Thursday 22 December 2016

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health censored their own top researchers

Last week I wrote that the TPD and plain packaging passed in the Norwegian parliament. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NIPH, played an important role in this, not only through their response to the public consultation prior to the vote, but also through their reports on e-cigarettes (which I've written about before) and their statements during a committee hearing in October this year. Now, some of NIPH's own researchers reveals that important information was held back during this committee hearing, and hence the members of parliament, that voted in favour of the new tobacco act, had inadequate information. Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet has gained access to emails showing this and they've talked to Erik Nord and Karl Erik Lund about it. This was published in an article last week (sadly behind a paywall).
Erik Nord
Karl Erik Lund
"NIPH handled this case in a way that Karl Erik Lund's and my own views on e-cigarettes were never submitted to the Committee. (...) This was in my opinion contrary to the general desire for the best possible  information on the case, and disloyal to the parliamentary committee on health and care services", writes FHI researcher Erik Nord in an email exchange Dagbladet has accessed.
Both Nord and Lund have argued that what we know about relative harm and usage patterns strongly suggests that a strict policy on e-cigarettes can lead to loss of a lot of lives. They wanted to get this view across to the committee, but instead their calculations and summary on the research done on e-cigarettes were omitted when NIPH held their presentation to the parliamentary committee.

Nord directs harsh criticism towards the leaders of NIPH that he in this case says are driven by a wish to satisfy the politicians instead of a wish to objectively impart knowledge. Nord and Lund both have their background from the The Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, SIRUS, that earlier this year was merged with NIPH. SIRUS researchers then expressed concerns that they risked loosing their freedom, credibility and freedom of speech as NIPH has a less independent role compared to SIRUS. It looks to me that they had a very good reason to worry. The two institutes have often disagreed publicly for several years in different questions, for example the use of snus. Karl Erik Lund have been a strong supporter of harm reduction through both snus and e-cigarettes and have expressed this publicly a lot of times while he was Research Director at SIRUS, and I'm happy to see he and his colleagues from old SIRUS still puts ethics and science above satisfying egocentric politicians.

This is not the first time Lund and Nord have ended up in this situation after the SIRUS/NIPH merge. They also wrote a report contradicting Minister of Health, Bent Høie's views on plain packaging. Despite that an article in newspaper VG revealed that this report was ignored and left out of the background material when the proposed changes to the tobacco act was written, nothing was done. The Australian lies fit Høie's agenda better, so they kept those instead.
"After the VG article about snus packaging some time ago I sent out an email about a crisis of confidence in the NIPH. In a meeting immediately afterwards Camilla (NIPH director Camilla Stoltenberg, ed note) asked what was needed to restore confidence. I have since pointed out that action, not words, is needed. The handling of this case was the opposite of what is needed", Nord write in his email.
Talking to Dagbladet Nord estimates that between two and three thousand Norwegian smoker will die prematurely as a direct consequence of a strict e-cigarette policy. "This is the reality that the politicians will have to expect", says Nord.
"When the health care committee requests to be presented with the different views, it is natural to do so. Instead the area director chose to give a kind of unified presentation where our calculation was completely gone", he explains to Dagbladet.
In an email that Dagbladet has read, Nord writes that NIPH in some cases obviously has "issues dealing with its dual role as a research / information provider on one hand and advisor on the other, and that it's leaders unfortunately sometimes ends up being political actors".

Area director Knut-Inge Klepp have been publicly sceptical to e-cigarettes all along. This also goes for NIPH director Camilla Stoltenberg, and that suits Bent Høies agenda quite nicely. Lund and Nord research and views on the other hand, doesn't fit this agenda at all. So one can only wonder... why did they decide to merge SIRUS and NIPH?

Klepp, of course, does not agree with Lund and Nord and says: "I disagree that we in any way attempted to withhold information. We have been completely open that there is scientific disagreement within the institute" What a load of crap. What he's actually saying is that they admit that their researchers (the people that actually know something about this) does not agree with the leadership, but they chose not to present their views anyway. Why? Because they've found other science that fits the politicians agenda better?

He then goes on with the usual "there is not much research done on the consequences of e-cigarettes and a fresh survey from the USA supports a stricter policy than Nord and Lund wants", and goes on:
The math is interesting. There is uncertainty about the numbers just as there is uncertainty about much of the knowledge about e-cigarettes. Here we get new results every week, and I think that it is wise not to be too firm, but monitor research on health effects both in Norway and internationally closely in the future. 
I'm not sure what to say to that? "Blah, blah, blah" might be fitting? There is a lot of research available, just not much supporting the views and agenda of Klepp and whatever politician he thinks he needs to satisfy to keep his job. Klepp goes on:
(...) It is not a problem that it appears there is scientific disagreement within such a large institute, but rather a strength. The challenge is of course that we can use the controversy to develop good research that can bring us results in this field.
More empty words from Klepp there. The research is already there, from researchers at his own institute among others. Still he was the one that chose to omit it when presenting what was supposed to be all the views and research to the committee, depriving them of the ability to make well informed decision.

Then again, would it really have mattered if Lund and Nord had been able to get their views across, telling the committee the real consequences of their actions? Apparently not. Tove Karoline Knutsen (Norwegian Labor party, AP) says that the committee members are well aware of the views of Lund and Nord but still:
Of curse we listen carefully both to NIPH and others, but for Labour it is also important to proceed somewhat incremental in cases where there is so little research as in this case, and in any case ensure that we don't do something that is irreversible. If at some point we get far more knowledge our view can be revised, but I think it is important now that we treat e-cigarettes as regular tobacco with the same restrictions, if they are primarily intended to be a tool for smoking cessation.
I get the feeling you've listened a lot to NIPH, and paid extra attention to Klepp's way of ignoring science. What really is irreversible is the damage done by the new tobacco act. Pigs will learn to fly before Norway removes or changes a law that complies with the EU TPD.

