He’s one of the friendliest and funniest vape reviewers out there but behind that amazing laugh is a razor-sharp mind when it comes to all things vape – I am of course referring to Kevin Jeffrey aka the Worthing Vaper.
Based on the south coast of England he’s married to his soul mate Debs and dad to Liam, who was the inspiration behind Kevin’s journey into vaping and of course quitting smoking…nice job Liam!
A former supermarket manager, Kevin had to retire early after what he calls a ‘macho accident at work‘ – the mind boggles lol. The supermarkets’ loss is the world of vaping’s gain – this guy really knows his stuff and then some and has helped countless smokers make the switch.
5 years into the YouTube review scene and his channel has grown steadily and he churns out top quality written reviews for us too. When he’s not reviewing he’s a 100% family man but still finds the time to run the Sussex Vape Club over on Facebook.
OK so let’s find out what makes our Kev tick…and see why, among other things, a hot Ninja once scared the beejesus out of him lol.
First up a little about yourself – how old are you – are you married – single – looking – kids?
Well I’m 55 and considered by some of the younger vapers to be pretty much the old man of vape. I don’t just feel old sometimes I feel positively ancient LOL, especially with all the up and coming young talented reviewers out there.
Yes I’m married to my soul mate Debbie for nearly 30 years she has the patience of a saint, she has to, she’s married to me don’t yah know lol. We actually hit our 30th wedding anniversary next May.
We have one son who will be 13 this year! His full name is William but won’t answer to anything other than Liam, of course I take full advantage of that to cheese him off lol. He is an intelligent and caring companionate little fella. But he does have his problems, his autism being our chief concern he is also blind in one eye, which causes him a lot of frustration as you can imagine.
What’s your current job?
By trade I am a provisions manager, I left school at 15 my first job was with a well-known chain of supermarkets, I worked my way up from a butcher’s boy to running the deli and dairy department. I also did stints as produce and grocery manager, which lead to me travelling between stores as a relief department manager.
I retired back in 2007, due to a stupid macho accident at work, which left me with 2 damaged discs at the base of my spin, I was unable to walk for quite a while there and went through lots of physiotherapy, although I still suffer from pain.
I can at least walk. In fact one of my goals this year is to become fit enough (loose the spare tire lol) for next year’s race for life (walking it of course lol) at present I’m up to 13,000 steps a day (6.16 miles) which while very painful, and may seem not a lot to some, for me it’s quite an accomplishment!
When did you start smoking and how long did you smoke?
I started smoking around the age of 12, might have been a bit younger! As you may guess it was mainly down to peer pressure! All my mates were smoking so I started and to be frank, while I wished I hadn’t, I found I actually liked smoking. Both my parents smoked at the time so getting hold of cigarettes at home wasn’t difficult.
Also compared to today’s prices 40 years ago fags were cheap; many a time I used to go into the local sweet shop near my school and buy single cigs “using my lunch money” for 10p a pop lol.
When and why did you decide to quit and was vaping your first choice?
I tried to quit after Liam was born in 2006, but found it very difficult, I don’t think vaping had hit our shores at that time, if it was around then I didn’t know about it at that time.
I used gum, lozenges, patches and a little pipe thing that promised nicotine without the smoke lol none of the above worked for me. I missed that hand to mouth action and the taste of my old B&H and soon picked up the habit again.
In early 2009 I was introduced to someone who became a friend of long standing, who was using an Ego pen vape. Liam was around 3 years old by this time and was starting to copy me by trying to smoke his wax crayons lol, this made me even more determined to quit!
Liam
While it was funny watching this little fella tottering around with a crayon hanging out of his gob, it really wasn’t a laughing matter! So I got my friend to give me the skinny on this new fangled thing that had liquid in it.
What was your first vape kit and nic strength juice?
Strictly speaking my first kit was an Ego pen kit, my friend sang its praises, he let me have a go of his, it was ok so I went rushing down to the place he got his and I ended up paying the princely sum of £25 for the kit. I then spent another £25 on small 10ml bottles of liquid and spare coils.
I got to tell you the liquid was 50/50 32mg of nic, made by some Chinese company (whose name can’t remember) and without being too rude the liquid tasted like Ar** LOL.
I almost went back to the fags! After 2 days my throat was very sore and my chest was hurting, so was my stomach. I was very unhappy that I’d spent out 50 quid on something that was making me feel like crap!
But not being one to let things go, I found a head shop in Worthing that sold these devices and many more, after speaking with one of the chaps in store we figured out not only was the nic level to high for me but I had an intolerance to high levels of Propylene Glycol.
He suggested I cut the nic level by adding Vegetable Glycerin to the liquid which would also weaken the PG, Boots the chemist sold bottles of Glycerol 500ml for 60p, from 2009 to 2011 I had no idea what my nicotine level was until I started buying juices by T Juice! I still bought 24mg nic though, so I was still weakening the liquid a bit.
How long did you MTL before moving to DTL?
It didn’t take that long to move to DTL vaping, about a year. As I visited the head shop every few days, I saw some of the guys there doing it; with these thick tube things (Mechs) I bought one and a cheap RDA, some wire 32g kanthal and strangely cotton balls, DTL didn’t make me cough much LOL although I soon learned to use 3mg liquid. I was also shocked at the amount of liquid I could go through.
