve. They’re lightweight, inexpensive and easy to carry around with no added bulk. They make it safe to carry around in your pocket even with keys/change although STILL not recommended. Finally a slightly more modern way to carry around spare cells, the 3D printed battery case. Expect to pay a little more for these (around $10-$20) but with varying designs and a little extra style; it’s definitely a worthy investment. So now you know how to revive your old badly wrapped batteries and how to keep them safe but what about those batteries that have seen hell and back? Maybe they’re dented from using it in your hybrid mech mod or have scorch marks and scratches on the terminals or maybe they don’t seem to hold a charge for very long anymore. That’s what I like to call a “lost cause.” It’s time to move on, I know it’s tough because they served you so well for so long but there comes a time when it’s just better to walk away. But hey, think of the great feeling you’ll have walking out of the vape shop with brand-spanking-new batteries, that should make you feel a little better, right?
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