Last week I tried to figure out what motives the Minister of Health and his department have for doing this, even though they have to know by now that they will slow down the accelerating decrease in tobacco smoking. Here's a scary thought: What if that is exactly what they want? Why? From a purely egocentric point of view, just thinking of their own political life it makes sense though. Because no matter how poorly their plain packaging works, smoking rates will continue to decline. The Australian government have demonstrated how, by some simple statistical tinkering, they can make it look like this has worked. That looks great in a political campaign. Same thing with e-cigarettes, even if they manage to slow down progress, which will result in less lives saved, e-cigarette use will slowly become more visible and mainstream, and they can say that "hey, we legalized e-cigs... and have a look at our statistics now. Smoking is declining." (Which it would have done anyway, of course). What's even better from their point of view is that if the decrease in smoking is slow enough, they can continue to make up useless provisions to score political points for years to come as well.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has become the government's tool to deceive the public, making us believe that they're doing a great job for public health. As we've seen they are willing to go pretty far to do this, even censor their own top researchers if their research show the "wrong" results. We can only hope that Lund, Nord and the other researchers from SIRUS will create such hell that the house of cards eventually falls apart. These are the most experienced and best tobacco researchers we have here in Norway and they are the ones that should be responsible for NIPH's statements, views and presentations regarding this.

RDA

Tuesday 13 December 2016

TPD and plain packaging passed in Norwegian Parliament

On Friday, December 9th, the Norwegian government published a press release stating that the proposed changes in the tobacco act will pass in Parliament. The proposed changes are, as I've written before on several occasions, the EU TPD and plain packaging for both cigarettes and snus. I recommend reading my previous articles on what this proposal actually means, and what lies our politicians use to justify this, either consciously or due to severe lack of knowledge and willingness to learn. I also submitted an answer to the public consultation on this case. The exact time the new tobacco act will be effective is not yet set, but it will happen some time during spring 2017.

I've been watching the speeches made by representatives from all parties when this case was processed in Parliament on Friday. A lot of the representatives have developed a remarkable resistance to facts, seeming almost immune to the realities of the case. I guess most of my readers don't understand Norwegian, so I'll sum up the arguments used in short: The gateway theory and nicotine in e-cigarettes will harm both the user and innocent bystanders (mainly children of course). Yeah... that's right. Norwegian government still believes that e-cigarettes will increase recruitment of smokers among young people, even if it has been shown over and over again that this is not the case at all. They are very concerned with the increase in snus use and e-cigarettes, and fails completely to see that this coincides with an accelerating decrease in young smokers. Karl Erik Lund's excellent article on the role of e-cigarettes in the tobacco endgame have bypassed them completely. Not that I expected them to read it anyway, but it seems very unlikely to me that no-one in the government or members of the parliament have seen these statistics and been wondering if there might be a connection. To me it is pretty obvious that they don't want to see the connection.

It doesn't help that our department of health refuses to retract or correct their report that falsely stated that nicotine in vapor can be harmful to bystanders. Hell, they even refuse to comment on Dr. Farsalinos last critique, and it's pretty obvious why. Farsalinos shows above all doubt that they are wrong, they stand no chance of making any reasonable argument to why they should not correct this in the report. This would also force them to rewrite the conclusion of the report stating that there is really no harm from so-called second hand vaping. So they just shut up and hope this thing goes on unnoticed by most people, including policy makers. Cause without any harm from passive vaping, their house of cards is starting to fall apart. Same thing goes for the harm from, and addictive properties of nicotine alone. Take that myth away and you'll rip away the whole foundation for their regulation. The sad part is that their strategy of complete silence and just ignoring evidence seems to have succeeded.

An argument that is presented several times in the debate about plain packaging is that this has been so successful in Australia. First of all, this is simply not true. It hasn't been a success in Australia, it's just the Australian government that have twisted some statistics in an effort to hide their failure from the world. I pointed this out in my consultation answer (first point, and also pointed out by Dick Puddlecote among others) so there is actually no excuse for this other than "not bothering to even read the consultation answers". Secondly, let's say plain packaging actually did work, just imagine that the Australian government did not lie about this. How can you argue that even though snus is a lot less harmful than smoking, we should introduce plain packaging for this product as well, making it less attractive compared to smoking. Makes absolutely no sense at all if you ask me. So not only do they base their policy on a lie, but they've created a policy that makes even less sense if the lie wasn't a lie but rather reality. Now that's just priceless.

Minister of Health, Bent Høie, showing his
useless plain packages.
Again... the Norwegian government shows clearly that they are really not that concerned with public health. What their motives really are seems a bit unclear to me. In one way, money is the obvious answer. Handling this in the right way, to promote public health, will cost money in the short run, mainly due to lower income from sin taxes. It's a long term investment in public health that will pay off economically as well, as I've explained before. The problem is that we won't see the effects while this government is in power. It will take some time before we start seeing how much less we need to spend on health care for smokers and the benefits of a healthier population in general. A more healthy population is a more productive one. In a way this government would pay the price while the next once will see the profit. But money is not the only answer here. In my opinion we have a minister of health, Bent Høie, that uses most of his time and energy trying to make it look like he is doing a good job, or at least like he is doing something. He has gotten a lot of press on the plain packaging case and clings on to the Australian lie so he won't have to admit that he's wrong. He is too weak to stand up to the EU and use our right to reserve ourselves from stupid regulations, so he sticks to the lies in this case as well, showing up everywhere with a worried look on his face... "Think about the children! We need to protect the children!". Last time I saw him on TV he was after sugar, and now plans to implement rules that forces food manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar in their products gradually and grocery stores to move their candy out of sight so we won't be tempted to buy it. In other words... force or trick the public to reduce their sugar intake rather than using the money on education and measures that encourage people to make these choices themselves. Of course he gets to go on national TV to tell everyone that he'll make sure we don't need to worry about our sugar intake any more... he'll just be a hero and fix it for us. Just sit back and relax and let me handle this...

