FEATURE
DIARY
OF A VAPER
Featuring Nero Wolfgang of Rambling Vapers
From experiencing his first cigarette well before his teens to
developing a 30-a-day habit as a young man, Nero Wolfgang
tells his story of trying to quit and eventually finding success
through vaping. This is his story:
Mine is a story I’m sure millions of smokers are familiar
with. I was offered a cigarette when I was around seven.
To be cool, I accepted and took my first step on a 21-year
smoking path.
I started swiping the occasional ciggy from my parents and
was a full-time smoker by age 13. I continued smoking with
increasing frequency until the then-legal age of 16 when I
was on 20-24 a day. This increased until I switched to roll-
ups at 21. By the time of my first attempt to quit I was on
30 a day.
I tried a Nicorette Inhalator but it didn’t cut the mustard. I
tried giving up again in 2008 after spotting a fella touting a
new electronic cigarette at a wine fair. There was promise
and it did help me cut down, but ultimately it wasn’t
quite right.
I had another attempt some years later. Vaping had
advanced but it still wasn’t for me. Although I did quit for
over 6 months, a family tragedy drove me back to ciggies.
The final breakthrough came after I started my new job.
Someone lent me a sub-ohm mod and an RTA and that
was it. I haven’t smoked since. It felt the closest to the
satisfaction of a cigarette and the juice no longer had that
synthetic “yuckiness” that caught the back of your throat.
Over time I found that more elements of vaping started
to appeal. I am a very techie guy, so playing around with
new mods is great fun. I also got into coil building and now
36 | VM13
spend ages swearing my head off surrounded by masses of
tangled wire.
It’s this constant innovation that I find most exciting about
the industry. That and camaraderie. I haven’t experienced a
community like this since my Happy Hardcore raving days.
I soon started watching vaping videos on Youtube with
increased frequency and stumbled upon Rip Trippers,
Grimm Green and The Vaping Biker. I found these fantastic
places, not only for product information but also important
developments in vaping, especially regarding legislation.
Watching these channels and engaging with the community
via Instagram inspired me to become more involved in the
scene. I pitched the idea of a podcast to my co-host Bungle.
He said, “Why the hell not?” and Rambling Vapers was born.
We didn’t know what we were going to with the podcast, just
that we loved vaping and wanted to talk about it. It has since
grown beyond this. Although vaping is very much at the
core, we also ramble on about topics ranging from gaming
and movies to music and politics.
It’s been fantastic to have friends guest on the show, some
of whom are newbie vapers and others speculative smokers.
This has enabled us to talk about vaping in way that we
might not have done before. As we are employed full-time
we don’t always get episodes together as frequently as we’d
like, but we make up for that in the content.
If you’re after unique vape-related discussion as well as
humorous, thought-provoking and occasionally inane but
entertaining waffle, give Rambling Vapers a try.
www.ramblingvapers.com