Wednesday 7 July 2010

Electrofag - head to head.

On the left, the Njoy Duo. On the right, the Titan.
But which is best? There's only one way to find out -
Fiiiight!

For some time now I've been convinced that the Njoy was lighter than the Titan. Today I finally remembered to put them on the balance at the lab. The Titan weighs in at 15.0 grams (standard size battery) and the Njoy weighs 14.8 grams. Now, I know I've spent most of my life in labs and an inordinate amount of time weighing small amounts, but I don't believe I can detect a difference of 0.2 grams with my fingers.

I think it's psychological. The Njoy looks like a cigarette. The Titan looks like a pen. I know what those things weigh so I'm probably superimposing a preconceived idea onto the weight I think I feel in my fingers.

The fact is, they weigh pretty much the same. The Njoy feels more comfortable hanging from the mouth than the Titan but again that's not a fair comparison. I've had over a year to get used to the weight of the Titan, before trying out the Njoy. There's also the psychological effect of the cigarette appearance. It has much more effect than you'd think.

So which is best? It depends entirely on what you want.

At the most basic, what we all want is to be allowed to smoke indoors again. Or even outdoors without having to experience the basest levels of spite that any passing antismoker can manage. Electrofag offers something that looks and feels like smoking but which is not covered by the ban. We can Electrosmoke indoors and even if anyone objects, it leaves no trace. No tobacco smoke to offend the feeble nostrils of those delicate flowers, no ash, no combustion products at all. The vapour dissipates in moments so a sly puff in a non-smoker's bathroom won't be detected. Especially if they are of the sort who fill the air with chemicals 'because they like the smell'. Never try to explain. They will not understand.

All Electrofags fulfil the smoking-like experience indoors so there's no contest there.

So, do you want a gadget that lets you smoke coffee, banana, strawberry, absinthe and even roast chicken as well as tobacco and cigar flavours? Or do you just want hassle-free tobacco flavour? How far from 'standard' smoking do you want to go?

If you simply want something that looks and feels like smoking with the absolute minimum of hassle, go for the Njoy Pro Duo. It looks like a cigarette, it smokes like a cigarette, the large-capacity cartridge means you have to change it less often, and the cartridge is integral with the heater so you don't even notice the gadgetry is there. There isn't much in the way of wild accessories as yet. Flavours are tobacco, menthol and vanilla. There is a range of strengths, and even a zero-nicotine option so you can test whether you're really addicted to nicotine or just like to smoke.

I have horrified several non-smokers in the real world simply by suggesting that with a zero-nicotine Electrofag, they could experience smoking with nothing more than flavoured steam. They genuinely believe that if they try that, they will instantly crave a pack of Capstan Full Strength and smoke a hundred a day. These are not dim and easily convinced people either. Some are qualified and experienced scientists whose logic somehow evaporates as soon as tobacco is mentioned.

I tried pointing out that veggieburgers don't make vegetarians crave the real meaty thing, that alcohol-free booze doesn't make a teetotaler desire absinthe, that dildos don't turn gay girls straight, but to these people 'that's different'. No, it is not. It is exactly the same. A nonsmoker with a nicotine-free Electrofag is still a non-smoker. There's nothing of real smoking in there. Not even nicotine. It's flavoured steam and it doesn't even have to be tobacco flavour. It is the smoking equivalent of a veggie burger.

The Njoy is for smokers, and perhaps for non-smokers who might want to try the experience with no risk. For the non-smoker who wants to join in with smoking pals but who doesn't want tobacco flavour, the Titan is the one to get. The Titan allows all kinds of weird and wonderful flavours, most with the no-nicotine option too. In fact you can buy the flavour and the propylene glycol (it's in asthma inhalers and smoke machines, before you get all worked up over the chemical name. It's also a food-standard thickening agent. You've already been exposed to much more than you'll ever get from Electrofag). Then you can mix flavoured steam in perfect safety to your heart's content.

The Titan is a gadget. It doesn't look at all like a cigarette. It's black and lights up blue. The white version looks closer to a cigarette but it doesn't have the 'paper' appearance of the Njoy and as far as I am aware, it lights up blue too. I'm not knocking it - it's a great gadget and one of the most long-lasting gadgets I've ever bought- but it requires a bit of gadgetry affinity to get the best out of it. Since it looks nothing like a cigarette, it makes life easier in busy pubs because it's obviously not a real cigarette. The bar staff don't have to keep checking.