I'm not going to compare raising a dog to altering the behaviour of a population... oh wait, I just did. Kind of a weird comparison maybe, but anyone who have (successfully I might add) raised a dog will know giving the dog a treat every time it does something right works a hell of a lot better than yelling at it for doing it wrong. Now here in Norway it seems like they decided to try out the same thing to get people to switch to electric cars. Give them treats that is. They removed almost all taxes, let them use the bus lanes and even gave them free parking with free charging included. Guess what... it worked. It worked almost too well. When I drove to work today I noticed that the bus lane was just as congested as the other lanes. Now, instead of giving out treats to people for switching to electric cars, the government could have taxed all other cars heavier. It most certainly would also have worked... but not nearly as well or fast. It seems to me that the politicians are surprised how well it worked and now they're scratching their heads wondering how they can justify taking some of the treats away again to put on the breaks to be able to handle the new situation. Where am I going with all this talk about electric cars you ask? Well, the strategy that the government have chosen to fight the tobacco epidemic is quite the opposite to their electric car strategy. I guess this goes for the whole world, not just the Norwegian government. For decades they have tried to scare, force and bully people to stop smoking. And it has worked.... but very, very slowly. E-cigarettes (and I guess also snus) have proven to be much more effective than any other effort to get people to stop smoking, or even better, not to start in the first place. Why do you think this is the case? It's because they are treats in themselves. They give the smoker something more than the cigarettes gave them. So you see... raising a population isn't really that different from raising a dog. The EU and the wimps in the Norwegian government sadly fails to see this, even if they've got good documentation at hand that shows how well it works, and have now decided to keep beating the poor puppy until it gives in and obeys. Sad ... just sad ... cause you know what, they will never reach their goal of a tobacco free population this way. Maybe we should try buying Høie a dog... no wait... that would be animal cruelty.


RDA

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Review: Wotofo Serpent Mini 25mm RTA

Last summer when I went to Denmark on vacation I had some time to kill one day so I decided to see if I could find a vape shop. I did... and needless to say I ended up buying something. This something was a Serpent Mini and another Minivolt to go with it, and this little setup has become one of my favourites lately. The Serpent Mini produces just excellent flavour and decent vapor on pretty low wattages, I usually run it around 20-25W on a 0.8 ohm build, which is great since the Minivolt actually lasts quite a while. Today I'm reviewing what you might call the Serpent Mini's big brother, the Serpent Mini 25mm RTA. The name of this feels kind of weird to me though... I mean it's really not that mini. Then again, it looks very similar to the Serpent Mini, with a lot of the same features. It's just bigger... so there is room for some more of the good stuff.

In the box
    • Serpent Mini 25mm RTA with single coil deck installed.
    • Dual coil velocity style deck
    • Pack of spare o-rings and a multi-tool
    • Pack of Japanese Organic Cotton
    • Pack of Wotofo Comp Wire (3 pre-made twisted coils)
    • Spare glass tank
    • User manual 
        Specifications
        • 25mm diameter, 48mm height
        • 4.5ml juice capacity
        • Dual coil and single coil deck included
        • Adjustable airflow control
        • Top filling

          Look and feel

          As I said, the 25mm edition of the Serpent Mini looks pretty much like the original on steroids. Same external design, clean with just the name engraved on the top cap. Nothing to fancy, and I like that. I've got the Stainless Steel version of this and I'm happy with that actually. My original Serpent Mini is black... or at least was black when I bought it. Now it's kind of a mix between black and SS :) I guess the SS version won't have this problem. I have to say though, that my original has been used a lot and has just been carried in my pockets when I'm out and about.

          In use

          As with the Goblin Mini that I reviewed last time, the Serpent Mini 25 also comes with two different decks, one for single coil builds and one velocity style deck for dual coils. Switching between these are pretty damn easy, you simply unscrew them from the base. There is an o-ring there however that you need to make sure does not disappear. It's quite loose and easily comes off.

          You will recognise the single coil deck from the original Serpent Mini if you've tried that. I for one find this deck pretty easy to build on, just make sure you keep your coil a bit elevated so it doesn't touch the base of your deck. When wicking it I prefer to just keep the knurled ring, that kind of keeps your wicks in place, on a all times and just use a pincer to stuff your wicks down there on both sides. The dual-coil deck is also a dream to build on... well it's not really a surprise since it's a velocity style deck, which is my preferred style of decks atm. The post holes are 2 mm which I'd say is sufficient for my use at least. Wouldn't build with any thicker wire in this atty anyway.

          The top filling is excellent with huge fill holes and a top cap with nice smooth threading. Same goes for the airflow control, nice and smooth and plenty of air when fully open.

          The whole thing is easy to take apart and clean. You can also unscrew the base and re-build your atty without emptying the tank first. Pretty much standard stuff on these kind of atties these days I'd say.

          Performance

          You can, obviously, fit some bigger and more crazy builds in the 25mm version of the Serpent Mini than you can in the original. Which means you can hit it with some more wattage, producing more vapor. Still, I think the flavour is just excellent, as it was in the original. I like it both in dual and single coil setups. As always with an RTA, the performance depends on your build, but I really like the flavour that the twisted coils that come in the box produces. This goes for both single and dual coil setup. Since this is a 25mm atty you'd probably end up using it with a quite powerful mod, which means you can do some more crazy builds and hit it with quite a lot of power for some huge clouds, but you can also go more easy on it and have an all day build that won't empty your tank in a flash.
           
          Pros and cons

          ++ Great flavour and vapor production
          + Dual and single coil decks
          + Easy to use and clean
          - That loose o-ring on the build decks that tends to disappear when you're changing decks.

          Conclusion

          It's tempting to compare this one to it's little brother, the original Serpent Mini, of course. Still, this 25mm version is a lot bigger and you will probably end up using it differently. The original is still superb for small, lower wattage setups, while this one is more ideal for bigger setups, either for huge clouds and lots of power, or for long lasting all day builds. The flavour however, is excellent on both of them. You can get the 25 mm edition for around $30-35ish (NOK 319 at dampevarer.no), making it a great buy if you ask me. I've used mine a lot since I got it.

          Thanks a lot to Dag Einar at dampevarer.no for sending me this atty for review.


          dampevarer.no
          Disclosure:
          • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
          • This product was sent to me for free for the purpose of this review.
          • This review does not contain affiliate links.

          Friday 25 November 2016

          Review: Goblin Mini V3 by UD

          The Goblin Mini tanks by UD (or Youde) have been some of my favourite mini tanks. I have both the V1 and the V2, and I've loved them both. Have to admit that the V2 has been used a lot more than the V1, simply because it has top filling. In my opinion these are pretty much equal when it comes to building (takes some trial and error to get the right amount of cotton), flavour and of course capacity, but of course ... you don't need to bring a screwdriver to fill the V1. For me the filling mechanism on the V1 is the reason I haven't used it as much as the V2. Now, it's time to try out the V3.

