Vaping Award for 2014

I’m of an age where people have come into and left my life, some have stuck around for the long haul while others were never more than bit-part characters. My vaping journey this year has followed a similar model. As a kid I’d collect footy programs, that was easy because despite being different they were all similar – the only thing that changed was the collecting set. Originally it was one club, then the FA Cup before transforming into comics. Comics became graphic novels, graphic novels became authors and my compulsive collecting continued.

It’s train spotting and stamp collecting in a different form and I know there’ll be plenty who will line up to poke fun at it. A friend in the village frequently makes fun of my mod rack – but then she spends her life on an allotment moving mud from one place to the next. It hurts no one, I’m OK with being anal about my vape interest.

What has struck me across the past twelve months is that there’s a clear distinction between mod and atty collecting, for me. Atomisers fill a clear need; the wicking and airflow are crucial to their operation – one that works well doesn’t need to be aesthetically appealing, although that features as a secondary consideration. Mods can have any of a number of key features I look for but the appearance is a powerful factor in deciding whether or not to buy and/or keep.

Drippers don’t tick boxes, the bulk of my time vaping is done when working at the keyboard so I want things I can pick up and put down without fussing around dropping liquid onto wicks. The fact that I only own an Igo-W speaks volumes about what I need from a dripper – it tests new juices and that’s it.

The RBAs that won out across the months were the ones that weren’t over-engineered, the ones that weren’t hideous and the ones that didn’t make me so frustrated every time I coiled them. Most that have gone also had the infuriating ability to dry wick or flood during use. Consequently my Kayfun collection grew and grew; an atomiser that is now the de facto benchmark for all other RBAs. Aside for the KFLs there’s a Heron on the rack: a classic design, simple to build and 100% leak and faff free.

It’s not the Heron I had at the start of the year; its purchase was forced by the succession of purchase failures after I’d traded the original one on. Some say you should never go back but, not having tried the Squape-R, the Heron remains my RBA of 2014.

Gennys have been plentiful this year; so many outstanding attys that it’s impossible to list them all off and far too many to keep on the vape stand. All of the ones I didn’t rate suffered from a similar issue: none of them had a reduced cap. The genny can be a cloud producer but it’s all about the flavour for me.

The Hellfire Mini Megas both delivered great vape, the Pandora Shadow is stunning to look at and a blissful experience and only left the building due to their diameters not fitting in with the mods. I’d thoroughly recommend both.

It’s the Sat22 V3 and Origen genny V2 that tie top spot for my RBAs of the year. The Sat22 hits the spot for tight draws and pure flavour, the Origenny for flavour and clouds.  Aside from looks I can’t see how either can be beat as we move forward, I’d happily have another of each when money permits.

So, we come to the mods.

A quick glance on vendor sites demonstrates the incredible variety of devices that now exist for sale; it’s impossible for anybody but a reviewer with access to most of them to give a fitting, balanced overview.

My regulated mod winner delivered on a number of points – it provides current to the coil consistently, it’s strikingly good looking and it was amazingly cheap considering the current prices of high-end devices. I lucked out by picking up a StiG ‘one of a kind’ 18500 wooden DNA20 for less than the cost of a dripper. Personally, I’d love to see more affordable DNA20 and DNA30 mods released next year – but then I’m a confirmed mech user at heart.

Mechs? The Satmod ought to be considered a classic, everyone should have one once. Le Petit Gros is a triumph of simple design, branding and packaging, the Paps V3 is a wonderful combination of switch and Gpin delights but the outright winner for me is the Paps X 1.5. I missed my Lux so much I bought a replacement within a fortnight to complement the stainless version that’s been a constant companion.

The X accommodates any 18-series battery I feel the need to use with its modular design, a blinding switch, the glorious Gpin and has a build quality so many other mods can only dream of. Vapourart struck gold when building this.

So are these the best mods and attys in the world? Maybe they are, possibly they aren’t – it depends on your criteria and needs. Some don’t want to spend this much, others want to spend far more. I’d have loved a titanium X1.5 or a StiG Helix but then I also wanted to try an Ego Twist and an Eleaf.

So, what have I learnt from vaping in 2014?

It doesn’t matter if you have every League Cup Final program, it doesn’t matter if your edition is the original or a reprint. You may not own every Alan Moore graphic novel or the complete works of George Orwell. If you enjoy what you have then that’s good enough.

It doesn’t matter what you vape on or with, the cost is irrelevant. It can be made in China by the millions or by a bloke called Kev on a lathe in Chiswick. You can run cotton, Voodoowool or mesh, you can vape custard or coconut – every cigarette you aren’t smoking is why we are here, everything else is a bonus. This isn’t an aspirational thing, no one vapes better than others because of what they own.

My outright winner in the world of vaping for 2014?

Us.