Author Archives: Rob Ellard

In my world things have been very simple: low ohms are stupid, high watts are stupid and anything larger than a 1.5mm hole is stupid. I’m sure that’s something we can all agree on. The trouble with this approach is that it left me feeling jaded about vaping gear. It left me cynical about this week’s new awesome juice, atomizers and mods. After a while you’ve seen it all before and you are firmly stuck in a rut of doing things your way.

There’s this hugely popular juice sitting on the desk, it’s been there for months because it simply failed to deliver on what everyone apart from me seemed to get from it. It sat on the desk that has become ever increasingly sparse as my enthusiasm for things waned. It was clearly the time to mix things up.

I was offered this Goblin thing. I didn’t want to like it from the outset despite it having a name that reminded me of a joke about . Not saying is a joke, it’s not, but being named after a 1970s bedside tea maker is. It has everything that I don’t look for in an atomizer but mainly those two cavernous air holes at the bottom. If experience has taught me anything it’s that they’d kill the flavour I seek.

Experience has taught me to pay attention to it: I no longer ride on the roof of vans, make sarcastic comments to the police or jump out of a cupboard in the dark to surprise my wife – no matter how much fun they appeared to be at the time the consequences outweighed the benefits. I’m a fan of experience, sticking my tongue into the spokes of a revolving wheel as a kid taught me not to try the same thing with a blender.

But experience has told me you sometimes have to let go of what you believe to be true so you can embrace the things in life that’d otherwise pass you by. Clicking in Paypal sent money one way and the atty into the post; an atomiser that’d been raved about by PlumeBlu as being all things to all dripper men.

So, I have the wire and the free Muji. I have the American juice I wasn’t a fan of. And I have a budget atomizer I never hankered for. Experience has told me that if my expectations are rock bottom then I can’t be disappointed. “Hope,” said Nietzsche, “in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.”

And it’s sitting here with two 1.4Ω coils. It’s sitting here at 0.7Ω, pumped up to 22W and I’ve got a puerile grin with each exhale, waiting for a few minutes until the cloud you could hide Chinchillas in has cleared. Waiting until I can see the keyboard again. It’s a collection of moments that would have remained closed off to me had I stopped playing with how I like to do things – let’s hope we’ll be able to continue experimenting after the TPD is implemented. Meanwhile I’ll rejoice in the fact that the Goblin has woken me up.

Customer demand has been overwhelming due to the increasing popularity of TC mods. Consequently, we have been searching for the best quality Ti wire for you and we’ve found it. The wire will be available on 10 metre reels, is vacuum annealed and retains a bright shiny surface finish. It has been produced from certified medical-grade 1 titanium billet stock and is available in two diameters: 0.40mm/26AWG and 0.50mm/24AWG.

It is important to note that there are different types of TC mods. Some of the chips are only set up for nickel while others can use both nickel and titanium. There are vapers who are using titanium on their nickel-only TC mods, you may come across their comments, but they will not work as well.

Nickel and titanium perform differently in use. As the coil heats up its resistance changes, the TC mod measures this resistance change as an indication of temperature – it doesn’t measure the temperature directly. This means you will not get the best experience using titanium in a nickel-only TC mod as the resistance (and therefore the temperature) will be different to that of nickel at a given setting in use.

Why not Kanthal?

The beauty of Kanthal for non-TC use is that as it heats its resistance barely changes. This makes it ideal for mech mods and traditional regulated devices but renders it pretty useless in TC mode.

Manufacturers who now include an option for titanium include Diocedes, Joyetech, Infinite and a number of manufacturers using Infinite’s clone chip. Whether or not it gives a better vaping experience will be something only you can say but we do know that where the market sees demand it will grow to accommodate it like it has with high wattage chips before.

The manufacturers of these titanium-using TC chips have said to us that it is safe to use the wire and we’re happy to trust them to bear the responsibility of that statement. After all, we are big fans of the freedom of the individual to choose. And those of you who would like to choose titanium wire have been hammering at the door telling us to stock it.