          In the box
            • Goblin Mini V3, dual coil velocity style deck installed
            • Stainless Steel drip tip
            • Optional delrin drip tip with heat resistant top cap cover
            • Spare Pyrex glass tank section
            • Allen key
            • Single coil deck
            • Spares pack with o-rings and screws

                Specifications
                • 22mm diameter, 33mm height (without drip tip and 510 connector)
                • 2ml juice capacity
                • Stainless steel and pyrex glass
                • Dual coil and single coil deck included
                • Velocity style decks
                • Adjustable juice flow
                • Bottom airflow control
                • Top filling
                • Anti-spitback
                • 4ml extension tube available

                  Look and feel

                  This little thing look pretty good in my opinion. Quite simple design with the logo printed on the chamber section inside the tank and only some indicators for the juice-flow and air-flow on the outside. Not that there is much space to print anything else on there. The spare top o-rings are different colours from the original one so you can spice up the looks with some colour if you like that. The threading is nice and smooth and the whole thing feels pretty solidly built. Available in stainless steel and black, and I think you'll be able to get pyrex tubes in different colours as well.

                  In use

                  Let's start out with the build decks, cause they're awesome and a big improvement from the V1 and V2 in my opinion. The dual-coil deck is a velocity style deck, which I love, and the single coil deck is... well pretty much the same style except they've moved the posts to one side so there is only one air-hole in the deck. The post holes are big enough to fit some pretty thick clapton wire, so no limitations here. If you push the limit of the post holes you probably won't be able to fit the coil in the chamber anyway. It is pretty easy to build on both decks, I've been running both single and dual claptons in there. I also feel it's more forgiving when it comes to the amount of cotton you need to put in there to avoid leaks. Both the V1 and the V2 have some problems with this if you don't put enough cotton in there, and they struggle with wicking if you put in too much, so you need to be pretty spot on. On the V3 I've had no problems with wicking even on quite high wattages and 100% VG juice, and I've had no leaking issues at all.

                  To change the deck you need to unscrew the center pin and just pull the deck out. There's a system to make sure the deck is correctly aligned with the juice canals so it's no problem getting the decks lined up correctly. The juice flow control system will automatically open when you screw the atty onto a mod, and you just twist it slightly back again to close it, so it will also close when you unscrew the atty from your mod. Works great if you ask me. I only have it on fully open or fully closed though, as the juices I vape are usually at least 50% VG. It might be useful to close the juice flow down a bit if you have very thin juices, I don't know, never tried it.

                  The airflow is also improved a bit from the previous Goblin Mini versions. It is
                  now slightly raised from the bottom of the tank, so it is a lot easier to adjust it. Fully open it gives more than enough air for proper direct lung hits and I've been running it on wattages up to 60ish with no problems. There is also an optional delrin drip-tip included that will also cover the top cap so you don't burn your lips if you crank up the watts and the tank gets pretty hot. I've been using the V3 mostly on like 35ish watts so I haven't felt the need to use the delrin tip though.

                  The top filling is nice and easy with huge fill holes so you can just pour the juice in there from pretty much any bottle you like. Works great. The juice capacity isn't huge though... only 2ml compared to the 3ml of the first two versions. I guess this might have something to do with the TPD, but also the build decks and chamber are a bit bigger on this one. You can, however, buy an extension tube, doubling the capacity.

                  There is also a spit-back protection system than should be mentioned. It consists of a small part that you screw into the chamber from the inside. I thought it looked like a pain to get in there but it was actually quite easy. Just use your allen key or something like that, stick into one of the holes and use it to tighten the thing. With this installed I've experienced no spit back at all, so it seems to work. However... I didn't have any spit back problems before I installed it either... so to be honest I'm not sure it's needed. Guess it might depend on your build.

                  Performance

                  Great flavour and great vapor production. Simple as that. I liked the flavour of the first versions and I don't think this one stands back compared to those. Among the configurations I've tried I think I like a single coil Clapton the best, but also a dual twisted setup have given me great flavour. One of my favourite tanks when it comes to flavour lately have been the serpent mini, and the V3 is almost as good in my opinion. If not as good... haven't really decided yet, guess I need to test them with similar single coil builds to make up my mind.

                  Pros and cons

                  + Great flavour and
                  + Nice airflow control and juice flow control
                  + Easy to use and clean
                  + Great build decks
                  + Size
                  - Juice capacity

                  Conclusion

                  To me, the V3 wins over the V1 and V2 in all other aspects than juice capacity. This is the reason I'll hang on to my V2 as well. Then again, the top filling on the V3 is very good so it's still a good option to bring out and about. Priced at around $30 (NOK 263,20 at dampevarer.no right now, 20% off until monday it seems) it's worth every penny if you ask me.

                  Thanks a lot to Dag Einar at dampevarer.no for making this review possible.


                  dampevarer.no
                  Disclosure:
                  • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
                  • This review does not contain affiliate links.

                  Wednesday 16 November 2016

                  Juice Review: Steepd Walter White Xtra & Pink Fizz by UFA Vape

                  Steepd is a new range of e-liquids from UK manufacturer UFA Vape. From what I've seen there are 4 juices in the range, available in 30ml glass bottles, and I was sent two of them for this review. You can get it in 3 or 6 mg/ml nicotine strength and they all come in 80/20 VG/PG ratio. I can't really find the Steepd range on the UFA web page so I guess this range is just sold through other vendors. I do appreciate that they've put up reports from analysis of their juices on their page though, shows that they're serious about making vaping as safe as possible. I was sent some of their original juices as well, and a review of those will follow as soon as I've tried them out.

                  Walter White Xtra

                  Tested on: Goblin Mini V3 (Single clapton @ 0.4 ohms, 35-45 watts)


                  This juice is described as "Blue raspberry bubblegum and aniseed, with a chill". That sounds like an interesting blend I have to say. I have been experimenting with raspberry menthol blends before, quite unsuccessfully I have to admit. I guess that was a result of my severe lack of experience when it comes to mixing my own e-liquid flavours. But anyway, opening the bottle the smell of raspberry immediately immediately comes forward. Actually I didn't even have to open the bottle to smell it. You can also smell the aniseed in there but it's not super strong. Vaping it, I was pleasantly surprised. Don't really know why, I guess I didn't have any specific expectations for it. But it is really good. In fact... it's great. I opened the bottle just a few days ago and it is almost empty already. Very well balanced and the description is pretty spot on. Really refreshing juice that I for one could vape all day. I guess I already did, that's why the bottle is almost empty. It's worth noting that this is a pretty thick juice (that goes for the Pink Fizz as well) so keep that in mind when you're wicking your atty for it.

