Now for something a bit different
I’ve been meaning to get out to and about for ages now, but I am naturally shy so big crowds are a bit of an issue. Thanks to bad timing I missed out on VapeJam last month, but I was going to make sure I went to at least one show on e-cigarettes this year.
When I heard about the E-Cigarette Expo (ECE) I thought to myself, why not? So I did.
From where I live Harrogate is a fair distance trip and not one to be taken lightly, at the last-minute I decided to book myself a room in a local hotel, first mistake! Last minute bookings are not cheap. Definitely won’t be getting any new shiny for a while! Second mistake was not finding out where other people are staying, so I’m sadly going to be missing out on this evenings shenanigans. But I digress!
One of the reasons I wanted to go to an expo or show this year was simply for the _experience _of going. Mixing with other vapers, talking to the vendors and just do general consumer goggle eyed stuff at the new shiny kit being shown off.
This particular show had one other draw for me personally, and that is of course the fact that VapourTrails TV were going to be there. Most of you should know about VTTV already, if you don’t do check them out! But I digress, again!
The show itself was nicely laid out with stacks of room between the rows, some of the bigger vendors took advantage of that fact (yes Sigelei I’m looking at you) and put up some impressive stands. Sadly I didn’t take as many pictures as I was hoping to, mainly because I kept forgetting or I’d be distracted by something else.
The ratio of juice makers to hardware was definitely skewed in the juice makers favour, I would have liked to have seen a bit more hardware personally but I wasn’t overly fussed about that as I have the hardware I want (for now anyway; until Dave Dorn reviews something that is..).
Juice for me is probably my one remaining weak spot. I have yet to find a juice that I can happily vape all day, every day. There’s been a few that have come close but nothing has hit the nail on the head for me. With so many juice vendors at the show, it was inevitable I’d end up trying some. I ended up trying a lot of juices and may even, dum dum daah, found that elusive all day vape!
I do prefer fruit flavoured liquids over the desert or sweet flavoured ones, but these guys (and girls) have some very tasty juices. I didn’t try every single one, but if the fruit juices are anything to go by from their premium line, the desert and tobacco flavours should be pretty damn good too.
Wondering aimlessly through the maze, this caught my eye. A surprisingly light device for a 2500 mAh battery, with a 2.4″ screen. No temperature control though which I was a little disappointed with, but what caught my eye most about it was the “Full Auto Mode” where it’ll set itself for the “best vaping experience” based on the atomiser attached. In a world full of mods there needed to be something different, and trust the Italians to come up with it. Even the starter kits had that typical Italian flair, I mean they even had a golden one, for a starter kit!
One of the biggest grumbles I head from VapeJam was the ventilation, or lack of. Wasn’t a major issue here, they had big side doors open all day so the heaviest vapers would only result in a slight mist. It was definitely visible, but in comparison to the reports from VapeJam not anywhere near the same level.
Of course it would have been inexcusable to not say hello to these chaps. Tucked away in the furthest corner from the entrance on “Stand 1”. Dave, Dave and Marco. To be fair I did spend a lot of time there simply listening to them talking to others that came up to the stand, in between my aimless wanderings of the show. Which meant I ended up in a couple of Dave’s periscope broadcasts. Never really been one to be on camera if I can help it, but it was fun to talk with the three of them, even met a few of the VTTV chatroll whilst I was there too!
I did miss out on getting a pic with Marco, but I’d probably look teeny tiny in comparison anyway 😉
All in all, it was a good day. Much quieter than I expected, not sure if that was the location or if there was simply not enough promotion, either way it was good to get out, meet some fellow vapers and try new stuff. I could have spent a heck of a lot more than I did, but I think I got myself some worthy additions to my collection 🙂
Now for a nice cold beer and a steak 🙂