Vaping is very easy to do, but don’t ever let anyone tell you that it’s as easy as smoking. When you light a cigarette, it practically smokes itself. Since a cigarette burns down on its own whether you puff on it or not, you’ll figure things out very quickly. Vaping, on the other hand, isn’t exactly the same because you’re dealing with an electronic device. That makes them just like the other gadgets in your life in that they offer multiple configuration options – and whenever a gadget offers multiple configuration options, there’s always a chance that you’ll configure it in a way that isn’t ideal for your needs. Learning how to vape is an absolutely essential part of having a good vaping experience, and a major part of that is learning how to inhale properly.
So, how do you inhale properly when vaping? That’s what you’re going to learn as you read this article. There are two different inhaling styles for vaping, and those style are mouth-to-lung inhaling and direct-to-lung inhaling. We’ll describe how to use both of those inhaling styles, and we’ll also explain why you might want to choose one or the other.
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How to Inhale in the Mouth-to-Lung Style
If you use a small vaping device such as a pod system, you’ll inhale in the mouth-to-lung style. You can tell that a device is intended for mouth-to-lung inhaling because it’ll have a small mouthpiece. You’ll also notice a good amount of air resistance – just like with a cigarette – when you puff on it.
A vaping device designed for mouth-to-lung inhaling usually has automatic puff-based activation, which means that it generates vapor automatically when you inhale. Others have manual fire buttons, which means that you’ll need to press and hold the button when vaping.
The most important thing to know about the mouth-to-lung inhaling style is that the physics of vaping are very different from the physics of smoking. With a cigarette, you can get a bigger smoke cloud by puffing more aggressively. With a vaping device, however, the vapor production is limited by the power output of the device and the efficiency of the atomizer coil. You won’t get a bigger vapor cloud by puffing harder; you’ll get a bigger cloud by puffing more deeply.
When you learn how to inhale with a mouth-to-lung vaping device, your goal is to use only the amount of air pressure necessary to get your device to turn on and start producing vapor. Draw the vapor slowly into your mouth before inhaling it into your lungs and then exhaling it.
Benefits of Mouth-to-Lung Inhaling
You’ll use the mouth-to-lung inhaling style with a small device that’s designed to produce small vapor clouds – and when you use that type of device, you’ll generally want to use a high-strength e-liquid such as a nicotine salt e-liquid. The mouth-to-lung inhaling style is always the style you’ll want to use with higher-nicotine e-liquids, and the main benefit of mouth-to-lung inhaling is that it gives you the same throat hit you’d get from smoking a cigarette. The mouth-to-lung inhaling style is the inhaling style that feels most like smoking, and that’s why it’s the style preferred by almost all new vapers. If you want vaping to feel like smoking – and you want to get a nicotine rush that feels like smoking – you’ll want to use the mouth-to-lung style.
After you’ve been vaping for a while, you’ll eventually reach a point at which you no longer care whether vaping feels like smoking or not because you won’t experience cigarette cravings anymore. Even when you reach that point, though, mouth-to-lung inhaling still provides a benefit in that it limits your e-liquid consumption. Using a mouth-to-lung device means that you won’t need to buy e-liquid as often, and it also means that you won’t need as many replacement coils or pods. It’s the most affordable way to vape.
Drawbacks of Mouth-to-Lung Inhaling
There are two main reasons why vapers often end up switching to the direct-to-lung inhaling style when they gain experience. One reason is because many people find it fun to use a vaping device that produces huge clouds, and you’ll never get huge clouds with a mouth-to-lung vaping setup. If you want to enjoy big clouds, you’ve got to switch to direct-to-lung inhaling.
The other drawback of mouth-to-lung vaping is that it prioritizes throat hit over flavor. Nicotine itself tastes very peppery, and the peppery note will interact with the flavor of your e-liquid when you use the mouth-to-lung inhaling style. When you use a direct-to-lung vaping setup, you’ll use lower-nicotine e-liquid and will no longer taste the nicotine.