                  Pink Fizz

                  Tested on: Steamcrave RDTA V2 (Dual Alien Clapton @ 0.2 ohms, 65-75 watts)

                  Described as "Tangy and juicy old-fashioned fruit flavours". Smells like fruit candy, and I guess that is pretty much what they are aiming for with this juice. The second description on the Electronic Cigarette Co. webpage says: "An old school classic of orange, green, black and purple chewy sweets." So it's not surprising that this is also what it tastes like. It also got a nice sting to it... living up to the "Fizz" part of the name. It's a nice, sweet and fruity vape that definitely hits it's target. Without being able to pinpoint any specific brand of chewy sweets, that is what it tastes like. Even thought it is quite sweet it has enough freshness and fruityness to make it a well balanced easy to vape juice. Also a great juice but if I had to choose between the two juices reviewed here, I'd have to give the Walter White Xtra my vote.

                  Thanks to the Electronic Cigarette Co for sending me these juices for the purpose of this review.

                  electronic cigarette co.

                  Disclosure:
                  • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
                  • The juice was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
                  • This review do not affiliate links.

                  Saturday 12 November 2016

                  Review: Good RDA by 528 Custom Vapes

                  I don't usually use drippers much, not because I don't like it but rather because I'm not sitting down much I guess. I don't spend much time a home and when I go out I usually grab some device that I can use while I drive somewhere. I don't think it's particularly safe to drip and drive :) Although I am aware that there are solutions to this. I do own a few drippers though, they just don't get used that much. Nevertheless I still put drippers on my mental lists of vaping gear that I'd like to try out, and the Goon from 528 Customs have been one of those for a while. Mostly because it looks like a lot of fun to build on and try out some high wattage vaping.

                  In the box
                    • Actually my Goon did not come in a box at all, but in a nice cloth pouch
                    • Goon RDA
                    • Black delrin wide-bore drip tip
                    • Spare o-rings and screws

                        Specifications
                        • 24 mm diameter, 34 mm height (including drip tip)
                        • Adjustable airflow (1-6 x 3 mm airholes can be opened or closed as you wish)
                        • Gold plated bridge post and steel clamps
                        • Deep juice well

                          Look and feel

                          I've got the Stainless Steel version of the Goon and I think it looks great. It has got the 528 logo engraved on one side and a really nice clean finish. It's pretty heavy, making it feel solidly built and all the parts fit nicely together with no gaps or anything like that. Great quality.

                          In use

                          The build deck on the Goon is kind of different than what I've come across earlier. I'm a big fan of velocity style decks, cause they are really easy to build on. However the builds you can put on a velocity deck are limited by the size of the wire holes. On the Goon, with it's clamp-style deck, you can put in almost every kind of insane wires you can imagine. If you can't fit your wire into the Goon terminals, chances are you'll have problems bending it at all.

                          Building on the Goon is a bit harder than on a velocity style deck in my opinion. At least when it comes to dual-coil builds. But it's by no means a hard deck to build on, it just takes a little more practice. The issue with dual-coils is of course getting one coil to stay in place while mounting the others, cause you can't tighten the clamps down until both coils are in place. One trick I got from the almighty internet is to position the first coil around where you want it and then bend the leads upward to make it stay in place. This also makes it a bit easier to cut them when you're done.

                          The juice well is quite a deep one on the Goon. 5.25 mm according to the
                          internet. This means you can vape for quite a while before you have to drip again. Of course... this all depends on your build.

                          The airflow control is also quite nice. You twist the middle tube to position the 6 air holes, 3 on each side so the air will hit your coils. Then you twist the top cap to open or close the holes, either closing off holes completely or leaving them partially open. The top cap has 9 holes in total. This enables you to leave one side completely closed for your single coil builds.

                          Performance

                          When it comes to performance I'd say it all comes down to your build. I've tried fused claptons, normal claptons and plain dual 24g kanthal. I'd say it performs best when you build for quite a bit of heat. Running a dual fused clapton build of around 0.15 on 100-150W gave me huge clouds (of course) and the flavour wasn't bad at all. In fact.. I loved it. The thing is, this atty allows for all kinds of crazy builds which can result in all kinds of performance tweaks whether you're after flavour or vapor production. I actually ordered some huge hand made coils that I can't even remember the name of just to put in this... just because I can.

                          Pros and cons

                          + Great performance
                          + Nice airflow control
                          + Deep juice well
                          + Can fit the most insane builds you can think of
                          + Easy to build on once you get the hang of it but...
                          - Requires a bit of training/research
                          - Not really a con, but you need a quite powerful mod for this so not suited for low power vaping.

                          Conclusion

                          A good quality atomizer that will allow you to play around with some pretty cool builds. If that is your thing... I'd say go for it. It's priced around £60 at greyhaze.co.uk, which I think is totally worth it.

                          Thanks to greyhaze.co.uk for sending me this atomizer for the purpose of this review.


                          Disclosure:
                          • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
                          • This product was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review
                          • This review does not contain affiliate links.


                          Friday 11 November 2016

                          Review: Noisy Cricket II-25 by Wismec

                          The original Noisy Cricket by Wismec, designed by JayBo, has become quite a popular mod. It's a quite simple and effective mechanical box running two 18650 batteries in series, which means you need to know what you're doing when you're using it. If you don't know Ohm's law and understand how to use it to calculate the current drawn from your batteries given the resistance of your coils, forget about it. In fact... if you don't understand this, forget about mech mods all together or you risk creating a pipe bomb that will hurt yourself and people around you. The new version of the Noisy Cricket, II-25, do have some protection circuits making it safer, but you still need to know your Ohm's law and you need to know the limits of your batteries. If you don't know these things, or if you feel the urge to push these limits, you either need to do some reading up or just forget about this mod. If you on the other hand do know these things, please read on and join the fun. I said it in my last review of a JayBo designed device (the RX 2/3) as well, one mode of operation just isn't enough for JayBo at the moment.