The Njoy offers this option too, with batteries in burgundy and silver as well as the realistic ones. But if you want to keep to the smoking experience as closely as possible, the Njoy has the realism you'd want.

If you want to go beyond smoking and into the realms of the bizarre, you need a Titan. You'll be messing around with frequently changing and probably refilling cartridges and you'll need to deal with separate heaters but you can make it taste like a cigar or a pipe or a coffee or just about anything. With nicotine or without. The cartridges are smaller and don't last as long as the Njoy ones but since the heater is separate, the cartridges are cheaper.

Basically, I can't declare a preference. It all depends what you want. Both Electrofags are good but for me, the Njoy is the one for when it's raining outside and I just want a smoke. The Titan is my choice when I feel like a cigar or something a little on the wild side. I didn't like the Titan's auto battery but the Njoy auto battery works just fine. If you go for Titan, the manual battery (where you press a button to make it work) is better. The Njoy's auto battery (where you just inhale and it comes on by itself) is much more responsive.

I carry both with me now. It's not like they take up much space, compared to a pouch of tobacco. Consider the pack of 20 you might carry now, and compare it to carrying one cigarette, one spare battery and perhaps a spare cartridge. You don't even need a 10-pack size to carry a day's worth of smoking.

Fun factor: both have that. The Titan gets double-takes whenever I use it because people think I'm chewing a pen until the 'smoke' comes out. The Njoy looks real, so if anyone objects I drop what appears to be a lit cigarette into my shirt pocket. Lots of fun to be had with both kinds.

If Electrofag could be made exactly like smoking, I'd switch in an instant. It's nearly there. Science should be researching ways to make it perfect but science is scared of smoking. Anyone who suggested working on Electrofag would meet the 'You support the tobacco industry' hysteria and it wouldn't be worth their while typing up a CV ever again. If only people would just grow up. Then perhaps we'd get somewhere.



One thing that occurred to me today - suppose you stage a play and one character has to smoke. It's illegal now, and perhaps the actor doesn't smoke anyway. Get a nicotine-free Njoy which looks just like the real thing. Pretend to light it with a small hand-held torch and your character can puff away on stage realistically, perfectly legally and with no concerns for their health at all. The only difficulty will be if the character is required to stub it out in an ashtray. Electrofag doesn't get shorter. Ever.

Oh, and Lady Gaga and others who have smoked on stage - definitely get one of these. In fact, you rich rock stars, throw some into the audience. It will drive the Righteous nuts. They can't do a damn thing about it.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here you, LI. You'll find this interesting, I think:

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2010/06/30/how_not_to_do_it_hydrogen_gas_mixtures.php

Frank Davis said...

If Electrofag could be made exactly like smoking, I'd switch in an instant. It's nearly there.

It'll never be exactly like smoking. No more than smoking a cigarette will ever be like smoking a cigar. Or a pipe.

And part of the tobacco experience is the danger. Not that there is any real danger. It's like part of the thrill of climbing mountains is the danger. Same with swimming.

Remove the danger, and it's not the same experience.

Anonymous said...

Very informative. I bought an ecig a couple of years ago, but
(i) not much of a kick even with highest nicotine;
(ii) upper limit on number of puffs before it cuts out;
(iii) cartridges don't last long.
So I stopped using it. I'll buy another if I'm fairly sure I'll use it.
Question: Can the njoy cartridges be refilled using the bottles of nicotine solution available now?

PT Barnum said...

No, the NJoy doesn't come with refillable carts, which is one of the reasons I've not gone with it. You can choose tobacco or menthol flavours in varying strengths and that's it. I'm still on the absinthe and french pipe mix, which has a nice throat hit. Wondering what absinthe and cognac would be like together.

I've been using the Mini for about 18 months now and it's a very nice little gadget for all those places I find myself stuck where the weed is verboten. It won't ever be the same as the real thing, but it's a lot better than nothing.

I'm going to be trying out use of ecigs at Heathrow next month. Anyone had any experience of vaping in airports? It's either that, or nicotine gum to prevent me suffering from air-rage....

Anonymous said...

Sorry to be a pest. Can the Titan cartridges be refilled from bottles? It's not just the cost, but having to continually get deliveries.