We would like to point out that titanium wire is not to be used with non-TC devices. Further to that, you do not want to dry-burn the coil either even if it is on a dedicated mod. If your coil changes to a blueish or golden hue then you are probably safe to continue using it – but once it reaches the stage where you would be tempted to dry-burn off the accumulated gubbins we would strongly recommend you simply replace the coil instead.

Stealthvape’s medical-grade 1 Ti wire will be available from this page.

My record of failing to be recognised for doing unremarkable and mundane things stretches back to my schooldays where my Dad told me to never, ever volunteer for anything. The one and only time he did, during his National Service, he had his bicycle stolen. Such sterling advice stuck with me but I extended it to include a lifetime of abstaining from putting in any extra effort or (as inculcated by one regional sales manager) “thinking outside the box.”

I’ve not come up with an idea for a better coil, and improved method of wicking or even managed to pass on helpful advice without the caveat that I “haven’t a damn clue what I’m talking about.” If I’ve ever loved a juice then I’ll point out as quickly as I mention its name that no one else probably will. I don’t aspire to mediocrity, I shun opportunities for failure – I spurn the chance for someone to steal my metaphorical vaping bicycle.

Sometimes I forget myself. Sometimes I fail to remember that I’m not seeking the most outrageously great vape in the world. Something happening around the middle of a Bell curve of taste is fine with me. In fact, upon reflection, maybe I should have just stuck with the leaking, shorting Fogger V2 – it was made with a person like me in mind. That is if it’s possible to make something dreadful for someone you don’t give a damn about? Hang on, that is entirely possible; I’ve eaten at The Trading Post gastropub in Kettering.

I see myself as a human version of the element Lawrencium. No matter what box someone tries to cram me into I always appear to be in the wrong place. But this is going to change. Oh yes.

With the general election dominating my television and Vapers in Power pushing the ecig agenda I have decided to do something proactive. I am going to stand as your independent candidate for all matters vape related. And, in the spirit of a true politician, I shall endeavour to represent all points of view so that I can garner votes.

Subomming? You want to be able to do it in Asda? I’m with you. I fully support your choice to vape how, when and where you want – even if this includes blowing massive clouds in the cockpit of a fully laden international 747. The choice should be yours, not the funeral director’s, if you want to wander into a random service and chuck some chunky white stuff.

What’s that? You loathe those subohmmers? So do I. I hate them and their stupid little drippers with gaping holes in the side. I’m just the MP for you; I’ll fight for your right to ban their daft no-nic, high-VG juices.

In my administration, should you all elect me, I guarantee that social media will be either full or empty of any mention of the Goblin RTA, the Subtank and the Yihi Mini mod. This is a subject close to my heart that I care passionately about. Depending on what you fancy.

And what about those foreigners and their clones, eh? What do you think about that? Because whatever it is I wholeheartedly agree and always have done. Don’t think for one minute that my public school education and University degrees have left me out of touch with the common vaping person in the street, no matter what the other candidates say, it hasn’t. I can believe in anything you want me to and if that includes using CE2 atomisers well I am on board with that as well.

I don’t need corporate bankers or a crowd-funded campaign to get this show on the road but, until my MP’s salary starts rolling in, I wouldn’t mind a campaign donation to get a Zero mod.

Vote common sense. Vote for a better vaping future. Vote for someone who shares your values. Vote for me.

An odd opening for a blog post about the bullying tactics of a Big T company and an impending name change for the OCD range of products sold on the website but I’m certain all will become clear as the sentences roll by.

If you are reading this on the Stealthvape blog then you’ll already be familiar with the popular OCD washers and OCD connectors. Rob spent ages wrestling with the design concepts before getting them produced – an original product put together and sold by a British vaping company.

The name was highly appropriate given the shudders that accompany the sight of an atomiser perched above a mod with a large gap screaming “I’m sooooo wrong!” A name so apt Rob sought and obtained an official trademark from the Intellectual Property Office for it.

“So,” you’re asking “what’s all this OCD name change stuff?” Well you are asking that or busy removing some errant Kanthal from a bare toe. In order to answer that question you need to ponder a different one: where do bullies go to work when they grow up?

Lucy in the Charlie Brown comic strips – who on Earth would employ such a venal excuse for girlhood? Nelson from the Simpsons, that git from the Karate Kid and Biff from Back To The Future; no one in their right mind would hire these sociopaths.