                          In the box
                          • The Noisy Cricket II-25
                          • A warning card telling you not to use batteries with torn wrapping
                          • A user manual (or Quick Guide as they call it

                            Specifications
                            • 87 x 48 x 25 millimeters
                            • Uses two 18650 batteries (should be rated for 25A discharge)
                            • Atomizer Protection, Short Circuit protection, Low voltage protection
                            • Voltage regulating switch/wheel
                            • Can be run in series or parallell mode
                            • Direct output or constant voltage mode if you run it in series
                            • Battery life indication

                            Look and feel


                            I do like the simplistic look of this mod. It's got a nice brushed/satin finish, the
                            Wismec log on top on the black plate and a JayBo logo on the switch. It feels really solidly built and fits very naturally into your hand when you're using it. The button is nice and clicky and doesn't rattle too much. I mean there is some rattle there but not enough to annoy me at least. Actually it feels a lot more expensive than it really is. The only thing that looks kind of cheap is the plastic voltage adjustment wheel. They could have made this look and feel cooler.

                            In use

                            This is a quite simple mod to use to be honest. As I've mentioned before, you NEED to know your Ohm's law and make sure you don't push the limits of your batteries. Other than that, read the manual and you'll be up and running in no time.

                            The mod can be used in parallell or series mode as I've mentioned earlier. Either way you insert your batteries with the positive end first, so that the negative ends make contact with the battery lid at the bottom of the mod. To switch between parallell and series mode there is a plate kind of inside the battery lid that you just flip around. If you see two "P"s on the plate you're in parallell mode and you can only guess what mode you're in if you see two "S"s.


                            5 clicks on the fire button will turn your mod on or off, and you will see the indicator light behind the switch flashing 5 times to indicate that you managed to count to 5. This will also light up when you fire the mod, and when you release the fire button the light will either stay lit or start flashing at different speeds to indicate your how your batteries are doing. If it stays lit that means you have 60-100% left on them, flashing slowly means 30-59%, moderately is 10-29% and quickly means 0-9% and "go charge your batteries now".

                            When in series mode you can choose between direct output mode, which means you fire the mod with the voltage that your batteries are at, or constant voltage mode, that enables you to use the voltage adjustment wheel to regulate the voltage from 2-6V. To switch between these modes you need to turn the mod off (if its not already off) and then press the fire button until the light flashes three times and changes color. If it's white, you're in direct output mode, if it's red/orange you're in constant voltage mode. There is no indication on the wheel telling you what voltage you're on, it just says 0 on 100. At least on my mod 0 means full throttle (6V) and 100 means... well minimum throttle (2V). The wheel is also a bit difficult to turn. I see some people can't do this without using screwdrivers or pliers or whatever, but it's not really that hard. Stick your thumb nail in the middle and twist. One thing I noticed about the series mode is that it seems to always be in constant voltage mode if you've taken your batteries out and put them in again. Or just taken the lid off and put it on again  for that matter.

                            The battery lid is also kind of a tight fit and you need to use some force to get it on and off when you have batteries in there. I see some people complain about this, but I don't think it's a problem. If you struggle a lot with this you should consider working on your finger strength :)

                            Performance

                            There is not much to say about the performance of this mod I think, other than ... it t delivers. It really comes down to what you put on top of it. I've run it mostly with my Goon with different builds. In parallell mode you can run pretty low ohm build and get decent battery time. In series mode you can play around with higher ohms and really big-ass coils, blowing huge clouds of vapor. It's really a fun mod to try out different builds on and as I said, it delivers. And again, if you don't understand Ohms law or want to save money on cheap batteries with fake amp-ratings... don't get this mod.

                            Pros and cons

                            + Great performance
                            + Fun fun fun to play around with
                            + Good price
                            + Looks good except...
                            - The voltage adjustment wheel


                            Conclusion

                            I've already had lots of fun with this mod, and I don't think it will stop here. I think you can get it around $40 most places (499,- at pgvg.no), which I think is a makes it pretty cheap fun actually. Totally worth it ... again, if you know what you're doing. And I'm not only concerned about safety when I say that (although it's very important), but you'll also get much more out of it if you can safely play around with different builds.


                            Thanks a lot to Michael at pgvg.no for sending me the device for review. He also provided a discount code for my readers: pgvg2016 (10% off)

                            dampevarer.no
                            Disclosure:
                            • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
                            • This review does not contain affiliate links.


                            Thursday 3 November 2016

                            Review: Wraith by Council of Vapor

                            I often find myself browsing through different webshops drooling over new equipment, creating lists in my head of stuff I want to try out next. Quite a few of Council of Vapors products have made it into those lists. Actually a lot of them have to be honest. I do like their style to put it that way, and they've come up with good ideas and designs and realised these in some good quality products. I still love my Mini-volts and my Defiant tank although I have to admit I've been out of atomizer heads for a while now, seems to happen with most sub-ohm tanks I have... when I'm out of heads there is so much other stuff to try out so I never get around to buy new heads. Got to get some for the Defiant though... great little tank to bring around when I'm travelling. This also goes for the device I'm reviewing here; the Wraith 80W Squonker Mod. At least in theory it sounds great: Dripper quality flavour and high juice capacity. This is an all in one kit, that includes both the mod and the dripper... everything you need to get squonking in other words.


