What Does “Vaping” Mean?
Vaping – what is it exactly?
Until just a few years ago, the word vaping was barely used. But it’s becoming more and more familiar, mainly thanks to e-cigarettes, which are also growing in popularity. So what exactly do we mean by “vaping”, and how does it all work?
Vaping made simple
Vaping means using electronic cigarettes because, as the name suggests, they produce vapour. So why not just call it smoking? Smoke is created when something burns – as is the case with conventional tobacco cigarettes and newer “slightly healthier” heated tobacco products like IQOS or Teeps. With an e-cigarette, on the other hand, a liquid is vaporised – which is where the everyday term “vaping” comes from. We’ll explain what e-liquid is made of and how the devices work a little further down.
How the vapour is created
Vaporising e-liquid is a very simple process. Every device contains a so-called atomizer head, also known as a coil, which vaporises the liquid using electricity and heat. This creates an aerosol that you can vape, with any flavour and nicotine strength you choose. Put simply, the e-liquid is carried from the tank through a piece of cotton to a wire or mesh coil. When you press the button on the battery, this wire heats up and turns the liquid into a harmless aerosol, which you can then draw from the atomizer into your mouth or lungs. So, as you can see, vaping comes down to wire, cotton, power and e-liquid – all brought together in a small or larger device. In 99.9% of cases, it works exactly like this. A small exception is some pod systems, which have a draw sensor instead of a fire button. This automatically heats the wire for as long as you inhale.
What do you inhale when vaping?
Put simply, e-liquids mainly consist of high-purity vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol. Optionally, they can also contain high-purity nicotine at a concentration of your choice, plus flavourings for taste. The glycerine’s job is to produce most of the vapour – so it is mainly responsible for the visual side of vaping. Propylene glycol, on the other hand, acts as a flavour carrier and preservative. Both substances are also commonly found in fast food and ready meals, cosmetics, chewing gum and more. Glycerine is even found in tobacco cigarettes to stop the tobacco from drying out and to take some of the dryness out of the smoke. The flavourings used for taste mostly come from the food industry and are therefore non-toxic and safe for oral use. They are often synthetic, but in some cases they are also of natural origin. For example, most tobacco liquids are flavoured with natural extracts from the tobacco plant. Nicotine is usually optional and can be added in almost any amount. This leaves out all the other substances found in real tobacco that cause long-term damage to the lungs. So the health impact of nicotine when vaping is roughly comparable to the caffeine in a cup of coffee.
Vaping with nicotine
As mentioned, you can vape with or without nicotine. One clear advantage of nicotine is the slight scratch in the throat – the throat hit – which makes an e-cigarette feel much closer to a tobacco cigarette. How strong that throat hit is depends on your habits, the nicotine strength, the type of device and the PG ratio. So you can vary it however you like, opening up a huge range of possibilities. If you want to vape without nicotine, you can of course simply leave it out. The result is a very pleasant vaping experience with no scratchy effect.
Does vaping make you stand out in public?
A few years ago I would have said yes, but today definitely not – although it largely depends on the type of device. If you vape with a so-called DL (Direct Lung) device, you can certainly attract attention, as these produce quite a lot of vapour. If you don’t want that, a small pod system or an MTL e-cigarette is ideal. These produce very little vapour, which is easily comparable to the amount of smoke from a tobacco cigarette. The same social rules apply to vaping. Where you’re allowed to smoke, you’re also allowed to vape, and vice versa. If you’re using a real cloud chucker, it naturally makes sense not to completely fog out the people standing next to you while you vape. How you handle that is, of course, entirely up to you.
