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Opinion : PODs vs Tanks and Atomisers, and why I think more people should be using rebuildables.

ZT

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From our Blog : https://manabush.com/blogs/news-eve...hink-more-people-should-be-using-rebuildables

Excerpt : The Manabush Owner rants incoherantly about the evils of POD devices, The Gods given awesomeness of rebuildables, the futility of life and our impact on Climate Change, all from a completely uneducated, utterly biased and personal viewpoint.

podsandtanksfrustration.jpg

I have seen a few posts on forums of late that have really got me thinking about the whole vaping hardware situation. In relation to PODs, Atomisers and Tanks etc.

There is to date a bewildering array of hardware to choose from now, if I think back to the start of my vaping journey an unbelievable amount in fact.

The latest thing is PODs - there are hundreds of different ones now, they are easy, they are very pocketable and convenient. You can even get one time disposable ones now, pre-filled with a flavour, when its gone - you chuck it away.

We have seen Vaping follow this form before though several times, a new concept comes out - gets pushed by the distro’s and large vendors, that gets picked up by the Manufacturers in the east - and suddenly the market is flooded with it.

In the past, we have had the sub-ohm revolution, when suddenly it became very hard to get MTL Equipment and everywhere you went was huge clouds, we have had the Sqounk revolution where all of a sudden all drippers and atomisers suddenly came with a bottom feed pin, and Sqounk mods (some absolutely beautiful creations at the start) were suddenly produced by the thousands and flooded the market. Im not even gonna get started on CBD (which I don’t disapprove of) and its myriad of Ganja shaped leaf marketing (which I feel for an industry desperately trying to be seen as the healthier option, did the industry no favours whatsoever).

As a community I feel us vapers allow this to happen too often these days, it never used to be this way before it became big business, we the Vapers, we shaped what came to market, we shaped the industry back in those early days, and I realise I may be starting to sound a bit “When I was a Kid ., you could get three packs of woodbines and still have 50p left over for some chips….” But you know - I feel we let ourselves get pushed around by big business more than we ever used to. I would love to see a return to grass roots vaping - but clearly things have gone too far now.

But - as is my won’t - I digress, The purpose of this Blog (oh no .. am I a blogger now? Why do I feel shame?) is to dissect why I feel we should all be using Tanks or for a preference rebuildable tanks over disposable POD kits.

I do not doubt the validity of the easy to use pocketable POD system as a tool in the vapers arsenal at all, I even have one myself for travel emergencies (we even sell some for that purpose), but as a main tool ? I think we have succumbed to the hype.

There are without doubt some great little POD kits out there, and the Evolve Reflex when sat in its correct market position as a quit Smoking tool is an absolute technical and necessary marvel.

So what is my beef with POD systems ?

Lets go through it point by point - in no particular order shall we?

1: Frankly compared to even a low cost stock coil atomiser, most of them suck on flavour and performance, its not 100% true but it absolutely is for the most part, personally Ill take having a bulgier pocket and good flavour and satisfying throat hit every day of the week over something I probably have to carry a power pack around to keep using all day.

2: Im a fan of the underdog, if big companies are pushing something like this at the expense of other longer lasting items, its not because they have your convenience and best interests at heart - it’s because something has a huge profit margin.

3: Longevity - as touched on very briefly in the above point, these things do not have the last-ability of even a cheap stainless steel stock coil atomiser, never mind a well built rebuildable (which theoretically lasts forever, or for as long as you can buy cotton or wire for) on top of a half decent mod.

4: Cost - That disposable single flavour POD may have been cheap, but you gotta buy it again! That pods system with the replaceable PODS may have been a good deal .. but the Pods are a tenner for 3 when it comes to replacing time, all this for mostly less flavour - no thanks, it’s not for me. With a stock Coil Atomiser you can get better longevity and for the most part the coils are cheaper than pods. Move up to rebuildables and boom 3 quid on some Muji and 3 quid on a reel of wire (or if you really don’t want the fuss a fiver on a load of pre-made coils). And you are talking £6-£10 for about 4 years worth of vaping supplies - rebuildable REALLY are that cheap to run, and this brings me onto my final but probably biggest point.

5: Plastic landfill, the world, climate change - I mean come on, I mean how much are we hearing these days about plastic waste and landfill and climate change ? Its real, its an issue, Its bad enough our previous Euro masters (arbitrarily and with no good science behind it) forced Nic E-Liquid to be in a myriad of 10ml plastic bottles that have no use after they have been used (at least shortfill bottles and glass are reusable by the end user.) that to now have hundreds of plastic PODS and even worse Battery containing one time POD delivery devices clogging up our bins and landfill ?! This is a massive no to me, as a producer of 10ml E-liquid it breaks even my cold dead corporate heart how much plastic waste that causes, hence one of the reasons for us developing a wider range of strengths in shortfills. This alone should be a good enough reason for people to look into at least Stock Coil atomisers (the atomisers last forever .. and the waste from coils is cotton, metal and a tiny bit of rubber) - and for a preference rebuildable devices, They last forever, the waste is a tiny bit of wire and organic bio-degradable cotton, they cost about 6 quid for years and years worth of rewicking supplies, its a no brainer. Dont be pushed around.