                            In the box
                              • The Wraith Squonker Mod
                              • Two juice bottles (one clear and one black-ish)
                              • The Wraith Squonking atty 
                              • Spare o-rings and screws
                              • A tiny blue screwdriver
                              • User manual
                              Specifications
                              • 5 mL juice capacity (?). I haven't measured this, but several sources on the web says 5mL. The bottles are however exactly the same size as my 10 mL juice bottles. Subtract some for the tube in the middle, I think you should be able to get at least 7 mL in there.
                              • Single 18650 battery (not included)
                              • Max. 80 Watts
                              • Temp. control mode (Ni, Ti, SS @ 200-600F)
                              • Diameter
                              • Zinc alloy construction on the mod, Stainless steel atomizer
                              • Rubberized finish 
                              • 2 post 23mm velocity style (-ish) atty with adjustable airflow, suitable both for single- and dual-coil builds
                              • Spit back protection system in the drip tip
                              Look and feel


                              I think the Wraith looks great to be honest. It has a nice rubberized finish and the carbon fiber inlay looks nice even if it's probably just a sticker. They've used this same style inlay for several mods now, so it's easy to see that this comes from the same family as the Mini-Volt and the Tempest. I was actually a bit disappointed when I first saw the new Mega-Volt that they just released, as I couldn't see this on that mod, but having a closer look they have actually put it on that one as well, just a lot less of it. The rounded edges makes it feel very comfortable in your hand. I do however see a little gap between the bottom plate and the rest of the mod. If you put a battery in there it becomes a bit bigger as there is more pressure from the inside. Could have been better quality control there. I bet it's a lot easier to see this gap on the white version than on the black one. But all in all... it's a nice looking device that feels really natural and comfortable to vape on.

                              In use

                              No rocket science required to use this one. The menu-system is a bit different to what I'm used to though, but not difficult to use and quite well described in the user manual. In wattage mode there is one button for switching between three memorized wattage settings and one button for switching between "Powerful", "Standard" and "Soft" mode, that will affect your ramp-up time (same as on for example the Mini-Volt). In temp. control mode you use the + button to switch between three memorized temp. settings and the - button to adjust the max wattage (that seems to go up to 50W in temp. control mode). When you cycle to a memory slot the slot indicator ("M1", "M2" or "M3") will blink for a while, and if you hit - while it does, you can start adjusting temperature or wattage for that slot.

                              Both the battery and the juice bottle is accessed by opening the lid on the bottom. The lid is hinged onto the mod so it won't go flying around on you once you pop it off. I would have preferred that the juice bottle had some kind of mechanism to stay in place when you open the lid though. It comes popping out quite quickly once you open it which can result in some mess. Then again, once you get used to it you will probably remember to keep a finger on the juice bottle (where you usually squonk) to avoid this.



                              The build deck on the atty is quite nice to be honest. I've mostly put single coil builds in there and there is plenty of room between the posts to do this. Personally I prefer single coil clapton builds in this one, and not too low resistance so I can keep it around 40W. The reason for this is that I think the battery is drained to fast when you start cranking up the wattage, which kind of defies the point of such a mod in my opinion. That is for the way I've been using it at least, bringing it around. Actually this is where the memory slots start to make sense. You could have several atties ready (it is of course compatible with other squonk ready atties), with different builds which you can use in different settings. If you're at home with batteries readily available, use a low-ohm, high wattage build to fill your living room with vapor in no time, then easily switch to a higher-ohm, lower wattage build when you go out so you don't have to bring extra batteries. You also have two juice bottles to you can easily switch flavours as well. When it comes to airflow on the atty it is easily adjusted by twisting the top cap. There is a little indicator dot that you line up with symbols for either fully open (an infinity sign), 4 or two holes open. Fully open there is 8 holes in total, so you get quite a lot of air.


                              I've already mentioned the juice bottle that comes popping out quite quickly when you open the lid. Filling the bottle can also be messy ... the first times that is. You have to make sure you don't fill it too much as the tube also takes up some space in there. Also, the bottle is quite soft so when you're snapping on the top-cap-thingy, make sure you don't squeeze it. I usually use some paper towel that I push down on the top so the juice that inevitably comes up of the top when you push it on will be soaked up. When I first got the Wraith I had some problems with juice leaking into the battery compartment. However I do think this was a faulty device, as I contacted dampevarer.no (who sent me the device for review) about this. They instantly sent me a new one and I've had no leaks whatsoever with that device. Hopefully I was just unlucky on the first device, and I haven't really seen anyone complaining about this on the we either.

                              Wrapping up this section, there are some small things you should be aware of when using this kit, but once you've made all the mistakes once (or twice) it's really easy to use.

                              Performance

                              Performance wise I think this kit delivers what it promises. The wattage it delivers seems to be on par with other devices I have, so it's a good chip IMO. When it comes to flavour and vapor production it's also good. There are of course better drippers out there, that will cost you a lot more, and you can always upgrade later on. I've gotten some really good flavour out of it, and with the right build you can also fill a room with vapor in no time (your battery won't last long though). What limits your experience with this kit is actually your own building skills and your eagerness to experiment. I'm not sure if it is, or will be possible, to buy the atty by itself but it would be cool. Or they could release a bigger kit for example with two atties so you can experiment even more. Or you can of course buy some other squonk-ready atty for even more fun.

                              When it comes to temp. control I rarely use that on any of my mods, but I have tried it with SS on this one and it seems to work as intended. No burnt wicks yet at least. It does however limit the max watts in TC to 50. For some that might be a con but for the build I've used (0.5ish SS) it is enough for me at least. 

                              Pros and cons

                              + Good flavour and vapor
                              + Leak free (so far at least)
                              + Lots of fun
                              + Looks kind of cool IMO. Actually, the white version is kind of cool in a star wars kind of way, while the black is more elegant ... again IMO.
                              + "Soft", "Standard" and "Powerful" settings to affect ramp-up time
                              - No usb to upgrade or charge the battery
                              - Gap between bottom plate and mod
                              - Juice bottle should have had some mechanism to stop it from popping out when you open the lid.

                              Conclusion

                              A great kit for a great price, you can get it for around $60-ish (NOK 649,- at dampevarer.no). The mod performs as promised and the atty is good. As I've said, you can find better tasting atties out there that are also squonk ready, but there is really no need to unless you have your own favourite from before... or just want to try out a bunch of different stuff... kind of like me.

                              Thanks a lot to Dag Einar at dampevarer.no for making this review possible. He also provided a discount code for my readers, so you can use code tvg10 to get a 10% discount.


                              dampevarer.no
                              Disclosure:
                              • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
                              • This review does not contain affiliate links.