The answer, dear friends, is that all of them go on to qualify as lawyers and make a fat living in the legal departments of tobacco companies. Even Draco Malfoy is a work experience lad in one. Honest. He is kept busy every day by Jabba the Hutt LLB.

It was probably Lord Sauron who dictated the letter send from Republic Technologies International complaining about the letters OCD. Apparently this company find the letters far too similar to their OCB brand. What do you mean you’ve never heard of OCB? Everyone must have heard of their fag papers. No? Oh, I’m not alone then.

The OCD trademark is for: “Class 34 Electronic cigarettes; components, parts and accessories for the aforesaid goods.”

The OCB trademark is for: “Class 14 Jewellery, fashion jewellery, timepieces.
Class 25 Clothing, footwear, headgear. Class 34 Tobacco, including smoking tobacco, cigarettes, smokers’ articles, including cigarette paper in booklets or in tubes, automatic boxes for rolling cigarettes, cigarette-rolling machines, tube-filling machines, filter tips, metal cases.”

So, the brands have different names, are aimed at different markets and are fundamentally totally different products. This matters little to RepTech and they demanded a removal of the OCD brand name. Given a pot of money to fight an expensive legal case it seems abundantly clear that Damien Thorn and his legal associates would be laughed out of court.

Politeness forbids me from using the exact words I’d commonly opt for to describe the company and their actions. But then nouns, as Homer Simpson illustrated, can be interchangeable. Which means that I can say, without fear of contradiction, that RepTech and their lawyers are a bunch of roses. Just my opinion as the author of this article and not that of Stealthvape, one which you might agree with or not.

A bunch of roses, crapweeds, stink blossoms and scumdrops.

Hardly a week goes by on another forum where some gentleman, they always seems to be a male, has suffered what they perceive to be outstandingly bad service. Given that every reputable vendor lists their phone number on their website I can only presume that the UK telephony network is currently creaking like a middle-aged man getting out of a chair. I struggle to think that someone would weight up the option of getting an instant response and willingly opt to write 50 words somewhere that someone is unlikely to read them. And then get really angry there’s been no reply. The solution is simple.

Bored of having a smattering of anonymous people typing abuse on the Internet when someone accuses you of not posting your trade? The resolution can be this swift: Trial by Fire. The process is modest enough; a quad coil is heated using a fresh battery until white-hot then applied to the skin. After three days, when the bandages have been removed, if the skin is starting to heal then it will be clear to all that your wife did indeed post the parcel. Conversely, revealing a festering burn will prove to all that she didn’t lose the receipt from the Post Office because there never was one.

“My mod arrived and didn’t work properly,” might be your complaint. Fear not – Trial by Water will sort everything. After filling the mod with lead it will be tossed into the nearest lake. The serenely floating device will cause the onlooking crowd to gasp with delight and send the vendor rushing to get their chequebook. On the other hand, if it sinks faster than Aston Villa then everyone will know you dropped it when pulling it from the packaging.

Someone sent you a clone and claimed it was genuine? The vendor sent you their shipment of packing materials instead of your order? A person laughed at a picture of a coil you made? A viewer didn’t like your YouTube review? For these and all other situations not yet covered we offer the final solution: Trial by Combat.

For too long disputes like this have (not been) settled by who could type the most swear words into an email. Like Leon Humphreys, we think Trial by Combat is the reasonable way to settle the matter. When faced with a DVLC £25 fine, Leon offered to take on a clerk from Swansea with “samurai swords, Ghurka knives or heavy hammers”.

We can recognise common sense even if the magistrates in Bury St Edmunds can’t – and we’re sure you agree. If you’d like to offer these solutions to people you sell to or trade with then be advised we will be stocking an excellent range of gibbets, stocks, ropes and pointy things. 700 years ago is the future and the future is medieval.

The thing is it’s true. Science is grounded in errors and mistakes, a process of coming up with a theory and then finding a hundred ways it doesn’t work. Without the scientific process we wouldn’t have cars, microwave popcorn or regulated mods. Without science I wouldn’t have been able to buy an Austin Princess. I wouldn’t have been able to buy it, drive it 40 miles up the M1 and then wait for a recovery vehicle to take it to its final resting home. Stupid science.

