I’ve been reading a lot on this and other forums trying to get to a place I feel like I have enough knowledge to get started on DIY and realized, if I keep this up it will take me weeks to get my first order in. At least I’ve got my scale ordered (American Weigh Scales LB-3000)
If you don’t mind yet another “what do you think?” question, please have a look.
This is what I have at Nic River in my shopping cart so far. I’m thinking about getting my flavorings at BCV. It seems like they have, maybe, a better selection. I dunno?
1 gal VG $14.99
1 ltr PG $9.29
150ml 100mg Chemnovatic E-Liquid Nicotine $13.99
10ml FlavourArt MTS Vape Wizard $2.25
2oz Flavor Apprentice Sweetener $4.50
1 combo pack of blunt tip needles (have syringes already) $3.50
4 plastic 32 oz cylinders (for the VG)
Total $52.48 …Free Shipping!
Not sure how other popular sites compare price wise. Any clue? I’ve read NR has awesome CS, so that’s a definite plus.
Still trying to decide what kind of bottles I want for mixing. Have a few glass dropper bottles I can reuse in the meantime.
What other flavor enhancers would you suggest? Not worried about getting something I find I didn’t really need. Rather have it on hand just in case.
A little about me. Quit analogs 6 weeks ago (3/4 pk day apprx, Reds) I vape more now than when I did when I first quit, but went down from 9mg nic to 3mg. I go through about 70mls a week now. Lately my ADV is black licorice, I don’t think I could live without it.
The AWS LB 3000 scale will only measure down to .1grams
You will want a AWS SC 501 or LB501 digital scale which is capable of measuring down to .01grams with accuracy
I’m curious why you want to use syringes if you are buying a scale as well. Aside from transferring your nicotine, there aren’t many reasons to use both. Most of the flavors you will buy come in squeezable bottles with dropper tips. Some 3ml disposable pipettes may be more efficient.
By all means get what you want, but you say that you’re new to di y and placing your first order, or am I reading this wrong?
If that’s your first order, and you haven’t even picked out flavors, why would you add the one quoted above?
I mean it’s great additive but not for beginners, it can ruin juices extremely quick. Sweetener (2 oz of it?) I can understand but I just don’t understand vape wizard, as well as the question of other enhancers, if you have no flavors or even recipes yet.
Picking out recipes that u think u may enjoy and then buying the flavors for them, in smaller amount tho since u may not enjoy it, grow out of it or find a better substitute later.
These aren’t really all that necessary, though. If you keep it simple in the early days, sticking with some trusted 2-4 ingredient recipes and the flavors that are used in them, you’ll avoid becoming (possibly) overwhelmed and have less waste.
Some general tips to consider:
Adding a small % of sweetener should be all you need in the beginning. Focus on flavors first. Additives are something you can dig into later.
Most of the basic fruits, creams and custards may have sweetener in them already, and adding more Ethyl Maltol (EM) to them can mute your mix into plain sweetened VG flavor if abused.
Less is usually more. If you come across a recipe calling for 24% total flavoring, it’s probably old and could easily be cut in half across the board. Try it as written, though, to respect the possibility that it may be completely amazing as written. But, if it tastes like a muddled mess, you can cut the total % in the blue wrench menu and see if that helps.
Don’t expect a great Shake and Vape recipe result. It can be disappointing and discouraging. Even fruits, which take the least time to blend into your base, could use some additional rest in the steep drawer. If you like it right after mixing or the following day after mixing, awesome! But it will likely be even better at 1 week, 3 weeks, 30 days, etc. Finding a couple of short-steepers to get down with while some steep longer is a good way to go.
Here is something from my personal experience when starting out. I tend to be one of those people who overthink and over plan. So i got myself syringes, measuring beakers, a shitton of flavors, a scale (that goes up to 100g) and a few more items I don’t use at all now.
Stuff I do use now - LB-501 scale (not the original one I got), condiment bottles for PG and VG (in my case PG is in ketchup bottle, and VG in the mustard bottle), flavors for the recipes I do mix (and i’m stuck with 80-ish flavors I will never use most likely)
Tips I can give being a relatively newbie mixer myself:
keep your nicotine in the freezer
put your nicotine in a dripper bottle
dont fuss if your measurement is not 100% accurate
buy a bunch of unicorn bottles for your mixes (i like 60ml ones), label them, and don’t use the bottle for a different mix ever
i like NR bullets they have good sizes and wash out well plus they are pretty cheap , i also use the amber 30ml pet bottles from ECX with the red caps , i only use those for new mixes and after one use throw them away for 15 cents itbisnt worth washing imo , i do only mix 30ml samples i use to do 15ml but i like to try the juice throughout the first month … glass bottles are always the best choice but i hate the dropper part
im asleep bro , literally sitting here with my 5 year old daughter nodding off … shes sick and im beat . Whats even funnier is that i deleted my comment over and over again
9 mg was too high for the frequency I was vaping, so I switched to 6mg. Then, after buying a lot of juice that was only half satisfying (and some that I will prob throw out they’re so disgusting) I bought 30ml of an in house black licorice flavor at a local vape shop that was divine, and couldn’t put it down! Dropped to 3mg when I went back for more, since I was vaping it so much.
In the short amount of time I’ve been off analogues…I’ve transitioned, and seem to be more addicted to the mechanics of smoking, than the nicotine addiction. Which is another whole can of worms!
You read it my post just fine. It comes down to being a newbie, and not knowing what I might want to experiment with in the future. What the heck, it’s inexpensive and keeps well in the fridge. I’ve read the reviews on the additives I’ve picked,…and headed the warnings that a “dab will do ya” . So, I understand the cautions…And that some enhancers are for certain flavors and not others, and some recipes won’t need anything. How will I know unless I try them? Also, I expect that I’ll make mistakes, it won’t be the end of the world!..but it’s a path to discovering what I like.
