So I have been reading lots of posts about different vendors but some posts are quite old. I would love to hear your current experiences with the companies you deal with.
I am on a very limited budget (just lost my job and unemployment has not kicked in) and have saved $65 to spend on DIY. I am thinking about getting my nic, VG and PG from heartland vapes but really want to avoid anything harsh or sketchy as this is all I will be vaping for the next two months.
It might be best for me to get all the supplies and flavors from one site to avoid multiple shipping charges. I would like to know your opinions on heartland and other vendors.
If cost is a big deal, get a free sample from NudeNicotine. Get it 100mg/mL. The samples are 15mL, and if you vape 3mg/mL, you can make 500mL @ 3mg. Just pay like $3 shipping.
As for flavors and PG/VG, I'd say get flavors from a place like ecigexpress or bullcityvapor.
If you don't mind buying the same brand of flavor, buying from TFA directly would be the cheapest way to get their flavors. They also sell PG and VG, but I haven't compared the price to other sites yet.
Our first stop will be Amazon.com
- Get scale
- Get your PG and VG
- You'll need to get squeeze bottles for your PG and VG (get 2)
Next stop is Bull City Vapor
- Get 15ml or 30ml bottles of flavor that you have picked from this list
- Get bottles here if you need them
- Get a few pipettes to transfer your nicotine to solution
Nicotine Stop
- NudeNicotine or Vapers Tek for nicotine (get 50/50 or more PG than VG). You can get a free sample from Nude. Also, LiquidBarn has free nic samples.
Good advice here. DIY will be way less frustrating and time consuming if you mix by weight with a scale. Might be a little more upfront cost, but this is what you need. No annoying syringes.
Find a popular recipe on here that sounds good to you and start by replicating that. Something simple that doesn't have too many flavors. From there, start mixing away and continue restocking PG/VG/Nic as needed and expand the flavor collection. Remember that it is much cheaper to buy flavors in larger quantity ($1.50 for 10ml, $7.00 for 120ml). Buy bigger bottles when you find your go to flavors.
Mustard Milk is two flavor ingredients + a nic base.
No need to go whole hog if you like that type of flavor. Won't cost $65 for a 2 month supply if you buy your nic base at the VG/PG/nic level you like.
Basically 3 ingredients total.
$50 + shipping at a lot of vendors. If you vape 10ml a day, that's 100+ days for about $60.
I haven't decided what flavors to buy yet, mainly concerned with knowing which vendors have the clean nic and VG right now. I can get 1000ml of VG from heartland for 12.99 but don't want it if it is unvapeable. I don't have champagne tastes but I really don't want to get stuck with crap that tastes like sadness on the inhale and regret on the exhale.
The downside is that most DIYers buy wreckage and misery in their first order or two.
Your limitations -- no job, no money -- means you really can't risk it.
VG is VG. Every vendor is identical except in an environmental perspective. It'll all be fine.
Nicotine is riskier -- buying a diluted nic base is better as the nicotine won't oxidize as quickly. If you vape 3mg, get a 6mg or 12mg nic base. Less risk. Cost difference is negligible.
Your budget precludes a lot of DIY. For a few months I looked into offering starter kits and a little recipe booklet but I couldn't get it under $150 (with scale and a good number of concentrates). $60 is doable but limiting.
Pick a recipe that's well reviewed and stick to it until you can afford to add a second well reviewed recipe of ingredients to your arsenal.
/u/mistercloudman I have to go with Abdada here.
For such a small budget I would highly recommend going with fizzmustard's strawberries and cream. Great taste and it's only two ingredient's (still kinda jealous he made such a good recipe with only two ingredients....but that's beside the point XD)
6% Strawberry TFA
and
8% Vanilla Bean Ice Cream TFA
sure you may get tired of strawberries and cream. but your on a tight budget here and we can't have you going back the stink sticks now can we? lol
Besides what better to get tired of than strawberries and cream :)
As for Vg, just hit up Amazon if you want me to be honest. and as Abdada said, nic is a little more important.
He brings up a good point about getting a diluted nic base. it's kinda meh. In my opinion. I would suggest asking NN (Nude Nicotine) for a free sample 15ml bottle of 100MG/ML strength nicotine.
My reasoning?
free,
great quality Nic
wont have to buy nic again for a while as the strength will make it last longer
say you vape at 3mg I'm assuming. (correct me if I'm wrong) than each 30ml bottle you will make will be .3ml of nic. making a total of a whopping 50 possible bottles of e-juice with that 15ml bottle of nic.
Than of course when your budget permits, re buy whatever nic strength you want to work with (preferably at least re buy at least ONCE from NN seems how you took their freebee XD)
Do keep in mind, this strength of nic means proper safety measures. I.E gloves, making sure it is shaken well etc.
https://www.myfreedomsmokes.com/ is where I went when I first started DIY on a smaller budget and it turned out great. I have moved on to nude nic but they saved my ass when I made a bad purchase from a budget vape company.
Edit: Walmart has LorAnn flavors in the cake section small but cheap. Strawberry and watermelon are good and the banana cream is phenomenal.
MFS also has 17% off everything right now with coupon AUG17MFS. They stock a bunch of flavors and their nic is fine to use. Make sure you look for a coupon from wherever you buy from.
Even at 17% off they are more expensive than BCV.
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