With the majority of the world’s vapers in lock down, you’re probably going to get bored out of your brains at some point.
I mean there’s only so much one walk a day and trips to the empty supermarkets anyone can take!
And as someone who lives alone and has worked at home for well over a decade – I’m pretty used to isolation.
Indeed I chuckled at the phrase ‘social distancing’ – people [especially women] have been doing that to me for years 🙂
As vapers we’re kind of lucky in that there always seems to be something that needs doing – so here’s a few serious and not so serious ideas to keep the boredom at bay.
And BTW – NO – I repeat NO Muji cotton was harmed during this article…probably 😉
1: Vapers In Lock-Down – Switch To Drippers!
Given the COVID-19 pandemic is global and China is still behind on production, there’s a fair chance stock coils may become as scarce as toilet rolls!
Now would be the perfect time to pick up an RDA / dripper and become self sufficient.
I’ll look at building your first basic vape coil a little later – trust me if I can do it anyone can 😉
If I’m brutally honest, there’s a cigarette paper between how most of the older and newer RDAs perform, so you could pick up a classic at a crazy low price these days.
We have a detailed list of the very best RDAs out there right now, with many being what you might call ‘dated’.
As a complete newbie you need to be looking for one that scores high in the ‘Ease Of Use’ category.
For newbies – and as a ‘fingers and thumb vape builder’ myself – I recommend the original Dead Rabbit RDA or the V2 and indeed the Digiflavor Drop – both very easy for first timers.
Of course there’s very many more out there – but again look for the ones that are ‘easy to build’!
And BTW – RDAs and drippers are not just for the cloud chuckers out there.
If you’re a new vaper or prefer a tighter MTL draw – there are indeed drippers to suit.
My personal favourite and go-to is the GeekVape Ammit MTL RDA – dead easy to build on and great flavour – it’s the one I use for e-liquid reviews.
Further Reading: Ultimate RDA Guide For Beginners | Make A Start With Coil Building
What About Wicking I Hear You Say!
The very best way to learn how to wick is with an RDA – unlike RTAs which can be a law unto themselves, pretty much all drippers are simple enough to wick.
You need the cotton wide enough to give a little bit of resistance when pulling through the coil and generally the tails need to be snipped so they hit the bottom of the deck.
Make sure you juice it up well to avoid those nasty dry hits!
I’m pretty sure whatever RDA you’ve bought – our reviews will have wicking tips – if not YouTube is your friend!
As for cotton – that’s down to personal taste – however I have reviewed 7 of the vapers favourite cotton.
2: Vapers In Lock-Down – Learn To Make A Very Basic Vape Coil
Forget all those fancy looking coils – all you’ll really need in the very early days is a single very basic coil.
And don’t worry about needing all the tools you see the pros use – a very basic setup will suffice!
Most RDAs come with the tool to unscrew the post holes – so all you really need is a sharp pair of scissors and something that will snip the ends off the wire legs.
I had NO tools for my first ever build – and ended up using toe-nail clippers as wire snips!
OK – I have done a complete tutorial on building a basic vape coil from scratch.
As a complete newbie I turned to YouTube to see first hand how it’s done and found an absolutely brilliant tutorial from – now a good mate – Danny aka MBK – follow that and you’ll be knocking out coils by the thousands in no time 🙂
Follow those steps and of course the safety advice – and you’ll be good to go!
It might all look daunting right now – but hey you’ve got the time whilst in coronavirus lock down so go for it – you will thank yourselves later 🙂
If you are happy to splash out on a vape builders tool kit – there’s plenty on the market with the CoilMaster Mini DIY Kit V2 very good indeed.
And don’t forget – you’ll need to buy wire and Google is your friend – buy basic round wire to start – and also look out for pre-built coils for your dripper – they’re everywhere online even on Amazon and Ebay.
Further Reading: Electrickery – A Guide to Volts, Ohms and Resistance in Ecigs
3: Vapers In Lock-Down – Hygiene – Clean Your Vape Gear!
Given COVID-19 seems to be a HIGHLY infectious virus – vape hygiene is massively important right now more than ever and with everything else going on – could be easily forgotten.
Remember, you are constantly touching things both inside and out, then picking up your mod and putting the drip tip in your mouth!
We know that is trouble with a Capital T!
So…please keep every single bit of your vape gear as clean as possible and do it often!
Drip tips in particular as we know attract the gunk – so make those a priority.
Soap and water will do the job – but do rinse well lol.
Every time you come back home give your mod and tank a good wipe down – I know it might be blatantly obvious but this is just a reminder!
4: Vapers In Lock-Down – DIY Or DIE! Make Your Own E-liquid
Sorry for the click bait type mention of the word die during the COVID-19 lock down 😉
Given the sheer amount of e-liquid on the market it’s highly unlikely we’ll all run dry for now.
However, IF this lock down goes on and on – and given at the time of writing bricks and mortar vape shops are shutting – it may be the case.
I will admit, I’ve tried mixing my own, but all those ratios and percentages gave me an extra dose of my usual number blindness.
Indeed my first [and only] batch tasted like cat piss 😛
I’m fortunate to have a good stock of e-liquid – some pretty good and others a bit yuk – but I have enough.
