What are the benefits of getting 100mg nic and mixing down yourself. I'm an (extremely) basic DIYer and have always just bought 50/50 6mg/12mg unflavored nic juice to use as my carrier.
I'm thinking now that the 100mg route is better, just need someone to tell me exactly why. Also thinking of upping VG in my next mix effort but that's another story.
(Thanks to everyone for the info so far, I'm almost at the end of my spam here :) (almost)
edit: Kindof an addendum to this... would nic/pg/vg taste slightly different if I got from eg. Wizard Labs vs ECX vs Liquid Barn?
The real difference will be in the price, just like buying in bulk. The 100mg goes a LOT farther than would a bottle of 12mg, so the cost would be less. Balance that with the handling and care though, as the 12mg bottle you can just grab and go without anything really special, but the 100mg you had better have some protective gear, gloves, goggles, garb... as that stuff isn't a good time if you spill it on yourself.
I would think there will be a difference in taste to the nic depending on where you buy it as different PG/VG sources can taste different from one another. I don't know that it would be MUCH different, but I'm sure it would be. It just depends on where THEY source the PG/VG from.
What happens if you spill it on yourself?
I didn't have gloves when I got my nic, and wanted to start too badly. I handled it very carefully in bar hands. I'm sure at some point I got some on my fingertips but would wash my hands thoroughly immediately after any possible nic to skin contact. I didn't hve anything bad happen but I still wonder.
I am planning on getting gloves, fyi.
I'm not sure about vg/pg but I've heard that nic can vary depending where you get it from. Cheaper quality nic is supposedly harsh and has a peppery taste. If anybody has compared nics from different vendors or has a link to a comparison I'm sure quite a few of us noobs would appreciate it ;)
Fwiw, I haven't started mixing yet but I've already purchased 100mg nic from NudeNicotine and Liquid Barn. The rest of my mixing supplies should be here in a couple days so I'll give my thoughts on the nic from those two suppliers.
I used to buy my nic in pg so I started getting 100mg because I wanted to start making higher VG juices. So if I was making 100ml bottle at my preferred nic level of 4 I could use 4ml instead of 11ml if my nic was 36mg, that gave me a higher % VG in my mix. I use 100% VG for my nic now so it doesn't matter but it's still easier to measure out 4ml than 11ml & cheaper. And IMHO there's a big difference between some nic suppliers, I've had good luck with Vapers Tec, I just tried Liquid Barn and I really like there nic as well so far.
You get a lot more for your money is why you buy concentrated nic and not premixed at your level .
As far as nicotine varying in quality , very much so . Some are just average at best and others are just so clean and can clearly improve the quality of your vape .
I can often tell how good the nic is by how fast my mixes clear up after shaking vigorously , the good nic clears up in minutes, the less clean stuff takes quite a while.
Where do you prefer to get from?
I now order from Vaporstek but i don't get their most expensive nic , i was told to buy the "TH " nic which means "throat hit" but the thing is it is the smoothest and cleanest nic i have ever tried.
I don't know why they label it "TH" but it's only like $10.00 for 120ml of 100mg .
It's incredibly stuff , much much smoother and cleaner than others i have tried.