We all hang around here long enough to develop a few opinions that go against the grain — the stuff you’d maybe keep quiet at a vape meet because half the room would disagree.
So let’s hear them. The hotter the take, the better. I’ll go first with a few of mine:
1. Massive clouds are pointless for 90% of people. Big sub-ohm cloud setups look impressive but most ex-smokers would be happier, healthier on their wallet, and more satisfied with a simple MTL pod and nic salts. The cloud-chasing era oversold people on hardware they never needed.
2. Most “my coil tastes burnt” problems are user error, not bad coils. Nine times out of ten it’s priming, wattage, or chain-vaping — not a duff coil. People blame the product way too fast.
3. Expensive juice usually isn’t worth it. Past a certain point you’re paying for branding and bottle design, not flavour. Plenty of cheap juices outperform the premium stuff.
4. Disposables being banned is a good thing — even though I get why people are annoyed. The waste was indefensible and the running cost was robbing people blind. Refillables are cheaper and better anyway.
5. “Vaper’s tongue” is real and it’s almost always self-inflicted from hammering one flavour non-stop. Rotate your juices and half the “this flavour died” complaints disappear.
Right, that’s me out on a limb. What’s your unpopular vaping opinion? Agree, disagree, or pile on — let’s hear the takes you don’t normally say out loud.
I don’t get the POINT of a disposable! However, the kid that mows our lawn is 16 and the 2 kids that clean our house are 17 and 18 and they use what they claim are disposables.
I checked one out. From what I can see, the only thing that gets tossed are the cartridges that hold the juice. The part that holds the battery and what not aren’t tossed from what I can see. Would I be correct in assuming the coil in the device can’t be replaced, and THEN it gets tossed?
In either case, you’re right, big fat waste of money. Why would they NOT use a pod?
Now, I asked them where they get the devices and the 16 year old said his mother buys them for him and the older 2 (Boy and girlfriend) said there’s a smoke shop in a nearby city that doesn’t check ID’s and they thought everyone knew that.
They wouldn’t tell me, as I suspect they know I’d call the authorities. They all like what I consider to be the nasty flavors. We can’t say, “thanks to the kids, adults wanting to quit smoking can’t get flavors WE like!” We must declare the fault is due to adults.
Perhaps some adult could buy their kids nicotine free juices. Mayhap stores could encourage everyone to reduce the nic to zero.
Now THIS will be an unpopular opinion! I mentioned it to @OldGoat and he acted like I stabbed him in the back
I find RDA’s to be of no value to me. I tried using one to test my flavors to see if they’re any good. As none of them are, all I do is re-wick. There, I said it! I’d rather toss a dozen refillable pods. I bought cotton that was recommended by several people and it’s too thick. I can’t pull it through without bending the coils. If I try to thin out the cotton, it’s always too skinny.
I don’t chain vape, but I don’t cotton the idea of dripping all the time. Mayhap if I can make a flavorful juice some day I might consider a rebuild-able tank…
On the disposables — you’ve got it exactly right. On most of them the coil is built into the juice cartridge/pod and can’t be replaced, so once the flavour’s gone or the coil burns out, that whole part gets binned. On the cheaper ones the entire device including the battery gets tossed. Either way it’s a ridiculous amount of waste and money down the drain, which is why I never understood the appeal over a proper pod either.
On the underage stuff though — I’d gently push back on the zero-nic idea. However well-meaning, I don’t think adults buying kids any vape, nicotine-free or not, is the answer — it normalises the habit for people who shouldn’t be starting at all, and zero-nic still isn’t “nothing.” The real problem you’ve put your finger on is that shop not checking IDs. That’s the bit worth reporting — dodgy retailers selling to minors are exactly why the whole category gets hit with heavier rules that then punish the adults doing it properly. So honestly your instinct there is the right one.
Now the RDA take — ha, I can see why [@OldGoat] clutched his pearls. But I’m not going to pile on, because I half agree. RDAs are brilliant if you enjoy the tinkering, and pointless if you don’t. If you’re just dripping to test flavours and re-wicking constantly, of course it feels like a chore. That’s not an RDA failing — it’s just not the right tool for how you vape.
On the cotton though — sounds like the issue is the cotton, not you. If it’s too thick to pull through without bending the coils, it’s the wrong cotton or you’re using too much. You want to be able to thread it through with light resistance, then fluff the ends. A lot of the “recommended” cottons are dense agglomerated stuff meant for high-wattage builds. Worth trying a lighter, wispier cotton — makes a night-and-day difference to wicking.
But you might be onto something for yourself — if dripping isn’t your thing, a good MTL rebuildable tank gives you the flavour-tinkering payoff without the constant re-wicking. Might scratch the itch far better than an RDA ever will.
Oh, I absolutely agree! But… IF parents insist on buying it for them, at least pretend you care about your children a LITTLE bit!
Question is, how can any parent think, “Hey, you wanna vape, smoke weed, drink scotch, I’ll buy it for ya.” And if you get caught, I’ll deny everything.
Teens, my best friends mother would give him money to by weed, and was told he could only smoke it at home. He didn’t get out much and I almost lived there.
Here’s one that usually gets a few people disagreeing
I think too many people chase the newest device when the one they already have works perfectly well. Once you’ve found a setup that’s reliable and keeps you off cigarettes, constantly upgrading doesn’t always make the vape any better.
I’d also say simple flavour profiles often make the best all day vapes. Some of the really complex blends sound amazing on paper but end up tasting muddled after a tank or two.