Many take up vaping like it’s the same as buying a new computer – that you can turn it on, it works and if it doesn’t you can stand in Comet shouting loudly on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe this is the experience for most; maybe my journey has been different?

My journey is one where I’ve forgotten to replace the head in an Evod and watched the juice pour all over the table. It’s OK, I told myself, as this was a valuable lesson in how not to be an idiot. If you discover that something is stupid then don’t do that thing again.

To date I’ve only bought one bread maker, one yoghurt maker, one ice cream maker and got married once so I am clearly good at learning. The prosecution would probably like to enter that I have two children, owned two Moto Guzzis and frequently consume curries that don’t agree with me in the morning into evidence. Stupid prosecutors.

It probably depends on the severity of the consequence as to how much importance you attach to the error and the efforts you go to in order not to repeat it. I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only one who has tried to drive and vape a subohm dripper ONCE before being consumed by blind panic. Being told to touch an electric fence “because it’ll be a laugh and we’ve all done it” is one of those. I remain proud of the fact that I declined to use my testicles.

I’ve had this dalliance with high wattage regulated mods, it seemed like fun. It wasn’t. It transpires I’m a very simple type with simple needs – the kind that are provided by a mech and a dripper. Staring at the instruction for preheating coils and customising the on-going wattage reminded me of the time I laughed at my Dad for being unable to program a video recorder. If you’d placed me in a plaid cardigan and put confused beads of sweat on my brow it’d have been identical. Stupid regulated devices.

The scope for error seems to be logarithmic with those boxes and none more so than when thinking I was increasing the vape by 0.3 watts. Pre-sets: what the Hell?! Instead of the 11.3W I was planning in my head (as I clicked without looking) I got 125W of cotton torching fury. So I think I’ve learnt the lesson that high-powered boxes and me do not go together.

Although the opportunity is slim, I’d never attempt sarcasm in Spanish to the police of Caracas again. Learning lessons at the blunt end of a nightstick in a basement isn’t particularly pleasant but I’m betting such an approach would have made my classes able to cite Newton’s law of Universal Gravitation. Not sure how that applies to vaping at all, but it’s a theory that could work. If someone sees me holding a regulated mod again please hit me.

I don’t lament the passing of the CE2 top coil atomiser in my affections any more than I miss spending hours carefully splicing out the ruined sections of a C90 cassette before manually winding miles of tape back in. Actually, stop right there, upon reflection the tape splicing kit I got one Christmas was an awesome gift. I’d no idea how to use most of the bits and the tape was inevitably gone beyond retrieval…but it was the nearest thing to my first ever toolkit.

And while I’m on about C90s – I really miss my ghettoblaster, my Amiga and my Minidisc player. Minidiscs were awesome: write, rewrite, digital and all wrapped up in a nice protective case. So awesome, in fact, that I still don’t understand why the rest of the world didn’t buy into the idea.

Coming from a dim and distant time when Top of the Pops albums were as authentic as the bands appearing on the show I really love gadgets and retain a love of almost all of the ones that are no longer with us.

Which is why I’m concerned in vaping terms.

My first step up from clearos and basic regulateds was to a Kayfun on top of a Nemesis. I remember asking people why anybody would bother with a mech mod when my Vamo appeared to deliver everything anybody could want. A thought echoed by my wife who believed that such expense should not be repeated.

But move to mechanicals I did, and loved it. There is something delightfully basic, forever ready for the apocalypse, about them and yet they display a range of design features from functional to the aesthetic. At one point I was holding over twenty on the desk, some I’ve even replaced after selling on more than one occasion.

The thing was I could, we all could, because once you bought into the concept of getting a ridiculously expensive metal tube you always knew you’d be able to move it on or swap it with someone equally deluded.

But deluded no more, so it seems. I’m looking at the sales section of a popular forum. I’m looking at it and seeing brand mechs struggling to sell for £50, mechs that used to fly out of threads the second they were advertised for double that.

In one, a once rare and highly sought after “elitist” brand is sitting without any love being expressed. Not for the first time, a Hellfire struggling to find a new home; it has been the same story for a few months now. The writing was on the wall once the Nemesis ceased to obtain £100, then £80 and now an asked for £60 seems optimistic.

