Sub-Ohm vs Standard-Ohm Vaping – Vape Abbreviations, Tips and Tricks Part IX
The following is entirely subjective – so there may well be exceptions!
First of all, I think it’s fundamentally wrong to define direct-to-lung vaping by ohms alone. You can vape MTL on a 0.15 ohm coil just as someone might decide to vape DTL at 1.2 or 1.5 ohms.
To me, it’s more that you subjectively feel you get more flavour at 0.15 ohm in temperature control mode. But it depends on the TC setting. The higher you go, the less difference I personally notice compared with 1.0 or 1.5 ohms in wattage mode. In my case, I tested this with an eLeaf TC 50 Watt battery (similar to this mod, but a battery, because as a woman I find it more comfortable to have less weight in my hand). I use my battery with a Kanger Toptank Nano (and no, I didn’t choose the pink version). At 230 degrees, you get a decent vapour cloud, but even as a dual user, the throat hit would be much too strong for me to vape direct-to-lung. At 205 degrees it would work better because the vapour cloud is noticeably smaller, but it doesn’t seem to make much sense. The advantage is more that the vapour feels much smoother and the e-liquid’s flavour comes through better.
I deliberately tried three different e-liquids: an American “Double Apple”, my usual Ristretto liquid from a German flavour manufacturer, and Eucalyptus from a Polish manufacturer. The first two e-liquids deliver slightly better flavour than in the same tank with a 1.2 or 0.5 ohm coil, each vaped in wattage mode. The exception is the Eucalyptus – I don’t notice any difference apart from the vapour cloud being bigger in TC mode. That said, the Eucalyptus has a very strong flavour of its own.
To round off the experiment, I also took a direct-to-lung puff in wattage mode – if you like a strong throat hit, honestly, direct-to-lung is direct-to-lung, and mouth-to-lung is mouth-to-lung, in both modes and no matter how many ohms you’re using. That said, in both modes you shouldn’t be surprised if you end up with a bit of a sore throat. That’s why I generally wouldn’t recommend it to beginners, as side effects could put newcomers off vaping.
TC mode does have one plus point – you can set it so low that the vapour is practically invisible. So if, for whatever reason, you want to vape discreetly, choose a low TC setting: hardly anything comes out, and what little vapour there is can easily be made to disappear. In general, I like vaping below 1.5 ohms, but below 0.5 ohm I personally don’t notice any significant difference.
Whether it’s 0.15, 0.5, 1.2 or even 1.5 ohms, honestly – the difference really isn’t that big, and in the end it comes down to personal taste. By the way, if you take two puffs in quick succession in TC mode, the flavour is exactly the same as in wattage mode. But direct-to-lung or mouth-to-lung vaping clearly has nothing to do with ohms. Here too, it’s all about personal preference.
One final warning – if you’re trying it for the first time, never fill the tank completely; only fill it halfway to 2/3 full. In temperature control mode, the e-liquid gets pushed up slightly when you fire, and e-liquid in your mouth is definitely no fun!
