By now we’ve all seen the stats and know just how bad smoking is for us – but that doesn’t make it any easier to quit!
Here at RED Box Vape, many of our team are well aware of the challenges presented by trying to quit smoking but have all found vaping to be a useful tool in the journey to becoming cigarette-free.
With our experience in mind, we are sharing some tips on how to stop smoking for good by switching to vaping with E-Liquid UK.
Why Switch to Vaping?
If you’re trying to quit smoking, then you may be a bit dubious about taking up another ‘habit’ in the form of vaping. However, there has been a lot of research into how helpful vaping is as a step on the journey to quitting.
In 2016, Action on Smoking and Health revealed that vaping has helped 20,000 people quit smoking each year, with 1.5 million vapers classed as ex-smokers. Since that report was released, that number has only continued to grow.
In 2019, a major UK clinical trial discovered that people who used vape devices were twice as likely to succeed at quitting smoking than those who used alternative nicotine replacement products, like patches or gum!
Safer Than Smoking
According to Public Health England, vaping is about 95% less harmful than smoking.
This is largely down to the ingredients. Cigarettes are packed full of thousands of toxins and produce tar and carbon monoxide as you smoke. On the other hand, E-Liquid only has four basic ingredients; water, flavouring, nicotine and propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerine (PG/VG).
In terms of ingredients alone, E-Liquid is safer than smoking tobacco. As well as having benefits for the vaper, second-hand vapour has not been found to pose a risk to people who breathe it in, unlike second-hand smoke.
Tips for Stopping Smoking With Vaping
Plan and Prepare
If you’re thinking about quitting, then planning and preparing to do this is important. Your transition from smoking to vaping will work better if planned out, rather than done on a whim.
It will allow you time to research and purchase all of the equipment you need to ensure that your vaping journey starts as smoothly as possible.
It’s also important to plan the day in which you start stopping smoking. Unless you’ve got the day off, a Monday morning probably isn’t the best time to start. If you’re working, then the stresses of the week can make the transition difficult. Try starting on a weekend or arrange a day off to allow yourself a couple of days to get used to it.
Buy the Right Vape Device for You
When you’re trying to quit smoking, you need things to be as easy as possible. Any small setback can be enough to make you give up on your attempts at quitting.
If you’re taking up vaping to try and quit smoking, then you need to reduce the risk of setbacks as much as possible. One way to do this is to choose a good quality device that suits you.
While any vape device can have problems, if it is not used correctly, the risk is less when you pick a quality device from an established retailer, like RED Box Vape.
There are a few styles of vape devices which each have different things to offer:
Vape Pens
- Affordable.
- Long battery life.
- Discreet.
- Mouth-to-Lung vaping, which is a good replica of smoking.
- E-Liquid provides a throat hit.
Pod Devices
- Simple and convenient.
- Easy to use click-in pre-filled pods of E-Liquid.
- Discreet and compact.
- Can use a higher nicotine strength.
Mod Kits
- Best for more experienced or hobbyist vapers.
- More control and customisability.
- Good for Direct-to-Lung vaping.
Based on these points, it is recommended that a new vaper chooses a vape pen or pod device, with vape pens generally being the best option for those transitioning from smoking to try out first.
Try Different E-Liquids
There are hundreds of different E-Liquids on the market, in a range of strengths and styles.
Finding the right one for you might take a bit of trial and error, but it’s worth it in the long run.
As a new vaper making the transition from smoking, you may wish to start with a tobacco or menthol E-Liquid, as this will be a familiar flavour to the cigarettes you are used to.
E-Liquid Strength
Something important to consider when buying E-Liquids is the nicotine strength. When transitioning from smoking to vaping, you’ll most likely want an E-Liquid strength that matches how much you smoke.
If you have E-Liquid that is too low in nicotine, you’ll find yourself craving a cigarette, while too high nicotine content can make you feel ill.
As a rough guide, we would recommend:
- Light smokers (1-5 cigarettes a day) - 6mg/ml.
- Light/Moderate smokers (5-15 cigarettes a day) - 10mg/ml.
- Moderate/Heavy smokers (15-20 cigarettes a day) - 14mg/ml.
- Heavy smokers (20+ cigarettes a day) - 18mg/ml.
Those who need a higher strength of nicotine may wish to try nic salts, rather than E-Liquid, as this can offer a much higher strength of nicotine, without needing to vape more often.
If you’re a smoker looking to reduce the amount of nicotine you use, then it is advised that you make the switch to vaping first, at the right strength for you, and then reduce the strength over time once you are used to vaping.
Get the Right PG/VG for You
Something that will come to learn through experimenting with E-Liquids is your preferred PG/VG ratio. Each E-Liquid has a mix of PG and VG, with the amounts of each having a big impact on your vape experience.
A higher PG level will give you a stronger throat hit, which can be helpful to those looking to recreate the feel of smoking.
A higher VG ratio will give you bigger vapour clouds and is a bit easier on the throat if you’re not a fan of the throat hit.
Learn to Vape Properly
It is important to get your vaping technique right. Vaping is a bit different to smoking; instead of taking short, hard puffs, you’ll need to learn to do a long and soft inhale.
Vaping Methods
There are two main vaping methods – Mouth-to-Lung (MTL) and Direct-to-Lung (DTL).
MTL is typically suggested for new vapers, as the technique mimicks the act of smoking. Vapour is drawn into the mouth, and then into the lungs, before being exhaled. As this motion is similar to the way you would smoke a cigarette, it can be good for smokers trying to quit, as it gives you a sense of familiarity.
DTL vaping is usually best suited to more experienced vapers, with the method giving you a deeper lung hit that can offer a bolder flavour experience.
Don’t Vape All the Time
When you first switch to vaping, the temptation can be there to just sit and vape constantly!
If you do this, you’ll be taking in too much nicotine at once, and this might make you feel ill.
It can be helpful to set some times when you can vape. Maybe it’s when you used to have a cigarette break, or an allocation of once every couple of hours.
Make the Change Gradually
Quitting smoking is a very personal experience, and how you go about it won’t always work for someone else. While some people do well with going cold turkey, for many, the change works best when done gradually.
Begin to introduce the vape into your life gradually, swapping out one of your cigarettes with a vape. You can then build up to switching more of your smoke breaks for vapes.
Lowering Nicotine Levels
Once you’ve been using your vape for a while, without smoking cigarettes, you can consider dropping down to a lower nicotine level if you wish. While it’s a difficult step to make, you will probably be aware when this day comes, as you may stop feeling so reliant on it.
Remember It’s Okay to Slip Up
Stopping smoking isn’t easy – if it was, things like vaping probably wouldn’t exist! It’s always important to remember that any setbacks in your journey shouldn’t discourage you.
Sometimes, cravings can get the better of us, but that shouldn’t mean you give up completely. Our team here at RED Box Vape have been on similar journeys to quitting smoking themselves, so know just how hard the transition can be.
If you need support to keep you motivated, or a bit of assistance in making the transition from smoking to vaping as smooth as possible, then our team are more than happy to help. Please get in touch today, and we can help put you on the right path to stopping smoking!