We live in a new vaping world, progress in chip output and features have killed the mech market, in conjunction with a shift in the way most vapers vape. Only a handful of us appear to enjoy just vaping for taste with 1.2Ω+ coils. Atomisers being released onto the market come with ever-larger air holes and vapers pump as much power as they can manage through coils.

But I still love my mechs, they do the job I want them to. I don’t burn cotton on top of mechs and I love the physical interaction with the battery, as I, via the sense cells in my mouth, become a biological voltmeter.

The powers that be in tech refer to the decline of products in terms of decreasing “windows of utility”. Although the satnav is as dead as Python’s parrot satellite navigation continues. Is the window of utility being closed on mech devices? Will we now see companies switching off their lathes as demand ebbs?

In a spirit of defiance I’m going to pop an Igo-W onto the Petit Gros and go off to the garage – somewhere up there is my old Minidisc player.

*An updated opinion has been posted here on 5th June 2015 due to developments in the industry

Customer demand resulting from the update means that we will now stock wire for them. It will be found here when in stock.

Stealthvape is always on the hunt to bring vapers the best quality product and the next best thing in vaping tech; in 2012 we thought titanium wire could be one such product. Samples were sent out to friends and colleagues but we decided to pull it from sale prior to launch.

It sounded awesome, but languishing in a room in Stealthvape Towers now lays 30,000 metres of never-to-be-used top grade titanium wire. Rob made the decision because, in his words, “it’s probably bordering on irresponsibility selling the stuff.”

The wire does produce a cleaner tasting vape than compared to something like Kanthal but when put up against Kanthal or tempered Ni200 it’s incredibly springy to work with.

And then there are the flames…

If it’s overheated either by dry burning or torching it will burst into flame in a cool chemical fire kind of way not dissimilar to magnesium ribbon. Titanium is a component of fireworks for the white sparks. Metal fires such as this require a Class D fire extinguisher, not something commonly found in most vapers homes.

Given this poses a huge safety aspect we could not be confident selling it. We are certain that our insurers (who already place a huge financial burden on suppliers to the vape market) would refuse to cover us selling something we considered potentially dangerous. Although the insurance is not a legal requirement and does not direct what we sell we feel it is a moral aspect that our customers deserve.

Rob adds: “I’m a big fan of the concept of Ti and was super stoked to stock it, sort of felt like I was breaking new ground as I’ve always been on a mission to discover new things. I just think it’s a Dragon that’s best left sleeping.”

The proliferation of high wattage devices or the prospect of a genny hotspot taking a wire to ignition temperature is just too much of a risk. The likelihood is that in the new Evolv temperature-protected mods the wire poses much less of a hazard as it will not oxidise as quickly or be pushed to ignition temperature.

Which brings us to the topic of coil oxidation and TiO2, titanium dioxide.

In 2014, the small amounts of TiO2 in a brand of eliquid caused the producer to operate a full recall following heated debate in online vaping forums. We mention this here not because we are experts in the vaping of liquids containing TiO2 but because newer vapers may be unaware of the discussions. Our primary concern was the safety of the wire in use, this is a secondary but related matter.

JustPoo, a respected member of the UKVapers forum, carried out a brief test to look at the oxidation rate of Ti wire: “I wrapped a standard coil, none of the wraps are touching and it came in at 0.12ohms. I then vaped pure VG on it for 20 minutes, taking 1-2 second drags, always keeping the wick wet and never getting a dry hit or letting it get too hot.”

“I put a fresh wick in for the picture so it was a fair comparison. The coil has changed colour and it looks very much like oxidisation. The resistance has also risen to 0.13ohms.”

“In this test I was careful to make sure the coils didn’t overheat. We’ve all had a dry hit or lean vape by accident, so during normal usage it’s possible the oxidisation would be worse. Titanium oxide is particularly toxic and seems to be produced at normal vaping temperatures, so I won’t be using titanium as a safer alternative to Kanthal.”

The material safety data sheet (MSDS) for Titanium dioxide states: “Mutagenic for mammalian somatic cells. The substance may be toxic to lungs, upper respiratory tract. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage.”

