From Martin

Hi Phil,
A note of appreciation for your superb video reviews which I happily stumbled across
by accident and immediately file in my “subscribed” folder on YouTube.
I have now been off analogues now for over three months.
I am in the UK in case I refer to any products you don’t see in the US!
I am now 45 and have been smoking since the age of 18. My wife was also a smoker but
she gave up in our second year of marriage – some 19 years ago.
We both had the hypnotherapy sessions but I secretly went back to it after a week or
so of horrendous cold turkey. So for the past 19 years I’ve been smoking in secret –
and you have no idea how hard that can be! First there is the terrific expense of
the habit these days and hiding the cost of cigarettes in my car fuel bill was
becoming awkward, so three years ago I switched to rolling my own. Even that was
becoming ridiculously expensive but I was managing.
OK, I say I was a secret smoker, but you cannot really not notice the smell
emanating from someone who has just put a cigarette out. In truth, she knew I
smoked. I knew she knew. But neither of us spoke of it and she certainly didn’t
realize I was on a pack a day.
Aside from frequent trips down the garden, holidays were a nuisance when we spent
most of our time together. When do you smoke?
I would find excuses to pop outside or take walks on my own in the evenings and
“stock up” on nicotine for the lean times ahead. Then there’s buying supplies and
hiding them somewhere – you can’t put a pack of 200 in your suitcase when she does
the packing!
Anyway, over the years I have tried to give up on many occasions.
I’ve tried the gum, inhalers and the patches, but always found myself smoking as well.
A comedian once said that “the best way to give up smoking is to use two patches.
You put one over each eye and you can’t find your fags!”
My problem was that despite knowing the risks, I enjoyed smoking.
So three months ago my wife went to the doctor with shortness of breath and was
diagnosed with COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – probably brought on by
smoking for many years (she is 10 years older than me so had been doing it for a
while).
That was the clincher I think and the weekend after I spotted ecigs in the petrol
station at Tesco.
I bought a pack – the starter set with the battery, USB charger and three cartridges.
Expecting the worst, I also bought 20 Dunhill to keep me going!
The brand was 10motives (www.10motives.com).
I was incredibly impressed – there was the nicotine, vapour and throat hit, just
like the real thing!
So next time I bought a refill pack and no cigarettes.
Very quickly it became apparent that while this was a great way to give up smoking,
it was still somewhat expensive, so I hit the internet looking for inspiration.
Actually I was looking for a cheaper supplier of the 10motives, but I stumbled
across one of your videos in the process.
This opened up a whole world of possibilities and I realized that there was a group
of people who enjoyed vaping, not as a quit smoking thing, but as a hobby in itself.
This gave it credibility and immediately I decided that I did not want an analogue
lookalike and to be grouped with that sad crowd of people who are desperately
fighting their cigarette addiction. Vaping is something I could enjoy as an activity
in itself, so I needed some gear!
As luck would have it, a small supplier had just opened up nearby so I went in and
said “tell me about vaping and sell me some kit!”
They sold their own branded CE5 vaping kit for ??19.99 with 3ml of free juice.
Peering at the counter display and chatting to the guy though, we ended up putting
together a kit of upgraded eGo battery topped with a ViviNova.
Fearful of falling into the vaping AND smoking trap, I opted for 10ml of the 24mg
juice from Ritchy in original tobacco and a trial 3ml of the Ritchy Espresso.
And I’ve been happily vaping ever since (helped by your video on rebuilding the
faithful ViviNova).
I found enough rolling tobacco in my car armrest a couple of weeks back so rolled it
into a cigarette – and I didn’t like it! RESULT!
I’ve now been studying your videos for battery mods.
The choice is bewildering, but thanks to you (and availability or lack of, in the
UK) I am narrowing down the list.
Replaceable parts is what is required – I cannot be doing with replacing the whole
eGo thing.
I cannot get an AnyVape CVI over here so I watched your lengthy videos on the eVic
with the firmware updates that look remarkably like they have also watched your
videos!
The decision has yet to be made.
So many thanks for your inspiration.

Best regards,
Martin