Build Your Own Starter Kit

A Guide Through the Maze

Being a new or potential vaper can be an intimidating prospect. There are so many choices, and so much conflicting information available, the it can be difficult to find a starting point. We remember well how overwhelming it could all be. In this multi-part series, we’ll provide what we hope will be a simple, easy to understand guide to a good selection of vaping starter kits, with enough options for any new vaper to customize it to his or her needs.

The Basics of Vaping Hardware

There are three basic things a vaper needs: A power source, an atomizer, and some e-juice. The power source, which is generally either a battery or battery tube, provides electricity to the atomizer, which in turn vaporizes the e-juice, producing the smoke-like vapor. In this first installment, we’ll look at the power sources we recommend for starting out, with our primary criteria being good performance and a reasonable price.

Price is an important factor when starting out. While there’s nothing wrong with buying expensive gear right out of the gate, many new vapers will find over time that what they thought they wanted at the start is very different from what they like a little further down the road. For this reason, we recommend keeping the initial expenditure low, to avoid spending too much money on something that will only be used a short time.

Performance is also important. Particularly when trying to quit smoking, few things are as counterproductive as an unsatisfying vape. Even the cheapest setup is overpriced if the person using it doesn’t enjoy it.

Your First Decision: The Power Source

Let’s start looking for a power source for your e-cigarette.  You’ve basically got three options here: small and cigarette-like, large and powerful, and somewhere in between — we’ll call these options small, medium and large. Each of these options has its own pros and cons. Well start with medium, since we believe it provides the best combination of ease of use, practicality and performance for a new vaper, but we’ll also provide recommendations for small and large options for those who decide they’d like something different.

 The Medium Option | The Small Option | The Large Option

The Medium Option

This option is designed to strike a balance by being easier to use and carry around than the large option, while providing better performance than the small one. For most people getting started with vaping, this is what we would recommend. This option will use what is commonly referred to as an “eGo” style battery, which may be closer to the size of a small cigar than a cigarette, but provides ease of use and performance typically surpassing the smaller options, at a reasonable price.

Medium: The Pros

The larger size of eGo-style batteries means longer battery life, and better performance, than smaller options. Light smokers switching from vaping my find that a single charge can last all day.  Heavier smokers may need to recharge on occasion during the day, but this is typically easy to do from any powered USB port, in addition to the option of using a wall-mounted charger.

These are very popular devices, which means a lot of vendor support for them. There are a lot of options for add-on devices like atomizers and cosmetic upgrades, which we will address in future installments.

These are also small enough to be relatively inconspicuous and easy to carry around, if somewhat larger than a traditional cigarette; they are closer in size to a typical ball-point pen.

Medium: The Cons

The smaller battery size of eGo-style batteries means they won’t give you the kind of kick or charge time of larger options, though many will find the capabilities of these more than sufficient for their needs.

These are larger than traditional cigarettes, and likely to occasionally draw attention, if you’re averse to that sort of thing.

Medium: Our Recommendations

Both of our recommendations include variable voltage, which allows you to adjust the strength of your vape. This allows a degree of fine-tuning that can greatly improve the vaping experience, particularly when you’re new and still learning what you like.

Joyetech eGo Twist

First Choice: The Joyetech eGo-C Twist

There are a lot of options when you look at eGos. There are eGo-C’s, eGo-T’s, and a whole alphabet full of eGos.  For the purposes of this build-it-yourself starter kit, we recommend not getting a kit, and just going with the eGo-C battery and charging cable.  More accurately, you should get at least two batteries, so you can use one while the other charges.

You’ll find an “mAh” rating when shopping for eGo batteries.  That rating indicates how long you can expect a charge to last before the battery does dead.  The eGo Twists batteries start at 650mAh and go up to 1300mAh.  The other difference is the size: As mAh goes up, so does the length of the battery.  Any of them will work fine, and which you choose should be decided based on how long you need a charge to last, and how important it is to you to keep the length short.

Price: Approximately $52 (two batteries and USB charging cable)

Vision Spinner

Second Choice: The Vision Spinner

A more recent entry into the market, the Vision Spinner is, for all intents and purposes, an eGo by another name. While there are minor differences, as they are made by different manufacturers, the feature set is basically the same between both.

Many find the adjustment dial on the Spinner to be easier to read than the one on the eGo, but the price tends to be slightly higher.

Price: Approximately $58 (two batteries and USB charging cable)

 The Medium Option | The Small Option | The Large Option

The Small Option

Many people start with something commonly called a cig-alike, so called because of their resemblance to traditional cigarettes.  This is the type of setup you’ll commonly find in places like mall kiosks and convenience stores.

Small: The Pros

There are a few pluses to going with this option, though they come with a serious downside (more on that below). Being small, cig-alikes are easy to transport, and because of their resemblance to cigarettes they don’t draw quite as much attention as larger options.  They are also the closest in look and feel to the experience of using a traditional cigarette.