What was your first DTL set-up?
Ha Ha now you’re asking, Mech wise I think it was a Nemisis clone.
My real first DTL regulated mod came in 2011, it was Provari. It cost an arm and a leg back then, I sold it a few months later! I Wish I hadn’t.
What was the first rebuildable you used and did you find building easy?
I can’t remember the name of the RDA but it was a cheap 2 post thing which was horrible to learn to build on, I think I went through most of the 32g wire before I got it right.
How did you get into reviewing and why?
To be honest I stumbled into reviewing and am still stumbling now LOL. Back in 2013 I had a minor stroke, it left me with what Mrs J calls “word salad” and a heavy stutter which I still have today! Hence my video reviews have to be heavily edited at times!
My doctor suggested I practice talking to a video camera so I did by reading books out loud, after a year I was bored with that! I had been watching several of the American reviewers on YT, so I took cap in hand and emailed a few of them asking for tips on how to start my own channel (what to cover etc). I wasn’t really expecting a reply from any of them I’d contacted!
But one did and I am very grateful to him for doing so, thanks Nick.
What’s the worst and best item you’ve reviewed?
The worst and most dangerous device I have reviewed was called the Matrix Ninja, it was an ego type device aimed at beginners!
It had a plate that held the tank and battery side by side! It got so hot I was frightened it was going to explode in my hand; naturally, it went in the bin!
The best device I have ever reviewed? That’s a big ask buddy. I have so many favourites but if I had to nail it down I guess I’d say the Drag by Voopoo.
What would you really like to review and why?
I would really like to review more mech’s and the only thing stopping me is the price of them! I couldn’t justify the cost to Debs she’d go bananas LOL.
What’s your go to vape set-up right now?
I have 4 on the go today, Sinuous V200 by Wismec with the Brunhilde RTA, the Topside Dual with the Pulse 24 RDA, the Vgod Mech with the Bonza RDA and the Geek Vape Aegis Legend with the Freemax Mesh Pro tank.
What are your thoughts on the UK vape review scene?
Well things in the UK seem to be ticking along ok at the moment. I do hope that when the issue of Brexit has been resolved, the 2ml tank thing might be solved or at least relaxed. It’s a pain having to fill up every few minutes, while I can live with buying short fills and putting nic shot in, it would be nice to buy a 100ml of liquid with the nic already in it.
What’s the future of your YouTube channel?
I can honestly say I have no idea where the channel is going only that I am as passionate now about vaping as I was when I started the channel back in 2014. When I set up my YT Channel I did so to give information back to my local community on various kits available in the local vape shops.
Unlike many reviewers out there I have not monetised the channel and do not ever intend to do so, I do what I do for the pleasure of knowing that I may help someone kick over their smoking habit.
How does your partner feel about the amount of time spent on vaping and do they vape?
HaHa Debbie is a very understanding lady, considering I’ve lived and breathed vaping for 10 years, she understands that this is more than a hobby to me, not only has vaping saved my life it has helped me put it back together!
Debs!
I have made more friends in the last 10 years (on and off line) than I did in the 45 previously, although Debs gets that ‘your being geeky look’ in her eye when I am recognized and approached in town or I get excited about a new bit of kit – she isn’t that much of a vaper still preferring her ciggies but she does partake normally in the evenings at home, she’s using an Eleaf iJust 21700 kit at the moment.
What’s the future for vaping in general?
I can’t say for sure but I can see a lot more shiny things coming out of China that I’d be delighted to get my mits on LOL.
If the US Gov can get their act together and accept that vaping does saves lives, things will look a lot rosier for our brethren over the pond.
What really concerns me at the moment is the altitude the FDA has with vaping over in the States. Those poor buggers aint seen the end of things yet of that I’m sure!
I also run a FaceBook group called Sussex Vape Club
Anything else you’d like to add!
Is this another put Kev on the spot and have him verbosely write another 2000 words lol.
No not really Neil, but I would like to take the time to thank all my supporters out there for their kind words of encouragement for both my written and video reviews.
For those that live in my home town; if you see me around please do stop me and say hello – it makes Debs gnash her teeth to see me talking to someone she doesn’t know LOL! It’s one of my favourite little pleasures so I do encourage it LOL.
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Thanks Kev!
On behalf of myself and Jonny I’d like to thank Kevin for taking the time out of his extremely busy family life to take part in this interview – much appreciated mate.
As you can see he’s a genuine guy with a raft of knowledge when it comes to vaping and despite not ‘putting himself out there’ his channel has grown steadily with a loyal band of followers.
We can only wish him the best and hope that maybe a few mech manufacturers recognise his knowledge and start sending over a few samples 😉
And of course thank you to his wife and definitely his wonderful son Liam for getting him off the fags in the first place!
Make sure you check out Kevin on all his social media sites [above] and do pop over to his YouTube channel and give him a sub.
One thing’s clear, as well as a vast knowledge of vaping that awesome laugh will cheer up even the most miserable person out there!
