So here’s the deal. I wanted to quit smoking. I’ve wanted to quit for years and e-cigs seemed to be the way to go. No patches, gums, or losenges. I like to smoke and chewing or sucking on a piece of candy wasn’t going to do it. I have the oral and manual fixation and that’s the hardest part to get over. The problem was finding the right one. After a couple of weeks of research, I found it at Totally Wicked.

I’m not an e-marketer and far from a salesman, but I will tell you this: I’m a smoker and as of August 9^th I’m an ex-smoker. I smoke, for the most part, e-cigs exclusively and so does my wife. We both actually enjoy it more than the real ones and I decided to become an affiliate, so in full disclosure I make a little bit from what you buy if you click this link. I figured if I’m going to rave about this thing and they’re willing to give me a little money, why not?

So, that being said here’s the scoop:

I wanted to quit

I’ve never been one for selling stuff, much less selling stuff online, with the possible exception of the occassional item on E-bay. I was always under the impression that you had to lie in order to sell and for the most part that’s true. I sold a car once in my twentys and apologized through the whole transaction and felt like I needed a shower when I got the check.

Promotion on the other hand is certainly something I can do and have done whenever I found something worth promoting. That’s rare since I’m particular and have high standards for almost anything I buy.

I’ve been a smoker for almost 25 years and I’ve wanted to quit for nearly 20 of them. Not because I don’t enjoy smoking, but because I don’t enjoy the inevitable prospect of dying a painful death. Problem is, I enjoy smoking … a lot. I like the smoke, the taste, the way people look down their noses at me and I especially enjoy the fake coughs from people when I smoke on the street. Outside. With the wind blowing. It makes me want to smoke even more.

I’ve tried the gum, quitting cold turkey, and the patch. I managed to quit once for six months – cold turkey, but ended up sneaking one here and there. “Smokey treats” I called them. Those treats led quickly to a pack-a-day habit in short time.

One day I was walking in the mall and saw one if those carts with the electronic cigarettes and decided to give it a try. $175 later I was home sucking so hard on the thing I thought my eyes were going pop out. I had a headache, I felt nauseous, and the thing leaked nicotine juice into my mouth. I had to be within spitting distance of a sink for the spit and the rinse. I tried it for a day and put it on the shelf, where it’s still collecting dust.

The Research

In July 2010 I decided to research this stuff again. I bought six different brands online, all with 30-day money back quarantees and puffed each one and returned them one-by-one. All had varying degrees of issues, but none of them really did it for me as far as smoking … really smoking. Depending on the brand of e-cig they were either to thick to hold, too long, they produced virtually no smoke, the juice would leak into your mouth, and worst of all I had no idea what I was inhaling. There are also a few reports of some the e-cigs containing diethelyn glycol (antifreeze) and of course reports to the contrary. This report from the FDA specifically mentions one brand in their report as having the chemical.

I’m sure there is some of the chemical in some of the e-cigs out there, but not in all of them.

In Walks “Totally Wicked”

It’s short of amazing that smokers who have inhaled some of the most toxic chemicals on the planet into their lungs for 20-40 years will suddenly become militant when it comes to an electronic cigarette. We’ve sucked benzene, formaldehyde, ammonia, arsenic, and acetone into our lungs, to name a few, but when it comes to e-cigs we want to know exactly what goes into making one of these things before we take the risk. I did hours of research on the chemicals in e-cigs and collected hundreds of links about them before I settled on one particular company that I trusted. In glaring contrast to that research I would buy a carton of cigarettes off the back of truck, knowing they were full of lead and made in China by 4-year-old slave laborers on a mission to kill us if it would save me 5 cents a pack and never think twice before sparking one up.

So here’s a report that was put together by the New Zealand Health authorities (.pdf format) and a pretty good thread on the Totally Wicked forum about the stuff.

Pure smoker had a toxicology report produced about e-cigs, Totally Wicked’s own report can be found here which (in .pdf format), and the outline to yet another toxicology report can be found here.

And a video report from Fox News here, as well as the owner of Totally Wicked, Jason Cropper's radio interview.

Long story short, Totally Wicked’s e-cigs, juice, accessories, and flavors are the best that I've found. You don't have to take my word for it. Do your own research and when you've spent as much time as I did come back here, leave a comment, and go to Totally Wicked. Check out the forum, testimonials, and their guarantee.

So, if you’re concerned about the ingredients in e-liquid and whether they’re more harmful than cigarettes, Totally Wicked has conducted studies about their e-liquid and by the suppliers of ECO-pure. Both studies maintain that apart from the addictive chemical nicotine, there appears to be no harmful substance within the liquid. The main constituents of e-liquid responsible for producing the vapor are Propyl(ene) Glycol (PG) and/or Vegetable Glycerine (VG) otherwise known as glycerol or glycerin.

Here’s where you can get them:

Propylene Glycol (PG)

Aqueous or Vegetable Glycerine (VG)

Polyethylene Glycol 400 (PEG 400)

Where to Start

Here's the stuff I started with. I went a little nuts after that, but I have scarcity issues and I'm always afraid of running out of stuff. If I have four rolls of toilet paper in the bathroom I have to go get a value pack for the closet.

The Tornado Starter Kit

This thing will last all day. Charge it over night and as long as you're not sucking the crap out of it non-stop, it'll last all day. I use it at my desk while I'm working and throughout the day.

2 x Platinum lithium batteries (2 Manual) 2 x Platinum Atomizers 1 x Battery Charging unit. 1 x US Charging lead. 10 x Atomised Cartridges (5 x 16mg, 2 x 11mg, 2 x 8mg, 1 x zero) 1 x UK user manual. 1x Atomizer cone, 1 x TITAN to TORNADO charging adaptor. Get it Here

The Titan Starter Kit

This doesn't last quite as long as the Tornado (a couple of hours), but it's more light weight and cigarette looking. I like it after dinner or in the car. It's my morning cigarette with capaccino mint flavor and I use it in the evening with a vanilla or cigar flavor.

2 x Black lithium batteries Blue LED (2 Manual)
2 x Black Atomizers
1 x Battery Charging unit.
1 x US Charging lead.
10 x Atomised Cartridges (5 x 16mg, 2 x 11mg, 2 x 8mg, 1 x zero)
1 x UK user manual.

Get it Here

E-Juice and Flavors

I got the Patriot Range sampler to see what the different flavors tasted like and to get an idea of what I liked. Persoanlly I like the Tobacco Americanno and Kamel, but that's just me.

I got a little nutty later and order a bunch of flavors and finally last week I got a mixing kit and that's really where I should have started.

Find them here

Platinum Ice E.Liquid Mixing Kit

1 x 30ml Platinum Ice Mixing Fluid 54mg (PG, PEG 400 or VG).
1 x 60ml Pharmaceutical Grade Propeylene Glycol, PEG 400 or Aqueous Glycerine.
5 x 5ml plastic dropper/mixing bottles
3 x Decadent Vapours flavour concentrates. (your own choice of flavours)

Get it here

This was probably the smartest move. Even if I made it late in the game. You get about a months supply of the stuff. I sit at my kitchen table with the "chemistry set" mixing and trying new flavors all the time. I've got a couple of favorites (as does my wife) and between the two of us (including the cost of juice and atomizers) we're probably saving between $400 - $500 a month.