How to Inhale in the Direct-to-Lung Style
Larger vaping devices such as box mods and many vape pens are designed for the direct-to-lung inhaling style. You can identify a direct-to-lung vaping device by the fact that it’ll have a large refillable glass tank with a wide mouthpiece and big airflow vents on the bottom. A direct-to-lung device will also usually have a manual fire button. To use the direct-to-lung vaping style, you’ll fill your tank with low-nicotine e-liquid. The most popular nicotine strength for direct-to-lung inhaling is 3 mg/ml.
To vape, simply hold your device’s activation button while inhaling directly into your lungs. When you exhale, you’ll see an enormous vapor cloud. The enormous cloud production is why you can use e-liquid with such a low nicotine strength without compromising your satisfaction. The e-liquid doesn’t contain as much nicotine, but you’re inhaling so much more with each puff that the lower nicotine strength doesn’t matter. Although you can also find freebase nicotine vape juice with a nicotine strength of 6 mg/ml, we recommend starting with the 3 mg/ml nicotine strength and switching to the 6 mg/ml strength only if you’re certain that you need more nicotine.
Benefits of Direct-to-Lung Inhaling
The biggest benefit of direct-to-lung inhaling is that it’s the way to experience the biggest and boldest flavors when you vape. As we mentioned above, you won’t be able to taste the peppery nicotine when you’re using a nicotine strength as low as 3 mg/ml. You’ll only taste the flavor of your e-liquid – and since you’ll be inhaling enormous clouds, the flavor will be rich and well defined. If you like sweeter flavor profiles that don’t benefit from the savory edge that nicotine brings, you’ll probably love direct-to-lung inhaling.
The other benefit of direct-to-lung inhaling is the great cloud production. Many people find that seeing enormous clouds travel across a room really increases their enjoyment of vaping, and the only way to produce those enormous clouds is by using the direct-to-lung inhaling style because your mouth can only hold so much vapor.
Drawbacks of Direct-to-Lung Inhaling
There are two reasons why you might not enjoy the direct-to-lung inhaling style, and the first reason is because you might miss the throat hit that you get with mouth-to-lung inhaling. For many people, feeling that throat hit is completely necessary in order to derive a sense of satisfaction when vaping. If you like throat hit, you won’t like direct-to-lung vaping.
The other drawback of direct-to-lung inhaling is that switching to that inhaling style will make vaping more expensive for you. You’ll use more e-liquid per day. Using more e-liquid also means that you’ll require replacement coils more frequently, so you’ll spend more on vape gear than you probably spend right now. You’ll still spend less than what you would spend on cigarettes, but it’s something to consider before switching from one inhaling style to the other.
What to Do if You Get E-Liquid in Your Mouth When Inhaling
If you get e-liquid in your mouth when inhaling, it means that you’re using too much air pressure. A mouth-to-lung vaping device has very tight airflow. If you try to draw air through your tank or pod too quickly, the atomizer coil will flood. If the atomizer coil is flooded, the excess e-liquid has to go somewhere. It’ll either squirt into your mouth, or it’ll leak out the bottom of the tank or pod. Inhale gently to prevent that from happening.
What to Do if Your Vaping Device Pops or Crackles When You Inhale
In most cases, a little popping or crackling is normal when you’re using a vaping device with a powerful atomizer coil. If the noise annoys you, consider switching to a tank with a mesh coil. A mesh coil has a very flat profile, which leads to quiet operation and reduced popping and crackling.
What to Do if Your Vaping Device Whistles When You Inhale
Although inhaling too firmly when vaping is mainly a problem that you might face if you’re using a mouth-to-lung vaping device, it’s also possible to use too much air pressure when inhaling directly to the lungs. If that happens, you may notice a whistling noise coming from your tank’s intake vents. The first step here is to make sure that your tank’s vents are fully open. If your tank still whistles, consider switching to a tank with larger air vents.