                              Save

                              Wednesday 26 October 2016

                              Review: Freemax Starre Pure

                              Freemax sub-ohm tanks have been known for good performance and good flavour for quite a while now. From my experience the different Starre tanks tend to come up as suggestions whenever someone asks for recommendations on great tasting sub-ohm tanks so they do have quite a fan-base. Ease of use is also something that is often mentioned when I see people recommend these. Personally, as you might have guessed by now, I haven't had the opportunity to try these out, so I'll just have to go by what I see other people say about them. The newest addition to the Starre line, the Starre Pure, of tanks however, just dumped down in my mailbox so now I finally get to try it myself. This tank comes with Freemax's new Ceramic Cover Coils (CCC) that, according to Freemax, is designed to improve the thermal insulation effect which leads to less heat transmission to the outside of the tank... something they claim will improve the flavour. Let's see if they're right about that...


                              In the box
                                • Starre Pure Sub-ohm tank
                                • 0.25 ohm CCC Pure coil head
                                • 0.5 ohm CCC Pure coil head
                                • Extra o-rings
                                • Extra glass tube
                                • User manual

                                Specifications
                                • Diameter 25 mm
                                • Capacity: 4 mL
                                • Top filling
                                • Top adjustable airflow
                                • Ceramic Cover Coils (CCC)
                                • Stainless steel covered teflon driptip 

                                Look and feel


                                The Starre Pure is a pretty big tank considering a juice capacity of "only" 4 mL. The reason for this is of course the way it is built (have a look at the drawing). Having the air coming in from the top this way means the chamber walls have to be hollow so it will take up quite a lot of space inside the tank. It looks and feels quite well built thought. Threading is nice and smooth and so is the airflow control ring on top. The Freemax logo is properly engraved, not just printed on the tank. I like that. It's available in black and SS. I've the SS version and it looks quite nice if you don't mind the size of it.

                                In use

                                Using the Starre Pure is pretty straight forward. It's easy to take apart, change coil-heads and clean. The user manual isn't actually a user manual, but more of a list of it's features. There are some nice figures in there thought, and that is actually more than you need to understand how to use it. The top airflow ring is nice and smooth and the design seems pretty leak-free to me. I've had no leaking whatsoever. The kidney shaped fill holes on the top are nice and big and can be filled with just about any kind of bottle on the market without making a mess.

                                For the 0.25 Ohm head I think it works best around 50-55 watts, while the 0.5 head works best a little lower, like 45 watts. Given the size of the tank it will look pretty stupid on a really small mod so you'd probably end up putting it on something like a Reuleaux which means at these wattages you'll have plenty of vape-time.

                                Also worth mentioning is that the drip-tip does not get hot at all. Neither does the tank itself actually, so the ceramic insulation and the drip-tip design seems to work like a charm. All in all this tank is pretty hassle free in use.



                                Performance

                                I was quite impressed with the performance of the Starre Pure. It's got plenty of airflow when it's fully open and chunks out quite a bit of vapor. The flavour is really nice and clean as well. I'd say Freemax delivers what they promise. I mean I have RTAs that both taste better and gives me more vapor but it's not this tank is not that far behind. Definitely one of the better sub-ohm tanks I've used and I suspect it will become a trusted travel companion because it's so easy to use and tastes so good. I'm especially impressed with the consistency of the flavour. I guess I've vaped close to 50 mL through it by now and haven't noticed any difference in flavour. Freemax claims that each coil-head is good for 60-80 full tanks which I of course can't verify but that would indeed make this a great choice economically as well.

                                Pros and cons

                                + Great flavour and vapor
                                + Leak free (so far at least)
                                + Good adjustable airflow
                                + Easy to use and clean
                                - Size vs. juice capacity
                                - Could have had more options when it comes to coil-heads

                                Conclusion

                                I have no problems recommending this tank to people looking for a hassle free, great tasting sub-ohm tank. That is if you don't mind bringing a bottle of juice around... which I guess most of us are used to anyway. It won't win you any cloud-chasing contests, but it will give you a lot of nice, clean and yeah... pure flavour. The Starre Pure isn't the cheapest tank around at around $45 (at the moment), but I'd say it's well worth the money. Coils are around $13 for a pack of five which isn't bad at all if they really last as long as FreeMax claims. All in all, a great sub-ohm tank that I'd recommend for vapers with focus on flavour, both experienced ones looking for a hassle free, leak free tank to bring around (I had the chance to put it through the ultimate test yet... airplanes), and for newbies looking to try out sub-ohm tanks for the first time.

                                Thanks a lot to Abby at heavengifts.com for sending this device for review.

                                  
                                Disclosure:
                                • All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
                                • This product was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review
                                • This review contains affiliate links.



                                Save

                                Tuesday 18 October 2016

                                A Billion Lives ready for global lauch on October 26th


                                Aaron Biebert's documentary about vaping, A Billion Lives, has now been shown several times around the world, and not long ago the rumors that it is being considered for "Best Documentary Feature" at The Oscars were confirmed. Their success has not come easily, a lot of hard work has been done and a lot of strong forces have been working against Aaron and his team. Some days ago I got a newsletter from them (if you haven't signed up yet, please do it now) telling us about their struggles and how vapers all around the world have made this possible despite the efforts that have been made to stop the words about this documentary from spreading:
                                Big organizations were trying to bury us. Facebook was unfairly censoring our posts, making them unseen to the public we were trying to reach. Big Hollywood companies were mysteriously "not interested" after expressing strong support. Our small team starting facing burnout and fatigue.
                                It wasn't looking good. We fell about a month behind our planned release schedule. But you stuck with us.

                                You lifted us up. Many of you volunteered to help.

                                You made a lot of noise and caught the attention of two distribution companies called Tugg & Demand.Film.
                                In this newsletter, the team asked vapers around the world to help organize the global launch on October 26th, and the vapers responded. The movie will be shown quite a few places already, but still there are a lot of screenings that will only happen if they manage to get enough reservations. And this is where you can help out. Have a look at the global launch page on their site to see how and where you can get to see this documentary. The more screenings that actually happens, the more publicity the movie will get, and this is an important movie to make the world aware of. Buy a bunch of tickets and bring your friends! And if you happen to know someone who can get the word out in some kind of publications... even better.

                                I'm also really happy to see that the movie will be shown here in Norway on November the 14th, in Oslo. I know that they have people working hard to get the press there as well, and I really hope I'll be able to go see it.

                                Once again: If we can work together and get this movie out to as many people as possible it will be hard to ignore for the people that are going to decide what happens to vaping in the future without risking their own heads rolling. So please do whatever you can to make this happen in a place near you!

                                RDA