OldOne said...

Most cartridges and cartimizer can be refilled. You will have to purchase you e-liquid from another vendor as Njoy doesn't sell e-liquid in the bottle. Visit righttovape.com and ask how to refill cartridges, and what type and someone will tell be glad to help. righttovape doesn't sell or sponsor vendors. We just provide information.

Leg-iron said...

Frank - I doubt it'll ever be an exact copy but it could be made so much like smoking that it would be like comparing a rollup to a cigar. Then it could take its place as a form of smoking.

Making it exactly like a cigarette would be futile anyway. Make it like a Marlboro and Silk Cut smokers won't like it. Make it like a rollup made from Drum and Amber Leaf smokers won't like it.

So rather than make it like any one smoke, make it another form of smoking. Instead of replacing cigars or pipes (whole range of tobaccos and preferences to deal with there too) or rollups or readymades, set it alongside them as another alternative.

It would be pointless for Electrofag to compete with real tobacco because there are so many variations, already competing with each other. Nothing can compete with all of them at once.

So make it another form. An extra choice, alongside the range of pipe tobaccos, rolling tobaccos, cigars and readymades.

I haven't given up my rolling baccy and don't see it happening. Once in a while I like a cigar, but only now and then. For a change.

Electrofag is like that. It's smoking when I can't be bothered to roll one up or when I'm at the lab and it's bucketing down or even in the house, I might not feel like a whole cigarette, I might just pick up an Electrofag for a quick puff.

To make me switch completely, it would have to be exactly like smoking my own preferred brand of tobacco with the option to change it to my own preferred brand of cigar.

No company is going to do that. As soon as they do, they either exclude all those smokers who prefer other brands to mine or they lock themselves in to creating a vast product range of subtly different flavours.

Electrofag is a different form of smoking. It could be made more like 'smoking' in a generic sense, but I see it as an additional form of smoking to the range available, not (as yet) serious competition.

It's a lot of fun too. I'm amazed how many people have never heard of it but until it's widely known, I'll enjoy the appearance of dropping a lit cigarette into my pocket or smoking a pen.

Leg-iron said...

Anon - the Titan cartridges are easy to refill. I bought a box of unfilled ones so I can put whatever I like in them. They aren't very big though so you'd need to carry spares. Not that that's a big deal.

The Njoy ones can be refilled but it's more difficult.

I'd say the Njoy is the more hassle-free model for those who only want straight electrosmoking. The Titan is better for those who like to experiment.

The Njoy auto battery works very well. the Titan auto battery, well, I didn't like it. The Titan is better with the manual battery. For me, anyway.

Unfortunately the parts aren't interchangeable between the two. Which is a pity. I'd have enjoyed playing with a hybrid.

jeanmr said...

I am glad you like the NJOY! We tried so many before settling on this, and had so many problems. Nightmare, buying from China without people on the ground testing the product all the time. NJOY is an American company and does give us huge support - including a one year warranty.

NJOY are the guys fighting for the e-cig. case against the FDA, (aka Tobaaco industry and Big Pharm) the others having backed out due the huge cost and commttment.

It can come with quite a lot of different flavours, cherry, vanilla, clove etc. etc. I will let you know which shortly, - we do not list them on the site because Trading Standards say they will attract children (derr, like kids have £45 to spend on a credit or debit card)) like alocpops (CHEAP AND SWEET) did in fact.

We do not recommend filling with e - liquid because we offer a one year warranty (NJOY is the only e-cig that I know of that does) and overfilling with e-juice can ruin the atomiser. we feel that "dripping" is a bit of a nuisance, as well as the danger of getting it onto your skin the quantity is not regulated. Most e-drippers seem to be continually filling and fiddling with the product, instead of "e-smoking" without hassle. - That is just a personal opinion. Some people enjoy the process.

We had the same problem with e-pipes, because the users, who loved them, kept them in the mouth, as pipe smokers do, and saliva damaged the components. It was a shame as they were lovely bits of kit!

Men look so nice with a pipe!

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, I just bought an NJOY duo tonight (nice to see Jean from e-cig site posting here), with many thanks to this thread for convincing me to do so. I even tried to give some mad props to this site while buying one, so ... !?!

I can't wait to smoke indoors, and secondarily to freak people out while doing it.

Oh, and I work for a tobacco company. :)

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