Vaping A to Z - Letter L
Vademecum of Vaping- Letter L
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Leash
A lanyard is a collar (similar to a leash) to which you can attach an e-cigarette. The e-cigarette is always at hand, and you have your hands free during vaping breaks. Typically, these lanyards have a thin metal ring that screws in between the battery and the Clearomizer. But there are also models that use a strong rubber ring that is placed on the e-cigarette. Lanyards are best suited for small and light equipment, they are rather impractical for large and heavy battery carriers.
Liquid
The liquid that turns into vapor in e-cigarettes in the Clearomizer is called e-liquid, e juice or vape juice. The liquid is available in several hundred flavors and different nicotine strengths. Typically, e-liquids are made of three to five different ingredients.
The main ingredients are propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG) and flavors from the food industry. In the case of aromas, remember that they must not contain oil or sugar, as this could damage the evaporator. All these substances have been tested for years and have been approved as additives in the food industry. Propylene glycol (PG) is known and marked as E 1520, vegetable glycerin (VG) as E 422.
Water and, if necessary, nicotine are partially added to the liquid. The purpose of the water is to make the liquid more fluid, as vegetable glycerin (VG) is quite thick - especially at lower temperatures - and the wick may have trouble transporting enough liquid to the winding.
PG and VG in the liquid are responsible for cloud formation and flavor transport: Propylene glycol (PG) is a good flavor carrier and provides a rather rough, not too thick vapor, while vegetable glycerin (VG) ensures a soft and thick vapor is produced, but taste it is not transported so well. For a mixture containing a lot of VG, you need to add more flavoring to get the same taste. Over time, names for the different mixing ratios have been established, which reflect the mixing ratio of the liquid base in the PG ratio / VG ratio / water fraction. The most important ones are Traditional Base (55/35/10), Fifty Fifty Base (50/50/0), Velvet Base (0/80/20) and Dripper Base (30/70/0). Velvet Base is mainly used by vapers who are hypersensitive to propylene glycol (PG) - but this happens very rarely. Basically, each steamer has to find a preferred composition because the needs are different.
Nicotine (expressed in milligrams per milliliter of liquid) is optionally added to the e-liquid. Smokers who switch to vaping have the following nicotine concentrations at their disposal:
- 20 mg
- 18mg
- 12 mg
- 6 mg
- 3mg
Beginner vapers who have switched from traditional cigarettes should use the highest concentrations and systematically mix the nicotine level so as not to return to smoking. While when smoking, nicotine reaches the head almost without delay, when vaping, this process takes about 10 minutes. This makes it difficult to maintain a constant nicotine level. For smokers, nicotine has a half-life of approximately 30 – 60 minutes, which means that half of the nicotine is broken down in the body. It then takes 30 - 60 minutes for the nicotine level to halve again, so reducing nicotine after a few weeks is very easy for both vapers and smokers because the delayed brain center stimulates the brain's reward center, not so strongly stimulated. Meanwhile, nicotine itself is no longer as harmful as it used to be. It remains a poison (nerve poison), but a smoker has completely different problems with his tobacco cigarette - about 4,000 combustion products, of which about 100 can cause cancer - just like nicotine.
Vapers often create their own mixtures and there are opinions that home-made e-liquid should mature. The assumed maturation process is simply based on the principle of entropy, i.e. the components of the liquid tend to mix completely. If the liquid is shaken or stirred well in a container after mixing, the effect should be almost the same. There is no doubt that a liquid can change its color under the influence of air and light. The change is stronger when there is more nicotine in the liquid.
To ensure a longer shelf life, store the liquid in a cool, dark and dry place.
Vaping DL
With lung vaping, you inhale directly into your lungs, as opposed to an oven. Thanks to this, steam does not accumulate in the mouth. Due to the much larger lung volume, more vapor is inhaled, resulting in larger clouds of vapor and the absorption of more nicotine. Unlike vaporization, it does not have as much taste because there is no additional oxygen during inhalation.
Lunte
This is what some vapers call the wick in an e-cigarette clearomizer (due to its appearance).