Small: The Cons

While many new vapers go with this option, there are many reasons not to.  The small size of the batteries in cig-alikes means they will need to be charged frequently, which can often be difficult to do on the go. These small devices also have lower output than other options, which can potentially mean a weaker vape with less flavor.  This option can also be expensive, particularly if a kit is bought from somewhere like a mall kiosk, where they often take advantage of new vapers by charging exorbitant prices for substandard gear. Finally, these are often he most difficult of the three options to use. Filling them, for instance, can be tedious, and the small capacity of these devices means it will need to be done often.

Small: Our Recommendations

If you decide to go the route of the cig-alike, we cannot stress this enough: Do not buy it from a mall kiosk. We’ve seen far too many people suckered into buying shoddy kits for obscene prices.  Instead, we’d recommend one of the following:

Joyetech eRoll

First Choice: The Joyetech eRoll

The eRoll is a well-regarded little device. It is small, lightweight, and includes a Portable Charging Case (or PCC) that is essentially a battery pack that can be charged independently of the e-cigarette, allowing the e-cigarette to be charged wirelessly in a purse or pocket.  Vapor output and flavor may not be quite as good as larger options, but the eRoll does an adequate job.  However, as mentioned previously, the Roll, like other cig-alikes, will need to be filled often, and filling it is not particularly easy. It should also be noted that, unlike the other two options, there is no upgrade path with the eRoll. If you decide later that you want something different, then unlike the larger options, you’ll have to replace it completely.

Price: Approximately $60 (two batteries and PCC charging case)

Volt

Second Choice: The Volt

Like the eRoll, the Volt is an “automatic” battery, meaning it activates when you puff on the e-cigarette, unlike the larger options which require pressing a button.  The Volt, however, also has a manual battery available, which can potentially extend battery life. Also like the eRoll, it has a low juice capacity due to its small size, and will need to be refilled frequently.

Also like the eRoll, the Volt can be charged in a PCC, which compensates somewhat for the short charge time due to the small battery size.

All of the caveats from the eRoll, as far as the power of the device, and the lack of an upgrade path, apply to the Volt as well.

While the Volt is slightly less expensive, it is not available from the same wide variety of vendors as the eRoll. This vendor lockdown is why we’re recommending the eRoll as out first choice, but if that is not a concern for you, the Volt is a great little device.

Price: Approximately $56 (two batteries and PCC charging case)

 The Medium Option | The Small Option | The Large Option

The Large Option

A large PV will allow you the longest vaping time, and the most power output, but with great power comes great… big PVs.  These are big, fat beasts that nobody is going to mistake for a cigarette.

Large: The Pros

There is a lot of upside to choosing a large PV. Not only will the larger batteries give you the longest time between charges, but they also will most likely give you more power output. A larger PV will also give you a wider range of atomizer options.

Choosing a big PV gives you countless PV options, many more than for the other two. While this may make it difficult to choose, it also makes it easier to find one that’s just right for you in terms of features, looks and options. To make choosing a little easier, we’ll recommend a couple that we think are great for someone just starting out.

Large: The Cons

The cons of the large option primarily come from it being, well, large. While the other two options will give you something small and easy to throw in your pocket, many larger PVs are long, heavy, and tend to draw attention.

Large: Our Recommendations

There are a lot of options out there if you’re looking to go large, but based on our goals of low price and high performance, we’d recommend one of the following:

Vamo

The Vamo

The Vamo is a variable voltage and variable wattage device.  Variable voltage means you can adjust the voltage of the Vamo up and down for a stronger or lighter vape. Variable wattage takes the resistance of your atomizer into account, essentially acting like cruise control. You set the wattage you want, and the Vamo will adjust the voltage up or down depending on the atomizer attached at the time.  Attach a lower-resistance atomizer, and voltage will go down. Attach one with higher resistance, and voltage will go up.  While you still may need to tweak it up or down for the right vape for you, variable wattage will at least get you close to where you want to be.

The Vamo is probably the lowest priced variable wattage device on the market, and probably one of the lowest priced variable voltage PVs as well.  It’s solidly built, extremely popular, and very, very large, particularly if used with an 18650 battery, though parts of the Vamo can be removed if you want to use smaller batteries.

Price: $88 (Vamo + 2 18650 IMR batteries + battery charger)

ZMax V3

The ZMax V3

The third revision of the ZMax is new on the market, but it has been getting very good reviews (including here at Vape Squad). Like the Vamo, it is a variable voltage/variable wattage device, and includes basically the same features. The performance of the ZMax is probably somewhat better than the Vamo, but not enough to make a noticeable difference to a new vaper.

We particularly like the “telescoping” model, which has an adjustable length to accommodate batteries from the very short 18350 to the long 18650.  While power output is approximately the same for all battery options, the length will determine how long a charge lasts.

There’s a significant price difference between the ZMax and the Vamo, so for a new vaper the ZMax should be considered a distant second place.

Price: $110 (ZMax + 2 18650 batteries + batter charger)

But Wait, There’s More!

Once you’ve chosen your power source, you’re well on your way to vaping.  However, you’re not ready just yet — you’re still going to need an atomizer, and some juice.

Check back for the second part of our series, where we’ll look into atomizer choices that’ll be a good match for the power source you selected.

Build Your Own Starter Kit