In relation to the withdrawn eliquid containing TiO2, Dr Farsalinos states: “First of all, titanium dioxide was probably used as a food colouring. It is really unfortunate that there are companies using food colourings in their products. These substances have NEVER been tested for inhalation, do not offer anything in terms of flavour or experience to the vaper and are only used for aesthetic purposes (if there is any real reason for making the liquid more colourful). Using something that has never been tested for inhalation purposes in order just to make the e-liquid ‘look better’ is AT LEAST an irresponsible behaviour. Using food colourings introduces an unknown, potentially dangerous factor, for absolutely no reason. It does not promote the experience and pleasure perceived by consumers. For titanium dioxide, it is officially classified as a probable carcinogen when inhaled.

Vapers should avoid such products.”

Stealthvape are not saying ‘do not use titanium wire’, we just won’t sell you any. Vape safe 🙂

The entire framework of those opposed to vaping in its current form isn’t geared to discourse. With every press release, tweet and public speaking event they cloak themselves in the colours of attacking to seek victory, not discover a truth.

And when not holding a popular stance, they will strive to appear as though their opinion is the majority view and thereby demand all others accede to it. When Farsalinos and 52 others wrote to the World Health Organisation in 2014 it was sent with the intention of addressing a collective opinion of the flawed science behind the WHO’s stance. The key points from Stanton Glantz’s rebuttal were that he had 129 names on his letter and they came from 31 countries.

That was more or less it – a reductionist approach to scientific debate relying solely on ‘there are more of us than you’…ignoring the important fact that his bunch of names had contributed nothing by way of accepted peer-reviewed study. He may as well have threatened to get his Dad because he’s bigger than Farsalinos’.

The stories currently circulating about mice, formaldehyde and the gateway effect are nothing more than argumentum ad populum straw men. They aren’t beliefs, they aren’t grounded in science – they are fallacies trotted out with the hope they become popular urban myths with the public and that the received opinion will be trotted out in pubs and workplaces across nations.

Look at the reputations of Ghandi, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Llama (Penn & Teller’s debunking show) and Florence Nightingale (SN.com). Public perception, the will of the majority, is open to manipulation by those who would seek to gain from it – and public health officials in league with pharmaceutical companies are seeking big gains. On that note, I strongly recommend The Missionary Position by Peter Hitchens.

This isn’t a new situation, it’s how decisions that effect our daily actions have always been made – but I sense change. The idea of social media appealed to the vanities of those occupying lofty positions, they signed up to spew their thoughts to the masses without a thought to how the network of individuals operate.

The frustration being experienced by McKee, Chapman and Ashton (being inexperienced at dealing with criticism) has led to frequent ad hominem outbursts. Glantz was moved to scribe an entire letter personally attacking Farsalinos.

Some call for greater action from vapers to combat proposed legislation but, from my perspective, ecig-related networks are already buzzing. The political decision process is similar to that for consumer decision making – needs recognition, information, evaluation and then the decision. Twitter, forums and Facebook open this up to us, the great unwashed. Research is digested and spat out in easy to understand sound bites as fast as it appears in print. We have access to counter-comments and online feedback sections rapidly fill with pro-vaping comments.

In fact, I barely remember seeing a website poll where vapers hadn’t swamped to skew the result. This drip-feeds public opinion, this is the battleground. Glantz is never going to admit to his errors of judgement or the backhanders he takes – but politicians fear the voting masses.

The journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, Social Networking (the go-to source in the field of cyberpsychology) details how a comment section influences audience perception of online articles. Regardless of the level of coherence or abuse, it’s the prevailing feeling from others towards a piece that influences other readers.

Will this see the end to the tyranny of the majority? Unlikely, but we may be about to see some compelling evidence to support Olsen’s conjectures in his The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups.

So continue to ridicule, deconstruct and refute, you mighty activists. It may seem as though many aren’t motivated to join in but maybe this shouldn’t be seen as a full-time thing? As long as those tweets, posts and replies keep racking up we changing opinion one syllable at a time. I may not be in the vanguard of campaigning – but I’m a very interested bystander who’ll chip in with comments now and then.