To The Metal

Two weeks ago I decided to put my ‘casual’ smoking habit on hiatus indefinitely. Every once and a while, I crave a smoke. I’m lucky in that I can smoke a cigarette, or a pack of them, and then not be bothered with them sometimes for weeks or months on end. Still, each time I have one, I’m risking cancer, COPD, etc… Generally the whole ‘lack of oxygen’ thing bugs me too.

A while back, a friend had picked up a pack of Blu Cigs, I tried them – and to my surprise they worked very well. Back to two weeks ago, I ordered a starter pack. The pack itself is a charger, holds 2 batteries, 2 atomizers (what makes the “smoke” aka water vapor) and 5 spare cartridges.

The way it all works is pretty neat. You press a flavor cartridge onto the atomizer, screw both onto the battery, and puff away. The flavor cartridge is nothing more than water, flavor, and nicotine (non-nicotine varieties are available). When you inhale, the atomizer heats up, turning the flavor into vapor, and you get your fix.

It hits like a cigarette and drags like one too. Depending on the type of drag I take, I can get anywhere from a day to a half a day out of a cartridge. A normal drag results in a fair amount of vapor, a longer lasting cartridge, and a longer lasting battery. Slow, steady drags will result in a more authentic heavy puff of smoke, but it wears out the cartridge quicker, and also drains the battery quicker.

It satisfies the habit, the oral fixation and sensation of smoking. It also satisfies the craving for the stimulant, nicotine. Inhaling it in this method IMHO results in a more pure shot of nicotine, since you’re not having to deal with the tar, chemicals, filter, etc… in a normal cigarette.

Another perk – for those of us who are idiots and smoke when we have a cold… You’re essentially sucking on a vaporizer. My usual cold that my step-daughter brings home and results in me getting bronchitis hasn’t really kicked in as hard since I’m getting healthy doses of pure water vapor on a regular basis.

The benefits don’t end there though, another thing you will NOT get from these, are the smell, the light-headed sensation from the lack of oxygen, the yellow teeth, the stigma of being a smoker, and God willing no cancer.

The starter pack runs $60, and flavor cartridges can be had for anywhere from $25 to $80 depending on how much you want to order. One pack has 25 cartridges which should last you at least 1 day per cartridge (results will vary depending on how much you use them). With the cost of a pack in New York being $10 minimum, a pack a day habit will cost you $300 a month. A pack a day habit of Blu’s? $25-$50. Yeah. It’s a no brainer.

The pack and the cigarettes themselves can charge off of a USB, and the pack itself can also charge off of a wall outlet. I just ordered my fiancee a starter kit, and my brother in law will get his soon as well. Personally, I started at the ‘light’ variety with 12mg of nicotine. My next order will be for 8mg, and after that, 0mg… I’ll just be inhaling flavor and water. Even if you’re not going to kick the nicotine, from a health and cost standpoint – how can you not use these things?