VIVE LA REVOLUCION! - Bring back Rebuildables, think before you POD.
 
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I'm struggling to disagree with you on any of those points!

My daily device is technically a pod system (Pods cover a huge section of devices now) in the form of a Nautilus Prime X, however I made sure it came with the rebuildable section as I can get better flavour, less cost, more versatility and less waste. Still have a stash of both MTL and DTL tanks but they never leave the house, a smaller system is just so much easier out and about. I did get caught up in the Squonking craze, some of the devices were too beautiful to pass up but due to that, I never wanted to take them out for risk of damage and if was a faff.

In the Cafe we've seen more and more people commenting on the plastic wastage within the industry, my default reply now "These are the rules we had forced on us, we hate it but sadly it is what it is". I still have a stash of glass dropper bottles from back in the day, I use them for mixing samples and have done for the past 5 years. We have noticed that 6mg 20ml Shortfill and 12mg 10ml Shortfill are becoming more and more popular, this is partly down to the fact they are cheaper overall but also produce less waste. If an 18mg shortfill or 20mg Nic Salt shortfill was possible, I believe the 10ml market would slowly die. 10ml used to be the cafes staple, that's where 70%/80% of our sales came from, now... More like 40%/45% with majority being Nic Salts. Rest of sales is split between shortfills and hardware.

It's hard from a Brick and Mortar prospective, the market changes so fast a trend can come and go before you've even noticed it. It's impossible to stock every piece of hardware and every coil for every device, you have to pick and choose carefully. We get more than a few walk-ins asking for X coil for X device and we have to turn them away or suggest a shop that I know stocks them, never nice to have to do but we'd need a shop twice the size and filled with nothing but coils to keep every single person happy.
 
Rebuildables will always be my ideal device, but some pods/ AIOs do intrigue me.
 
Rebuildables will always be my ideal device, but some pods/ AIOs do intrigue me.
And that is of course fine , they have a place

its just dont think we need so many.
And we dont need the disposable ones at all
 
And that is of course fine , they have a place

its just dont think we need so many.
And we dont need the disposable ones at all

Yep, agree with that. Glad I'm not just starting out on vaping. Wouldn't have a clue.
 
Yep, agree with that. Glad I'm not just starting out on vaping. Wouldn't have a clue.

You and me both!

One thing that really annoys me is companies (No naming and shaming) who will ever so slightly change a device, market it as completely new and it requires a different coil or pod to the previous. You end up with devices/tanks with similiar names and looks but needing completely different coils.
 
You and me both!

One thing that really annoys me is companies (No naming and shaming) who will ever so slightly change a device, market it as completely new and it requires a different coil or pod to the previous. You end up with devices/tanks with similiar names and looks but needing completely different coils.
Right there is another argument for rebuildables
 
I thought the answer to shite pod coils was to use the RBA deck, where available. They're mostly crap though, the kangertech subtank mini rba is as good as nearly all of the various pod system rbas.
 
If the kit isn't upto much in the first place when someone tries to switch from smoking to vaping they'll probably fail at the first hurdle.

I hate pods or should i say i hated pods when they first arived on the scene but it's difficult to remain that way completely these days because the lines between pods and a mod & tank set up are too blurred.
 
This is all what i have been saying for a while now. Nice to have vendors showing the same passion on the issues raised. I would also like to see no eliquid boxes The bottles and maybe a leaflet at most would also offset some waste and reduce the costs for consumers. A specialist vape recycling place may also be of benefit, metals could then be recycled rather than buried, batteries disposed of correctly rather than going into the bin with a device. etc etc. With the Governments apparent aim of a no smoking UK. This could be used in favour of early marketing towards vaping. If Smokers know tobacco products will be banned from 2030 surely more will switch sooner creating a good for all round situation, job's and the vaping industry taking over from big Tobacco and some of big pharma's money. But it should be done on a small business basis, i would not want to see companies become to big as this creates unfairness but there's time for government legislation on that. maybe a profit tax rather than vat, this would help consumers and keep it fairer on business as those who make less get help and those making to much pay to help those in need. A balance is needed to keep a better quality level. Obviously there's all the ins and outs to consider as well but there's a lot more scope for things to be made better and to work better for the Industry, but the waste issue is one we all should be considering more.

Going on what 's been said about pod systems and poor flavour. 8 years or so ago i purchased an ego pen with the plastic cartomiser, flavour was there but not the best at all. I continued to smoke, a couple of years later and more determined to quit i used a Kanger protank 3. Flavour was much better, i managed to vape full time and the difference was a better coil and wick and a glass and metal liquid container or simply put a tank. Pods are a similar if not the same material as the old carto's and hence the loss of flavour.

They (pods) are a con. they are like taking out a monthly subscription. with every say 3rd months the price goes upby a bit, thats when you replace the other pod with the upgraded one with flashing lights, the upgrade is actually a downgrade as the lights use more battery and its the same battery as in the 1st one.
 
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