However, I shall be taking a look at Laura-ann’s absolutely brilliant make you own e-liquid tutorial: DIY E Liquid Mixing – Beginners Guide.
She says if you think mixing your own vape juice is hard – think again!
Umm in my case I’ll need to think more than twice lol.
However, read Laura-ann’s guide – follow her step by step instructions and you’ll be good to go – I certainly shall be 😉
Further Reading: Beginners Guide To E-Liquids / Vape Juice
5: Vapers In Lock-Down – Spring Clean Your Vape Cupboard!
OK, it’s week 2 of the coronavirus lock down and you have bucket fulls of home made e-liquid – your vape gear is sparklingly clean – you have a zillion self made coils for that new RDA you bought online – so what next?
As a vape reviewer [don’t laugh lol] for the past few years you can imagine the amount of vape stuff I’ve been sent!
I giveaway most of it to family and friends and have even resorted to handing boxes over to my local pub landlords to hand out to smokers and vapers alike.
But even so – I have containers stacked in my walk in hall cupboard and an absolute MESS of various boxes and bits and bobs in my large kitchen cupboard!
So wherever you keep your vape gear and however much you have – have a look through it and see what you really need.
Is that basic pod kit still in good working order? Clean it and save it for a smoker you know.
Give all your e-liquid bottles a wipe down and pop them into a waterproof container.
Take stock of your coils [pun intended] – are your running low? See points 1 and 2 or order more NOW from online!
Cleanliness is next to Godliness they say and so is de-cluttering your vape gear!
6: Vapers In Lock-Down – Become A Vape Trick GOD!
They’re the snap back cap wearing black t-shirt and skinny jeans badass vapers of the world and you could be one too!
OK, maybe NOT the skinny jeans, given for the past few weeks you’ve been sitting on the sofa stuffing your face with biscuits and cake you’ve managed to forage or barter for a bucket of home made juice!
But think about it.
UK Vaper Expo might be cancelled in May – but fingers crossed it will be back in October.
Now, imagine the scene.
You’re hanging out by the Media area hoping to catch a glimpse of a vape reviewer that often gets you excited and more than a little moist.
You’ll have more chance of grabbing their attention as they attempt to ignore the throng of fan-boys and girls if you blow a few fat O’s in his or her direction…probably 😉
And hey – word on the vape streets is those sexy booth girls get wet ‘n wild when you blow a French Inhale in their face…
BTW, the French Inhale vape trick is also known as the Irish Waterfall…like I said those booth girls go wet ‘n wild for vape tricksters 😉
If they haven’t banned them all by now – YouTube is once again your best friend for learning vape tricks.
Be safe though guys and gals – you might find yourselves coughing your guts up as the vapour goes down the wrong hole.
That could mean you’ll be dragged kicking and screaming to the nearest COVID-19 isolation unit for showing ‘symptoms’ ha!
Vape safe especially when tricking – and that includes those skinny jeans – if you’re a bloke they can squash your nads into the size of two baked beans…apparently 😛
It’s also a great time for men and women a like to grow that vaping Viking vape beard to add to the overall look…no sexism here lol.
7: Does MUJI Cotton Make Great Toilet Paper?
The toilet role shortage has reached epic crisis proportions and you’ve been wiping your bum on everything from dock leaves [picked during your Government allowed single daily walk] to all those spare socks you’ve found *shudders*.
As vapers we’re a resourceful bunch and now really is the time to pick up a few ‘bales’ of MUJI cotton.
That stuff is cheap as chips and even cheaper when bought in bulk.
So here we can kill 5 birds with one stone:
- Use the Muji in your new RDA
- Use the Muji to wick your homemade coil
- Use the Muji to soak up all your DIY e-liquid
- Use the Muji to practice those badass vape tricks
- Use the Muji to wipe your bum
Like I said – us vapers are a resourceful bunch – Macgyver eat your heart out lol.
And one more thing…
Given there’s a lot of profiteering going on right now – why not join in?
Offer a home delivery service [during your Government allowed single daily walk] – at an extortionate price – for the Muji cotton – calling it China’s favourite soft and luxurious ass wipe material?
Imagine all the money you’ll make – could be enough for that sexy stabwood mod you’ve always wanted 😉
BTW, I was going to add muji cotton on the whole gives decent flavour…however it didn’t feel shall we say appropriate in this context 😛
And Finally…
These are unprecedented times.
I said what a time it was to be alive when vape mods started lighting up your house or playing your favourite music – but this COVID-19 lock down beats even those as a game changer.
It’s some serious shit and the quicker we ALL follow the advice from Government, the quicker we’ll get through this.
The vape industry and community has once again come together with one UK e-liquid company switching to manufacturing hand sanitizer AND giving it away free to the elderly and most in need.
SMOK and other China based manufactures have donated millions of dollars to the fight and are still producing masks by the thousands.
Great stuff.
Still bored???
OK – hit up those vaping channels on YouTube especially the top class reviewers we have here at EcigClick such as: The Worthing Vaper – Neash Niche Reviews – The Flatcap Vaper and our good friend Dean the Devil Vaper.
OK, hope this has helped and given you some ideas to beat the vapers in lock down blues 🙂
Stay safe – and let me know in the comments below any tips you have for us vapers in lock-down 🙂
