Buckle up folks…

I started smoking near the end of high school.

Everyone I knew smoked.

Throughout the many years of the smoking I subjected myself to, my habit had a firm grasp on me.

After only 2 years, I hit my highest peak of smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes.

The peak was 2-2.5 packs a day.

That’s 40-50 cigarettes a day.

My peak habit continued for almost 6.5 years, but tapered down to 1-1.5 packs a day.

I never cared how much money I spent.

I never considered the amount of damage I had done to my body.

I was absolutely addicted, with no thought of consequence.

Nine and a half years ago (early 2011), I was introduced to the first “e-cigarette” I had ever seen, or heard about.

Once I understood that it was a vaporized liquid, containing nicotine, and not the smoke from a burning fire, I gave it a try.

A friend of mine just so happened to be the younger brother of the owner of VaporTalk•com…and he was able to hook me up with all kinds of goodies.

My first setup was an eGo battery, with one of those funky steel-wool looking bridge atomizers, that had to be dripped on every 5-6 hits…(this was even before the poly-fill cartomizers…the kind you had to fill up, and then top off every 5-10 hits.)

Within two days, I had cut my cigarette usage in half.

By the end of the week, I bought my last pack of cigarettes.

After 2 weeks, my breathing improved.

I no longer had a cough in the morning.

A month later, I could taste food again.

Two months later, my sense of smell returned.

Everything in my life no longer smelled of cigarette smoke. Clothes, cars, house, and most importantly ME.

My tolerance for cigarette smoke had gone away.

I couldn’t be around traditional smokers, as it made me feel ill.

I continued finding new gear as it evolved, and I was truly on board with this life changing technology.

For the first year, I used an 18mg “e-liquid”, which is/was generally considered to be the same nicotine level as traditional cigarettes.

Eight months later I stepped down to a 12mg.

A year later, I stepped down to a 6mg.

I used a 6mg for six months, then I stepped down to a 3mg.

I have continued my usage of level 3mg, and I have never felt better!

I’ll never forget the first time I saw a carto get holes punched in it, and then inserted into a tank…I was FINALLY free from having to drip!!!!

When I took the leap off of eGo batteries, the Provari v2 was hot…only the elites had them…and I didn’t buy the hype.

I got a ZMAX and some higher-end carto tanks…I thought I was living my best life.

Finally, the owner of my local shop at the time (R.I.P. VaporLabs) decided he would let me buy his Provari…these devices were almost as rare and hard to get as Billet Boxes have been at many points over the years. I have to say…the first time I vaped on a Provari…I literally had to sit down. There was NOTHING on the market like that…and even to this day, their power delivery has never been replicated.

Eventually, the Kayfun arrived on the scene, which damn near blew my mind…now I could be free from having to buy 5pks of cartos…and customize how my vape experience tasted and hit!

Somewhere, in the middle of all this exploration (ok it was July 2013), I found my way onto the E-Cigarette Forum aka ECF…and discovered an online home!

Over the years, I’ve seen many innovations come and go, trends rise and fall…and rise again (looking at you MTL).

These days, my main rigs span the board from Provape Radius box mods, to some boutique DNA60 side-by-side mods, to of course…my beautiful bead blasted and bright dip anodized (except Clear) Billet Box babies!

(Yes, it took me forever to get to the Billet Box part of this “bio”…am I sorry about that? No. Keep reading.)

My Billet Box collection started in 2013…with a secondhand Rev.2 raw aluminum box. That’s how they came back then…RAW, not anodized.

As if I hadn’t already fallen down the Provape rabbit hole, having collected about 6 by that time…I was HOOKED on BB’s.

I ended up owning about 12 Rev.3’s, many of which were secondhand, purchased on ECF.

I’ve sold many of them, and have replaced them with Rev.4’s…

The Rev.4 is probably my favorite iteration of the Billet Box, although I DO miss the sliding panel of the Rev.3……….but all the modern atomizers have given me some of the best vaping I’ve had in my nearly-decade of cigarette freedom.

Sadly, reliable batteries for Rev.3’s aren’t as widely available as they used to be, or I’d be keeping them in rotation…regardless, I still love them…as I love all my Billet Boxes…and Provape mods, and my other mods…and all the tanks and accompanying shiny stuffz…

I am a techie/mechanic by nature, and by trade, and I love to tinker with electronic gadgets…and hot rods.

The extensive industry and community, which has been created by vaping has allowed me to continue this enjoyable hobby to this day.

Happy to be here, happy to help!

Many thanks to Chris for the opportunity to take even the smallest part in this great project.

P.S. For the time being, my contributions to the site will be mostly behind the scenes, in spelling/grammar, text formatting, and general polishing of some site features/areas etc…but Chris is the captain of the ship!

I may add a blog post here or there, so keep an eye out…or not. I’m not your boss.