Switching from Smoking to Vaping: A Practical Guide

If you are switching from cigarettes, the two decisions that matter most are nicotine strength and device type. Get those right and the rest sorts itself out.

1. Get the nicotine strength right

This is the decision that decides whether switching works. Too little nicotine and you will keep reaching for cigarettes; too much and the first few draws are unpleasant enough to put you off entirely.

• Under 10 a day — start at 1.9%, or a 3ml disposable.
• 10–20 a day — 4.0% is the usual landing spot.
• 20+ a day — start at 4.0% and expect to vape more often in the first week.

These are nic salts, which is why 4.0% is comfortable in a small pod device. The same strength in freebase would be harsh. More on that in the e-liquid FAQ.

2. Pick a device you will actually use

The best device for switching is the one that is easiest to reach for at the moment you would have lit a cigarette. Complexity is the enemy in week one.

• Simplest start — a ONE USE 3ml disposable. Nothing to learn, cheap to find out which flavours you like.
• Best balance — the AirsPops XL. Start on prefilled pods, switch to refillable when you have settled.
• Lowest running cost — the Airscream Pro II or Pro LITE, refilled from a bottle.

A common and sensible pattern: buy a disposable to find your flavour, then buy a refillable and stay there.

3. What the first two weeks feel like

• Vaping is not a cigarette. A cigarette is over in five minutes; a vape is sipped through the day. You will take more, shorter draws.
• Draw differently. Cigarettes are pulled hard and fast. Pods want a slow, gentle draw — pulling hard floods the coil.
• A cough in the first days is normal and settles. If it persists, your strength is probably too high.
• Taste and smell return within a week or two, and flavours land differently once they do.

4. The mistakes that send people back to cigarettes

• Starting too weak. The single most common cause of failed switching. If it is not satisfying, go up a strength.
• Buying one flavour and hating it. Buy two or three cheap disposables in different flavours first.
• Skipping priming on a refillable, burning the coil, and concluding vaping tastes bad. See how to fill and prime a pod.
• Buying a complicated device in week one.

Vaping is intended as an alternative for adults who already smoke or use nicotine. It is not risk-free and it is not a licensed stop-smoking medicine. Speak to a healthcare professional if you want clinical support to quit.

Nicotine is addictive and for adults only. These products are intended for adults of legal purchase age who already use nicotine. Not for sale to persons under 18.